Chapter 12

Adrian pulled the janitor's uniform over his head; the plainness of the clothes felt strange to his skin.

Javier had gotten him the cleaning job at Sinclair Industries. He would finally have the opportunity to once again see the woman who betrayed him.

He walked down the halls of Sinclair Industries with a broom in his hand, almost invisible, a shadow moving through the building, unseen.

People bustled to and fro about their business. No person gave him as much as a second glance, which is precisely what he wanted.

He was just another cleaner going about his work. But Adrian had a lot more on his mind.

He was on his way to Evelyn Sinclair's office.

He needed to find something-anything-that could help bring her down.

As he reached out to her office door, Adrian reached for his keycard. It was a standard issue for employees like him, a pass to the areas he needed to clean-including the executive offices. Slipping the card through the lock, the door unlocked with a soft click. He slipped inside.

Evelyn's office, like herself, was pristine, chic, and professional; it smelled of power, with its wide windows to a city skyline and a huge desk right in the middle of the room.

Still, the only thing that really caught Adrian's attention was the safe in the corner, hidden behind the cabinet.

He ran across the room, flung himself onto his knees, and reached out to touch cold steel. His stomach fell with a shudder. It was an intricate lock, far more secure than any he could crack in a hurry.

The safe needed either a code or Evelyn's fingerprint.

He knew at once he needed to come up with another way to open it.

"Damn it!" he muttered under his breath. He wasn't particularly surprised at Evelyn guarding her secrets so well, but this was just plain frustrating; he needed whatever was in that safe, and rushing now wouldn't get him anywhere.

Adrian smoothly rose and looked around the room, his eyes scanning for anything that could be of use to him.

On the desk lay a thin black leather-bound notebook. Adrian opened it and flipped its pages but found nothing relevant: company notes, dates, meeting reminders-the same old thing.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps echoing down the hall.

His heart skipped a beat. Evelyn was coming.

Thinking quickly, Adrian darted behind the cabinet, pushing himself against the wall. He breathed shallowly, listening. The door handle twisted, and Evelyn entered the office.

From where he was standing, Adrian watched her heels click across the floor as she headed for her desk. She turned a bright gaze around the room, taking in everything. For one second, he thought she might catch a sense that something was off-like she knew someone had been here.

She sat down at her desk, checked the time, and started to type into the computer. Adrian didn't move or even seem to breathe as he watched her.

After a few minutes, Evelyn got up again, grasped her purse, and headed for the door. She came to rest on it, her hand on the knob, looking around the room as if she was checking to make sure everything was okay. The eyes were narrowed slightly.

Adrian tensed, muscles tight as he waited for her next move. If she saw him, it would be over.

However, after a moment, she seemed to brush whatever suspicion she might have had aside and left the office, closing the door behind her.

Adrian exhaled a sharp breath of air that he hadn't even realized he had been holding. He counted a few more seconds, just in case she wasn't really gone, before emerging from behind the cabinet. His heart was still pounding in his chest, but he didn't have time to indulge in that.

He gave the safe a final glance. It wouldn't be much longer before he figured out a way into it. For now, though, he had to get out of here with no alarms raised.

Adrian left the office, strolling calmly down the hall, as if nothing bad had happened. Once again, he disappeared into the background, just another janitor on his way out from getting his work done.

The cool evening air had barely enveloped him when he was already running ahead with what he would do.

He knew there was something of value in the safe, and whatever that was, he would find it. And finding it would be the key to taking Evelyn down.

For now, though, patience. He had waited this long. He could wait a little longer.