Mission: Undercover

Chapter 19

"Um, I don't think so. I and party in one sentence don't end well."

"You sound like you've never been drunk before."

"I haven't."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Rest. Lie down and get some sleep. You'll feel better."

"Okay, Mom!" Vanessa replied, kind of annoyed. "Have a good time, Jacks."

After she finished her phone call, she drank her coffee with a few cigarettes. There was complete silence in the house. Rebecca was out of the country, Jackson wouldn't be home until the next day, and even though she didn't know when Cole would be back home, this was actually an excellent opportunity to search the house.

Vanessa went up to the second floor and entered Cole's room.

It was dark there. Long, thick curtains were drawn over the windows, preventing any light from entering. She turned on the bedside lamp that sat on the nightstand next to the king-size bed. The light was dim, but it was enough for Vanessa to get her bearings. She opened the nightstand drawer, but inside, she found only boxes of condoms, lube, and the like. She rolled her eyes and closed it. Then she moved to the other side of the bed and opened the other nightstand. There was a gun in its drawer. That didn't surprise her too much—not that all people kept guns in their nightstands, but it wasn't unusual either. She closed it and looked around again. There were no more cupboards to be seen in the room, only a large sofa with two armchairs and a table between them, on which were several sports car magazines.

She opened one of the two doors that were opposite the bed, and in front of her was revealed an enormous wardrobe. She walked in, but as expected, there was nothing inside but clothes and shoes.

The other door was probably for the bathroom, she thought. She opened it slightly to make sure and closed it after that.

Then Vanessa left the room.

She returned to the first floor and entered the office there.

There were many papers on the large desk. Cole worked from home quite often. After looking through them, she began to open the cupboards and drawers one by one. Nothing again. She leaned back against the chair and gave it a few spins, obviously disappointed. Until her eyes landed on the paintings on the wall opposite the desk. They were three in number. Vanessa stood up and approached the wall, focusing on the one in the middle.

She grabbed it with both hands and unhooked it, and a safe door appeared underneath.

Bingo.

Cracking safes gave Vanessa pleasure, but it could be time-consuming.

In any case, it would keep her busy for a few hours.

After giving the safe a good look, Vanessa hung the painting back and went up to her room. She pulled a stethoscope from her suitcase, a pen, and a paper sheet. Then she headed downstairs again, but first, went through the kitchen and out into the backyard through the back door.

She made sure that all three spaces in the garage were already occupied by cars—Rebecca's, Kristen's, and Jackson's, so if Cole returned to the house, he would definitely park in the front driveway.

However, the view from the office windows was to the backyard, so when she entered it, she turned on the camera monitor she'd seen sitting on the desk and turned it toward her. That way, she could watch and know if Cole came home unexpectedly.

It was time for action.

Vanessa reset the safe's lock by turning the dial several complete revolutions. She placed the stethoscope near the dial surface and started listening to the clicks while rotating the dial. It took her nearly half an hour, but finally, she found the combination length. After that, she took the paper sheet, leaned it against the way, and drew two line graphs to find the combination numbers.