The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 79

She inserted her key into the lock as slowly as she could, half expecting it to be thrown open like the day before, but instead the lock clicked and the door eased open without so much as a creak. Kat listened for a beat, hearing nothing, and descended the few steps into the basement space.

It was entirely dark, even the front rooms candles blown out, and she could see the sleeping forms of Conner, Brent, and Jack on the orange couches, the mounds of blankets over them rising and falling with their steady breaths. She breathed a sigh of relief, then shut the door behind her and picked her way carefully to the bedroom, avoiding the piles of books and Brent's unused guitar to avoid making any noise.

She turned the handle to the closed bedroom door, wincing as it creaked, then slipped inside, her eyes adjusting to the low light brought about by the singular candle flame on a small table next to the door. Emma lay sleeping on the cot and the bottom bunk was free, causing Kat to throw her briefcase on it.

"Long day?" came Andy's voice from above her, and Kat's hand flew to cover her mouth, holding in a scream.

She whipped her head upwards to see Andy sitting cross legged on the top bunk, folding over the page of the book she'd been reading and setting it down next to her.

Kat felt fear in a quantity she couldn't account for, fear for her life, as if she were prey.

"Where's the badge," Andy asked with no hint of a question, her expression blank.

"Andy, I," Kat began. "Andy I'm so sorry, I,"

"Kat," Andy said, closing her eyes as if drawing patience from deep within. "Where's the badge?"

Kat swallowed hard.

"Andy, it's not gonna work. The plan isn't gonna work, I went to get the badges today and I found out they changed the security system, their tightening the checkpoints and they're,"

Andy held up a hand, silencing Kat instantly.

"So, you didn't get it," she said, eyes still closed.

"No, no," Kat corrected quickly. "I did, but I'm trying to tell you it won't work, it can't."

She scrambled for the briefcase, snagging the tangled badges from it and holding them up to Andy like a trophy. Andy opened her eyes, fixing Kat and the content of her fist with a long look.

"I'm telling you," Kat insisted. "There's two badges. I deactivated his like I was supposed to but he already had a deactivated one, I read a memo on his desk about how,"

"And the memo was just on his desk, ready explanation?" Andy interrupted, her tone neutral but her eyes steely.

"Well," Kat furrowed her brow, realizing too late how suspicious that seemed despite the fact that it was the truth. "It was. It wasn't like right on top I had to look a little but,"

"And that memo you happened to find, that memo told you that our plan won't work."

Kat nodded miserably, the conversation getting away from her to a degree that felt disastrous.

There was a long silence, Andy searching Kat's face and Kat clenching her muscles in an attempt to hold back the hot tears of exhaustion that had been building within her all week.

"And it took you till 3am to find it?" Andy finally asked quietly.

Kat's tears began to spill out as she felt herself lose Andy, lose her respect and her friendship, lose the love that had just been pledged to her.

"Andy," she pleaded. "Andy I'm really sorry, I didn't, I swear I didn't-"

Andy shook her head.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said somberly.

"What?" murmured Kat, confused. "Andy, I just-"

"I said, I don't know what you're talking about."

Andy fixed her with a meaningful gaze.

"It took you a long time to find the badge. I don't know what time you got back, I was already asleep when you came home."

Kat wiped at her face, her confusion overtaking her sadness.

"I don't-"

"Here," said Andy with a gesture, reaching for the badges. "Give those to me."

Kat handed them over wordlessly, her mind still racing.

"Go to sleep," Andy instructed with a point to the bunk below her.

"But," Kat protested, the hundreds of questions she had swirling in her head narrowing to the most important. "But what are we gonna do?" she asked quietly.

"We'll come up with a new plan," said Andy, already laying down and turning towards the wall, rendering her voice muffled. "Everything will be ok."

Kat, exhausted, weepy, confused, and missing Jove more than she was willing to admit to even herself, laid on top of the cover in her work clothes and fell asleep within seconds, slipping in and out of a night of fitful and restless dreams.