The inside of the structure was just as impressive as the outside. There were delicately carved designs into the ceilings and oak chairs which rested against the walls. In the center of the floor there was a desk with a young woman who appeared to be writing something important. By the main door was a gruff-looking guard, and another one that stood not far from him. How are we going to break into anything? Stacy wondered to herself. The place was obviously under strict and watchful eyes. "I had no idea my brother worked in a place this nice." She whispered to Louise who was hanging closely by her side.
"What do we do now?" Lou asked calmly. There was no way that they could just walk in here and get into someone's office.
Stacy scanned their surroundings. Under watchful eyes they weren't sure what to do. One of the burly men approached them. "May I help you ladies?"
They both wheeled around. "Oh, well, yes actually." Stacy fumbled. "My sister and I are looking for someone. I have an appointment with one of the young gentlemen that works here." She did her best to add a soft sweet southern accent.
The man seemed slightly impressed by the young lady and relaxed his stiff posture. "I'd be pleased to help you." He said with a smile.
Louise smiled back at him and batted her eyelashes. "Oh my dear sister and I would be ever-so grateful." Her drawl was much stronger and Stacy looked at her with her eyes widened. She hoped that Louise wouldn't make it look and sound too unbelievable.
"Who are you two, charming, ladies looking for?" He continued after clearing his throat. Apparently swayed by their overwhelming charm.
"Well," Stacy stammered once again. "See I don't know exactly. This man came over to mamma's.......was it yesterday, my dear sister?"
Lou nodded in affirmation. "Promptly at three."
"Yes, as I thought. Anyway, as I was saying, he stopped by for tea and said that if I'd be most obliging and bring my sister to his place of work, he'd show us around. He made all of his business sound so romantic, and with those charming blue eyes, how could I possibly resist? But don't you go thinking that me and my sister just pick up the first man that comes calling. It's just well, he just seemed so sweet and calm and we were just taken away, weren't we sister?" Stacy turned to Lou who shook her head slightly to try and recapture all that she had just uttered.
"Uh, yes, that's right." She quickly replied, not knowing what else to say. By now the other man standing guard had come over to see the 'attraction' of the two ladies. Suddenly, it came to Stacy. She turned to Lou and whispered into her ear, using the old form of communication they had played with only the day before. "Trick fainting old your use." Louise nodded, instantly understanding. They had used that one at the orphanage before so that Stacy could break into the main office and steal some of those delicious candies that were sometimes left in the front for visitors.
Lou instantly brought her hand to hear head and began swooning. "Oh." She cried softly.
"What is it my sister!?" Stacy exclaimed holding her hand.
Louise groaned slightly. "I.....I, am dizzy." She let out one more soft cry before falling completely over.
The men kneeled on the floor instantly, helping to lift her head. The woman who had been sitting at the desk rushed over as well. Stacy took advantage of the situation and started towards the hallway. "I'll go get some water!" She said as she quickly took off. Once she was out of earshot she chuckled to herself. "Oh, Louise, you haven't lost your touch." Then she instantly went back to the problem at hand. Which office was Joey working in?
Quickly scanning the doors for any signs of names or anything, she was about to give up after having gone down the entire length of the endless stream of doors and occasional windows. The building didn't even belong in that area. It looked like something that one might see in Washington City.
Sighing to herself, she realized that there might not be any hope of finding it. But then, at the end of the hall was an open door. Slowing her pace and peaking around the corner she saw a small desk with a few bookshelves resting against the wall. There was something more specific that grabbed her attention though. On the desk sat probably the only picture that she and her brother had ever had taken together. It was shortly after he had gotten his new job. Come to think of it, that was the only picture she'd ever had taken in her life!
Rushing over to the desk, she scooped up the picture and held it in her hands. Joey's precious, soft features had been captured so perfectly. His eyes, were just as striking in the colorless brown and white tones of the portrait as they had been in real life.
Realizing that there probably wasn't much time left, she carefully tucked the picture into her small purse and began a frantic search for the red file. Starting at the top of his desk she moved around to the bookshelves.
After having absolutely no luck, she sat down for a moment and rubbed her temples. There was no denying that all of this had completely worn her out. As she raised her head in preparation to leave, there was one thing that she hadn't noticed.......a small safe tucked in the corner of the room.
It required a combination, and Stacy felt helpless once again. There was something inside of her that caused her to pull out the picture once again. Joey always wrote anything he had to remember on something. Could it be here? Almost not wanting to look and fail once again, she carefully turned it over and pulled it out of the delicate frame that it rested in. There written in light pencil, a series of numbers had been sketched. Repeating them in her head she went over and ran the sequence by turning the dial on the safe. There was a slight hesitation as she ran it to the last number, but then there was a 'click' and the door opened smoothly.
Right on top of a stack of papers was a red folder. She smiled and quickly grabbed it tucking it into her dress. Closing the safe, she stood up and hurried out, taking one last glance behind at the room in which her brother had been working not so long ago.
Starting down the passageway towards the main entrance, Stacy stopped, ducking behind a corner. Pulling out the red folder, she decided once and for all that she was going to learn what it was that had cost her brother's life, and was coming very close to causing the deaths of her friend's as well as her own.
Carefully pulling out the papers, she began to study them, seeing no significance in the letters and numbers that were layed out in columns. But then at the end of the page she read something that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up and chills to run down her spine. "Plotted assassination of President Lincoln; politicians involved, listed as shown below."
On to Chapter Fourteen