CHAPTER 17

Sure enough, the guard desk was empty.

James ran to the elevators, punched the Up button, and got in as soon as a door slid open.

Inside the elevator, the button for the fifteenth floor was labeled "SolarStar." While the elevator rose, James looked at the map on the back of his letter, plotting a route to Jennifer McKnight's office. Once he stepped out onto the fifteenth floor, it was too dark to see much. But he didn’t dare turn on any overhead lights. Instead he tried to remember the floor’s layout.

Squinting at a name plate in the dark, he found Jennifer McKnight’s office. The door was unlocked, so he tiptoed in. He went straight to the file cabinet, which opened easily.

James worked as fast as he could, looking through files by the light of his phone screen. Prototypes in Development. EarthWatch Development Minutes. Manufacturing Research.

He remembered Sandra Bravo’s work at EarthWatch. Could that be related to the project proposal he was about to steal? SolarStar was clearly tied to EarthWatch. But why did that matter to the Benefactor? This whole contest couldn’t possibly be about something as harmless as solar power, could it? No time—keep going. He flipped through the files faster.

Suddenly a flashlight beam swept the floor near the office door. James bit back a curse. He’d left the door open. Genius.

He shoved the drawer closed and ducked behind the desk. Out in the hall, he could hear two men talking.

“These idiots don’t lock their offices. Look at this. This one is wide open. I’m tempted to steal something just to teach them a lesson.”

The other man laughed. “Nothing here worth stealing. Gotta love the nonprofit world.” James saw footsteps near the door.

The door to the office closed. James heard, muffled, “These rounds are hard on my old bones. But this is what they pay us for, huh?”

James heard a grunt far away. After that the security guards’ voices disappeared. He counted to a hundred, then stood up on wobbly legs, opened the door, and peeked out. No one. The light from the hallway shone through the door on the cabinet.

James lunged back to the E–F drawer. And there it was. EarthWatch Project Proposal. Now all James had to do was get out. If the guards were on their rounds, checking every floor, he had plenty of time.

He closed the door to the office and raced toward the elevators. Then he stopped. What if he ran into the guards? He should take the stairs instead . . .

He found the door to the stairway and jogged down the steps. Every squeak of his sneakers seemed to echo through the stairwell. When he got to the first floor, he opened the door quietly and looked out. No guards. He headed for the front door.

A voice called out, “What do you think you’re doing here? Stop right there!”

James froze and turned around. Where did he come from?

A gray-haired, white security guard pointed a Taser at him. James thanked his lucky stars that it wasn’t a gun. And that he’d had the sense to get rid of the Benefactor’s gun. James put his hands out to the side, one palm open and the other holding the file. He didn’t dare make another move.

The guard spoke into a walkie-talkie he held with his other hand, keeping his eye on James. “Yeah, I got a break-in here. I need backup. Young black male, six-one.”

Then he looked James right in the eye and said into the set, “Suspect is armed.”