of metal stuck inside. I pulled the door and felt it give.
I opened it a fraction, half-expecting the sound of an alarm. Nothing. I grinned at Kelly, who was right up against the wall with me, very excited. I closed the door again to keep the light in.
'When we get in, you mustn't touch anything un less I tell you, OK?' She nodded.
There's a world outside that is full of mud and shit, and there's a world inside that is clean, and if you don't want to be compromised, you don't combine the two. I took off the coveralls, turned them inside out, and deposited them in the bag.
I then took off my shoes and stuck them into the bag. I put on a pair of running shoes, which meant that not only could I move quickly and silently inside but also I wouldn't be leaving a trail of mud everywhere.
I took off Kelly's coat, put it on the right way, and got her to take off her shoes and shove them in the bag.
I had one last check around the area to make sure I hadn't left
anything.
'We're going to go inside now, Kelly. This is going to be the first time a little girl has done spying like this ever ever ever. But you must do what I say, OK?'
She accepted the mission.
I picked up the bag, and we moved over to the left-hand side of the door.
'When I open this, just walk in a couple of steps and give me enough room to come in behind you, OK?'
'OK.'
I didn't want to tell her what to do if anything went wrong, because I didn't want to get her frightened. I just wanted to make it sound as if everything I did was going to work.
'After three one, two, three.' I opened the door halfway, and she went right in. I followed, closed the door, and put the lock back on. Done: we were inside.
We followed the corridor, looking now for the staircase to the second floor. I had the bag on my left shoulder. Through glass doors at the end of the corridor I could see the front of the building. It was a large, open-office area with everything I'd have expected to see: desks, filing cabinets, and rubber plants with name tags. To the left and right of us there were other offices and a copying room. The air-conditioning was still on.
I found the stairs behind unlocked swing doors on the left of the corridor. Gently so that it didn't squeak, I pulled one of them open and let Kelly through. There was no light in the stairwell. I switched on the Maglite and shined the beam on the stairs. We climbed slowly.
Quiet as we were, the stairwell was an echo chamber, and to Kelly the red light must have made everything look scary.
She said, 'Nick, I don't like this!'
'Shhh! It's OK. Don't worry about it your dad and I used to do this all the time.' I grabbed her hand, and we carried on.
We got to the door. It would open toward us because it was a fire exit. I put down the bag, put my lips up to Kelly's ear, and went, 'Shhh,' trying to make it all exciting.
I slowly eased the door open an inch and looked into the corridor. Same as downstairs, the lights were on and every thing seemed deserted. I listened, opened the door more to let Kelly through, and pointed where I wanted her to go and stand. She was a lot happier to be in the light.
I put the bag down next to her.
'Wait there a minute.' I turned right, past the rest rooms and an area that housed the Coke, water, and coffee machines. Next was another photo copy room. I went to the fire-escape door, pulled it toward me, undid the latch, and checked that it would open. I already knew there was nothing on the other side to obstruct it because I'd just been fucking around below it. If there was a drama, we had an escape route.
I picked up the bag again, and we started to walk along the corridor toward the front of the building. We came to the same sort of glass doors as on the floor below, which opened up into the open area. I could see all the workstations, and around the edge there were other offices, all glass-fronted.
Obviously the managers liked to keep an eye on everyone.
The windows that fronted the office block were maybe fifty feet away. Light from the street and the corridor gave the whole area an eerie glow. To the right was another glass door that led into another corridor.
I knew what I was looking for, but I didn't know where I'd find it; all I knew was that it certainly wouldn't be in this part of the building.
I looked down and smiled at Kelly. She was as happy as a clam, just as her dad would have been. Keeping well away from the windows, we walked to the other side of the open area toward the glass door.
There was all the normal office stuff: a bulletin board with targets to be reached, pictures of the salesman of the year, and a thank-you card from somebody who'd just had a baby. Most desks had a small frame with pictures of the family, and everywhere I looked there were motivational posters, shit like: WINNERS NEVER QUIT, QUITTERS NEVER WIN, Or YOU
CANNOT DISCOVER NEW OCEANS UNTIL YOU HAVE THE
courage to lose sight of the shore. I had to stop and read them. The only one I'd seen before was of a big pen of sheep all closed up together, and it said, either lead, follow, or get out of the way. It was on the wall of the HQ of the SAS, and had been there for years. It seemed to me to be the only one you needed.
We went through the glass doors. The corridor was about ten feet wide, with plain white walls and not a poster or potted plant in sight--just a large fire extinguisher near the door. The sudden brightness of the lighting made me close my eyes until they adjusted. There were no more doors, but about thirty feet farther down was a T- intersection. I could see offices. We walked down to them; I put down the bag and motioned Kelly to stay with it.
'Remember, don't touch a thing.'
The handle on the door of each office was a large metal knob with a pin-tumbler lock in the middle. I tested each one, pulling the handle toward me so as not to make any noise, then gently trying to turn it. There were seven offices in this corridor area; all of them were locked. That was nothing special in itself; it just meant that I'd have to use the lock-pick gun on each one in turn.
I went back to the bag. Kelly was standing beside it, desperate for a job. I said, 'Kelly, you've really got to help me now. I want you to stand where I tell you, and you've got to tell me if anyone's coming, all right? I've got to do exactly what I did outside and I still need your help, OK?'
I was getting nod after nod. I kept going: 'It's really important;
it's the most important job tonight. And we've both got to be really, really quiet, OK?'
Another nod. I moved her into position.
'I want you to stand on the corner here. Your job is also to look after that bag, because there's a lot of important stuff in it. If you see anything, just tap me on the shoulder like before.'
She nodded, and I got out the lock-pick gun.
I got to the first door and started to squeeze. I opened it with the tension wrench and popped my head in, made sure I couldn't see any windows, and turned on the light. It was basically just one office, quite large, about twenty feet by fifteen, a couple of telephones, a picture of the worker's wife, a couple of filing cabinets, very basic furniture. Nothing resembling what I was looking for. I didn't check the filing cabinets--the first look is nothing more than a once-over;
you don't want to spend ages in one location only to find out that what you want is sitting on a desk in the room next door.
I didn't relock the door because I might have to go back in.
I looked at Kelly, still at her post; I stuck my thumb up and she grinned. She had a big job to do.
I went into office number two. Exactly the same, normal office shit: the year planner with different-colored bits of tape on it, signs stating that there was a strict no-smoking policy, and individual mugs of coffee. People's offices are a reflection of themselves; that's why on a job like this it's so important that nothing be left out of place. They would notice immediately.
I continued down the corridor and went to number three.
The same. Four: the same. I was starting to feel I was on a wild-goose chase.
Now for the other three offices; I crossed over the T, and as I passed Kelly she tried to look even more hard at work. I gave her another thumbs-up and went to number five.
