Read Online A Stainless Steel Cat by Michael Erickston - Free Book Online

several tools of his trade, and locked his door as he left. He left a note for Tam, in case she got back first, to get the spare key from the Manager, since she'd been made aware of the situation already, and Tam's place would have the locks changed by Wednesday.
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    Tam sat in a Starbucks and stared at her screen. She had just Googled Shiloh Royce, and his story checked out. He really was just an orphan with no special training... officially, anyway. She hacked into Homeland with her backdoor access code, and found nothing on him. His DNA had been put into the system when he was still at the orphanage, but there were no familial matches on file. On the surface, he really was a ghost. Nobody seemed to know who his parents were, at least in the government.
    'Who are you, Shiloh Royce?' She thought to herself as she did a more comprehensive search. She felt a little guilty about prying like this, but she had to know what he was doing. He had a credit union account up in Sacramento under S. Royce, and she found out that he had just over $20,000 in his account. Her eyes went wide at that, and she whistled softly. "Mr. Moneybags." She chuckled softly. "I guess freelance security consultants make some pretty big bucks."
    Tam thought for a bit. Something had been nagging her, and she played a hunch. She Googled any pics of 'The Steel Cat' from security cameras, and found the one the police had released as part of his description. She watched the way he moved, and her jaw nearly hit the tabletop as the full realization hit her.
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    Royce walked into the State Senator's office building and made a beeline for the elevator. He spared a smile for the girl behind the reception counter and got a shy smile in return. The Senator was in Sacramento this week, from what the article had said. He would be facing an inquiry about his recent business dealings and a possible Conflict of Interest charge. On the surface, he seemed innocent, but that was why Royce was here.
    He stepped off the elevator onto the 15th floor and made a right towards the Senator's office. He pulled on his leather gloves, and quickly checked for security cameras. He was a little surprised that only one camera covered the Senator's door. Royce made sure that he stayed out of the camera's field of vision and reached up with his blued steel dagger. He worked a wire loose with it until the red light on the camera itself went out. Cheap soldering in a cheap camera. He pushed the pulled part of the wire back into the ceiling where it wouldn't show, and turned his attention to the door.
    He grinned wryly at that, and proceeded to pick the lock on the Senator's office door. He was now on a timer, since the security goons would soon realize that the camera had gone out. He figured he had about five to eight minutes before a security patrol showed up.
    Once inside, he locked the deadbolt again and searched the place quickly and methodically. He found the safe behind Senator Keen's desk, and it was a standard combination lock. He used the stethoscope and cracked it in less than a minute.
    Inside were documents, and Royce took them along with the cash in there. All of it went into his briefcase, and he chuckled to himself that he wouldn't even have to come back that night. The ease of cracking the cheap safe had given him the idea to do more than just recon that day.
    Once everything was secured, he started back for the door, and heard voices outside coming his way. He ducked down under the Senator's receptionist's desk as he listened to the conversation out in the hallway.
    "Yeah, here it is. Damn cameras! I told them we should have gone with better shit! These are always breaking down!" Security Goon 1 said.
    "Budget cutbacks, man. You know how it goes." Security Goon 2 replied with an audible shrug, pacifying his buddy as much as possible.
    "Should we check the offices anyway?" Goon 1 suggested.
    "Nah, no point. No sign of tampering, and the office is locked still." Goon 2