No, the coast is clear.

I listened for a reaction from the person below, but there was none. It was hot up there in the pipes, and by the time the vibrator switched off, I was sweating. I sat back up, and checked my phone. It was fifteen minutes past closing time. Now or never.

I lowered myself down and made my way to the sink. There was a gift waiting for me. A black eye mask, like robbers wore in black and white movies. A buzz from my bag told me I had just received a text. It was from Belli.

I thought I'd make things more interesting. I sent the guards home. Now it's just you, me, and a state of the art security system that I had the Doc sync with your outfit's programming. Every time you're detected, you'll get a surprise. You'll have five minutes from the time you put on the mask until I alert the police. Now get to it.

P.S.

I made sure that there was an interesting collection of porn on your hard drive for the cops to find when they raided your apartment. You can thank me later.

Well, damn. That didn't sound good, but maybe it would be easier with no security? I knew Belli wasn't going to play fair, but maybe I could outsmart him. It was the best I could hope for. I cracked the bathroom door and peered out. Nothing in particular caught my eye. The main lighting was off, but the subdued security lights were on, giving me plenty of shadows to work with. I turned to the counter and picked up the mask. There was no string to hold it on, so I had to assume the mask wasn't coming off once I put it on. But it stood to reason that it would come off with the rest of the costume if I was successful. And Belli had mentioned cameras. A little anonymity might be a good thing. I put the mask on, and sure enough, it stuck. I gave it a cursory tug, just enough to confirm my theory. My cell phone chirped, and a countdown was displayed on the screen, starting at five minutes. How helpful.