Sinister: A Paranormal Fantasy (Sinisters Book 1) by Colleen Fleshman Page A
Authors: Colleen Fleshman
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know how to hack into computers, do you?” he asked Anna. Even knowing the floor was empty, he couldn’t help but whisper.
Anna looked up from the filing cabinet she was pawing through and shook her head apologetically. Matt shrugged. He hadn’t really expected her to.
He turned his attention to the drawers. There were three on either side of him, one small one at the top and two larger ones below. Each one had a small silver lock in the center, and when he tugged at the handle of the first, he found it sealed. Calling Oliver over, he pointed out the problem.
“He’s a paranoid fellow, inn’t he? He’s locked all the filing cabinet drawers as well, and even one in the bathroom with nothing in it but soap. I'd wager the rest were locked before—”
He waved a hand back at the mess as he bent over the drawers. Since he didn’t seem to expect an answer, Matt let him work in silence, his thoughts elsewhere. A minute later, the top drawer popped open.
“I’ll do the other side so you can look through this.” Oliver moved around the chair Matt occupied and started in.
Matt extended the drawer to its full length. The contents were sparse; it contained only a notepad and a phone charger. He picked up the notepad and began to leaf through it, looking for anything that resembled the diagrams on the bathroom floor. The dim light made it hard to read, but he soon realized it didn’t matter. All the pages were blank. He tossed the notebook back and turned to his left.
The first two drawers were open, but Oliver was still wiggling a pick in the bottom drawer’s lock. And chewing. Matt narrowed his eyes at his partner in crime.
Feeling Matt’s eyes, Oliver looked up.
“What?” he asked, the innocent tone in his voice slightly muffled.
Matt could definitely smell pistachios. “Tell me you didn’t come over here and steal a bunch of nuts off Caracalla’s desk. Because that could be a pretty big indication that someone was in here. Especially if the shells are lying all over.”
“Okay, I didn’t.” Oliver grinned at him, and bits of nut were still visible in his teeth.
Matt shook his head, baffled that Anna’s cousin could be so casual about their burglary. Oliver returned to work. A second later, the lock gave and the pistachio thief pulled that drawer open as well. Matt began to investigate the contents. The top drawer on this side was empty, so he skipped over it and began in the middle. He saw with dismay that this drawer was filled with reams of paper, stacked sideways to fit as many sheets in as possible. There was no chance of going through all of that. He started to wonder if they were going to get anything useful out of this trip. The symbols on the floor had given them proof that Caracalla was doing something strange, but they’d already known that. What they needed was details on what exactly he was doing.
With a sigh, he started flipping through the papers, looking for the symbols he’d seen earlier. Most of the papers appeared related to the company; Matt caught the words “election” and “usage agreement” on quite a few. He’d gotten about halfway through the drawer when he saw the word “confidential” emblazoned across the t op of a sheet. He slipped the paper and its stapled companions out of its slot.
The pages appeared to be a contract providing software for the election. No surprise there; that made it into the local news at least a few times a week in Madison. It had been the first thing that came to Matt’s mind when Luke asked if he knew who Caracalla was. Matt struggled to read through the legal gibberish, skipping the words that looked Latin. Even skipping every fifth word, he grasped the concept of the sheets. Matt let out a whistle. He’d known that VoTech was providing the election software for the gubernatorial election, but he hadn’t realized the contract wasn’t confined to Dane County. Caracalla had somehow managed to get a contract to provide software for
Anna looked up from the filing cabinet she was pawing through and shook her head apologetically. Matt shrugged. He hadn’t really expected her to.
He turned his attention to the drawers. There were three on either side of him, one small one at the top and two larger ones below. Each one had a small silver lock in the center, and when he tugged at the handle of the first, he found it sealed. Calling Oliver over, he pointed out the problem.
“He’s a paranoid fellow, inn’t he? He’s locked all the filing cabinet drawers as well, and even one in the bathroom with nothing in it but soap. I'd wager the rest were locked before—”
He waved a hand back at the mess as he bent over the drawers. Since he didn’t seem to expect an answer, Matt let him work in silence, his thoughts elsewhere. A minute later, the top drawer popped open.
“I’ll do the other side so you can look through this.” Oliver moved around the chair Matt occupied and started in.
Matt extended the drawer to its full length. The contents were sparse; it contained only a notepad and a phone charger. He picked up the notepad and began to leaf through it, looking for anything that resembled the diagrams on the bathroom floor. The dim light made it hard to read, but he soon realized it didn’t matter. All the pages were blank. He tossed the notebook back and turned to his left.
The first two drawers were open, but Oliver was still wiggling a pick in the bottom drawer’s lock. And chewing. Matt narrowed his eyes at his partner in crime.
Feeling Matt’s eyes, Oliver looked up.
“What?” he asked, the innocent tone in his voice slightly muffled.
Matt could definitely smell pistachios. “Tell me you didn’t come over here and steal a bunch of nuts off Caracalla’s desk. Because that could be a pretty big indication that someone was in here. Especially if the shells are lying all over.”
“Okay, I didn’t.” Oliver grinned at him, and bits of nut were still visible in his teeth.
Matt shook his head, baffled that Anna’s cousin could be so casual about their burglary. Oliver returned to work. A second later, the lock gave and the pistachio thief pulled that drawer open as well. Matt began to investigate the contents. The top drawer on this side was empty, so he skipped over it and began in the middle. He saw with dismay that this drawer was filled with reams of paper, stacked sideways to fit as many sheets in as possible. There was no chance of going through all of that. He started to wonder if they were going to get anything useful out of this trip. The symbols on the floor had given them proof that Caracalla was doing something strange, but they’d already known that. What they needed was details on what exactly he was doing.
With a sigh, he started flipping through the papers, looking for the symbols he’d seen earlier. Most of the papers appeared related to the company; Matt caught the words “election” and “usage agreement” on quite a few. He’d gotten about halfway through the drawer when he saw the word “confidential” emblazoned across the t op of a sheet. He slipped the paper and its stapled companions out of its slot.
The pages appeared to be a contract providing software for the election. No surprise there; that made it into the local news at least a few times a week in Madison. It had been the first thing that came to Matt’s mind when Luke asked if he knew who Caracalla was. Matt struggled to read through the legal gibberish, skipping the words that looked Latin. Even skipping every fifth word, he grasped the concept of the sheets. Matt let out a whistle. He’d known that VoTech was providing the election software for the gubernatorial election, but he hadn’t realized the contract wasn’t confined to Dane County. Caracalla had somehow managed to get a contract to provide software for
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