a nobody in their world because she genuinely was.
Piper knew it was important to sleep. She had triple-checked her alarm clock to ensure it was set for four a.m., but she still couldn’t manage to quiet her mind long enough for sleep to come. She watched the minutes tick by and thought of the different things tomorrow’s meeting could be about, or who it could be with. She was hoping it would be Christian Donavan. She was dying to see the dynamics between the two men. It was important for her to know if they had a reluctant or tenuous business relationship or if they were as close as family. Knowing this would help her determine how irrefutable her intended evidence against the judge would need to be in order to sever their ties.
Arriving under the cover of early morning darkness to set up her hearing enhancement equipment was important. She wanted to be settled in hours before their arrival and have an opportunity to find a sufficient hiding spot. The mill was at least a thirty minute walk from her house, but she didn’t want to have the hindrance of finding a covert place to park her car. It was a cool morning, and she wasn’t looking forward to the long trek, but her adrenaline had her body moving without much thought at all.
As she finally approached the mill she waited until there was no sign of a car coming down the quiet street. She looked around for any sign of life, and when she felt sure the whole world was still asleep she made her move through the parking lot and toward the stairs. Her heart jumped in her chest as she reached the door and pulled at the knob.
Why had she not assumed that the door would be locked? Of course an old abandoned mill wouldn’t simply be left wide open for anyone to come and go as they please. She berated herself for such an oversight. She remembered the lock-picking set she nearly bought the week before and realized it wouldn’t have done her any good. She’d probably be as hopeless at that skill as she had been at working the micro cameras.
She climbed back down the stairs and started looking for an alternative entrance. There were multiple windows she could shimmy through but they were out of her reach. She could touch the bottom of the sills with her fingertips but her embarrassing lack of upper body strength would keep her from being able to pull herself up. She searched around for something to stand on. She found a rusty barrel around the back of the mill that seemed like it would do. She climbed onto it awkwardly, steadied herself, and peered in. She’d need to break this window. She pulled her sweatshirt over her head and wrapped it around her arm like she had seen this in a movie. She cocked her arm back and punched at the glass. It made a thud and she squeaked at the pain vibrating its way up her arm. Perhaps there was some movie magic involved in the window breaking she had seen. She unwrapped her hand and put the sweatshirt over her elbow instead. She was losing the advantage of her early start and felt panic set in. With all her might she slammed her elbow into the glass, and it shattered. She broke away the remaining shards and while pulling at a few stubborn pieces she felt the window tilt out toward her. It had been unlocked the entire time. She cursed herself for not simply trying to open it first. These were the moments she was glad she didn’t have a partner.
Piper lowered herself through the window and into the large open space of the mill. She pulled a flashlight from her pocket and put her sweatshirt back on. Using her foot she swept the glass from the unnecessarily broken window under a nearby shelf. The floor was loaded with dust and she realized too much moving would leave foot prints and possibly draw attention to her presence if someone was astute enough to notice. She could see a large area of the floor with most of the dust already disturbed. It was under one of the only hanging lights that still had a bulb in it and she deduced this was probably where the judge held his surreptitious business meetings. With that in mind she began searching for the right spot to settle in