by David Barton
“No harm in trying.” The man looked into my eyes. Taking his time in deciding what he was going to do. “Well?”
“I’ll do it but I don’t want you running off without giving me the chance to explain.”
“I’m not promising anything.” I wondered what he was so worried about.
“I guess that will have to do.”
“I guess so.” I watched him lift his hands up, unravelling the material. It didn’t take long before he dropped his mask onto the table next to him.
“Well?”
“I can’t believe it’s you again.” This was the second time I’d seen this man. The first time in the poorer sector and now he drags me from my apartment. I wasn’t growing fonder of him. If anything I was getting more suspicious.
“Are you going to let me explain?”
My brain ticked off the pros and cons working my way to nothing. “Explain.” I crossed my arms and leant back against the wall, waiting for the explanation this man seemed so against giving me.
04/07/2014 AM
My mind clicked on, waking me up. My apartment was spinning around me. My head felt like it was going to split into two. The pain ricocheted through my whole body. I lifted my arm up and grabbed hold of the sofa, pulling myself into a sitting position. That’s when the empty bottle fell off my lap and hit the floor making a loud thudding noise. The sound hit my ears making my head feel even worse.
Just as the sound of the apartment was returning to silence it was disturbed by my phone ringing. The sound was worse than the bottle. The noise kept coming, piercing straight through my ear drums and into my brain. I didn’t want to move. All I wanted was to go back to sleep. I covered my ears to try and stop the noise from shaking my brain.
As it went quiet I dropped my hands to the sofa planning on returning back to sleep. That was until I heard the sweet voice of Felicity. I practically jumped from the sofa, searching the apartment for her beautiful face.
However all I found was the answer machine taking her message. I stumbled over and leant against the door. My hand went to pick up the phone but it stopped. Pulling it back I leant me head against the wall. The cool wall helping with my hangover. There I just listened to her voice.
“Look, I don’t know what to say about yesterday and what happened with your father. The only thing I want to say is that you’re a great friend. We’ve always been able to chat with each other and I don’t want that to stop. But, I think we should just have a professional relationship, at least for now.”
There was a short pause and could swear I heard her stifle a cry. Then her voice was back, “I don’t want to talk about the restaurant or anything like that. I want to forget what happened that night. Instead we need to concentrate on the article. I’m going to investigate something with my source. I’ll get back to you later about what happens. Chat to you soon.”
There was a pause. Nothing but silence came out of the answer machine’s speaker. I waited, just for a little glimmer of hope that what I felt that night at the restaurant wasn’t gone. Instead the line went dead, automatically turning the machine off.
I left the machine beeping at me. I didn’t want to listen to it again but I wasn’t about to delete it. I stepped from the machine and walked across the apartment. The machine beeped after me like it wanted me to torture myself. Instead I picked up the empty bottle and chucked it into the bin. Last night I had started drinking and didn’t stop until I passed out. The alcohol was to forget but this morning had just brought it all back and worse.
No point in wallowing in pity inside my apartment. Time to investigate something on my own. It took me a little longer than usual to grab a shower and get dressed. It took me so long it was after lunch by the time I was ready to leave the apartment. My headache eased a little with a pill.
I took a quick glance at the red blinking light as it beeped before heading out for the day. The plan was to go directly to the source of the article. Mr Henrikson himself. Which meant getting into his building to speak with him and that was going to be easier said than done.
The tram ride over to the tall building in the centre of the city gave me plenty of time to think up a plan. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. I could blame it on the hangover but reality was, my training as a photographer didn’t teach me how to break into a secured building.
This didn’t decrease my confidence though. I walked straight through the front door. The large lobby left me gobsmacked. The escalators in front of me were guarded by two metal detectors, a scanning machine and security guards. It was like walking into an airport.
The other part of the lobby that left me breathless was the fact you could see straight through to the other side of the building. The wall was made of glass and gave a spectacular view of some trees. They must have built a small garden out the back for the workers.
After a few seconds one of the guards began staring at me. Swallowing hard I turned to my right and headed for the reception desk. I didn’t have a reason for being here and I most certainly didn’t have an appointment to meet anyone let alone Mr Henrikson.
On my way to the desk and the lovely lady who sat behind it, I heard some kind of commotion behind me. I turned and saw a man arguing with a few of the security guards over the fact he had brought his dog inside the building. Who could blame them? It wasn’t a small dog and it looked like it could rip someone’s arm off.
My head came back round just in time to stop myself from hitting the desk. The lady looked up at me with a mouthful of white teeth and spoke, “How can I help you?”
“I was wondering if I could speak to Mr Henrikson.”
“I’m afraid he’s out of the city at the moment. Can I ask what this is about?”
I was tempted to say I was from a newspaper but I didn’t think that would go down so well. Instead I simply said, “I’m from a business magazine, just starting out really and my mission is to get an interview with Mr Henrikson himself. What better way to get the first magazine noticed then having him on the front cover.”
“That would certainly help you but what would be in it for Mr Henrikson?”
“Umm.” My brain froze like someone had chucked a spanner in my cogs. A simple idea popped out of my mouth. “Coverage for him and his business’”
“He already has enough coverage and he also has enough money to buy it if he needed to.”
“Oh right. Of course.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
She simply dismissed the reason I was here and changed the subject. They clearly trained their receptionists to get rid of people in a professional manor. “Could you point me in the direction of the toilets?”
“They are right behind you on the other side of the lobby. Past the metal detectors and guards.” She gave me a look which made me think she knew I was up to something.
I looked over my shoulder as she pointed behind me. Two dark brown doors sat in the wall. “Thank you.” I gave her a smile before heading over to the other side of the lobby. On my way I noticed the commotion had gone. Instead the dog that had been the centre of the argument sat patiently outside. Not looking through the glass for its owner. Simply sitting there, minding its own business. As I got closer I even noticed it was tied up.
I pushed open the wooden door as I came to the wall. Stepping into the men’s toilets gave me the same effect as walking into the lobby. One long mirror made up the wall on the left. Urinals with golden metal work sat in the wall to the right. Cubicles sat along the back. I headed for a cubicle, noticing the golden taps on the sinks to my left. My mind wandered off, wondering how the rest of the building looked.
Once inside the small toilet room I locked the door and sat down on the toilet lid. My head dropped into my hands and I wondered what I expected to happen. That they would just wave their hand at me and send me straight through to speak to one of the most successful businessmen in the city. Maybe even the country.
I was so stupid. My self-loathing la
sted for at least five minutes. That’s when my misery was cut short by a loud, high-pitched ringing noise. The bathroom was filled by the noise. I exited the cubicle and ran to the door. I opened it just enough to peer out into the lobby.
All the guards were shouting at each other, some were even showing people out through the front entrance. My feet went to move, to take me outside with the others. Then my mind popped in the opposite thought. This was my only chance to get past the guards and see if I could find some information.
So I waited until everyone was looking the other way. Rushing out from the bathroom and hopping the rope, practically speeding up the escalator. When I got to the top I halted, stepping to the side and hiding behind a wall.
Standing there in silence waited to see if anyone saw me. When the silence was only filled with a few of my heartbeats I moved from the wall. Keeping to the left I found the closest elevator. Taking a quick look out the wall of glass at the back of the building before moving into the suspended box.
I hit the top button. As the doors closed the ringing alarm got worse. It bounced around the metal walls until the doors finally opened. I stepped out, my ears ringing. The room I found myself in was long. I would have called it a corridor if wasn’t so wide. My shoes squeaked on the shiny floor. The alarm didn’t seem to be sounding on this floor. I couldn’t even hear it from the rest of the building.
To the left was the same wall of glass. It must scale the whole side. From the street it just looked like the black material of the building. I moved slowly, trying to reduce the noise my steps made on the floor.
I came to a more open area. Sitting to the right was a reception desk without the receptionist. She clearly hadn’t come down the elevator and this floor seemed to only have the one. The seats to the left sat along the glass wall.
Opposite was a large door. A small gold plaque on the wall told me it was Mr Henrikson’s office. He must feel like a king sitting on top of a building like this. My body tensed as I came closer to the door, pressing my ear up against it. There was nothing but silence on the other side.
I risked it and slowly pushed it open. My head popped through the gap. On the other side of the door was an office. Using the word large would have been an understatement. I couldn’t see anyone so I took a step inside, letting the door slowly shut behind me with a thud that echoed around the high ceiling.
My eyes soaked in my environment. The only thing sitting on the massive floor was a wide desk and a few chairs. One of which was a big leather chair. Clearly reserved only for Henrikson himself.
All kinds of objects were either on shelves or display cabinets that been sunk back into the walls. The floor and the walls seemed to be made from the same shiny black material as the building. I moved across the floor, staring up at the white ceiling above. A single string of shiny balls led down to a chandelier light fitting. It looked very expensive.
The desk was black and shiny just like the little stage it sat on. The height put Henrikson higher than anyone sitting opposite him. A tactic for business no doubt. Ignoring the desk and the computer that sat upon it for now. Instead I looked out the massive window that made up the final wall.
Sticking out from the building were two tunnels. I couldn’t see doors for them but they ended in a platform. Sitting there with its rotors spinning was a helicopter. That’s when five people came out of a tunnel. One of them was a woman who seemed elderly from this distance.
She led the way to the helicopter. The other four were men. Three of them surrounding a man in a suit who was no doubt Mr Henrikson. They were leaving the building thanks to the alarm.
I may have wanted to chat with him but now I was left alone with his computer and this didn’t seem the time to try and get an interview. But, maybe I could get better information from his computer than I would from the man himself. As the flying vehicle left the pad with everyone that I’d seen, I spun on the floor and climbed up to the desk.
Sitting in the comfy leather chair I hit the keyboard, bringing the monitor to life. Then a box came up asking for a username and password. Luckily I had enough training in computers to know that there’s always a back door.
My fingers sped over the keyboard. Hitting keys, watching the screen fill with boxes full of characters, numbers and letters. Finally I hit the enter button and the password box disappeared.
My hand slipped onto the mouse. I moved the little white cursor around the screen. I fished through his computer settings. Finding the C drive and opening it. All his files came tumbling down. I skimmed through them. Unfortunately they were all the boring kind of files you would expect a business man to have.
Exiting out of that I looked again. Interestingly, I found another drive near the bottom. It had no name, just a few dots. I opened it up immediately being greeted by another password screen.
This one was different from the last. It seemed higher tech which peaked my interest even more. Digging into my pocket I pulled out a flash drive. Sticking it into the computer tower sitting by my leg I started downloading the drive. The drive might be password protected but this flash drive was just as high-tech.
I could take it to my friend from the paper. He was better equipped to break this kind of lock. Once it was complete I took the memory stick and hid it in my sock. I didn’t want a guard finding it if I was caught. I stood from the chair and exited the office. Walking towards the elevator my mind thought everything had gone smooth enough. I rode the elevator down through the many levels of the building in silence. The alarm must have been shut off.
My heart suddenly jumped into my throat when it started to slow down twelve floors from the lobby. The doors opened and I held my breath, ready for the squad of guards with guns. Only, there was no one there. The hallway was completely empty. The doors shut and the elevator started moving again.
It moved down to level ten, the descent stopping for a second time. The doors opened and once again there was an empty space in front of me. No sound came from any of the rooms that went off from the corridor.
I watched the doors close and I started descending down to the lobby once more. The numbers changed above the door. Changing to nine then to eight. The box slowed down once again. My breath stayed normal. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone this time. Maybe it was just procedure when the alarm had been sounded. The doors opened.
Then a figure came bursting through the small gap. He spun, ramming his finger against the close doors button. My face was frozen with a look of shock and fear. Who the hell was this man?
The doors started closing just as there was a loud bang followed by the twang of metal on metal. There came three more noises before the doors were shut and the elevator moved once more.
I stared at the man who was breathing very hard. He wasn’t wearing the smartest of clothes but the only reason the word tramp came to mind was the long hair and the beard covering most of his face.
He turned and looked at me. That’s when I recognised him as the man from the lobby. He was the one arguing about his dog. “What are you looking at?” His voice came out rough like he chain-smoked every day.
“Nothing.” I looked away and stared up at the numbers as they slowly changed.
I could feel his eyes still on me. “What are you doing here? You should have been evacuated when I set the alarm off.”
“That was you?”
“Answer the question.” He turned to me, showing his wide, intimidating build. If he was a tramp then he managed to keep himself in shape.
“I needed some information. Took the advantage of the alarm and sneaked past the guards in the lobby. What are you doing here?”
“You’re asking a stranger who you know set off an alarm in a highly secured building what he’s doing? You’re either stupid or a reporter.”
“I am a reporter, sort of.”
“Oh.” He didn’t seem to care what I was. “So what were you looking for?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“Fine but you should heed your own advice and keep your nose out of my business.” With that said he turned to look back at the doors. My own eyes looked up at the numbers above the doors. It had switched to the number two when the box stopped suddenly. When the doors didn’t open I started to worry. “What’s going on?”
“Shut up.”
I shut my mouth and stayed quiet, slipping further into the corner. The tramp just stood there. His breathing was slow and controlled, the opposite to what mine was. Nothing happened for what seemed like a lifetime.
Then there was a loud bang and the elevator started moving down. The number changed from two to one and the box stopped with a grand smash. The whole box shook like we were trapped between a giant’s hands. The hairy man turned to me, “This is going to get rough.”
“What?” Before he could answer the doors opened, revealing a squad of guards camped out in front of the elevator. Their pistols all pointed in our direction.
One near the front shouted at us, his voice bouncing around the inside of the metal box. “Drop any weapons who have and step out of the elevator, slowly.”
I was prepared to step out but my way was blocked by this stranger. The guard looked angry at our lack of response to his words. “I won’t give you another chance to surrender. Step out and we’ll go easy on you.”
Still the man didn’t budge. My heart was beating in my throat. I was finding it hard to breath being face to face with a firing squad. The trampy looking guy on the other hand didn’t seem bothered. He didn’t seem to mind that he could be shot down within a second.
My eyes moved from the group of guards to the back of the man’s head, then back again. The guard opened his mouth, an angry look etched into his skin. “Fire.” Before I could even blink there was a loud bark before I saw a dog leaping through the air. It was the one from outside. It had come like the man had some kind of link with it.
The canine’s jaws gripped the guard’s arm, tearing his words into a scream of pain. Before anyone could react to the dog’s attack the man was moving out of the elevator. He moved like a ballerina with a shotgun. With both gracefulness and ferocity.