Chapter 42 Inside The Enemy’s Territory
Damien had the floor plan in eleven minutes.
He sent it to both our phones while we were still in the cab heading toward Callum Corporation… third floor layout, conference rooms marked, east wall of room B clearly visible in the architectural drawing my father had filed when he originally designed the building.
“Security runs a thirty second rotation on the third floor cameras,” Damien said over the phone. “I pulled the system specs from the building’s public maintenance records. Thirty seconds between sweeps.”
“That’s enough,” I said.
“Barely.” He paused. “Gerald’s PA called him four minutes ago. Building records show an incoming call from Callum Corporation’s main line to Gerald’s personal number. They know you’re coming.”
“Good,” I said.
Zael looked at me.
“If they’re watching the front they’re not watching conference room B,” I said.
“You’re using yourself as a distraction,” he said.
“I’m using my legal right to access my father’s building as a distraction.” I looked at the floor plan on my phone. “I walk in through the front. Claire’s estate injunction gives me grounds. I ask to speak to the building manager. I make noise. I take time.” I looked at Zael.
“You go up the service stairwell on the north side. Damien confirmed it’s camera-free between the second and third floor landings.”
“And if someone follows me up,” Zael said.
“Then Damien covers the corridor.” I met his eyes.
“Thirty seconds per camera sweep. You need ninety seconds in that room. Three sweeps. You can do that.”
He looked at the floor plan.
“The panel,” he said. “Second from the left on the east wall. Lower right corner.”
“Yes, lower right corner,” I confirmed. “Press and hold. It releases inward.”
He memorized it the way he did everything… fast, complete, no wasted energy.
“Ready?” he said.
“Ready.”
The building was exactly as I remembered from photographs.
My father’s name was still on the deed but Gerald’s aesthetic was everywhere… the lobby redesigned, the staff uniform changed, and the reception desk moved to a position that gave whoever sat behind it maximum visibility over everyone entering.
They saw me immediately.
I walked to the desk and placed Claire’s injunction notice on the surface before the receptionist could open her mouth.
“Seraphine Callum,” I said. “David Callum’s daughter. That document gives me legal access to any property under Callum Private Holdings effective this morning.” I looked at her directly. “I’d like to speak to your building manager.”
She picked up the phone.
While she called I kept my eyes on her and trusted that behind me Zael was moving toward the north stairwell with the quiet certainty of a man who had decided something and was doing it.
“The manager isn’t available,” the receptionist said.
“Then I’ll wait.”
“Ms. Callum…”
“I’ll wait.” I pulled out a chair from beside the desk and sat down. “Take your time.”
She made another call.
Then another.
Gerald’s people were good. Within four minutes two men in building security uniforms appeared from the corridor to my left… not aggressive, just present, positioned with the practiced ease of people who had been told to observe rather than intervene.
I observed them right back.
My phone vibrated against my palm.
Zael. One word.
Third floor.
I kept my expression completely neutral.
Another buzz.
Found the panel.
I stood up from the chair. “Actually I think I’d like to take a look at the third floor directly. The injunction covers full property access.”
The receptionist stood. “Ms. Callum I really need you to…”
“Third floor,” I said pleasantly. “My father designed this building. I’d like to see it.”
I moved toward the elevator.
One of the security men stepped forward.
My phone buzzed.
Panel open. Case inside.
I stopped walking.
Turned to the security man with the most reasonable expression I had available.
“I’m exercising a legal right,” I said. “If you physically obstruct me that becomes a separate matter entirely.”
He looked at his colleague.
My phone buzzed again.
Case secured. Coming down.
“You know what,” I said. “I think I’ve seen enough for today. Thank you for your time.”
I walked back to the front door.
The security men watched me go without moving… uncertain, which meant they hadn’t received clear instructions yet about what specifically they were supposed to do with a woman who had a court document and wasn’t doing anything technically illegal.
I pushed through the front door and onto the street.
Zael came out of the north side exit thirty seconds later.
He had a flat sealed case under his arm no larger than a laptop. He walked toward me without rushing and fell into step beside me as we moved away from the building entrance.
Neither of us spoke for half a block.
Then I exhaled.
“You got it,” I said.
“I got it.”
I looked at him. He looked at me. And something about the precise absurdity of what we had just pulled off… walking into Gerald’s building in broad daylight and walking back out with twenty years of hidden evidence under an arm, broke through everything we had both been holding for the past three hours.
He laughed.
Short. Genuine. The kind that arrived without permission.
I had never heard him laugh before.
It lasted two seconds and then we were moving again, turning the corner fast because Damien’s car was waiting and Gerald was somewhere behind us realizing what had just happened, and Zael’s hand found my arm to pull me around the corner and I turned with the momentum and we stopped.
Two inches apart.
His hand still on my arm.
My face turned up toward his.
He looked at me for exactly one second.
Then he kissed me.
Not soft. Not tentative. Not the careful managed version of something… the real thing, full and direct and completely without the professional distance that had stood between us since the day I walked into his office.
I kissed him back.
Because I had been wanting to since somewhere around week two and was finished pretending otherwise.
It lasted four seconds.
Then Damien’s car horn sounded once from the corner.
We pulled back.
Zael looked at me with an expression I had never seen from him… open, unguarded, entirely without the composure he used to keep the world at a distance.
“We should go,” he said.
“Yes,” I agreed.
Neither of us moved for another two seconds.
Then we ran.