"Perhaps. If I didn't own a security company that has cameras in hundreds of different places covering the building."
I pressed my palms flat against his desk and leaned in marginally. He never left his casual pose and his eyes never moved from me.
"So you're saying you knew I was here?"
The smirk on his lips grew. "Something like that."
"When did you realize I was here?"
A single eyebrow rose. "Do you really want to know?" I nodded. "The second you pulled up."
"Seriously?" My hopes of surprising him deflated and the frown on my face surely showed it.
He pointed a finger to a ginormous flat screen TV that had a two by four changing grid of camera feeds, showcasing all areas of the building.
"How do you think you managed to get in?"
"You unlocked the front doors from here??"
It looked like he was trying to veil the depth of his enjoyment. "I did. And no one can just get to my floor unless someone approves it."
Narrowing my eyes I crossed my arms over my chest, determined to challenge him and find the cracks in his system. "Well how does the first person get up here in the morning? I'm assuming if you have stairs that there is still some kind of security on the door to keep them from getting in. Besides, this is twenty floors up, do you expect the first here in the morning to walk up all those flights with a special code to get in?"
His enjoyment never faltered. "That would be cruel of me. Wouldn't it?"
"Horribly! Don't tell me you do that. Exercise can be great but if your morning starter broke their leg and the only way to get inside was climbing all those steps … " I shook my head for affect. "I don't even want to think about it."
He bit down onto his lip to suppress his laugh as he pulled out his phone. Holding it up toward me he pushed a few buttons and revealed an application I had never seen before. Repeated in numerous lines down the screen were the colors of a stop light.
"Each of these represents a different door, lock, etc. Anyone pushes against a locked door, tries to get into specific rooms, or selects my floor in the elevator, I get an alert. Green lets them in, red is immediate rejection and if they were to try again within eight seconds, an alarm goes off near them. The yellow is for when I need to ask for identification before deciding how to proceed."
"Okay, so you have some big fancy electronic device helping you out. What if someone buzzes and you're asleep?"
"Light sleeper, and I hardly sleep anymore as it is." The pull to ask more about his sleeping habits was strong, but I had to remain focused.
"Fine, what if your cell phone dies and you aren't in the office somewhere?"
"Easy, each employee on this floor has a key to the panel in the elevator. Behind that panel are the typical elevator wires and commands but another smaller door is just above that. They need a second key to gain access, and once it pops open there is a keypad. Each week I provide a new password and the employee enters it. Then, they are on their way. None of that requires my attention. I'll receive notice that the elevator button was pressed, but that is all."
His victorious smirk made me even more determined to find a flaw. "What if they forgot the keys, or if you forgot to send the new code?"
"If they forget their keys they better return home and get them. It was very clearly laid out in every interview, that in order to become an employee at Harrison Towers you need to be able to handle that scrutiny. If they don't think they can maintain the level of security that goes into every little day-to-day task, I thank them for stopping by. In the end, everyone knows what to expect from me and this job."
"What if … " Before my next question was out, he was on his feet with my arm in his grasp. He pulled me down the hall toward the elevator at a hurried pace that made me fear he was sick of my questions. Just as the apologies were about to begin pouring out, we both entered the elevator. Stefan selected the first floor and we began our descent.
His arms folded across his chest while he leaned against the opposite wall, watching me closely.
"Are you sending me home?"
He let out a boisterous laugh, shaking his head. "Absolutely not. I'm answering your questions before you have a chance to ask anymore."
I narrowed my eyes at his half-attempt at an insult. "Hilarious."
We stopped, the doors opened and without thinking twice Stefan selected the 20th floor. The doors closed again. Holding up his buzzing phone I saw the alert come up, just as he described. He locked the screen again, but we remained stationary.
"You're going to take these keys and do as I described to get us back upstairs. Or we will be locked in the elevator until someone comes along."