Catching the Storm

23. Mrs. Branson

Crystal's POV

"Hurry up," I hissed as I looked over my shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time.

Jackson glared at me. "It's not my fault that this card reader is clearly defective," He said as he continued to insert the key card again and again, trying to get the door to open for him.

"Maybe it's not the card reader and just the card itself."

"Not a chance," Jackson replied as he began to fiddle with the card reader. "Noah said the card would work and he's never wrong."

"Operator error then."

This got another glare out of Jackson.

"The little green light keeps flashing but the door won't open," He muttered as he began to jiggle the handle.

"Well, maybe it's locked from the inside."

"And what, Branson climbed out the window?"

I shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Jackson continued to fiddle with both the handle and the card reader.

I rolled my eyes and snatched the card out of his hands as he tried for what must have been the millionth time to get the door open. "Let me try."

"Be my guest," He said as he gave a dramatic sweep of his arms and stepped out of the way.

I smiled sweetly at him, and then brought my foot up and kicked at the door handle. It popped open with a bang and hit the wall. I then swept my arms out dramatically and stepped out of the way the same way he had done. "After you," I said.

He gave me a deadpan look. "I could have done that."

"And instead, you opted to waste a half an hour trying to get the card to read properly."

Jackson narrowed his eyes at me before stepping into the room. "I was trying not to leave any trace."

"The door was loose enough that I didn't even damage it," I told him as I shut the door behind me after I'd walked in. "And if you had looked closely, there were already footmarks in the door. Evidently, Branson felt the same way about messing with the card reader as I did."

"Well, considering the company you two keep is pretty much the same, no wonder you think alike."

I glared at him. "Tell me, mind reader," I said sarcastically. "What am I thinking right now?"

"You're mentally cursing me out for taking your gun since it means you can't shoot me right now."

My eyes narrowed further at him and he didn't even have to turn back in my direction for me to know he was smiling smugly. The smugness was coming off him in waves.

"What exactly are we looking for?" I asked him as he started pulling open drawers and flipping through stacks of paper on the table in the entryway.

"Anything that can be of use to us," Jackson replied simply as he continued his search.

I stood still and watched him.

He noticed. "Are you going to be of any help?"

"You had to blackmail me to get me this far, so what do you think?"

Jackson shot me a deadpan look before venturing further into the room.

I shook my head. "I still don't understand exactly what we're looking for."

He shrugged, his back to me as he continued opening drawers. "It's complicated."

I glared at the back of his head. "It wouldn't be if you just told me."