Carefully, I peered out from behind the pillar. Black and Tan had arrived on the scene five minutes ago, and were now chatting amicably in the lobby area. There were four men and two women. I recognized three of them immediately; they had been in the profiles Mr Hood drew up and which Jasper and I went over in his apartment. Maggie Adams, Park Seol-Hee and Oliver Griffith-Jones. The fact that the head security wasn't among them made me uneasy - that meant he was probably somewhere else, and he looked to be the last person I wanted to stumble into when I turned a corner of the hallway. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the last person.

The six-person group sat on comfortable couches, shoes sunk deep into the lush carpet, blissfully unaware of the fact that two other parties were shadowing them.

"They seem to be waiting for someone," I whispered into my earpiece. 

"Yes," came William's reply. "Jasper just sent out a command to his inside man - wait for the Octagon chairman."

"Who's his inside man? I don't see anyone else except me here hiding behind a pillar. Unless they've developed Harry Potter's invisible cloak or something."

"He's the one walking toward the coffee table now."

I looked at the newcomer. My eyes widened and immediately the fifth profile Mr Hood had collected came to me.

"That's Blake Jones! He's supposed to be on Black and Tan's side!"

"Not anymore," came Damian's soft murmur. "Jasper got to him two days ago and he's now our man."

"Looks like Jasper struck much earlier than we thought."

Suddenly, all the men around the coffee table stood up. I followed their line of sight.

And saw a woman. Tall, with a wickedly blonde pixie cut, dressed in a white pantsuit that had its cleavage cut slightly low. The men fell over themselves trying to shake her hand. For a moment I couldn't process what I was seeing.

A woman. In a leadership position. Of a criminal empire.

For a second an image flashed across my vision; me holding the will, me being lauded the savior. Me being made Blackcroft don. 

Blackcroft Manor being mine, and I could decorate my own bedroom as well as every other room in the house the hell of any color I like.

"Guys." William sounded like he was frowning. "I think Damian is trying to tell us something. But he can't speak because he's right next to Jasper. He can hear us though."

I pressed the earpiece closer to my ear. "What is he doing?"

"He keeps scratching his chin with a finger. I think he's trying to - is he pointing at someone? On his left? The people on his left?"

"Who's the people on his left?" Kaylan asked.

"Let me just adjust the cams - oh. Wow. Okay, I've got two teenage boys here, looking pretty young. I think they're brothers."

I immediately became alert. "Is that Do Re Mi?"

"Who?" William sounded bewildered.

"Damian will know. Is it Do Re Mi?"

"Okay, Damian just scratched his chin with middle finger and ring finger," William relayed. 

"Re and Mi," I breathed. "So where is Do?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the party began to move away. "William, Black and Tan are heading for the elevators."

"Yes, I see them. Emrys, how are things with you and Kaylan?"

"We've got our eyes on the door. It's pretty much a prison cell; there's a tiny grate there and I think I can see a boy lying on a bed. He isn't moving at all though. That's somewhat concerning."

"Okay. So everyone's in position. Hayley, you have Kaylan's dad's access card, right? Take the stairs. The exit door opens into the back of the storage floor. Be careful."

"Got it."

The storage floor turned out to be just a level above the basement. I swiped the access card, and when William gave the all clear, took a deep breath and pulled open the door slightly. I didn't dare open it too big, leaving a space only just enough for me to slip sideways through. At the last minute, I decided not to close the door fully, but let the bolt rest against the doorframe. A quick exit, just in case. I had barely turned around when William's voice screeched in my ear,

"Hayley, get down!"

I slammed so hard into the floor it was like I had suddenly decided to French kiss it.

"What happened?" came Kaylan's sharp demand.

"Shit!" That was the first time I had ever heard William swore. "Did he - no. Thank gods. Oh my Zeus. Oh my Hades wet panties."

Heart thudding in my chest, I forced my voice to be calm as I said, "William, you're not making sense. And I have my butt up in the air right now."

"Sorry. You can get up - but slowly. A low crouch. Don't stand up past the stack of boxes."

I crawled over to the boxes and pressed my back to it. "What happened?"

"Sorry. There's this dude who's got this really - huge, misshapen ears standing at a raised platform. His eyes are constantly flicking everywhere and he has a habit of suddenly snapping his head back to a certain direction. Jesus."

I winced. "That's - probably his name. Jesús Dimaggio. He looks nasty, doesn't he?"

"That's an understatement."

Carefully, I peeked out around the boxes. The storage floor had been included in the Octagon blueprints, but there hadn't been much details about it. Now I could see that it was a rather wide and vast space - not unlike a concrete bunker. Three large containers had been placed in a straight line across the room. Piles of boxes, both opened and unopened, were scattered around. The raised platform was in the middle of the room, and Black and Tan's head security stood upon it, arms crossed, like a presiding god of war. He looked even bigger in real life.

"Oh no." There was a note in William's voice that bordered closely on dread. "Two security guards just took up post the way you came in."

It took a second for that to sink in.

"If it's just two security guards, we can bust her out. Or maybe she can open the door really hard and smash it into their backs," Emrys suggested.

"They're both wearing kevlar vests and toting AK47s."

"So I can't go out the way we came in. And the only other entrance is the elevator in the middle of the room, which is just as, if not more, heavily guarded." My voice was a lot calmer than I thought. "So I'm trapped in here."

"It seems so," William said quietly. "For the time being."

There was a short silence.

I cleared my throat. "Well. The good news is, if I can't go out, Jasper can't come in. Whether by elevator or staircase, any entrance he chooses will alert Jesús Thundermuscles here, and by the time they hit this storage space, Black and Tan will be ready to rain hell on them. It's definitely not looking advantageous for Jasper."

I thought for a moment. "Where is Jasper?"

"They're still across the street and staring at the main building. I think they're waiting on Blake's signal. Damian, can you confirm that for me? You don't have to speak, just scratch your ear if yes." Another pause. "Okay, that's a yes then."

"How large is Jasper's entourage?"

"You know, for a mission to storm Octagon, not very. There's what - only 7 or 8 of them here?"

"Something's up." Kaylan's voice was tense. "Jasper is a cocky bastard, but he wouldn't go into this without pulling all stops. There's too much to lose."

I peered back around the boxes. "Black and Tan are pulling out boxes. I'm seeing lots and lots of documents and envelopes. They just brought out a shredder too. And - oh."

"Hayley?"

I inhaled sharply. Staring at the ebony black cylinder case now resting in the woman chairman's palm. Marked with an insignia that looked like a Jack-in-the-box toy, where Jack had been replaced by the letter "B".

"They have the will. It's here. I see it."

"So why isn't Jasper there?" Kaylan demanded. "Goddamn, even if they can't unlock the cylinder case, that thing ain't shredder-proof!"

At the same time, William was saying exasperatedly, "I keep feeling that Damian has something really really urgent to tell us, but he can't and it's driving him crazy - "

For a second what Kaylan had said didn't sink in. 

Then I blinked. "Kaylan, how do you know that the will is kept in a cylinder case - "

And all hell broke loose.

|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|

Did the author disappear for yet another somewhat long time? 

Yes she did, yes she did.

And did she come back because she finally felt guilty af?

Mhmm.

I'm amazed how you guys still put up with me :')

ALSO!

How's lockdown treating you all? My country is currently battling the third wave of covid, and honestly :') it's getting old. But seeing as how I have a roof over my head and a steady income, I can't complain :(( support your local small vendors, guys

ALSO YEET YEET ELECTION COUGH COUGH

I don't know much to take sides, but these few days have been a wild ride on social media wew ~ to my American readers, this is a step toward something new and potentially world-changing, so brace yourselves and find your footing during the ride ~

this one's for phantasiiiaaa! Happy November!