Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

42 ∞ appearance

Jagg tapped on Lora's shoulder before she took the third step, and she paused, looking back. He pointed with his eyes toward the last door, the word "Security" clearly displayed on it. She blinked in acknowledgment and continued downstairs.

The manager used her keys to open a heavy door. "Kindly wait here," she said before pulling the door and stepping inside. Lora heard a series of clicking sounds of something turning several times, three clunks, and something heavy opening. Then the manager reappeared, opening the door wide for them. "You may go inside, Mr. Johnson. I'll wait for you right here."

"Thank you," Jagg responded and ushered Lora with him inside the room. The door closed behind them with a long squeak and clicked shut. The room was empty but for a tall table and a security camera pointing at them. Straight ahead was a large, round metal door, over a foot thick, open to expose its sacred chamber. "Come," he said.

Lora followed him inside, sweeping her gaze around. The walls in here were covered with aged metal compartments.

"The guys don't know I've got a safety deposit box," Jagg said as he opened one of the compartments with a key from his pocket. He removed a metal box and carried it out to the front room to place it on the table. "My grandma left me this. She was a smart woman."

Lora watched his face; she had never heard him speak of a relative before. But there was no emotion on his face, nor could she read anything from his energy as he focused on unlocking the box. He lifted the hinged lid back and took out some aging papers.

"They know the house was my grandma's, but they don't know she left me the title as well. And these papers. They're supposed to be worth something..." He folded two of the papers carefully and pushed them into his shirt pocket, glancing around. He made her move to the end of the table and shifted himself and the box to the middle, making sure their backs were turned to the camera. "What can you do in here?" he said quietly, meeting her gaze.

She glanced at the vault door behind them. "This is mechanical."

"Meaning what? Your choker can't—?"

"It does not do mechanical."

A corner of his mouth lifted. "I do believe that's a turn of phrase you've picked up from us..."

Her lips curled in response as she met his gaze. "I can reproduce the movement of the lock by the vibrations it made."

"You remember that?"

"Left, left, right, left... I know not the numbers, but I heard the position of the wheels. I can match it if you want me to."

Jagg nodded appreciatively. "You're picking up fast... Okay. Never mind that. They change the code regularly—maybe even every day—so it would be pointless to try matching it without knowing the routines. We're not gonna have time to scope every vault. I just want you to get familiar with the setup. Focus on what you do best."

∞

They had searched the entire building several times on Command's insistence without success. Selina knew that could not go on for much longer. At the same time, there was a strong presage like a changing wind, the sensing of a storm that had not yet touched the horizon. She did not know what it was. But, right now, she would not concern herself with that. Right now, it was time for her to give them something—without her exposing her true nature.

She thought carefully about what approach she should take. She took into consideration that she had been treated with respect thus far and allowed to eat and rest after the extensive range of tests yesterday. They had even allowed her to stretch her legs on the main floor with escort. She decided that before the agreed information sharing session, she was going to do what she had never done before.