Newsom waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the office before she made her way to her coconspirator’s desk. She pushed the chair aside, dropped to her knees, and slid the sheet of hard plastic to the side, revealing the false floor. She moved the panel aside, too, and tried the knob of the safe. No such luck that it was open. She managed to get to her feet and rushed into the old-fashioned bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and took out a can of shaving cream. What looked like an expiration date on the bottom of the can was really the code to the safe. She ran the numbers through her brain until she was sure she had them down pat. She ran back to the desk and again dropped to her knees. Four turns to the right at 5, three turns to the left at 44, two turns to the right on 26. Turn until safe opens. The safe didn’t open.

Newsom rocked back on her heels and tried again, this time her hand steadier. The safe still wouldn’t open. She cursed as she heaved herself to her feet again and walked back into the bathroom. This time she brought the shaving cream can back with her. She tried every variation of the numbers she could think of. The safe’s heavy steel door refused to budge. She cursed ripely. The son of a bitch must have changed the combination. She wanted to cry, but she was too angry.

In the end, all she could do was put things back where she’d found them. She returned the shaving cream can to the medicine cabinet. She bumped into the ugly safe standing in Bell’s office, the obvious safe, which he was so proud of. Well, she knew that combination by heart. Her hands were rock steady when she twirled the knob. It took all her strength to open the heavy door. She knew there was nothing of importance in this particular safe other than old files. It contained a small wad of cash in case anyone ever had the audacity to break in and force Baron to open the safe. Baron had once told her he kept eleven hundred dollars in the safe because it sounded like the amount someone would expect to find. She grabbed the money and shoved it into her purse. She closed the safe and looked around, listening for any sound from outside that would indicate the guard was making his rounds. The building was totally silent, eerie actually.

If nothing else, she at least had enough cash to check into a hotel.