‘Actually, we think they got in a different way, and stole the key card once they were in there.Romy can show you.’Stone nodded at her.
That nod hit like a gut-punch, leaving her breathless—like she was dangling over a cliff with nothing but a thread to keep her from falling.
‘Go on, show them what you showed me this morning.’
‘Um…’ She swallowed hard, trying to flex the ice from her fingers.‘I was filming with my drone and found this.’She tapped on her laptop while convincing herself that this was just another production meeting.Nothing more.And she’d done hundreds of them, for numerous films.So really, there was no reason to get all worked up over this teeny presentation.It was silly.Which made Stone right about his theory of using this instance as practice.The clever man.
‘Duchess, can we let Romy stream to the big screen on the wall, so we’re not reading over her shoulder?It’ll be easier to spot the details, and you’ll see details, because the quality of the footage is pristine.’
Great, now she wanted to blush again.
‘Excuse me.’Amara leaned over, and her fingers flew across the keys with precision, syncing Romy’s laptop to the big screen in seconds.‘You’re on.’
‘You can’t share that footage,’ said Finn so bluntly Romy’s heart plummeted as the others shuffled in their chairs to face the wide screen.‘I know you make documentaries, so there’s a confidentiality form you need to sign, before you leave this office, today.’
‘Okay.’Not that she had a choice, because she had a feeling Finn wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
‘Good.’Finn slightly nodded at Stone, who nodded back.
Did Stone say something?
How could he, when he knew how much this meant to her?
The need to sulk or get mad about not being able to keep her footage, was beginning to irritate her to no end.She wriggled in her seat as if to contain herself.
‘Is that going to be a problem?’Finn’s dark eyes had no soul.
‘No.’Liar.She shook her head, suddenly feeling guilty—when she’d done nothing wrong.‘I want to help you guys find those stolen animals.’
Stone’s warm hand landed on her shoulder, giving it an encouraging squeeze that instantly put her at ease.So much so, she slipped into work mode and tapped a few keys on her PC to bring up her footage from yesterday.
‘Wow, that’s so clear.’Craig’s eyes widened at the big screen.‘Hey, there’s us.My hat looks good.’
‘See, Duchess, that’s what a real hat should look like.What was that hat, a sheep farmer’s heirloom?’Stone pointed at Amara’s hat that looked like some old bushranger’s hat.
‘It’s a slouch hat design, originally worn by Australian soldiers but also favoured by farmers and bushmen in the 19th century.’Amara scowled at Stone for being a dick.
‘How about I take you hat shopping and bring you into the 21st century.’
‘It is good footage,’ said Finn in what felt like a rare compliment from the gruff officer.‘Speak to the constable later about invoicing us.’
‘Told you so,’ whispered Stone to Romy.‘Now, show the Bossman the hatchery, please.’
Romy tapped on the keyboard to find a particular scene.‘This is the back entrance that Craig and Stone were talking about.’
‘There…’ Craig leaped up to the screen and pointed at the bird’s-eye view of the hatchery’s building.‘That’s where they had their van parked on the side of the hatchery.It sat there, then moved around to the main doors on the south wall, before heading down to the back fence.’
‘What were you going to show us, Romy?’Finn asked.
‘This.It’s the roof.’She zoomed in, then tapped Stone’s leg under the table.‘You explain it to them.’She didn’t do show-and-tells.That’s what her footage was for.
‘If you insist.I’m not shy.’Stone slyly winked at her and swaggered up to the wide screen.‘If I had to break into a place like the hatchery, with its top-class security, I’d shimmy up this drain’s downpipe to the roof, here, then scramble my sweet butt across to one of these cut-out hatches, here.’He tapped at the screen that showed the outline of six simple square hatches in the roof, big enough for a manhole.
Finn rummaged through the documents on the table to bring up the floor plans of the hatchery itself.‘One of those hatches would sit directly over the tech office.But it’s not on the plans.’
‘So that’s how they got in.’Craig nodded, while rocking back on his chair.‘It explains why they parked their van at the side.They would have used that to start their climb to the roof, then sneak in through the hatch, steal that swipe card from the tech office, and the lab coat in case security poked their head in the door.’
‘Wouldn’t they lock those roof hatches?And why have them when the hatchery is temperature controlled?’Amara asked.
