C.J. Urban - Julie Townsend 01 - Hidden Intent (11 page)

“What is it?” Julie asked.

“There’s just something about you. I can’t put my finger on it yet, though.”

“Let me know when you figure it out. I’m curious as well.”

Skye smiled widely, taking one of her hands in his, caressing her fingers with his thumb. The waiter arrived and took their orders, leaving only to return with two cups of specialty Indian tea at Skye’s request.

Julie was extremely impressed, once again, by Skye’s suave mannerisms and speech. She took in the evening with him like a cool, refreshing drink, savoring every word he said. It was incredibly enjoyable, simply listening to him.

But all too soon, it was Julie’s turn to do the talking. “So, tell me more about you and Sam,” Skye said.

“There’s not too much more to tell than what you already know,” Julie said honestly. “I mean, if you’re asking if it’s rough, the answer is yes. I wouldn’t change it for anything though, except, of course, for our parents to be alive again. I love raising Sam, but I never stop thinking about how much better off he would be if they were still around.” Julie turned her eyes out into the room, feigning interest in the elegantly decorated area as she struggled to get a handle on her emotions.

“I’m sorry if I brought up anything too painful for you,” Skye apologized.

“It’s okay,” Julie said. “You’re curious, and I would be, too.”

The rest of the evening passed amicably, their conversations lighter and easier than Julie had ever known them to be before.

“So your dream is to be an inventor?” She asked.

“Yep. I have tons of drawings and ideas. I just don’t have a way of physically building most of them.”

“What kinds of things do you want to invent?”

“Most of my ideas are for multi-tool items. Think Swiss army knife, but much cooler.”

“That sounds awesome. I hope you find a way to bring your ideas to life someday.”

“Thanks. I do too.”

Their check was brought to the table and Julie was suddenly filled with anxiety. She had almost forgotten they were about break into City Hall in just over an hour.

“You ready?” Skye asked when the waiter had returned his debit card.

“As ready as I’m going to be.” Julie was trying her best to keep a look of calm on her face.

Skye slid his hand into hers as they left the table. “We don’t have to do this. We can find a different way.”

“Do you know of any other way to get confidential information, other than stealing it?”

Skye paused for a moment and then shook his head. “You have a point.”

Despite never having broken into a building before, Julie felt safe and capable as she held Skye’s hand, as if she was drawing strength straight from him. As they stood at the foot of the steps outside the restaurant waiting for their car, Julie took one last look at the sparkling landscape, her insides feeling as lit up as the city.

She waited as the valet driver pulled up, and thanked him as he opened her door for her. She climbed in and felt the acceleration of the truck as they drove off toward City Hall. She watched Skye as he drove, hoping she wasn’t making a terrible mistake.

Chapter
20

Skye motioned for Julie to follow him in the shadow of the night. Keeping his body crouched low, he turned briefly to make sure Julie was staying low, too, and then turned his attention to the large metal side door they had just come up on. He glanced around to make sure they were alone, then pulled a tiny, flat-head screwdriver and a long thin piece of metal out of his pocket and went to work on the lock.

This side door wasn’t as secure as Skye had thought it would be, which worried him, but he didn’t mention it to Julie. He knew they would be calmer once inside the City Hall.

Skye finally heard the familiar sounds and clicks of an opened lock and slowly pulled the door open by its small handle. He could feel Julie’s hand wrapped around his wrist, and heard the soft thud of the door as it closed behind her. He let out the breath he had been holding.

The surrounding area was bathed in semi-darkness, and Skye wasn’t really sure where they were in the building. They seemed to have entered into a storeroom, filled with large cardboard boxes and buckets and bleach-soaked rags hanging over the sides. The damp rags created a stifling stench in the room, and Skye coughed several times trying to rid his lungs of the poisonous fumes.

Moving carefully, Skye found a door that he hoped led into a part of the building he was familiar with, and upon opening it, found it led straight into the main hallway. Skye pressed a finger to Julie’s lips and strained his ears, listening for anyone else in the building. After several moments of silence, he felt it was safe to move on.

The hall was dimly lit, which allowed Skye to turn off the small flashlight he was holding and stow it in his front pocket. He knew the clerk’s office was only a few feet away, but was starting to get an eerie feeling. Still crouching, he walked along the wall until he reached the clerk’s office and quickly checked the door.

“I’ll have to break this one open too,” he whispered to Julie.

“Just hurry. I think I heard something.”

As quietly as he possibly could, Skye worked on the door to get it open. Suddenly he felt a furious tapping on his shoulder.

“I heard something down the hall, Skye. There’s someone else here.”

The door clicked and Skye cautiously pushed it open. He heard Julie’s hushed footsteps behind him, and then she gently pushed the door closed.

“Good thing the building is old,” Sky whispered. “The locks are pretty easy.”

“Shh,” Julie replied. “I hear it again.”

Skye peered through the milky glass and felt a jolt pierce through him as a shadow silently moved in front of the door. He held his breath, sure that whoever it was would come in, but the shadow suddenly moved across the door and disappeared.

“We need to get in and out of here as fast as we can. We’re not alone.”

Skye led Julie around the front desk, through a short saloon-style swinging door, glancing to the back of the room. He hadn’t ever been here before, but felt sure that the door at the back would lead them to where they needed to go. He looked back at Julie, and she confirmed his suspicions as she pointed to the door and mouthed, “That’s the one.”

The door was locked, and Skye was just about to begin working on the lock when Julie tapped him roughly on the shoulder. He turned around to see her pointing at the drawers under the front desk.

Skye shrugged.
It’s worth a shot
, he thought. He walked over to the desk and pulled open the first drawer, which was empty except for a stapler and a box of paper clips. He tried the drawer directly underneath the first and was amazed to find a ring of silver keys sitting entirely unprotected inside.

“Are you kidding me?” he mouthed to Julie. “They just leave them here?”

Julie shrugged, as he grabbed the ring, wrapping his long fingers around all the keys to keep them from clanging against one another, and crept back to the door.

There was only one key that looked like it matched the lock, and when Skye tried it, he found it slid in roughly, likely battered from use.

Once inside this room, Skye found it full of three rows of file cabinets. He had no idea where to start, and was relieved to see Julie already searching the labels. After several minutes they finally found the correct file cabinet labeled “HOME INVESTIGATIONS” and Skye saw the first drawer was labeled “A-E.”

“Dale Street should be in this one,” Skye whispered.

“Let’s hope so.”

He pulled it open, and rifled through the files until he came across Julie’s house’s file. He pulled it out, holding the spot where it was open, and pulled another file out from beneath his jacket, sticking it in the open spot.

“Thought of everything, didn’t you?” Julie asked.

“Can’t have anyone catch on to us, now can we?”

Suddenly a thud had come from the hall outside the clerk’s office, and Skye felt his stomach drop. He pressed his finger to Julie’s lips. He didn’t know if she had heard it, but he definitely had. “We need to get out of here, now,” he whispered to Julie. She nodded, eyes wide with panic.

Chapter 21

He stowed the file safely in his jacket where the fake file had been and took Julie by the hand. They crept silently out of the file room and into the clerk’s office. Skye saw Julie’s eyes grow wide and knew she had seen movement through the glass.

“What do we do?” whispered Julie.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like the person plans to come in here, or else they’d already have done it,” replied Skye as he calculated all the possible ways they could get out of the building without being seen.

Suddenly though, to Skye’s and Julie’s horror, they heard the sound of the door handle being turned, and saw a thin strip of light as the door was pushed open slightly. Skye grabbed Julie’s hand and pulled her down toward the floor, motioning for her to follow him behind several file cabinets to hide beneath a desk against a wall.

Once they were safely hidden, Skye let go of her hand, realizing he had been holding on to it extremely tightly. He cast an apologetic look toward her and then sat stone-still against the wall.

The door had now been pushed open entirely, but still no one entered the room. Skye was puzzled until he heard the sound of a disgruntled voice. “Gotta be quick,” it whispered. Skye tried to place it. It was certainly a female voice and somewhat familiar, but the whisper made it difficult for him. Skye felt Julie grip his wrist tightly, and he turned to see her eyes wide with terror.

“What?” he mouthed to her.

“It’s her,” Julie mouthed back, eyes still wide.

“Who?”

Julie seemed to be deciding whether or not to tell him, as she sat there looking at him with her lips pressed together tightly.

“Who?”

“Langley,” Julie finally managed to mouth.

Skye clenched his jaw. “Crap.”

He knew they couldn’t move, but he also knew that if they were caught by Langley, there would be hell to pay. At the very least they’d be arrested.

He heard Langley move slowly through the room, her heavy boots making soft thuds against the thin carpet.
What is she doing here?
Skye wondered. He had a strange feeling that she was here doing the same thing they were; getting information.
She could just come in during the day though
, he thought.
Why does she need to come under the cover of night?

He listened closely as the clanging of keys filled the room. The door to the file room opened quickly, and then shut, giving off an eerie silence. Several silent, extremely long minutes passed until Chief Langley roughly shoved the door open again.

She threw a file onto the front desk cursing under her breath. “Gone, all gone,” she uttered bitterly as she threw something into the trash. She strode angrily out of the room without another word, leaving Skye and Julie in bewilderment.

They waited a few minutes to make sure they were alone again. Then Julie asked, “What was that all about?”

“Let’s check the trash,” he said heading over to retrieve the file. He stood motionless as he looked over the open file in his hands.

“What was it?” Julie asked.

He turned around giving her a concerned look. “It’s the fake file I just put in.”

“What? No way. Don’t mess with me, Skye.”

“See for yourself,” Skye said, handing it to her.

Julie looked down at the file to study it, and when she looked up again, her face was etched with worry. “What would she need this for?” she asked.

“No idea, but we have the real file, so let’s get back to your house and find out.”

Skye placed the keys to the file room back in the drawer, and the pair crept quietly from the clerk’s office into the hall, checking for Langley as they went. Skye led Julie back to the supply closet they had come in through and closed the door behind her, leaving them to struggle with an onslaught of toxic bleach vapors again. He found the door leading out to the side of the building and pushed it open, taking in gulps of fresh air to rid his lungs of the fumes.

Skye had parked in an alley across from City Hall to avoid suspicion. When they reached his truck, the pair hurriedly got inside. He handed Julie the file, and drove out from the alley, looking around for any evidence that they had been seen. The night was still, however, and it seemed as though neither their entrance nor their exit had been witnessed.

Skye forced himself to drive slowly and calmly to Julie’s house. The relaxed pace of the drive helped to calm his nerves, which were still slightly on edge.

They arrived in front of Julie’s house, exited the truck, walking quickly toward the front door. Again, Skye knew he would feel much more relaxed once they were inside. He waited for Julie to open the door, and then noticed she was no longer paying attention to it, but rather to the ground below the window to her living room.