Free Long Division by Taylor Leigh

only place a burglar could have been hiding was the bathroom and I doubted that. My eyes roved the room. The only thing I could see of any value was my computer, which was still sitting on the table. It had been turned on, but besides that, didn’t look as if it had been touched. Why not take it? Or the television? Beyond that I didn’t own much that would interest any thieves.
    ‘Has anything been taken?’ Worry tinged his voice, and I got the distinct impression he was not so concerned with the state my place was in.
    ‘N—no, I don’t think so. Your thumb drive was with me. It’s still safe.’
    James let out a deep breath, not bothering to hide his relief.
    I almost forgot I was still on the phone. ‘I don’t understand. Why? Why would someone do this? There’s nothing here that they could possibly want!’
    I felt dazed. I didn’t know what to do. Wasn’t there something I should have been doing? I felt hopeless, violated, and James wasn’t helping; he wasn’t saying a word.
    ‘I should…should phone the police,’ I muttered in a monotone voice I hardly recognised as my own.
    ‘Don’t bother.’ James said.
    I pulled the phone away briefly in confused frustration and then clamped it back at my ear. ‘What? Why?’
    James let out a deep breath. ‘They weren’t random burglars. Not at this time of day. They were clearly looking for something specific. They didn’t find it. Unless they assume whatever they were searching for was overlooked, they won’t be back.’
    I froze and glowered at the wall for a moment, his words ringing through my mind. ‘Hang on…’ I swallowed heavily, ‘you almost sound like you know what they were searching for…’ I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled the thumb drive out.
    ‘Mark…’
    ‘What’s on this thing, James? Why would people break into my flat to get it?’
    James grumbled. ‘Nothing. Nothing most would be interested in. Yet to some, my mathematical work is quite…valuable to the right people. They are desperate to get their hands on it.’
    I swore. ‘Why the hell didn’t you keep a closer eye on it, James? I found it on the floor!’
    James muttered something under his breath. ‘It simply slipped my mind! I was a bit rushed, wasn’t I?’
    I was completely baffled by this man. Who accidentally dropped something so important?
    The thumb drive felt hot in my hand, burning away. It was dangerous. And it was in my flat. It was wanted by people. And here it was in my little flat. Already my place had been completely turned over in an attempt to find it. I might as well have been walking round with a bomb! How much longer till something worse happened?
    I wanted it gone as soon as possible.
    ‘All right. I’m coming over. This bloody thing has to go. It can’t stay here.’
    James let out an impatient huff. ‘Today will not possibly work. I am much too busy.’
    I glowered. ‘Well, you’re free enough to be talking to me!’
    ‘Yes,’ James said distractedly, ‘and I’m afraid I won’t be able to for much longer…’
    I gripped the edge of the counter to stop the room from spinning. ‘Well, when is the earliest I can come by and drop it off?’
    James said something rather tersely to someone beyond my hearing. Then he sighed. ‘Eleven. Tomorrow morning. That will be the most ideal time.’
    I groaned.
    ‘Mark?’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘It will be fine. Do not worry. I apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you, but I am very grateful.’
    He was gone. I didn’t even have a chance to argue, a chance to question or protest. He was simply gone.
    I swore angrily and hung up, resisting the urge to hurl my phone at the far wall. How had things taken such a turn so fast? Here I was stuck with a piece of dangerous information that some nutters in the mathematical community were apparently desperate enough to steal for. And James certainly wasn’t being very helpful about the whole damn thing! I felt my frustration towards him begin