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I pick up the envelope, and for some reason it feels a lot heavier than it should, and I don’t even know what’s inside it.

He doesn't say anything else. I wait, giving him the space to add to it, to give me something more that he has but Cain is looking at the window now, at the club.

I move toward the door when he speaks. "Miles."

I stop.

"Slow," he says. "Patience. It's always the best way." I give him a nod, knowing whatever this is, I have to listen to every word he says. For this mission I have to focus, I have to make sure I do it right, and by the sounds of it, there is no room for mistakes.

“Miles, one more thing, tell Mason if he wants to go on the sixth floor, I’ve put his name on the list.” Cain smiles knowing this will make Mason happy for a while.

“Are you trying to get into his good books now?” I ask making him laugh, but he doesn’t answer me.

Mason and Declan are in the corridor outside; Mason clocks the envelope immediately.

"So?" Mason says.

"He gave me something to look into," I answer there isn’t anything else to say.

"What?" Mason asks.

"I don't know yet, haven’t opened it.”

Declan looks at the envelope, then looks at me. "Did he say anything else?"

"Slow," I say. "Patience. Take my time. Don't rush it." I pause. "One wrong move and it goes bad for a lot of people."

The three of us stand on the pavement outside Cain's club, the line is around the corner, and a few girls are calling us over. If only they knew we’re college students, I mean it won’t stop us, but it might stop them.

"That's it?" Mason says.

"That's it," I tell them both.

Declan pulls his keys out. "You going to open it tonight?"

“Yes, I need to know whose life I have in my hand.” I look around, wanting to be somewhere else, but can’t because I need to know what the weight in my hands is.

“Are you going to tell us?” Mason asks, and I give him a nod. Cain never said I can’t tell them anything, and I think with Mason still out of this part of the family business, this will keep him from going crazy. “Oh, one more thing. Cain said your names on the sixth floor, if you…”

“See you in class,” Mason shouts walking back to the club. I knew he wasn’t going to wait for me to finish my sentence.

Walking back to Declan’s car, I've already planned out my night, sitting in front of the laptop, and researching everything I need to know.

Eight

Miles

Walking into the house, I go to the kitchen first to grab a beer. I have a feeling whatever's in the envelope is going to make me need a drink or two. Instead, I just grab a full case and make my way to my room. Declan’s on the couch with Trixie, and I decide to leave them alone.

I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to watch anything with anyone. I need to know what mission Cain has given me, because his words are still playing in my head. I need to be careful. I need to take my time. What is so sensitive that I can’t just dive into it?

I sit on the edge of my bed with the envelope in my hand. I take a sip of my beer and play with the envelope between my fingers. Then I place my beer on the bedside table and turn the envelope over once more, before breaking the seal.

I take out a single card, on it there’s a twelve-digit alphanumeric code. Below it is a URL that routes through three different servers before it goes anywhere near the actual files. I know this because I recognize the structure. Cain built it, and only he knows how it works. If I had the balls to fuck with Cain I could try to break into it, just to mess with him. But I don’t. I never want to get on his bad side again. I’m on his bad side for something I didn’t even do, what the hell would he do if I’m the one who messed up?

Grabbing my laptop, I go through the steps, and the file opens. There’s a lot of files inside. It’s going to take me about a week to get through just reading them.

I open the first one and read.