Chapter 5:What The Cameras Saw

Zoe's POV

The security floor was empty at 6 a.m.

That was exactly why Zoe had chosen that time.

As she walked down the service stairs, her heart was beating hard against her chest.

She kept telling herself that what she was doing made sense, It was reasonable.

If someone found out that their boss's life was in danger, wouldn't they try to find proof instead of just sitting and doing nothing?

At least, that's what Zoe told herself.

But right now, her hands were shaking badly.

She almost dropped her master keycard twice before finally putting it into the card reader.

The light turned red, Denied.

“Come on,” she whispered, trying again.

“Come on, come on…”

She tried one more time.

This time, the light turned green.

The door clicked open.

Zoe quickly stepped into Marcus Webb's office.

Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hear it in her ears.

She carefully closed the door behind her.

She was so nervous that even the small sound of the door locking made her feel like the whole building had heard it.

The office was very neat, Too neat.

It looked like Marcus kept everything in its exact place.

There were no family pictures.

No personal things, No mess.

Just a desk, two dark computer screens, and a locked filing cabinet in the corner.

Zoe's stomach tightened the moment she saw it.

Of course it was locked.

Of course nothing was going to be easy.

She walked over to the desk anyway.

She tried the drawers one after another.

Locked.

Locked.

Locked.

Then the bottom drawer moved.

It opened with a soft scraping sound.

Zoe looked inside.

There were folders.

Most of them contained building plans.

They looked like the same kind of detailed drawings she had seen on the flash drive.

Her hands were still shaking as she pulled out her phone.

She started taking pictures of the pages.

She turned the pages quickly.

Click.

Click.

Click.

The sound of her camera seemed very loud in the quiet office.

She kept taking pictures.

She was already three folders in when she heard something.

Footsteps.

They were close.

Someone was walking down the hallway.

Slowly.

That somehow scared her more than if the person had been running.

Zoe froze.

No.

No, no, no.

She quickly pushed the folder back into the drawer.

This time, she didn't care if it was placed neatly.

She looked around the small office.

There was no closet.

No second door.

Nothing she could hide behind.

There was only the desk.

And the desk wasn't big enough to properly hide her.

There was also a window.

But it didn't open.

The footsteps stopped outside the door.

Zoe's heart began beating even faster.

Then she heard it.

The clear sound of a keycard being taken from someone's pocket.

For one second, Zoe's mind went completely blank.

She didn't know what to do.

Then she acted without thinking.

She quickly dropped to the floor and squeezed herself into the small space under the desk.

Just as she got under it, the door opened.

The lights came on, filling the room with bright white light.

Zoe pressed her back against the cold bottom of the desk.

She put one hand over her mouth.

She didn't dare make a sound.

Through the small space under the desk, she could see a pair of polished shoes.

The person walked into the room.

Then stopped.

Zoe knew those shoes.

Marcus Webb.

She watched as he walked toward his desk.

The same desk she was hiding under.

He placed something on the desk.

There was a small metal sound as it touched the surface.

Zoe held her breath.

Marcus started humming.

Actually humming.

It was quiet and slightly out of tune.

He sounded completely relaxed.

As if nothing was wrong.

As if he had no idea someone was hiding under his desk.

Zoe stayed completely still.

Marcus was only a few feet away from her.

She could see the shine on his shoes through the small gap.

This was the man who wanted Julian Blackwood dead.

And he was standing right above her.

Checking his phone like it was just another normal Tuesday morning.

Then his humming suddenly stopped.

Zoe's heart seemed to stop with it.

“Huh,” Marcus said quietly.

He was looking down at his bottom drawer.

“That's not how I left that.”

Zoe didn't breathe.

She didn't even move.

She was terrified that even the smallest sound would give her away.

Marcus reached for the drawer.

It slowly opened.

Zoe watched his hand move toward the folders.

Then his fingers stopped.

They were touching the exact folder she had just photographed.

The humming was completely gone now.

The room became silent.

Zoe could feel the fear growing inside her.

Marcus had noticed.

He knew something was wrong.

And in that moment, Zoe understood something even worse.

Marcus had just realized that he was no longer the only person in the building keeping secrets.