“But not even you knew about that room, Christopher. You said it yourself. Your brother is a sneaky bastard, and we both know that he keeps his mouth shut. The chances of someone knowing about it are slim,” she paused. “Well, they were slim.”
“Were?”
“Um, yeah...”
“Allison? Spit it out.”
“Okay, someone kind of showed up while I was there.”
“You saw the hacker?”
Allison didn’t need to be a shifter to know that this bothered Christopher. She probably should have lied to him about what had happened. That would have been less embarrassing. Besides, he had been protective of her since they’d kissed. If she was being honest, he’d been protective before that, too. He’d always looked after her, cared for her, watched over her. Something was different, now, though. There was something between them that was begging to be explored.
“I didn’t see him,” she admitted. “Well, not exactly, anyway.” It was embarrassing to admit out loud.
“Look, Allison, while I appreciate your incredibly lengthy method of storytelling, could you just cut to the chase? What happened in that room?” Christopher was growing frustrated.
Allison understood why.
He got to where he was by solving problems. That was kind of who he was. When he was faced with something incredible or difficult, he liked to analyze the situation from every possible angle. Until he had all of the information, he couldn’t possibly analyze anything.
“I went to compare the personnel files, and while I was down there, someone cut the lights. They came into the room swinging a flashlight around, and I hid.”
“Did they see you?”
“No, well, not at first, anyway...”
“Fuck,” Christopher groaned. “Who was it?”
“I couldn’t see who it was. Like I said, it was dark, and they had a flashlight. That means they’re human, at least, right?”
“Not necessarily. Not all shifters can see well in the dark. Some of them still need extra assistance.”
“Well, I had a lighter in my pocket. I don’t smoke. Really, I don’t, but, I had a lighter, and I know how serious your brother takes fire precautions, so...”
“So, in order to escape, you flicked on your lighter and set off the sprinklers.”
“Pretty much.”
It had
been a gamble, but she’d made it out in one piece. The entire thing had been so wildly crazy that Allison still couldn’t quite believe it had happened. Now Christopher was looking at her with a mixture of shock and relief.
“And the files? Are they all destroyed?”
“No, no! No, nothing like that. You see, Brian had this storage system in place. Well, I suppose it’s still in place. Anyway, even if the sprinklers go off, and even if there’s a fire, the files are all safe.”
“How?”
“They’re in these filing cabinets that are waterproof, and everything is neatly organized.”
Christopher breathed a sigh of relief, and Allison was suddenly glad she could deliver some good news. It had been horrible to admit just how badly she’d screwed up to him, but the fact that he seemed relieved about still having the files was nice.
“You shouldn’t have gone there on your own.”
“I know.”
“You should have talked to me.”