Face Off

CHAPTER 39

AS THE LEGACY offices emptied at the end of the day, Laura allowed herself to relax. Fewer people meant less risk of exposure. Between researching the computer systems and impersonating Fallon Moor, she was mentally tired. Beyond the standard anti-fey rhetoric, she wasn’t seeing anything she hadn’t seen in other places. The attacks on fey businesses were an obvious concern, but at best those had a tenuous connection to Legacy. Sinclair was having better luck turning up names of the direct perpetrators, if not the planners.

She distracted herself for another thirty minutes by checking InterSec and Guild bulletins. It wasn’t much of a distraction. Still no leads on Cress. She put her PDA in her purse and went to the door. She hadn’t discovered any essence-dampening wards in the building, but it was possible she might have missed them. A physical check of the hallway confirmed no one nearby. With a casual gait, she moved from empty office to empty office until she reached DeWinter’s closed door. She knocked and, as expected, no one answered. With the duplicate keycard, she swiped through the electronic lock and punched in the password. The light on the console turned green.

Inside DeWinter’s office, she quick-stepped to the desk and inserted a USB drive into the computer. The keystroke program downloaded to a reviewing pane. She scrolled through the text, skimming for isolated entries until she found entry points to the locked network drive. Finding the password access was a simple matter of backtracking through the text. With a few keystrokes, she scrubbed any trace of the tracking program and accessed the locked directory. The password worked. The screen filled with the file list.

Relieved, she sorted the data to the most recent viewed and started the file download. She checked her watch. Fifteen minutes had passed, longer than she had wanted to be there. File after file copied with frustrating slowness. Another five minutes, and she decided to get out. She paused the copy mode, checked that no trace of her presence remained, and pulled the drive.

She froze as the lock on the door clicked. She glanced around the space for a place to hide, but the stark furniture offered nothing. As the door opened, she strolled unconcerned toward the windows. She turned with a smile that she dropped when she saw a security guard. She had seen him in the building garage with Sinclair. “Oh, I thought you were Adam. Mr. DeWinter.”

The guard eyed her neutrally. “Can I ask what you’re doing here?”

She frowned as if it was a stupid question. “Waiting for Mr. DeWinter. Is there a problem?”

Without moving, the guard examined the room. “Mr. DeWinter is gone for the day. Mr. DeWinter has orders that no one should be here when he’s out. You need to come with me.”

Laura walked toward him. “Fine. I was waiting for him. He said he’d be here.”

He let her pass into the hall. As she returned to her office, he kept pace a few feet behind her. She sat at her desk. The guard waited at the door. “Is there something else?” she asked.

“You need to come down to security,” he said.

“Why?”

“We need to take a report,” he said.

She flashed him an annoyed frown. “So go make your report.”

He set his jaw. “I’m afraid I’ll have to insist.”

She released some essence into the Moor template and triggered the boggie characteristics. “And I’ll have to insist I’m not going anywhere. I’m having dinner with Adam DeWinter shortly.”

The guard stepped in. “It will only take a minute, miss . . .”

She glared as she rose to her feet. “Do you know who I am?”

He hesitated. “Yes, ma’am. Fallon Moor.”

She boosted the essence light in her eyes. “Right. A very annoyed Fallon Moor. You have three seconds to get out of my office before I throw you out. Go make your report. I’ll be sure to give Mr. DeWinter my own.”

“Ma’am . . .” the guard began.

Laura cursed to herself as DeWinter appeared behind him. “What seems to be the problem, Stuart?”

The guard backed down, his expression becoming subservient. “I found Ms. Moor in your office, sir. I was asking her to come help make a report.”

DeWinter smiled at Laura. “I’ll take care of it. There’s no need to make a formal report.”

Laura relaxed the boggart aspect as the guard left. She sat with a loud exhale. “Thank you. That was ridiculous.”

As DeWinter strolled toward her, she pretended to type an email. “I thought you had an errand?”

She didn’t look up. “It took less time than I thought, so I came back here to finish a couple of things.”

“In my office?”

She smiled. “We did leave something undone earlier.”

He chuckled. “How did you get in?”

She rolled her eyes dismissively. “I wasn’t in your office, Adam. I was at your office checking to see if you were still here. Your friend Stuart is a little overzealous.” She could afford the lie. She had what she wanted and had no intention of returning to Legacy.

Suspicion rolled off him as she gathered her things. “Are you ready to go?”

Feigning surprise, she slipped her pocketbook over her shoulder. “Now? I thought we didn’t have reservations for an hour?”

He shrugged. “It won’t be a problem.”

The thumb drive was hidden in her bra, usually a secure place, but with the way she had been teasing DeWinter, that wasn’t a given. Hiding it in the office or somewhere else in the building wasn’t an option. She didn’t want to return to the building after tonight. She decided to play out the situation on the fly. “Great. I’ll get my car and meet you around front.”

He slipped his hand through her arm. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll get us a driver.”

She smiled through gritted teeth as he flipped open his phone. “That’s fine.”

“This is Adam DeWinter. Is Burrell on duty?” he said into the phone. He glanced at her and wrinkled his nose affectionately. “Good. Tell him to bring the limo around.”

Laura forced a smile. However the evening was going to play out, at least she had Sinclair as undercover backup. “Sounds like we’re off,” she said.