Chapter 9

“Okay, wait.” Caitlyn physically put herself in front of me. I stepped around her and kept walking towards the Admin Building. “Trent, stop. Think about this.”

“If I think about it, I may decide not to do it.”

“Yes! That’s the point!” She grabbed onto my wrist and jerked me to a stop. “Ignoring all of the laws you’d be breaking if you did this, how the hell do you think you’re even going to pull it off? The office is open. People are inside it. Do you think you’re just going to dart in there like a ninja and find Josh’s information without anyone seeing you?”

“I’m not sure. I’m still trying to formulate a plan.” I pulled out of her grasp and kept walking.

“At the very least, wait until tonight, where everyone’s gone and you’re not at such a risk to get caught.” She laughed harshly. “Look at me. I’m encouraging a crime. I don’t even know why I want to become a lawyer.”

“If we wait until tonight, all the computers will be off, and I have no idea how to hack one. I need to get in there while everyone’s logged in.” I looked up at the building. The Registrar’s office was on the third, and top, floor, with its windows overlooking the quad. There had to be, what, a half-dozen people or so working in it, though given how early it still was, that number may be a bit lower. I had to find a way to get them out of there. “I need a distraction. Pull the fire alarm or something.”

“That won’t work.” Cameron came up behind us, holding his drone under his arm. “You pull the alarm; everyone will take their sweet time getting out. They’ll lock their computers and probably the door as well. No, you need something that will get them out of the office as fast as they possibly can.”

Cait and I both looked at him. “And what would that be?” she asked uneasily.

Cameron pointed at the building with his skinny arms. “It’s an old building, right? Probably barely up to code. If we can trick them into thinking it’s about to collapse, they'll hightail it out of there like Olympic sprinters.”

A wide grin came across my face. I was really beginning to like this guy. “And how do you propose we make them think the building is falling apart?”

He held up the drone. “With this. We just need to find a way to get it into the space above the third-floor ceiling. The rest will be easy.”

“Well then what are we waiting for?” I started a brisk walk that turned into a jog and then a full-on sprint. I reached the building in a minute, and then waited another minute for the other two to catch up to me. “Took you long enough.”

“Damn it, Trent,” Caitlyn muttered between gasps. “We all aren’t fitness addicts like you.”

Cameron, wheezing hard, nodded. “Maybe I should start.”

“You guys catch your breath. I’ll go in alone and take a look.”

“You don’t…” another gasp “…want us to come in with you?”

“The three of us all looking at the ceiling, while you two struggle to catch your breath? That might look a bit suspicious. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” I went into the building and up the stairs to the third floor.

I was alone in the hall. I looked up to the white plaster ceiling, about fifteen feet above, trying to see if there were any sort of trapdoor or vent that we could put the drone in. I couldn’t find anything.

But there had to be some sort of way up there—it’s not like the crawlspace was entirely sealed up. I looked around. There was a bit of activity coming from the large open door leading into Registrar’s office to my right, but nothing from the three closed ones to my left. Trying to look as casual as possible, I tried each of them, only to find them all locked. Damn it.

“Are you looking for something?” I was trying to open a door at the far end of the hall when one of the janitors came towards me, a spray bottle and cloth in his hand. “This room is off limits for students.”

“Right, yes, sorry,” I said. “I was trying to find the bathroom.”

He pulled some keys out from his pocket and used one of them to open the door. “It’s a floor down, next to the stairs.” As he stepped into the room, I could see that it was a combination cleaning closet/break room, with a bunch of mops and supplies along the wall, a table and chairs in the middle, and a microwave toward the back. I tried to get a glimpse of the ceiling, but he was already in and closing the door on me.

I took a few steps away, as though I was going to use the washroom, and tried to figure out my next move. It came to me pretty quickly. I ran back down the stairs to where Caitlyn and Cameron were still waiting, now having regained their breath. “Did you find anything?” Cameron asked.

“Not yet, but I have an idea. In five minutes, come up to the third floor and knock on the final door to your left.”

“Third floor, final door. Got it.”

“Great.” I ran back up the stairs to the second floor and found the bathroom. It was thankfully empty. I worked the paper towel dispenser as hard as I could, until I had about fifteen feet of it in my hands. Then I ran to the final stall, dropped it all in the toilet and pressed on the handle. It began to flush, but the thick paper clogged it up. I pressed the handle again, and the water began to rise. This wasn’t one of the better things I’d ever done, but it was necessary.

I ran out of the bathroom and back up to the third floor, where I pounded on the janitor’s door. He opened it, glaring at me. “What?”

“Really sorry to bother you, but a toilet in the men’s room is flooding.” I bit my tongue to keep from adding, “And I have no idea how it happened.”

He muttered something along the lines of “Stupid kids” under his breath and closed the door. A few seconds later he opened it again, mop and bucket in hand, and walked right past me, letting the door close behind him. I stuck my foot out, blocking it from latching. He was already halfway down the hall.

I slipped into the room and closed the door. It didn’t take me long to spot what I was looking for: while most of the ceiling was made of hard plaster, there was a loose panel, about two feet by three feet, in the far corner. I grabbed a stepladder and used it to get just high enough that I could reach up and press the panel. It took a bit of exertion, but I was able to lift it right out of its resting place.

There was a knock on the door. I came down the stepladder and opened it. Caitlyn and Cameron walked in, the former showing a worried expression on her face and the latter looking as giddy as though he was at Disneyland. “Do we have an in?” he asked, his eyes darting around the room.

I pointed to the panel in the ceiling. “We have something. I was able to push it up, but I’m not sure where it leads.”

He walked over to the ladder and climbed up it. He reached up and pushed the panel, though his head was still a good three feet from the ceiling. “I need to see up there. Trent, how would you feel about me climbing up on your shoulders?”

“What do you weigh?” I asked.

“Um, about 150.”

“I’m fine with it.” I moved over to the step ladder as he hopped off.

“Hang on,” Caitlyn said. “You’re going to carry him while you’re on the stepladder?” She scoffed and shook her head. “You guys are just… if you fall and break your necks, don’t expect me to help you.”

“Of course not,” I said. I climbed up to the top of the ladder and crouched down. “You can sue for us, though.”

Cameron stepped up the ladder and carefully positioned his legs around my shoulders, so that he was sitting on them. He patted my head. “Ready when you are—ahh!” I stood up, holding his legs against my body to keep him from falling back. “That’s good… I’m through!”

I looked up to see his head and chest well above the ceiling level. “What’s up there?” I asked.

“I can’t see much, but it’s definitely tight. I doubt a full-grown adult could get from one end to the other.”

“But can your drone?”

“Easily. Caitlyn, can you pass me it, please?” He reached down as Cait brought over the drone and gingerly handed it up to him like she was feeding a hungry lion. As soon as he grabbed it, she retreated five steps. “Now the Registrar’s Office is down the hall, right? So, I just need to… There we go.”

I heard the drone come to life above me, and then fly off. Cameron was silent for about a minute, at which point I got a bit worried. “Is everything okay up there?”

“Oh yeah. Just trying to position it so it hits the ceiling nice and hard. How are you holding up down there? Any risk of you dropping me?”

“None. I deadlift twice your weight on an off day.”

“About half those words make sense to me.” He was silent for another twenty seconds. “Okay, here we go…”

A thump sounded from the ceiling, not very loudly from where I was standing, but the fact that I could hear it at all meant it would be hard to miss for those right under. Another thump followed, and then a third.

“Guys.” Caitlyn was at the door, holding it slightly ajar and peeking out. “They’re starting to leave. No, scratch that. They’re rushing out. You’d swear the sky was falling.”

“We have to move,” I said. “Cam, can you get the drone back here?”

“Already on it. You can let me down; I’ll be able to control it the rest of the way.”

I crouched down and he climbed off of me. As soon as he was standing on the ladder, I jumped off and rushed out of the janitor’s room and into the Registrar’s office, which still had a wide-open door.

The office was empty, save for a little bit of plaster falling from the ceiling. I weaved through the desks, looking for a logged-in computer. It didn’t take me long to find one. I sat down and started looking on the desktop for an appropriate file.

I spotted one called STDNT_DB. Bingo. I clicked it and was met with a loading screen. As the progress bar slowly filled up, I kept my eye on the door. I’d figured Cameron’s diversion would buy me at least five minutes, but there were no guarantees.

Half a minute later the database opened, and I was given a wide list of parameters to search through. I chose first and last name: Josh Driscoll. Again, more loading.

“Trent!” Caitlyn was in the doorway. “They’ll be back any second! Hurry!”

“I’m going as fast as I can.” The database was still loading. I stood up, ready to make a run.

Josh’s information finally showed up on the screen, in expandable categories. Name, age, date of birth, high school, current status (I expanded it: “Dropped”)… and there it was. Medical information. I expanded it and was met with a sizeable list.

“We have to go!” Caitlyn hissed. “Come on!”

I barely heard her. I stood, staring at the screen, my mouth open, as I tried to take in Josh’s file. Several suicide attempts in past four years… hospitalized for two weeks… prescribed anti-depressants… parents have legal guardianship…

“That’s it, I’m getting out of here,” Caitlyn said. “I can’t afford to be caught doing this—”

“I’m done.” I clicked out of the database and ran out of the office.

Just as I was stepping out of the door, the doors to the stairs started to open. I grabbed Caitlyn’s hand and pressed my lips against hers. She caught on immediately and kissed me back.

“Um, excuse me.” An older woman was staring at us. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve been told to vacate the floor. There are some issues with the ceiling.”

“Oh no!” I said, feigning my best concern. “Thank you for letting us know!”

Still holding Cait’s hand, I walked past the office workers and down the stairs. As soon as we were out of their range, she turned and slapped me. “What the hell was that?”

“A way for us to not get caught. Didn’t you want that?”

“I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to have your gross mouth touching mine.”

We reached the bottom and stepped back into the morning air. Cameron was leaning up against the wall, drone and controller in his hands. “Yeah, well, just be glad I didn’t use tongue,” I smirked.

I fully deserved the pound she gave my shoulder.