The Cold July

"We can’t copy yet," Sam said. "We need one of those copier keys like we have at The Tiger."

A copier key was a small gray box that inserted into a University copier. It had a counter built into it that recorded each copy. It was each University department’s way of keeping track of how much they had to pay for each copy. It also prevented unauthorized use of another department’s copier.

"Where would it be?” Slade asked.

“Try her desk drawers.”

Sam tossed Slade the flashlight. He opened the first drawer and shined the light inside. Just pens, paperclips and sticky notes. He opened the drawer below it. Nothing except a few papers. He yanked open the third drawer.  He fumbled through some index cards, scissors and staplers until his hand finally rested on the little gray box.

“Got it,” he whispered.

He handed the flashlight and copier key back to Sam. The senior inserted the key and pressed the green “start” button. The copier whirred and began to photocopy the first document. Sam handed the folder to Slade.

“You finish the rest. I’m going to look through the other cabinet drawers to see if there’s more.”

Sam hurried to the cabinet and began to sift through the other folders.  The copier churned steadily as Slade kept feeding it papers. Sam frantically searched through the row of folders but found nothing else that appeared confidential.

Slade slapped down the fifth paper in the set of nine and pressed the “start” button as he held the lid open. Bright light from the copier illuminated the room. Sam whirled around angrily.

“Goddammit Slade, put that lid down!” he hissed.

“Sorry,” Slade muttered as he slapped the lid down.

Fuck, Sam thought. He wondered how bright it had appeared from the street.

Slade finally finished all the copies and swept the original documents quickly into the folder. He scooped up the new ones, folded them in half and tucked them into his inside jacket pocket. He handed the confidential folder back to Sam. “Okay,” Sam whispered. “Go turn off the copier and put the copier key back. I’ll lock this up and replace Faustus’ cabinet key.” Sam plopped the folder back into its drawer and slid it shut. He locked all four drawers with the little silver key and grabbed Nadia’s set of keys, which were hanging on a small nail on the wall near the cabinet. He quickly slipped the silver key back onto the key chain and hung it back on the nail.

Meanwhile, Slade had turned off the copier and was fumbling for the copier k