29: The Pickpocket

Percy POV

"Terminus, by any chance, do we have some Tylenol or something?" I asked.

My right was hurting a lot. The performance had really taken a lot out of me physically. My voice was fine, but the extra crowd-pleasing movement made my hand ache.

"Bro, are you okay?" Jason asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Jason. My hand is aching though," I replied.

"Yes, Percy, we have your prescriptions in the car. Your mother made sure to pack them in case you might need them," Terminus responded. "She placed them in your suitcase."

"Gods, thank you, mom," I cheered. "Jason, could you get them?"

Jason stood in the back seat and reached into the trunk. We had left in the middle of the show, and Terminus was driving us to Olympus Records.

Jason groaned before pulling a small bag out of the trunk.

"Here you go, Perce," Jason said as he threw the medicine bag into my lap. "Thanks," I stated as I quickly grabbed some painkillers.

"Percy and Jason, I still do not approve of this plan of yours," Terminus stated firmly.

"Terminus, we're not asking you to help. We just need a safe ride to Olympus Records. Jason and I will take care of everything else," I expressed.

"My safety is not the concern here. There are so many factors that could go wrong. For instance, security and cameras."

Jason and I exchanged a look using the rearview mirror. Honestly, we didn't even think about the possibility of cameras. The security guards were no issue. They wouldn't stop me and Jason from passing through the building.

Security footage also wasn't an issue because Jason and I had free access to Olympus Records. After all, I was signed to them, and Jason was the son of the director. However, if Zeus had cameras in his office, that could be difficult.

"Terminus, if we succeed tonight, my dad would already know that we deleted the pictures. It doesn't matter if his security cameras watch us doing it," Jason said firmly.

He did have a very valid point.

"What if they trigger security? After all, you both are sneaking into the director's office even if it's to do the right thing," Terminus said.

I looked out the window to see the large Olympus Records building. Terminus pulled into the parking garage and drove towards the entrance. The building was large and quite impressive, but Jason and I knew our way around.

"Artemis and Chiron will be helping us. Chiron can handle any security from intruding, and Artemis is distracting my dad in a creativity meeting," Jason said.

We had everything figured out. We just had to perform the plan.

Chiron met us in the lobby. Several employees were already greeting us at the door. I smiled as I greeted them back.

Successful artists were pretty much royalty at any label.

"All right, boys, let's go up to Zeus's office for our meeting," Chiron stated firmly. He said it loud enough for several people to hear. It was our way of covering for ourselves.

The elevator ride up was so stupid.

I hated the monotone elevator music. For a record company, our building had poor taste in music. Finally, we made it to the top floor and walked towards Zeus's massive office.

"Hello, father, it's great to see you," Jason said calmly.

"Jason, Chiron, and Percy, I wasn't expecting any of you," Zeus said boldly.

He was collecting his things for his creativity meeting with Artemis and the head team. This was the perfect opportunity to be in his office.

I noticed that his phone was still on his desk.

"Yes, Zeus, I wanted to talk about a few more demos," I lied. "I have some great ideas that could be a real money-maker."

Chiron sat down across from Zeus. Jason and I walked over. I quietly gestured Jason towards Zeus's phone.

"That's always good to hear, but I'm busy at the moment," Zeus exclaimed. "You all are very irresponsible to simply show up without an appointment."

"I don't want an appointment to see my dad," Jason stated firmly. He walked over to Zeus, who was on the other side of the desk.

"Jason, this is not the time," Zeus said as I also sat down.

Jason continued to talk and distract Zeus, but his hand glided quietly against the desk. He swiftly motioned his dad's phone off of the desk and into his back pocket. Then, he placed a dummy iPhone on the desk.

One device secured.

"I have a meeting now," Zeus interrupted his son.

Gods, I hated Zeus. He was a terrible boss but an even worse father. Jason paled as he stepped aside. However, he had done what he meant to do.

Zeus was about to grab his laptop, but I suddenly leaned over. I purposefully tipped the glass of water, and it spilled all over the desk.

"PERSEUS JACKSON, What in God's name?" Zeus exclaimed.

"Err, sir, I'm so sorry," I stammered. I quickly grabbed his laptop and set it down on the floor. Then, I grabbed some tissue and pretended to clean it.

"How do you always manage to ruin everything, boy?" Zeus hissed.

"Sir, you're running late for your meeting. That is not the title and reputation that you want. I will bring your laptop to the board meeting after it's cleaned," Chiron explained quickly.

"Very well, I will deal with this later," Zeus said boldly.

He quickly gathered a few things and grabbed the fake phone. We all watched as Zeus walked towards the exit.

"My office better be spotless when I come back," he ordered.

I'm not your freakin maid, I wanted to say, but I resisted the urge. My anger and frustration couldn't mess with this plan.

Jason breathed in relief as soon as Zeus stepped away. He had walked out without his laptop or phone, which was great.

"All right, I know the password to my dad's laptop and phone. Leo taught me a way to delete all the information storage from a single day," Jason stated. "I'll do that now."

"That's good. Zeus got the pictures on his laptop and phone on the same day that they were taken. I can confirm this. It was Reyna's birthday: Oct 17th," I said firmly.

Chiron handed the now-dry laptop to Jason, and he got to work.

"Boys, I'm going to wait in the hallway. I'll warn you if any security or if Zeus comes back. Please hurry and find the printed pictures," Chiron said before leaving.

I walked around the room and looked at every shelf and crevice. Jason and I had already searched Zeus's office at his home. However, since Zeus didn't stay at home very often, there wasn't much to find.

After several minutes of searching, I still couldn't find the physical pictures.

"All right, the laptop and the phone have been cleared of data from October 17th. There is officially no technological trace of their leverage on you and Annabeth," Jason stated.

"Thanks, bro, but we still need to find the physical copies," I said.

I opened another drawer in his desk before realizing that the top drawer was locked. It has to be in this drawer. It's locked, which emphasizes that it's important.

"This drawer is locked, and it's the last place to check," I stated.

"Well, there's no key, so I don't know what to do," Jason said sadly. I looked at him to find that he was feeling bad.

"Jason, you helped so much, don't feel bad now," I said firmly.

I was sitting on the carpeted floor in front o the drawer. I was trying to use my non-injured hand to muscle it open, but it wasn't working. Jason tried with both hands, but it didn't budge.

"All right, Jason, move," I said as I grabbed a paperclip from on top of the desk.

I unwinded the paperclip before inserting it into the small lock. Picking a lock wasn't the hardest thing to do if you knew how to do it.

"Bro, what the hell?" Jason whispered harshly.

"Remember, Jason, when you lost your gym uniform in the 8th grade, and we thought that Octavion or Luke stole them," I started.

"Yeah?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, um, I lost my gym clothes, and I didn't want to get yelled at by Coach Hedge. So, Leo and I picked your gym locker, and I took your clothes," I finished.

Jason swatted my head in annoyance.

"Oww," I expressed.

"You deserve it for getting me yelled at by Coach. Also, you deserve it for not telling me after all this time," Jason chuckled.

"Well, lucky for us, the experience is helping us now."

The drawer suddenly clicked and slid open. We quickly dug into the files and files of information, but one folder had my name on it.

Jason opened the folder to find the pictures. I stared at the hard-copy pictures of me and Annabeth. We looked so passionate at that moment in the pictures. Of course, we rekindled that passion in the past couple of weeks.

I was taking this huge risk because I didn't want any limitation on that passion. I wanted to keep that passion and love for all my life.

"YES, we did it," Jason exclaimed.

I quickly grabbed the pictures and the folder before we cleaned everything up. Jason and I made sure that the room looked exactly like it did before leaving.

"Chiron, we got them," I said as I showed him the folder.

MY manager smiled in approval before hugging me and Jason. I couldn't believe that we had pulled this off.

"I can't wait to spit the words, 'I quit', into Zeus's face," Chiron said firmly.

Jason and I both laughed as we all walked towards the elevator. I was completely agreeing with Chiron. However, we weren't quitting yet. While I was confident that we deleted all the leverage, we needed to confirm before taking any drastic actions.

As we rode the elevator down, I turned towards Jason.

"Jason, I want you to know that you'll always be my best friend and brother. Even if I'm not signed to your father's company," I said firmly.

"I know, Percy, and back at ya," Jason expressed.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. I smiled as I noticed that it was Piper. I really hoped that the girls had pulled off their half of the plan.

Jason answered and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey, Pipes, we have some great news," Jason exclaimed.

Cheering and laughter erupted from the other side of the phone. Their happy squeals were enough to realize that they also had great news. Jason and I laughed along with them.

They had done it, and we had done it too.