Sarah shrugged off his grip. ‘He’s fine,’ she hissed. ‘I wanted to help you.’
Dan shook his head. ‘It wasn’t Mitch I was worried about,’ he said.
Sarah smirked. ‘I know. I told him to create a scene if any of the security guards looked like they were heading this way. What’s the plan?’
Dan looked down the hallway. ‘Try a door I guess.’
He put his champagne glass down on an ornate dresser to one side of the landing, and then wandered along the hallway. He kept close to the wall and tested the door handles as he went. Three of the rooms led to what appeared to be guest bedrooms, the next one a lounge area with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the airport and docks in the far distance.
Sarah tapped him on the shoulder. ‘What are you looking for?’ she whispered.
Dan glanced along the hallway, then turned to her. ‘A man like Delaney won’t keep all his secrets at the office. He must have a study or something at home. And I’ll bet it’s locked.’
Sarah nodded and gestured for him to continue, looking behind her as they carried on. They passed a large media room, the surfaces of various appliances glinting in the reflection of the light from the hallway, then stopped at the next door. Dan twisted the handle. It held fast. He turned and nodded at Sarah.
Taking a small multi-tool from his pocket, he pushed a sliver of steel into the lock and moved it from side to side. He figured it worked in the movies, so it was worth a try. He glanced up at Sarah. The dress suited her, he thought, the peach tones complementing her pale skin.
She stared intently at his hands, holding her breath as he worked the lock, then realised he was watching her. ‘What?’
Dan nodded his head towards the empty hallway. ‘Keep watch – we can’t risk anyone seeing us here.’
She nodded, turning her back to him. He risked another glance at the dress, smiling to himself as he worked.
‘Dan – there’s someone coming!’ Sarah hissed.
He looked up from the door, just as the lock clicked open. A man and woman had just left one of the rooms and were walking towards them along the hallway, talking and laughing. Sarah glanced at Dan, fear in her eyes.
He improvised.
Grabbing Sarah’s hand, he laughed and dragged her into the room after him, pulled her into an embrace and planted a lingering kiss on her lips. He looked up and winked at the couple as they passed the room, then slammed the door shut.
As the door closed behind her, Sarah pulled away from Dan, stunned. Then she slapped him across the face, hard.
‘Hey!’
‘What the hell are you doing?’ she hissed, flicking on the light switch.
Dan rubbed his cheek, blinking in the sudden light. ‘They would’ve found it suspicious, us sneaking around like that – now they won’t think twice about what they just saw,’ he said, glaring at her, then laughed, seeing the confused look on her face. ‘Don’t tell me you thought I was serious.’
Sarah stared at him. ‘S-sorry. I – no,’ she stumbled, then pushed past him into the room, trying to look busy.
Dan grinned to himself and shrugged. It was a good kiss. He looked around the room, which appeared to be Delaney’s private office.
‘Bingo,’ he murmured. ‘Right,’ he said, pulling two sets of gloves out of his pocket and handing a pair to Sarah, ‘use these. Move things carefully. Put things back where you found them,’ he added.
‘What are we looking for?’ she asked, slipping the gloves on and wandering over to a bookshelf.
Dan walked over to an ornate hardwood desk and switched on a small lamp, illuminating papers, reports, files. ‘Everything and anything. Photos, business cards, the lot. Has your phone got a camera function?’
Sarah nodded, patting her bag.
‘OK, get it out and for Christ’s sake, make sure you’ve got it switched to silent and the flash is off. We’ll just have to hope the detail shows up without it.’
Chapter 20
Dan angled the lamp’s beam so it avoided the blinds on the windows. He sat down in the chair behind the desk. The seat swallowed his tall athletic body, creating a sudden awareness of the sheer enormity and power of Delaney.
He glanced across the room at Sarah. She turned documents over, frowning and then photographing the occasional page if it warranted further investigation. He smiled to himself. Sarah hadn’t asked him how he’d known how to break into the room, which was just as well – he wasn’t sure himself how that had happened so easily – but he was happy to take advantage of a bit of luck every now and then.
He looked back down at the desk surface, reached out and ran his fingers along the dark mahogany wood.
He pushed the chair away from the desk – three drawers were fitted on each side, with ornate metal handles protruding from the wood. He started on the left-hand side. He held the handle of the top drawer between his finger and thumb and tugged it gently. Locked. He repeated the process with the remaining two drawers and then turned to his right and began again. All were locked.
Dan slouched back in the chair, thinking hard. He glared at the desk. Then he saw something. He slid off the chair. A thick rug covered the carpet under the desk and chair to prevent it being worn through. He knelt on it and peered at the desk more closely.
Then he grinned. Poking out between the surface of the desk and the lip of the top drawer was the corner edge of a slip of paper. He raised his head above the surface of the desk and called gently.
‘Sarah?’
‘Hmmm?’
‘How long are your fingernails?’
She stopped, a document turned halfway in her hand, and glanced round to look at him. ‘What?’
‘Come and see this. I need your help.’
He ducked back behind the desk. He looked up as Sarah joined him, then pointed to the corner of the page protruding from the desk. ‘Can you get that?’