Finally having the information they needed, Holden and Sable then left the 7th precinct. Their next stop was Holden’s apartment so he could grab a few things to help them sneak into the vault with the Residential Files.


    The vault was located on the south side of Chrimoria in the basement of an old, gated apartment complex called the Golden Lion Estates. The building looked like an ordinary brick apartment building for the most part. However, according to Alwin the residents were anything but ordinary.


    Most of them were officers and their families from the Chrimoria Police Department, while the rest were security hired by the Chrimoria Government to protect the vault beneath the building.


    The Golden Lion Estates was subsidized housing for cops who worked on the south side of the city. They were actually some of the nicest apartments on this side of town. Although that wasn’t saying much given the standard of living in South Chrimoria.


    What made this even more appealing to the cops who lived here was that between the fenced off perimeter and the hired guards to watch over the apartment complex, it was the safest place to live in South Chrimoria.


    Holden and Sable sat at a cafe across the street from the apartment complex. Holden sipped a cup of coffee while discrediting examining the building, all of the people going in and out, and the security guards standing outside the gate itself.


    Sable just sat on the table drinking from a bowl of milk the human waitress had provided because she thought Sable was adorable, completely unaware that he was a cait-sith rather than a regular cat. As much as Sable hated to admit it, people treating him like an ordinary cat had its advantages.


    “Looks like you’re really taking to living like an actual cat,” Holden said, carefully watching the guards out of the corner of his eyes.


    Sable decided to completely ignore Holden’s comment by changing the subject. “Are we really just going to sit here and stare at it all day?”


    “Hey, I’m just looking for a new home that is safe. These apartments might be subsidized housing for law enforcement, but maybe they’ll accept a PI.”


    “Huh?” Sable titled his head in confusion, then realized that Holden was just acting like an interested buyer looking for an apartment in case anyone was listening in, or on the off chance someone would use divination magic to investigate him.


    The conversation with Elliandra had made Holden somewhat paranoid. Covering his tracks by not saying anything that could potentially be incriminating was his new approach.


    On the other hand, Sable wasn’t as worried. “You know, all of this will be for naught the moment we walk in there. There’s no way you can hide the fact that you were in the vault from divination magic.”


    Holden slapped his forehead in embarrassment. “You’ve got a good point. Let’s just make sure we don’t get anyone else involved. I wouldn''t want to get any of our friends in trouble when they had nothing to do with it.”


    “Agreed. So, what are we doing waiting around?”


    “We’re scoping the place out. I want to get a general idea of who lives here. Sneaking into a building filled with cops, who are always on guard, is going to be difficult.”


    “What do you mean always on guard?” Sable asked. “This is their home. Why would they always be on guard?”


    “There’s one thing that soldiers, cops, and spies all have in common; we all have a tough time turning off our danger switch. We spend most of our days looking for trouble, and seeing the worst of humanity. It makes us cynical, and slightly paranoid. Most people would probably never go outside if they knew how dangerous the world actually was.”


    “So, you’re saying that even off duty everyone in that building is going to be expecting something bad to happen?”


    “Maybe not expecting. But they’ll certainly be more prepared. It’s just a mentality. One that most people can’t fully understand.”


    “How are we supposed to infiltrate a place like that?”


    Holden took another sip of his coffee, and watched as a man walked out through the gate of the apartment complex. The man headed toward the east, which was in the direction of the nearest precinct. “The only way to go unnoticed is to become someone they think they can trust. It’s not full proof, but cops will naturally let their guards down a little more around other cops.”


    “Are you going to be able to pull that off? Disguising yourself as someone they know sounds tough.”


    “Who says I have to be someone they know? I have the perfect disguise. I’ll just need you to be willing to act like my familiar.”


    Sable’s tail stiffened from surprise. “What did you just say?”


    ***


    A few minutes later, Holden and Sable came strutting out from around the corner of the Golden Lion Estates. The duo had walked a couple of blocks away, then ducked into an alleyway so Holden could put on a disguise. He used a mask that allowed him to change his appearance to look like an elven male, and his brown coat turned a turquoise color.


    Sable didn’t look any different, but he didn’t have to. Most people struggled telling different cait-sith apart, so all he would have to do was change his voice a little, and most people would think Sable was a completely different cait-sith.


    Once Holden arrived at the gate to the Golden Lion Estates, he greeted the guards in a different voice. “Hello, gentlemen. Fine day. I’m looking to move here, and was hoping I could get a look inside.”


    Both guards looked Holden up and down then grunted. One of them then said, “Sorry. No tours. Move along. This place is reserved for officers of the Chrimoria Police Department’s southern divisions. No civilians allowed.”


    “Forgive me. I’m from the city of Shieldfelt to the north. You know, the fortress city that protects the north-eastern border of the Western Confederacy from the most dangerous nations who seek to conquer us?”


    “Yeah. Yeah,” one of the guards said, making a dismissive gesture. “We know how great you Shieldfelt warriors are. Don’t got to rub it in. Alas it doesn’t change anything. You’re not allowed in here.”


    A voice from across the street bellowed, “Hold up guys.” The voice belonged to a large, burly man dressed in a Chrimoria Police Department officer’s uniform. There were a couple other men flanking his right and left sides wearing the same uniform. The man went directly to Holden to shake his hand. “You’re from Shieldfelt? No offense, but you don’t look like a warrior.”


    “Yeah, that’s true,” Holden smirked, shaking the man’s hand. “I’m actually a mage. I’ve always been a bit more intellectual than athletic. I don’t really fit in with the Shieldfelt Police Department.”


    The man laughed hardest. “I guess that’s true. Well, you’ll be valued here. Chrimoria’s southern division could use more mages. Come on in as my guest. Me and the others are going to crack open a bottle after a long day of work.”


    “I’d be grateful. Thank you.” Holden then gestured toward Sable. “You don’t mind if my familiar comes with, do you?”


    “Not a problem. Follow us. We’ll give you the grand tour.”


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The guards reluctantly let Holden and Sable in, but kept their eyes trained on them both until they were inside. The man’s name was Donald Keys, but his coworkers just called him Keys, since using last names was common in the profession. Key and Holden made small talk until they arrived at Keys’ apartment on the second floor. The first thing Keys did after entering his apartment was open a barrel full of beer, and pour cups for everyone, aside from Sable.


    “Here you go,” Keys said, shoving a cup of beer into Holden’s hand. “What did you say your name was again? Sorry. It’s been a long day.”


    “No worries,” Holden said with a friendly smile. “It’s Silas.”


    “Well Silas, welcome to Chrimoria. The city of merchants where you can find anything and everything.”


    “Is that really true, or just an exaggeration? I’ve heard there’s even a place where you can buy things that are outlawed in almost every nation.”


    “It’s true. Though that place isn’t on the surface. No cop in their right mind would be caught dead there. Scratch that, if a cop was caught there; they’d immediately be killed. Not the place you want to be hanging around.”


    “I guess not.”


    Holden, Keys, and his coworkers all counties chatting and laughing for several hours. They spent most of the time swapping stories; mostly strange or action-filled encounters they had had on the job. Holden used an identity he had used from his days as a spy, so he had plenty of stories to tell as part of his cover.


    Sable just sat next to Holden watching everyone chat, while the ghost girl hovered above both of their heads. It was probably the first time Sable had seen Holden laugh and talk so casually. The sight was odd given how guarded Holden usual was. If it weren’t for their purpose being to break into some secret government vault below the apartment building, Sable might’ve let his guard down too.


    It was about an hour into the conversation that the ghost girl started to get bored and walked through the floor toward the first floor. She then went through the floor of the first floor as well, and found herself in the basement of the Golden Lion Estate. Just as Alwin had mentioned, there was a large vault located behind a vault door in the basement. This vault was filled with boxes, each of which contained dozens of files.


    Since the ghost girl couldn’t actually touch anything she was unable to confirm whether or not these were the files Holden was looking for. Nonetheless, getting a look at the vault''s security was easy.


    The vault itself was an enclosed space with no windows or doors, aside from the vault door connecting it to the basement. There were half a dozen guards present, along with a couple of guard dogs roaming the isles.


    The rows and boxes themselves were clearly labeled, allowing the ghost girl to identify which ones Holden and Sable should focus their attention on. Most of the rows were alphabetized by name and birthday of the resident. However, there was also an entire row with boxes of files dedicated specifically to murder victims, and also missing persons cases. A row for residents who had died from diseases and other natural causes other than old age also existed.


    The ghost girl returned to Holden and Sable around nightfall after looking around the entire vault. She then whispered everything she discovered into Sable’s ear. Sable nodded and whispered thank you back to her, then returned to watching Holden laughing with Keys and the others.


    “Man, this guy is great,” Keys said, pointing to Holden. “You should work at our precinct. I hope you end up working at our precinct.”


    “Is it me, or is this guy totally wasted?” Holden pointed out.


    “I’m fine. I’m fine,” Keys replied while laughing. “Okay, I’m pretty drunk. I should probably get to bed. You can stay the night if you want.”


    Holden helped Keys walk to his room as the other officers left for their own apartments. This allowed Holden and Sable to speak plainly with each other, albeit at a low volume.


    Holden sat down for a moment to recover from all the alcohol he drank since he got here. “Wow, it’s been a long time since I had to drink that much while undercover. I guess now’s as good a time as any to look at the basement.”


    “Hold up,” Sable suggested. “You can take a second to recover. The ghost girl already scouted it out for us.”


    “Your imaginary friend scouted it out already.”


    “You''re going through all this, yet you don’t believe me?”


    “I can’t say I completely believe it. But I’m starting to. Wouldn’t go through all this effort if I didn’t have a little faith in you.” Holden than stood up and started moving around. “So, what did this ghost girl of yours say was down there?”


    ***


    After Sable informed Holden of everything the ghost girl told him, the two of them devised a plan. Holden left a note on Keys’ table saying that there was an emergency back home that he had to deal with, then quickly left for the basement..


    Sneaking into the vault in the basement was no easy task. Fortunately, Holden had a magical item that he kept from his days as a spy that would allow him to be invisible to the naked eye, a Ring of Lesser Invisibility. This ring would allow the wearer to turn invisible up to ten minutes before needing to recharge for a full 12 hours.


    Holden would need to time this right if he wanted to sneak inside the vault. There was only one way inside, and that was through a massive vault door. This door only opened during the guard shift, which was coming up soon.


    Holden and Sable both hid in the shadows of the basement waiting for the time when the guards rotated.


    The ghost girl kept an eye on the vault door, then took advantage of the fact that only Sable could see and hear her to inform the duo when they could move. Right as the vault door opened, Holden activated the ring, and snuck in right behind the guards going into the vault.


    Sable used his cat-like stealth to follow behind them unproved as well, using minor teleportation to quickly move when a guard almost saw him.


    The guards ended up closing the vault door none the wiser that two intruders had successfully snuck inside.


    Unfortunately, getting in was the easy part. Searching through the files, and getting out proved to be much harder. There were always at least two bloodhounds patrolling the vault. This meant that Holden and Sable would have to be extra careful.


    Holden had plenty of ways to cover up his sent using a spray that would get rid of it completely for a few hours at most. However, sound would be the hardest thing to cover up. Both Holden and Sable’s footsteps and breathing were as quiet as could be. The sounds they’d be making while searching through files would be difficult to muffle.


    Holden and Sable quietly made their way to the row of files on murder victims and missing persons that went as far back as Chrimoria’s founding. After quietly flipping through the files closest to the end of the row, Holden learned that there was a list that had the name and picture of every person whose file was on each shelf. Holden deemed this list the master list in his mind. A quick skim through this list helped Holden confirm that no one on the master list matched the description of the ghost girl.


    The duo had to wait before they could move on to another row of shelves because one of the bloodhounds was passing right by them with two guards. The bloodhounds sniffed the air, but didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. It then continued making its rounds, freeing Holden and Sable to quietly sneak over to the row of shelves on to the next row that was on people who had died from various illnesses. Once again, Holden found the master list, but came up with no matches.


    They continued to carefully evade guards and bloodhounds while searching through the master lists of any rows that might’ve been relevant. However, none matched the description of the ghost girl. There were a few that were close, but Sable inspected them carefully while comparing their faces to the ghost girl as she floated right above them.


    Thanks to the master lists, Holden and Sable were able to go through several rows quickly, yet by the time Holden’s Ring of Invisibility was about to run out, they hadn’t found a single lead. The duo was left with no choice but to escape.


    Thanks to the ghost girl scouting the place out earlier, Holden had already devised an escape plan. The only way in or out of the vault was the vault door. However, there were also air vents scattered throughout the place that the duo could use to escape. None of them were large enough for a full person to crawl through, but a cait-sith easily could.


    During the last minute of invisibility he had left, Holden made his way to a nearby vent, pulled out a screwdriver, and quietly unscrewed the screws keeping it attached to the wall. Sable made his way inside.


    The Lesser Eing of Invisibility wore off after that, so Holden had to quickly screw the vent cover back on as quickly and quietly as possible before a patrol came around.


    Holden could hear the footsteps coming in his direction right after he finished putting the vent cover back on. His palms started sweating, and a chill ran down his spine as the footsteps continued to get closer.


    The situation required Holden to act fast. He quickly pulled out a bottle filled with a shrink potion from his bag, and poured the entire thing into his mouth before stuffing the cap and bottle back in his bag. Holden then swallowed the potion, shrinking him, along with everything on him, down until he was the size of an ant. At that size, Holden was able to squeeze himself between the grate of the vent cover, and ride on Sable’s back until they made their way outside through the air vent.


    Sable ran off into an alleyway a few blocks away from the Golden Lion Estate where Holden reverted back to his normal size. Holden lay on the ground so he could catch his breath and let the adrenaline die down. “That’s the last of my shrinking potions. We won’t be able to go back there again. Unless you want to get caught.


    Sable was breathing heavily as well. The very thought of going back there filled the cait-sith with anxiety. “No way are we going back there. Not unless we can knock them all out, then flee the city when they inevitably realize what we did.”


    Holden groaned as he sat up. “Yeah. I agree. Let’s never do that again.” Holden got to his feet and brushed all of the dust his clothes had picked up from the ground. “So, what now? Go home?”


    Sable used his paw to wipe dirt off of his forehead. “Sounds good. I think I’ll take a bath.”


    “Never thought I’d heard a cat say that.”


    “And you still haven’t. I’m a cait-sith, remember?”


    “Right. Right. Of course,” Holden grimaced. “You’re a cait-sith. I got it.”