Path Of The Broken

20. Theft

20

Theft

Before The Sundered War

Junior Healer Gail Killiam backed up, feeling the sharp bite of the edge of the cupboard in his back as Healer Katrina stormed out of the office. Her step was even and precise, face closed, and she gazed straight ahead without looking at anyone in the office. He watched her as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. Killian had been watching the research with interest, not sure even within himself whether he wanted it to fail or to succeed.

He judged from Healer Katrina's actions that the research was failing—as far as she was concerned. Gail had been tracking the research himself, meticulously reading over every piece of information as it came in from the test groups, before he placed it on her desk. Unlike Healer Katrina, he felt the research had value.

Gail frowned, looking around at the other staff in the room, all of whom pretended to be busy. He stood for that moment, frozen, and then he realised this was his moment. This was the moment he could act, do what he knew needed to happen. The others would be unlikely to register what he was doing. They were too busy trying not to come to the attention of Healer Katrina.

Gail took a deep breath. He wasn't proud that he could hear his breath catching in his throat. His nerves were evident, at least to himself. Smoothing down his robes, being careful not to glance around, he walked towards the office door. He opened Katrina's door, passing inside and closing it behind him, careful not to slam it in his hurry. He didn't even have to guess; he knew what he needed. The cupboard he wanted was off to one side, and contained the samples of the trial medication he needed. As he opened the wooden doors of the cupboard, he smiled in triumph as he saw rack upon rack containing the vials of the medication, each bottle stamped with its own date and batch number. Smiling, he looked around the room and saw a discarded bag off to one side. Walking across the room, he picked up the bag and looked inside, and found that it was Katrina's day pack. He upended it, spilling the contents—a pad, book and pencils—to the floor. He stood and walked two paces back towards the open cabinet before he stopped and gazed back, looking again at the plain leatherbound notepad, there on the floor with the pens and the papers. A grin spread across his face and he stooped to pick up the notepad and flip it open, his eyes scanning the familiar, precise hand writing. A grin lit his face: it was her diary.

Gail moved to the cupboard and grabbed the vials, knowing he didn't have much time. He placed one after the other in the bag, hoping they wouldn't break.

Stepping back from the cupboard, he noticed the small drawer below. On an afterthought he reached and tried to open it, but it was locked. Damn the woman. Then a smile spread on his face; there would be only one reason to lock the drawer in a personal office. Killiam grimaced and wrenched the drawer open, hearing the snap of the lock, and then watched the contents of the drawer spilling onto the ground around him with a dull thud—a bunch of paperwork bound in leather. Gail licked his lips and looked around, waiting to see if anyone would come into the room to investigate the noise. Relaxing when no one came, he reached down to grab the bound paperwork and place it in the bag.

As he moved towards the door, he paused, hands moving down to the edge of his tunic. He tugged at it, then smoothed his hands down the front. Running his hand through his hair, he took a breath and then reached out and grabbed the doorknob. He walked through the outer office without stopping, walking with purpose, as if he had an important task. Gail walked through the room past the others, none of whom paid the slightest bit of attention to him, and into the outer corridor. Trying not to run, he went down the stairs at a trot before making his way across the open gardens of the Healers’ Guild towards the exit. He took another deep, calming breath as he walked away from the Guild. It really was that easy.