With a Pull of a Trigger

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Emmanuel shook his head. “That’s ridiculous. You know that you’re my favorite niece.”

Reini shrugged. “Technically, we’re not related.”

The man shook his head and put his arm around Reini’s shoulder as he started walking towards the elevators, his hand warm on Reini’s shoulder. Reini could feel the calluses on his hand from the days when he was constantly holding guns, and she loved it because even though it reminded her of her work, it also reminded her of home.

Emmanuel smiled at Reini, his eyes crinkled at the sides, yet his smile seemingly a bit forced. “I presume you aren’t here for just a chat, R.”

Reini breathed in deep, stepping inside the elevator with her uncle. “Sadly, no.”

Emmanuel pushed a button, watching the elevator doors close. He then took out a key from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and put it inside the keyhole, pushing another button that made the speakers emit a low male baritone voice.

“What is your emergency?”

The elevator had not moved at all, and neither did its occupants. After a second, Emmanuel breathed in deep and spoke to the small microphone inserted near the speaker. “None. My name is John Emmanuel Simmons III, and I’m here to accompany Reini Saunders to Sublevel 12.”

A moment’s pause, and then the voice changed into a female’s voice, clear and monotonic. “Input the code.”

Emmanuel stepped back and pressed the elevator buttons in quick succession. Seven-nine-twelve-nine-nineteen-fourteen-fifteen-twenty-four-five-one-four.

Reini raised an eyebrow, but kept silent.

A few seconds passed, and the cool voice sounded again, too loud in a too small place. “Thank you. We will be there shortly.”

“What’s with the code?” asked Reini, curious.

Emmanuel shrugged. “Those were the twelve most important spaces in sublevel twelve. Well, ten actually. I pressed four and nine twice because in reality, the most important boxes are boxes 7, 912, 9, 19, 14, 15, 20, 45, 1, and 4, in that order.”

Reini smiled. “My storage box is the fourth most important?”

Emmanuel grinned. “Of course it is, R.”

The elevator doors opened, and Emmanuel quickly got his key before exiting the elevator with Reini.

The room was all sleek lines, shining metal, and bright white lights. All walls were filled with 20 inch by 20 inch square metals that served as high-class storage for the rich and famous. Bright white lights were on the sides of the floor and the ceiling, and the rows and rows of locker-covered walls were gleaming white and metal. The walls were completely filled with gleaming white high-technology storage cases with individual biometric scanners and code boxes.

Reini looked at the wall in front of the elevator itself, and then glanced at the locker-covered walls behind it. She grinned.

It was time to put her plan into action.

The conference room was cold and silent. Its occupants were seated at the desk, all of whom were wondering why they were there. The screen in front of the table was turned on, seemingly too bright in the dark room, and the tension was thick in the air.

The chair at the head of the table was empty, as were the two immediate seats to its both sides. Samuel and Tiffany were seated at the left side of the table, while Joshua and Christian were seated opposite them.

All were curious, and had just the slightest bad feeling about the whole meeting. After all, no good news had ever been delivered through a meeting.