Charming man. “Well, in that case, call me Zoe. But only when we are alone on this terrace.” She winked at him, and she could swear, the Russian blushed a little. “Anton... if you don’t mind me asking, if oil is not your first field of activity, if we can say that, what is it?”
“Telecommunications mostly. I am diversifying, as you know the economy cannot be trusted. It changes like the wind. I have many friends in the government and they are saying the same thing.”
Zoe almost told him that oil and gas were obviously declining, but it wasn’t her money she was investing. And his admission about having connections with the government confirmed that Finch was probably interested in his contacts, much like with Ahmad.
“My dear Zoe, I think our peace and quiet is about to be invaded.”
She followed his gaze and saw Archer and Finch entering the room. Both men looked at her directly, but obviously with different intents. With one last smile at Vasiliev, she put her cup on the terrace table and returned inside. Vasiliev’s enthusiasm returned as he greeted the men. After a quick handshake with Finch, he turned to Archer. Finch took the opportunity to offer Zoe his hand which she couldn’t refuse. His grip was hard and unyielding, pulling her toward him against her will. His grin turned harsh, his hold now almost bruising. When he leaned toward her ear, she flinched.
“A great pleasure to see you again, Zoe. Are you ready for your next assignment?”
Still pulling her in, Zoe put her free hand on his chest, trying to push him off.
“Zoe?” Archer’s voice sounded like a whip and immediately Finch opened his hand so suddenly Zoe almost stumbled back. When he turned to Archer, Finch had schooled his face once more. Archer looked between the two of them, his face dispassionate, analyzing what just happened.
“Can we begin?”
Finch followed Vasiliev toward the seating area, and Zoe had trouble breaking eye contact with Finch as dread settled once again in her gut. It was Archer’s warm hand on her hip that brought her back to reality. Swallowing hard, she looked up at him and saw questions and concern but couldn’t find any possible way to address them. It wasn’t important. Without another word, she went to sit on the deep chair facing Finch, Archer sitting beside her.
Zoe grabbed her notepad and nodded at Archer that she was ready.
Again, the entire conversation was very technical. Part of Zoe’s brain remained on the conversation, the other was acutely aware of Finch looking at her. Minutes trickled by, with Archer and Vasiliev talking about mergers, employee transfers, bonds and permits, and numbers. Tons of numbers, strings and mountains of numbers.
Archer passed her papers, asking for annotations. He kept her busy and she was secretly grateful for it, wanting to avoid worrying what Finch had in store for her. Each time she inhaled, she thought about Lucas, each time she exhaled, she envisioned breathing fire onto Finch, turning him into ash.
The two other men seemed oblivious to what was going on. Blessed ignorance, Zoe thought. As Archer and Vasiliev were debating some foreign property law and decided to make a call to their respective attorneys for questions, both men went to the side conference table where the phone was. As soon as the call went through on the speakerphone, Finch came to sit beside her. He took her hand and squeezed hard.
“Behave, my dear.”
Zoe’s answer whistled through clenched teeth. “If you want me to behave, you better let go of my hand.”
Anger oozed from her and it must have convinced the devil man that she wasn’t playing. Slowly, he released her hand, but the smile stayed in place. Instead of hanging onto her fear, she decided to attack. “What now? Hack a phone again?”
“Oh, no my dear. Never would I waste your talent. On the contrary, I’m gonna up the ante a little. I need you to retrieve a Flash drive from Anton’s suite. He always travels with his personal security vault. Not numbers, not letters, not even Cyrillic, but symbols. They’re supposed to represent a word.”
Zoe looked at Archer, who was deep in conversation, searching through a stack of papers. How she wished she could just get up, walk to him and tell him everything. Damn, not even when she was younger and in need of help between the beatings did she experience this despair.
Undisturbed by her lack of response, Finch continued. “I’ve got the keycard and already I’ve dropped it into your bag. There is a switch of guards in front of his door in two minutes.” His statement shocked her to the bone, making her turn to look at him.
“Like now? In two minutes from now?”
“Well now, let’s say one minute thirty seconds. If I were you, I would get going.”
“Where’s his room?”
“Top floor. The number is on the card.”
Like an automated doll, Zoe rose from the sofa and grabbed her bag. She heard Archer call after her, but only said that she would be back in a minute and rapidly closed the door behind her. Lance was at the entrance and as he went to grab her arm, she evaded him. “I’m staying inside the building. I’ll be back in five minutes. Chill out.”
It was obvious by the way Lance looked at the door and her, he wasn’t happy about it, or maybe it was more her sudden change in character. He was taking out his phone when she arrived at the elevator and pushed the button. Less than thirty seconds later, she was on her way up. There was no way of knowing the exact time and she only prayed that she would at least be able to get inside the room without a problem. At the top floor, the hallway was much larger with fewer rooms. Zoe checked the card and turned right. Walking, she met a man on his way toward her. The suit, the protruding vest, there was one of Anton’s guards, no doubt. She smiled at him and he winked at her. Well, at least she didn’t appear to be a suspect. Turning around herself to see if anybody was around, she almost dashed to the door. Seizing her chance, she swiped the card and got in, as soon as the light turned green.
Anton Vasiliev’s suite was vast with windows offering an ample view of the city as it was on the opposite side of the building. With much darker woods than in the meeting room, it appeared more masculine in a way. Now, she hunched her bag across her shoulders and started her search. Zoe had no idea what exactly she was searching for. Trying to get her breathing under control, she started opening the drawers, one by one, careful to move clothing items as little as possible. Searching through the bathroom, she did the same. She checked under the bed, in the closet, nothing. Panic was trying to get the best of her, but having a clear mind was primordial. Zoe visualized the room once more, trying to see where she hadn’t checked until something clicked. The suitcases.
Back in the walk-in closet, she went to check them out. And there it was. A little case made of titanium. With her treasure in hand, Zoe was about to go into the room, when she heard the door. Someone was coming in! There was no way she could get the case out of here!
“Mister Vasiliev? This is room service. Are you there?”
A female voice.
