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“Thank you.”
She breathed out. “You’re welcome. I’m gonna go get coffee, maybe something to eat.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be back for my shift.”
“Okay.”
She nodded like something had been settled, grabbed her handbag and left.
Joq opened his palm and looked at the USB.
He went into the security room, gave the monitors a cursory glance; the emptiness of the building spread before him like his own personal empire. Sliding his laptop out of his bag, he opened it, typed in his password and held the thumb drive at the portal. He looked at the screensaver, the blinding grins he and George wore, sat back, and tapped the USB on the desk.
Joq was still tapping the desk, his screen black, when he heard the beep of the alarm deactivate on the other side of the door, the sucking sound as it opened.
“Hey, boss,” Simo grinned at him as he came in, hands full of his breakfast of a Macca’s bag and a shake.
“You’re in early,” Joq replied and slid his palm around the USB.
Simo gave him a funny look. “It’s nine.”
“Oh,” Joq shut his laptop, put it in his bag and slid the USB into the front pocket. “Must’ve zoned out.”
Simo chuckled as he took his seat, sipped on his straw. “Ain’t surprised, not much doin’ here. You want me to check the messages?”
“Yeah,” Joq breathed out and followed Simo’s gaze to the blinking red light that meant a call had been registered with the external security company overnight.
Simo hit play. Joq ran a hand through his hair and decided he wasn’t going to look at that footage. The tinny sound of the security officer came through the speaker informing them an alarm had been tripped overnight but they’d spoken to Mr Creed on-site, nothing to worry about.
“Weird,” Simo said and bit into his muffin.
The door beeped again and Alison pushed in. Joq met her concerned expression. He shook his head minutely and she nodded like she got it.
“Mornin’, Ali,” Simo said around a mouthful.
“How many times, Simo?” she replied as she took a seat.
Simo laughed and spun to face the screens. “Alison, Miss Alison. Good morning.”
“Morning,” she cracked a smile and took her seat.
“Alright,” Joq sat up. “Let’s get that camera outside the trainer’s room fixed today, Simo?”
“On it.”
“And Alison, can you run Sue through the game day drill when she gets in at noon? We want to tighten that up before finals.”
“Of course.”
“You don’t wanna check last night?” Simo asked. “Security left a message,” he said to Alison.
“I’ll do it later,” Joq said and stood. “I’ve got a meeting with the front office. Let me know how you go with the camera,” he finished and went out, his bag firmly on his shoulder, his hand tight on the strap.
Physically, he was in that meeting and he finished up the day, pretty sure everything was running well. The team was good. Sue, Alison and Simo worked well together; each took responsibility for their role and he felt like he could trust them.
As he hit the button for the gate, saw the bumper of George’s car, he thought for the first time he couldn’t say if he felt the same for George. He suppressed that thought quickly—George had been honest with him.
