As each week of his job goes by, Daniel gets to explore the various properties on his security round. Instead of just hanging around like many of the other guards do, he undertakes his job diligently and gets out of the vehicle to check each building is secure, taking time to walk around and check every door and window.
Out of the sixty-two premises on his nightly round is a former furniture store. The electricity is still connected to the alarm system. And the water supply connected to ensure the sprinkler system can operate in the event of a fire.
One night, while checking around the back of the store, Daniel discovered concrete steps leading down and using a key marked 'basement', he found what he presumed was an apartment, previously used by the store manager.
It consists of one bedroom, a kitchen, bathroom and toilet.
The kitchen has a washing machine, oven, and a fridge freezer, although all turned off. In the lounge, there is a sofa and two chairs. The bedroom has a king-size bed.
The only downside to being a basement is it has no windows.
There are two points of access to the basement. The first is via a door from the back of the furniture store. The other way is from a driveway behind the store into a small private courtyard.
Last year, Daniel's bedsit was flooded when the tenant upstairs forgot to turn off the bath and it overflowed, making it impossible for Daniel to stay there. With nowhere else to live he moved into the furniture store basement apartment on a temporary basis for two weeks.
He only stayed until he was able to find a new bedsit as he didn't want to do anything that might jeopardise his job.
When Daniel used the apartment, the courtyard area was in a dire state.
He tidied it up while he was there. The locks and hinges on the outer door from the driveway were rusted up so he sprayed them with WD40. He dug up all the weeds pushing up between the concrete. And where he thought it needed it, he added a lick of paint.
Buying groceries from the nearby corner shop, Daniel got talking to the elderly owner. Daniel didn’t mention the fact he had temporarily moved in. Instead he said he patrolled the property each night.
"Times change," said the man. “Before the furniture store, it had been a department store and the basement used as Santa's Grotto at Christmas. But,” he added, “sadly those glory days are long gone. When I retire next year this place will probably become a coffee shop. That's all people want nowadays."
Chapter Fifteen
10.30pm and Daniel has taken a short break from his night security round to drive over to the house where the twins live with their parents.
Daniel wants to find out more about the twins and what they are interested in, so when he meets them they will think they have similar interests and he can get to know them.
Before he came to the UK, Daniel worked for an alarm company that specialised in fitting intruder alarms to houses and commercial properties. He is aware both the Mitten residence and the house next door have weak points in their security.
He uses the solid wood bin storage unit in next door's garden to climb over the fence into the Mittens’ garden. There is coverage from the trees and bushes almost all the way to the house.
For Daniel, the problem is the kitchen being on the left of the property this is the place they spend most of their time. But the lounge is the best he can do without being caught.
The HY929 high-strength wall microphone he purchased online is so powerful you can listen through the wall and Daniel attached an audio device to record their conversations. It only records for two days before he needs to exchange the battery and repeat the process.
So he comes back every two nights and exchanges the battery and micro SD card, takes them back to his bedsit, transfers everything onto his computer, and listens to what they have been saying.
On one of the recordings, he learns the girls are trying to become models and online celebrities. They are excited because their new agent and business manager Miles Tyler thinks he can persuade the producers he has been negotiating with to include the girls as part of a forthcoming reality TV show. All will be confirmed in a few days.
Daniel doesn't understand much about such things but he will make sure to find out.
But what makes him sad is the show will be recorded in a place called Brighton, which he has never heard of. This means the girls will be away from home for two or three months. But at least he will be able to see them on TV.
Chapter Sixteen
Erica and Leona Mitten are in their element. Today is Saturday the second of February and it is their eighteenth birthday. They are celebrating the event at their favourite place to party, The Alley Club in Trentbridge where they are the centre of attention, something they always enjoy.
The place is buzzing and filled with their friends. They are also celebrating some exciting news from their newly appointed business manager and agent Miles Tyler.
He called them this morning to confirm he has secured slots for them on a new reality TV show.
He's told both the girls, "Trust me. After this, your careers will take off like a rocket."
Chapter Seventeen
The TV execs are ecstatic. Ratings for their reality dating show 'The Game of Love' are going through the roof. A huge success from the first episode, aired on Valentine’s Day the fourteenth of February 2019.
Each week one contestant will be voted off and in the final episode the winning couple will share a prize of £50,000.
The six guys and six girls aged between eighteen and twenty-eight have been set up in a boutique hotel in Brighton. Each has their own room. There
