Chapter 4

Having cut all communications with his friends, Riley pulled off his headset and shut his laptop. Sliding both into his backpack, he stood, popped the tight joints in his neck, cracked his back, and zipped up his jumpsuit. Riley then lowered his bag into the large trashcan to his left before placing it onto the nearby cleaning cart.

All packed and ready to go, Riley pushed the cart out of the storage closet and into the empty hallway. The alarms had finally stopped sounding and the corridor was laced in an eerie silence. Frowning slightly at the small squeak in the front right wheel, he pulled on a dark blue cap to match his navy blue janitorial uniform. The role of the innocent, underpaid janitor may have been one of the most cliché disguises ever, but Riley had always wanted to try it out for himself. He had seen enough movies to know how it was done.

Pulling the cap down further to cover his eyes, Riley preceded down the hall. All he had to do was make it to the staff lounge located in the northeast corner of the building. From there, he just needed to slip out the back door employees used when they needed a smoke and he would be home free.

"Hey, you!"

Riley tensed as a pair of lights fell upon him from behind. Of course the universe insisted on making things, generally his life, difficult. There was nowhere to run and hiding was obviously no longer an option, so he took a deep breath and turned to face the two men approaching him.

The guard on the left looked like it was his first week on the job. His fingers twitched anxiously and his eyes were full of apprehension as they jerkily inspected Riley. His partner, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. The man on the right looked to be in his late forties with salt and pepper hair and a calm and relaxed demeanor.

"What are you doing here?" the younger man asked sharply. "The museum closed hours ago."

Riley almost winced at the aggression in his voice, but forced himself to stand his ground.

"Oh, I'm just cleaning up," he replied indifferently, motioning lazily down his uniform. "Kind of fits the job description, don't you think?"

"This late?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. The man may have been new to the job, but he wasn't born yesterday. He wasn't going to make this easy.

Thinking fast, Riley used the first excuse that popped into his head. "The in-laws are in town. More specifically, they're staying at my place, so excuse me for trying to keep out of the battlefield."

The younger man opened his mouth to reply, but his partner beat him to it.

"I completely understand where you're coming from," he laughed. "I just went to a family reunion last month with my wife. We barely made it back in one piece."

Riley continued to play along. "My father-in-law isn't all that bad. He tells a lot of great stories and we get along really well. He's kind of like an older brother to me. Now it's my mother-in-law you have to watch out for. When she's in the room, it's a completely different ballgame. She's crazy! The old lady just won't give me a break, always nagging and finding something wrong with everything I do. The fact that I work part-time as a janitor doesn't help much either. She'll go on and on about how I'll never be able to properly support her daughter. Snobby old bag, I swear! She's even got my fiancé on her side! Man, I don't even want to go into it." Words couldn't express how relieved Riley was that his radio was off and he wasn't wearing an earwig.

The man's face suddenly turned thoughtful. "Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever seen you around here before."

"Yeah, I'm new. I just started last week." Riley hastily changed the subject. "What happened anyway? I heard the alarms go off. Was it a false alarm or something?"

"Looks like it. With that new shipment in we were on high alert, but we searched this place top to bottom and came up with nothing. It was probably just some neighborhood kids looking for trouble."

"But we'll still need to see your ID," the younger man cut in, trying to ignore the glare his partner sent his way.

"Yeah, sure." Pulling it out, Riley purposefully handed it to the senior guard, who gave it a quick onceover before returning it. He had to admit, the fake identification card he was equipped with looked pretty convincing for a rush job.

"Looks legit. We better head back down to the basement before the chief blows his top. In the meantime, why don't you go home and get some sleep. You look like a good kid, just remember not to let those women get to you. It's my understanding that they tend to hunt in groups and feed off of male weakness. If you ever need anything, look me up," the man said with a smile. He then turned and led the way as the two men melted back into the darkness.

Riley could tell that the offer was truly sincere. He just couldn't figure out why he would make it to a complete stranger. The man seemed like a very good person. It really warmed his heart, but at the same time he felt slightly guilty for lying straight to his face. Though he couldn't quite place it, there had been a certain tone in the man's voice. It was masked behind the bright smile and carefree laugh. Joy? No, that couldn't be it. As far as Riley knew, this had been their first meeting. Maybe he had just imagined it.

Letting the matter drop, Riley took a moment to let all the tension leave his body before continuing towards the lounge. As it turned out, the room had been right around the corner. Scanning his all access security card, Riley pushed open the door and made his way to the back, the bright red exit sign the only light illuminating the room. Riley bent down to retrieve his bag from the cart.

Click

Riley froze. The small metallic sound was unmistakable, the safety being released on a gun. Warning bells screamed in Riley's head. All he could think about was a way to talking his way out of this. However, it was the dark, menacing voice that followed that sent shivers down his spine.

"Hello, Mr. Poole."