Ominous footsteps approached. Avon pressed himself further into the shadows behind a storage cabinet. Nearby, doing something similar, was a woman wearing the same kind of grey Computer division uniform that he was. He looked over at her and placed his fingers to his lips. She nodded.
Avon waited; his face was calm and collected. After the footsteps moved off, Avon left his hiding place. He could see the woman breathing a nervous sigh of relief.
Avon told her, "I wouldn't recommend doing this again. Unless you know what you're doing." With that, he moved towards the door.
"Avon." The woman stood staring at him.
He turned to look at her.
She said, "Why did you come to warn me?"
"I didn't," said Avon. "You were acting curiously, I came to satisfy that curiosity. I do not like unsolved mysteries. Any act of warning was purely incidental."
The woman laughed. "So you placed your life and career in danger just because you wanted to play detective?"
"There was never any danger. I knew what I was doing," said Avon.
"Well, thanks anyway. For the purely incidental warning," said the woman.
"Shall we go? Staying here any longer will place my life and career in jeopardy," said Avon.
The woman said, "Of course. It's always your life and career which are the most important things to you."
"Did I say that?" asked Avon as he opened the door slightly and checked the corridor. There was no sign of any security personnel. He exited and the woman followed him.
When they were finally outside of the restricted area of the Federation Banking Complex, the woman said, "You never once asked what I was doing there. I thought that you only came for the mystery?"
Avon said, "So I did. It must have slipped my mind. What were you doing there?"
The woman asked guardedly, "Can I trust you?"
"I just saved your life."
"I thought you said that you only came because you were curious?" The woman kept pushing. She obviously wanted a different answer than the ones he had been giving her.
"That was also incidental."
"The curiosity? Or the saving of my life?"
A brief mercurial smile appeared on Avon's face. "You're very persistent."
"And you're very good at being evasive."
He asked, "What were you doing in the sensitive accounts room?"
The woman hesitated, she appeared to be considering something. "A friend of mine disappeared several months back. There isn't a trace of her anywhere in the system. It's as if she didn't exist. I thought…"
"You wanted to follow the money trail. You surmised that any monetary assets she possessed must have been appropriated and that the information could be kept on the restricted servers?"
"Something like that. I'm sure Central Security is responsible but I don't have any proof."
"She must have been a very good friend," remarked Avon.
"It's terrible times we live in when the government can make you disappear as if you never existed," said the woman.
"Welcome to the real world," said Avon cynically.
"Is any place safe anymore?"
"It's not a matter of finding a safe place," said Avon.
"What do you mean?" asked the woman curiously.
Avon stared at her for a moment, not saying anything. "I meant that there is no place where the Federation cannot reach you."
The woman could tell that he was being evasive again but she didn't press the issue. Not this time. Avon was a cautious man. He would never reveal anything unless he wanted to. It would take time to gain his trust.
"I could use some help. You're the genius around here. You'll probably be able to get past the security protocols much easier than I can, without tripping the alarms."
"What you're doing is dangerous. If they caught you, you'll most likely spend the rest of your life on a penal colony," warned Avon.
"That's why I need your help. But even if you don't, I have to try it."
"Why should I risk my life helping you?" Avon asked.
"You don't like unsolved mysteries?" she asked in a teasing and hopeful tone.
Avon smiled.
Anna continued, "Well, I'm offering you a big one. Find out what happened to my friend."
"This is more than just an unsolved mystery. It involves going up against Federation Security."
"Don't tell me you're afraid." She knew the main battle had been won. She had his attention, Avon was already committed to helping her.
"Only a fool would not be," said Avon.
"Are you saying that you're not going to help me?" she asked him.
Avon paused in thought and then he said, "As you said, I do not like unsolved mysteries."
The woman smiled and said, "By the way, my name is Anna. Anna Grant."
"I know."