the Third Twin (1996)

Most of the students and faculty had gone home, but there were still a few people walking around: professors working late, students going to social events, janitors locking up, and security guards patrolling. Jeannie hoped she would not see anyone she knew.

She was wound up tight like a guitar string, ready to snap. She was afraid for her father more than herself. If they were caught it would be deeply humiliating for her, but that was all; the courts did not send you to jail for breaking into your own office and stealing one floppy disk. But Daddy, with his record, would go down for years. He would be an old man when he came out.

The street lamps and exterior building lights were beginning to come on. Jeannie and her father walked past the tennis court, where two women were playing under floodlights. Jeannie remembered Steve speaking to her after the game last Sunday. She had given him the brush-off automatically, he had looked so confident and pleased with himself. How wrong she had been in her first judgment of him.

She nodded toward the Ruth W. Acorn Psychology Building. “That’s the place,” she said. “Everyone calls it Nut House.”

“Keep walking at the same speed,” he said. “How do you get in that front door?”

“A plastic card, same as my office door. But my card doesn’t work anymore. I might be able to borrow one.”

“No need. I hate accomplices. How do we get around the back?”

“I’ll show you.” A footpath across a lawn led past the far side of Nut House toward the visitors’ parking lot. Jeannie followed it, then turned off to a paved yard at the back of the building. Her father ran a professional eye over the rear elevation. “What’s that door?” he said, pointing. “I think it’s a fire door.”

He nodded. “It probably has a crossbar at waist level, the kind that opens the door if you push against it.”

“I believe it does. Is that where we’re going to get in?”

“Yes.”

Jeannie remembered a sign on the inside of it that read THIS DOOR Is ALARMED. “You’ll set off an alarm,” she said.

“No, I won’t,” he replied. He looked around. “Do many people come around the back here?”

“No. Especially at night.”

“Okay. Let’s go to work.” He put his briefcase on the ground, opened it, and took out a small black plastic box with a dial. Pressing a button, he ran the box all around the door frame, watching the dial. The needle jumped in the top right-hand corner. He gave a grunt of satisfaction.

He returned the box to the briefcase and took out another similar instrument, plus a roll of electrician’s tape. He taped the instrument to the top right-hand corner of the door and threw a switch. There was a low hum. “That should confuse the burglar alarm,” he said.

He took out a long piece of wire that had once been a laundry shirt hanger. He bent it carefully into a twisted shape, then inserted the hooked end into the crack of the door. He wiggled it for a few seconds, then pulled.

The door came open.

The alarm did not sound.

He picked up his briefcase and stepped inside.

“Wait,” Jeannie said. “This isn’t right. Close the door and let’s go home.”

“Hey, come on, don’t be scared.”

“I can’t do this to you. If you’re caught, you’ll be in jail until you’re seventy years old.”

“Jeannie, I want to do this. I’ve been a rotten father to you for so long. This is my chance to help you for a change. It’s important to me. Come on, please.”

Jeannie stepped inside.

He closed the door. “Lead the way.”

She ran up the fire stairs to the second floor and hurried along the corridor to her office. He was right behind her. She pointed to the door.

He took yet another electronic instrument out of his briefcase. This one had a metal plate the size of a charge card attached to it by wires. He inserted the plate into the card reader and switched on the instrument. “It tries every possible combination,” he said.

She was amazed by how easily he had entered a building that had such up-to-date security.

“You know something?” he said. “I ain’t scared!”

“Jesus, I am,” Jeannie said.

“No, seriously, I got my nerve back, maybe because you’re with me.” He grinned, “Hey, we could be a team.”

She shook her head. “Forget it. I couldn’t stand the tension.”

It occurred to her that Berrington might have come in here and carried away her computer and all her disks. It would be dreadful if she had taken this awful risk for nothing. “How long will this take?” she said impatiently.

“Any second now.”

A moment later the door gently swung open.

“Won’t you step inside?” he said proudly.

She went in and turned on the light. Her computer was still on the desk. Jeannie opened the drawer. There was her box of backup disks. She flipped through them frenziedly. SHOPPING.LST was there. She picked it up. “Thank God,” she said.