Read Online Into the Shadows by Gavin Green - Free Book Online

how he did
that.
    Instead of trying to move him, I took a step
back and reset my aim on his face. "Seriously, man, last warning,"
I said as I lowered the gun to point at his legs. I was ready to
shoot. "Get the fuck out of here."
    The bum backed away, still facing me. When he
got to the low retaining wall at the back of the lot, he yelled,
"Brave the shadows, boy! The Veleti comes - the Veleti!" And then
he nimbly hopped the wall and ran off.
    I turned to Sarah. "Did you call the
cops?"
    "No, you were here; I didn't doubt you could
handle a vagrant with a bladder problem. I just called the company
motor pool to bring us another car. I'm not touching that one
again."
    I couldn't blame her.

    EAVESDROP
    We didn't wait long at all before another
black sedan pulled up. A guy in a black jacket with the Realm logo
on it got out, pulled a bucket of cleaning supplies from the trunk,
and then swapped keys with Sarah. She and I got in his car and took
off. I'd never heard of the company before a few days back, and
never noticed its uniformed employees around town, either. Delivery
vans, company cars . . . It wouldn't have surprised me if Realm
Management had its own planes, too.
    Next to the skyscraper that Realm Management
called home was a multi-story parking garage. Sarah pulled into it
and took us to the lower level, which needed a card swipe to get
past the heavy barricade and retracting tire spike strips. Holy
shit, those people didn't fuck around. Down on the lower level were
a handful of expensive cars, and at least half a dozen black sedans
at the far end. Set into that far wall was a set of opaque sliding
doors. It didn't look like an elevator, and I didn't see stairs
anywhere, either.
    Sarah parked near the other company sedans
and we headed over to the doors. In the wall next to the doors were
security devices; one was another card swipe, but I wasn't sure
what the other one was until Sarah put her thumb on its small
screen. The double doors hissed open, and we stepped into a long,
wide hallway with soft overhead lighting and nothing else.
    "I'm starting to get how serious your company
is about security," I commented.
    Sarah nodded as we walked down the hall.
"That's why they don't hire retired beat cops or wannabe's with a
gun permit. If you come on with Realm, they may have you take some
computer and electronics classes. If you're not already a member of
places for refresher courses - you know, gun practice, martial
arts, that kind of thing - they'll have you sign up for those,
too."
    "I'm a member of a firing range, and I've
been going to the same dojo for a long time. There's no problem
with that, is there?"
    "Nah, there shouldn't be," she said with a
shrug. "Just tell them the places you go to practice so they can
reimburse your fees. The company will pay for that."
    "No shit?" The flippant question fell out of
my mouth before I could stop it.
    "No shit," Sarah replied with a grin.
    Damn, the deal got sweeter as I went along.
The long hallway ended at a T. Both ways went only about ten feet
back, with an elevator at either end. Sarah chose the one on the
left; I didn't know if it made any difference. On the long ride up
to the 36th floor in the swanky elevator, Sarah stood close to me.
Normally, I like my space, but her suggestive smile and nice ass
had me not minding so much.
    While we walked through the corridors, Sarah
pointed out that most deliveries and visitors were dealt with one
floor down; it was rare that any non-employee got to the 36th floor
or above. She couldn't tell me what the floors above the 36th were
used for; she'd never been allowed up there.
    We stopped near the end of a rear corridor,
in front of a plain door. She turned the handle and pushed it open.
"Take a look," she said.
    "Wait, why wasn't the door locked? Almost
every other door up here is, except for the bathrooms."
    "Oh, this one is open because Ms. Rondeau's
employer wanted you to see your future office."
    "Office . . . I'd get an