Suspicion Song | Private

[Natasi Fortan]

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A V A L O N I A​

DOSUUN​

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"Just to be clear, this is entirely illegal," said Lydia as she crouched at the back doors of a hovervan, twenty stories up, with her hands on the doors' latches.

"Absolutely," was the response from Lydia's brother Hector, who was piloting the van.

Lydia sighed. "And you're making me do it, because --?"

"Because -- well, good, we have time to review this because the people of Avalonia often see vans parked at the top of residential buildings -- because, first of all, you work for me, and second of all, because your bony ass can fit through the ventilation system and mine cannot. So get out and get your earpiece on."

Lydia sighed and then shoved the doors open, then stepped out onto the ledge of the building, then carefully turned and closed the doors. She hauled herself over the short barrier and onto the roof, and the van whooshed off. Lydia gave it a rude gesture, then turned on her earpiece.

"I saw that," said Hector. "Get a move on."

Lydia had only the bare facts; they were -- well, she was -- breaking into an apartment in one of the nicer buildings of the Garden District. The building was certainly upper middle-class -- not too fancy, but not a slum, either. The young woman didn't know whose apartment it was, or why they were breaking into it, but she did what she was told, particularly when her brother and employer was the one doing the telling. He wasn't the type one wanted to disobey. "Yes, sir," she said through gritted teeth.

Her hairs stood up on the back of her neck, and she gathered her supplies, pre-stashed there earlier that day. She used a crowbar to wrench the exhaust vent cover open, then dropped down into the vent as delicately and quietly as she could.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Hector tried to suppress an eyeroll at his sister's rude gesture. "I saw that," he said. "Get a move on."

"Yes, sir," was Lydia's response.

The young Duke piloted his speeder van back down to ground level and parked, then hung his permit in the front window before swinging into the back seat where his equipment was set up. From here, he could communicate with Lydia and watch her progress through the small camera mounted in her earpiece microphone, so it would point vaguely at wherever she was looking. Right now, he saw vents, with the occasional splash of light from beneath. Luckily for her, she seemed to be moving relatively cautiously and quietly. "You're looking for apartment 20 F; it's one of the penthouses. Go... right at the junction, then left."

"Got it," said Lydia.

Hector peered out of the tinted windows through the front and the back, then turned on his police scanner on. It wouldn't do to get caught here. Even if it was Lydia, they would still be able to clearly trace her back to him. The Duke cradled his jaw thoughtfully and watched. He hadn't told his sister just whose apartment she was breaking into, because she didn't need to get any more jittery than she already was. Sioux Chambers had been a famous and powerful woman, a woman trusted with secrets -- secrets of both the government and the woman running it. There were rumors that Sioux had kept a diary -- she had apparently nicknamed it, jokingly, as her Memoirs First Draft. He had to get his hands on it before someone else did....

"Have you found the vent?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Lydia gritted her teeth as she army-crawled along the ventilation shaft, following her brother's instructions about when to turn and in which direction. Finally, she came to the grate and spoke into her comlink: "Yes, I'm here. Give me a moment to get it open. Are we expecting anyone to be in here when we get it open?" she muttered into her comlink as she reached into her back pocket and drew a small multitool. She began to use it to unscrew the screws along the perimeter of the grate, then gently set it aside.

"No," said Henry in her ear. "Not unless we got it badly wrong. Should be empty."

"We'll see," said Lydia, pulling herself through the opening and dropping with as much elegance and grace as she could onto the floor in what looked to be a nicely appointed foyer. "I'm in. What am I looking for?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Henry watched on the screen as his sister dropped to a landing on the foyer floor, then straightened. He was impressed by the decor as he saw it lit up by Lydia's torch. "Look for -- well, I'm not sure what, exactly. A diary or a personal computer or something." The media mogul leaned forward and studied the monitor for a few moments before leaning back in his seat to cast his eyes around the windows, looking around to see whether anyone was taking an undue interest. So far, so good...

"Try to keep the torch away from the windows, Liddy," Hector hissed as he saw the upstairs window light up. "No one is going to expect anyone being inside that apartment." He frowned and punched a key on his control panel, expanding his view of the flat that Lydia had broken into. "Check the bedroom, first. That's where you kept your diary."