The Billionaire’s Shadow

Chapter5

Chapter Five

Amelia’s POV

My feet thud loudly against the tiled floor of the building, despite the fact that I am walking on my toes. Stopping in the middle of the dimly lit lobby, I crouch slowly, taking off my shoes with the tip of my fingers.

When I rise, nothing has changed.

Darkness still stretches through the rest of the building. Oddly, it reminds me of that night. The first day I met him.

Pulling my hat lower, I cross the space to the other side, doing well to stay out of the way of the beeping lights of the surveillance cameras.

The laboratory is located on the third floor, smack in the middle of the whole building. That familiar excitement courses through me. The one that never ceases to find me when I am about to c***k a case.

The green lights by the side of the door greet me as I approach, and I fish for the card in my pocket. Getting it was easier than I thought. Someone had forgotten it in the cafeteria during lunch, and I was more than excited to put it to good use.

I hold my breath as I press the card over the lights, waiting for the familiar beep.

But nothing happens.

“The hell?”

I try again, this time with a little more pressure, pushing against the metal. The red light charges back against me, the beeping sound echoing through the long hallway.

My head jerks to the side immediately, my eyes narrowing, thinking I heard a footstep. But after a full minute, the hallway falls back into silence.

Bringing my gaze back to the lights, I allow a frustrated sigh to fall from my lips. I could have sworn I saw someone use one of these to get in earlier today.

My phone vibrates against my skin, and I reach for it, relief pulling me into its embrace, knowing it is Noah even before looking at the caller ID.

“Noah…”

“It didn’t work, did it?”

My eyes widen. “How did you know that?”

“I was making my findings on that access card,” he starts, his fingers clacking hard on the keypad. “And I noticed something about Damien Voss.”

“What is it?”

“Guess.”

“Noah….”

“That access card is in no way for that laboratory.”

I stop and shake my head. “No,” I murmur. “I saw someone come out of here earlier today. They used this card, Noah. I…”

“It’s possible,” Noah breaths. “And when you flashed it in my face, I had to admit that I thought so too. But there is something Damien Voss is well-known for.”

“What?” I move away from the door, heading back the same way I came. “Apart from building a mega company on the head of corruption.”

And making my heart race.

Of course, I don’t add that part. Noah is going to lose his s**t.

“Secrets.” He says it like it is a grand discovery. But no one knows a thing about the billionaire. He has a zero presence on social media and is barely seen with a woman in public. Or with anyone, for that matter, who isn’t a potential investment candidate.

The Voss family is old wealth, but that is all there is to it.

“And?”

I am in the lobby now, where my shoes are still discarded in the middle. Grabbing them, I pad barefoot out through the glass doors. The doorman is still fast asleep.

Strange.

“The access card you are holding has a destination code on the back,” Noah explains as I turn around the building to my bike, hidden from view. “It doesn’t lead to the company.”

My hands freeze around my helmet. “So where does it lead to?”

It takes a few seconds before his voice returns. “I have sent you the coordinates.”

My phone beeps in a split second, and I retrieve it from the pocket of my leather jacket. “I’ll go there tonight.”

“Amelia…”

“You can’t stop me, Noah,” I mutter, mounting the bike and leaning forward. “I have been waiting a whole year to redeem a career that fucker’s friend ruined. I am not going to sit back one minute when I can be doing a whole lot.”

“You don’t have to be in such a hurry,” Noah murmurs. “You just got employed. Bid your time.”

“I’ll do that when I have his neck on a platter.”

***

The wind teases my hair as I push further down the road, my destination inching closer. This is when I start to notice it. The familiarity etched into every corner the farther I go.

“I’ve been here before,” I whisper to myself, my hands twisting the brakes. My bike skids to a halt in front of a building towards the end of the road.

And when I shrug off my helmet, my eyes widen in surprise.

It is the same as last night.

The senator’s home.

Something is eerily wrong.

I should turn around before someone sees me here. Because then, it will be game over for me. Yet, for some damn reason, I find my legs swinging off the bike, running towards the hedge surrounding the building.

Nothing moves behind the doors. A warm light is on in the living room, but from where I stand, I see no one in it.

My pulse races underneath my skin as I move around to the back of the building. Crickets call out to me from the dark, bearing witness to the risky thing I am about to do.

Inching towards the kitchen window, I push it open from underneath, surprised when it actually gives way. Taking a deep breath, I throw myself into the dark space, landing on the floor. My arms reach for the wall, and I make an effort to get on my feet.

But in that split second, the lights come on suddenly, bathing the kitchen with their bright glow.

He is there, shirtless with a pair of slacks hanging low on his hips. And the intensity from his eyes the other night is gone, replaced by fury.

“We meet again.”