We ended up in an office with the name Karen Ingram and the title Director, Marketing Campaigns on the door. I had a momentary twinge of worry, but the door was not locked. Nat closed it behind us, then looked around.

“Walk around the room,” Sheldon said. “I’ll try to pick up indications of existing surveillance.”

We obediently did a circuit of the office, then Nat sat down behind the desk and started opening drawers. “I’m not sure what I’m looking for,” the cling-on said in Nat’s voice.

My eyebrows went up. I hadn’t seen Nat’s lips move or heard a peep from her. If that was subvocalized, it was impressive. “Anything important will probably be locked,” I replied under my breath, to test the subvocalization as much as anything.

Nat nodded and sat back. She picked up the keyboard and flipped it over. As we had hoped, it was a cordless keyboard-and-mouse combo. She pulled out the surveillance device that Sheldon had given her and attached it to the front underside of the keyboard, as instructed.

Meanwhile, I paced around the office, cataloguing the contents. The most glaring factoid was the complete lack of a filing cabinet. The credenza behind the desk seemed to contain only personal effects and a few books. And one thumb drive. Before I could change my mind, I grabbed the item and pocketed it.

“We’ve placed the bug,” Nat’s voice said into my cling-on. “Time to amscray.”

The trip back down to the lobby went without incident. It appeared Loranna really weren’t any more inclined than humans to hang around the office on a Friday. But when we got to the front desk, the guard spoke to Nat in Lorannic. My earbuds supplied the translation. “Did you get what you needed?”

Nat, taken by surprise, did a small stutter step. But she immediately replied, in Karen’s voice and in Lorannic, “All good.”

“I guess I’ll see you at the status meeting this weekend?”

Wow, I thought, was this guard naturally chummy, or did he suspect something?

“Look at your watch, Nat,” Sheldon interjected.

Nat obediently bent her arm up and glanced meaningfully at it. “Yes, but I have a lot of prep to do.”

“Ah, of course. Well, good night.”

Nat and I exchanged glances as we made for the front door. Neither of us spoke until we were outside. Nat let out a loud breath. “Jeez, I thought we’d been made back there.”

Sheldon replied to her comment. “I would have expected him to set off an alarm if he was truly suspicious, Natalie. In any case, if there is a sudden search of Karen’s office, we’ll know for sure.”

“Sheldon, can you have Patrick meet us up front?” I asked. “I’d kinda like to be gone ASAP.”

“Acknowledged.”