The Royal Contract

Chapter 1326: Almost home stretch

He adjusted his hat, lowering it to his face as he tried to hide his face in the dark. Then, he fixed his coat to fight the chill of the night.

He remained in the shadow, obscuring himself from the passersby. He did not want anyone to notice who he was, pretending to be just smoking in the corner, minding his business.

"Where are you?" He mumbled as he blew on his cigarette, letting the smoke create a cloud around him. "What is taking you so long?" He asked again, slightly impatient.

However, his eyes never wavered as they focused on a building on the opposite side of the road. He watched the entrance like a hawk, not wanting to miss anything.

But he slightly looked away when the owner of the building came out with his security following him to his car.

He could see that the guards were securing the place. They should not notice his presence. Although his disguise was great, he still could not take his chances of being discovered.

Finally, he watched the car pull away from the driveway, together with the security detail. He slightly stretched his neck, ensuring they were far enough before moving toward the building.

"About time." He whispered, throwing the remaining cigarette on the ground and grinding the remaining ember until he had extinguished the fire before going straight to the main door.

He still had to be careful because someone else could still recognize him despite his uniform clothes and the beard he allowed to grow that covered almost half of his face.

"Good evening." He greeted the security guard assigned to the main door. "The traffic in the..." He tried to make conversation, hitting on a spot that could elicit a response from the big man with the gun.

"And the nerve of that man, waving his money on small people like us." He pretended to have a buff with a rich man, which caused his delay.

"I hope you taught him a lesson or two." The man nodded his head as if sympathizing with him.

"I would have, but the police showed up. Now, those fools charged me with the disturbance." He said, showing his disdain and contempt. "Luckily, I was able to work my charm, ending up with just a warning."

He quickly waved his identification card, allowing the bigger man a glance at his information, but not enough to check the details.

With confidence and a friendly smile, he had achieved his first task, to gain the trust of the only man that could prevent him from entering the premises.

"Ok. Go ahead." The man even pointed him to the elevator doors, allowing him to finish his late delivery. "Just be quick."

He saluted before rushing inside the elevators. Once inside, he tapped on the highest floor, using a card he had taken from an employee earlier without his knowledge.

One thing he had learned at a young age was to pick some pockets, pick some locks, and open secured vaults. A skill that every petty criminal should know.

When the doors opened on the last floor, he quickly exited, still using his hat to hide his face from the cameras.

From those watching on those cameras, he was just someone delivering a package. He could see a few more employees finishing up with their work, but most had already left for the day.

He was not part of the board, but he was the most trusted man of Mr. Alfred Rosley. And he was keeping most of his books and secrets in this office.

He just needed to find them. Then, he could use those as his leverage to get what he wanted. He would not let these men ruined him without a fight.

But now, he knew that Haley must have seen the news. He could only imagine what she thought of him. He could only wonder if she could forgive him, especially if he planned to put her father down. B Besides, from his other sins.

"Cameras," He looked up but could not see one. "Great!" He doubted the boss would want cameras inside their private chambers.

Quickly, he searched his brain for possible hiding places for his vault. He had to move quick before anybody suspected anything.

He only had a few minutes to perform his task. After that, they would start coming after him. Then, they would discover what he was doing.

"If I was him, where would I put it?" He pondered as he roamed his eyes around the room, scrutinizing

each tiny space.

It could be an object out of place, or a place where it would seem unlikely. But whereever it was. Gerald had to find it until something caught his eyes.

He found a small crack on the wall, just on the other side of the desk. He almost missed it, but it was there. Slowly, he pushed the tiny slab, and the small wall quickly opened. Behind it was the vault.

He could only admire the handiwork, but still, to a untrained eye, it was easy to miss. But he knew most of the trick in his book.

"Now, to crack it open." A challenging part of his task, but with his handy decoding machine, he had the box opened in record time.

He always believed in finding the right tools for the job. Although skills were handy, but with the latest technology in hand, nothing could go wrong.

He quickly took out the papers, quickly scanning the title heads. Then, on the bottom part, he found what he was looking for.

"Damn, I am still good at this." He patted himself on the back. But the show was far from over as he grabbed the papers and shoved them inside his inner jacket pocket.

Then, without second thought, he closed the vault, put everything back in place, hoping no one would notice anything until he was safely out of the building and away from this place.

Then, he climbed to the ceiling again, relocking the portion where he had passed through and hastily crawled back to the bathroom before anyone noticed what he had done.

With a few more minutes to spare, he returned to the woman at the desk, beaming at her while patting his stomach, silently telling her it was a success.

But, of course, she would only think he used the bathroom for something else. Then, he whistled while going down the elevator until he had reached the ground floor.

It was almost home stretch as he saw the main door. All he had to do was cross it. But he noticed something was wrong as soon as he walked across the lobby floors.

Did he blow his cover?