Deadly Testimony (Safeguard #2)(31)
Perhaps ending with an implied threat hadn’t been the best way to finish out his statement, but he was at the end of his patience with cooperating.
He struggled to maintain a respectful, rational tone. “I make much better decisions when I’m not going insane hiding in a tiny, dark place, hoping the bad guys don’t find me. At least let me remain in the loop with your line of investigation.”
Lizzy stood motionless and silent for so long, he was starting to feel the chill of the air-conditioning against his skin. Finally, she sighed. “I’ll show you what I plan to go check out. That doesn’t mean you’re going with me. But first, get your damn clothes on.”
He grinned. She had noticed.
Chapter Eleven
Kyle leaned over to study the building. He wasn’t touching her but he was inside her personal space. Hell, she wasn’t sure if his body heat was actually warming her skin through her shirt or if her mind was doing bad, bad things to her at the thought of his proximity.
“You think the shooter you’re hunting down was in this building?” Kyle didn’t seem to notice her issues.
Good. He really shouldn’t ever know how much her body was trying to convince her chemistry was a good thing.
She tightened her jaw and tapped the screen. “It’s an old neighborhood and just about every other building in the area is fully developed with either office space or tenants living on every floor. This one has several of the top floors not only vacant but under renovation.”
“The top floors.” Kyle chuckled. “There’s at least one well-established business on the third floor and several others on the first and second.”
She craned her neck to look at him and had to lean back to avoid accidental contact. He’d been leaning in very close. Ostensibly to see the laptop screen. Which was fair. Sure. “And you know this how?”
He straightened, giving her space. “I’ve done business with them. They’re a third-party vendor we’ve used in the past to build databases for us or customize content management systems we’ve used to store and manage documentation related to contracts.”
She didn’t respond immediately, her mind processing several things in parallel. First, he was up to something. The corner of his mouth was pulled back ever so slightly in the barest hint of a smirk. Second, she was more aware of the space between them than she’d been before he’d leaned over her.
This definitely wasn’t the line of thought she wanted to pursue. Back to the smirk. She could be irritated with the smirk. “So you’ve been inside the building.”
He tilted his head just a bit as he nodded. “There’s security in the front lobby. Anyone without a badge must have a visitor pass and an escort from someone who works in the building. All of the emergency exits have alarms, so there’s no slipping in a back entrance without setting one of those off. Any employees wanting to go out for a smoke have to go out the front door.”
Not the toughest security she’d ever gotten past but she wanted to be in and out without leaving any evidence of her visit. “Maybe it’d be better to wait until tonight then.”
He shrugged. “I was out to drink with a couple of the resources from that vendor. One of them told me a story about the time he’d been working so late, the security system came on. Apparently, badges stop working throughout the building after eight. There’s also motion sensor lights.”
She scowled. “Your friend just happened to tell you this?”
He lifted his hands, palms up. “What can I say? We work late hours on some projects in my line of business. There are times when you’re sitting at your desk and your hands at the keyboard aren’t enough movement. The lights go out and you have to wave your hands above your head to trigger the sensors to turn them back on again. When that happens, the roving security guard stops by to ensure all is well.”
Ah. However he came by the information, it was handy to have. While stealth was a requirement to her specialization to a certain extent, her experience as a sniper had rarely included bypassing security systems to get to her chosen perch. It’d take much more time than what was available to gain access to the building on a hunch.
After a few more moments of silence, she came out of her own head to the sight of Kyle watching her intensely. The look in his eyes was unreadable. Not the usual glint of humor or the expression of interest as if she was a kitten that’d done something hella funny.
Uncomfortable with his scrutiny she frowned up at him. “You have an issue?”
His expression didn’t change but he shifted his weight forward a fraction, intent on her. “You are certain this building is where this sniper was hiding to take a shot at me?”
She considered his question, not because she didn’t know her answer but because trying to anticipate where he was going with a line of questioning was a challenge. “My gut says a person took a shot at our police partners. It could’ve been lucky, or it could’ve been skill. The person could’ve been a trained sniper, or they could’ve been a contract operator taking a long shot. I’ll be able to tell a lot more once I find where they were hiding.”
“This building is on the same side of the street and same block as the apartment building we emerged from after the incident. How would he have been able to see us?” His voice had dropped a few notches in volume and gone rough.