Darker Shades of Elise novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Server Room

The mill was dark and cold on Saturday night, and our footsteps rang on the basement stairs.

Ansel went first with a flashlight in one hand and his laptop bag over his shoulder.

I followed with Rafe's brass key in my fist.

At the bottom was a steel door with a keycard reader and a keyhole under it.

"Try it," he said.

The key turned.

Inside, the air was dry and cold and hummed.

Four tall racks stood in a row, and each had green lights blinking in rows.

Ansel found a rack with a taped label that read CORBIN in Rafe's handwriting.

He sat on an upturned crate, opened the laptop, and plugged a thin gray cable into a port on the front.

His fingers moved faster than I could follow.

"Master login's still good," he whispered, although nobody could hear us.

"Give me a minute."

I stood behind him with my hand on his shoulder.

My heart was loud in my ears.

"There," he said.

The screen filled with folders.

Each was named with initials and a number, and I counted them without wanting to.

Eleven.

And then a twelfth one, newer, at the bottom.

R_REDDICK_T.

I made a sound and put my knuckles against my mouth.

He opened it.

Twelve video files, each labeled with a Thursday.

I had known they were there, but seeing the names in a list made my knees go weak.

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