I had counted a good sixteen feet, which coincided with the blueprints Grayley had gotten for me.
Finding the hatch just to the left of my feet, I unscrewed it and lifted it up. Beneath me, I could hear sounds from a basketball game. Guessing the guards were watching ESPN, I slipped through. I could see them through the door; there were three of them, all sitting with their backs to me, feet propped up on the camera panel. Two of the video screens were on a rotating schedule covering different areas throughout the school. There was one on top that focused only on the main office. And the screen in the middle—ESPN. It wasn’t basketball though. Anaheim was losing by two goals.
Seriously. What were they keeping in a school that needed three security guards? Whatever happened to nice locked doors?
I needed to move on. I could get inside without the guards seeing me, but Tray wouldn’t be able to.
I slipped past them, moving down the hallway, pausing at each corner before I slipped my mirror around, checking if a camera was up ahead or not. I’d watched the rotation schedule enough to memorize most of the areas, but it didn’t hurt to be sure.
Arriving on the second floor, I slipped through the men’s bathroom and opened the vent. Pulling myself up, I crawled inside, following it for a count of sixty. I could measure distance by my counts. It was an old system I had down pat.
According to my estimation, I should be just overhead the principal’s office. The superintendent’s office didn’t have a normal size venting shaft over his office. He used one of those tapered off vents, making it impossible for any good-intentioned thief, such as myself, to climb in and out. Pulling through, I stood atop the desk and smoothly moved to the door. From what I saw on the security camera, there was only a slight angle that covered the superintendent’s office door, but it was enough of an opening.
Gritting my teeth, I moved quickly and plastered my body as much as I could against the wall while I worked on the door. I used a Wesson steel wire point and jerked upwards with another ballpoint blade. Hearing the door click open, I pushed inside, keeping my head turned away from the camera and shut the door, but not letting it click shut. Moving to the closet, I quickly moved through that locked door.
The cabinet drawer was another challenge in itself. It was keypad lock. Grabbing my ballpoint blade, I worked it underneath the covering panel, dipped inside, and pulled out the black alarm wire. I clipped the wire onto a seventy-three delay wire that I had in my pack and ran it around to the base, as close to it as I could, to place it against the wire just inside the cabinet panel. Then, holding my breath, I made sure the delay wire was in place and clipped the wire close to the base.
And the cabinet lock clicked open with the keypad still showing green. The delay wire had worked wonderfully.
Inside lay the PRS-500. Grabbing it, I sheathed it inside a pack I had clipped around my back, zipping the device just inside the small of my back. My job was almost done.
Shutting the cabinet lock, I unclipped my delay wire and pocketed it quickly. Then I closed the closet door. Slipping out through the office door, I still didn’t pull the door completely shut, I closed it just enough so it looked shut from the camera angle. Keeping my head turned away, I entered the principal’s
office and hoisted myself up through the venting shaft again. I crawled, finding myself outside the security room once again and back up through the hatch. Feeling around the dark, I found my rope and clipped it back on me, then I started hoisting myself back up, pulling the rope back through my karabiner on my waist.
It took longer, but I was back on the roof and screwing the venting shaft in place once again. Then I slipped into the darkness.
I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face.
CHAPTER FOUR
I found Grayley and Geezer up ahead where they’d parked around a small group of trees. It was where we always parked if we wanted to get high, skip class, or have sex—sometimes all three of them together. It was our little hideaway, which made me smile as I approached the car from behind, through the trees.
“Hey guys,” I said softly, directly behind them.
Geezer jumped.
Grayley let loose whatever had been in his hands.
And I laughed. I couldn’t help myself.
“Taryn! Holy fuck’s sake,” Grayley gasped, scowling at me.
Geezer was too busy checking me out. “Looking good, Tartar.” He whistled.
I didn’t have it in me to blush. I was decked out in all black. It wasn’t nylon, but a fabric that was somewhat in the middle between cotton and nylon. It was glued on me, but it was what I needed for my jobs. I’d already ditched my little theft kit in the car, so they didn’t get the somewhat dorky look of a little pack hanging around my waist, complete with bungee cord karabiners, ropes, and everything else I needed. All of that needed to be locked tight on me, to save me from making any extra sound. You never knew what you would run into on a job and I liked to be prepared. The only thing I had with me, other than my car keys, and the PRS-500 was my bottle of chloroform. And I wasn’t planning on using it.
But I knew the image I made. I’d let my hair down so it shook free around my shoulders.
“You too, Geezer. I especially like the sober look. It’s got a certain…mystery…about you.” I nudged him with my hip.
He blushed. He never failed to blush from any teasing or from any sort of compliment. It was endearing to watch and I loved seeing that he still did it. Apparently that hadn’t changed.
“Hey, not to be an ass or…well…we kind of have some stuff to take care of tonight, so can we hurry this along?” Grayley asked, running a hand through his gelled back hair.
I grinned. “Yeah. I’m sure Geezer’s got a lot of plans tonight.”
“Whatever,” Grayley commented, hunching over as he leaned against his truck.