A/N: alright, just a small chapter this time: I thought about extending it to the next "act" but I think it works better on its own.
Also, huge thank you to my beta, who did an incredible job in this one.
I'm expecting to be escorted all the way, but halfway to our destination, he stops walking and points me to the direction of the main building before leaving me to go to it alone. I treat his tactic as a silver lining and amidst the uncertainty, I decided to take the opportunity to gather my thoughts, to review in my mind what Delphine has told me, and make a silent prayer that everything will go smoothly to whichever deity is listening - if there's any at all. The front door is open and the moment I cross it, my eyes land on an agent questioning Albert who keeps his back straight in a posture that conveys dignity, but with expressions that of clear sadness. I don't pause and I keep walking as I catch some of his words spoken with a broken voice.
As I approach the door to the library, another agent - who's presumably standing guard - knocks on the door twice and opens it for me. It's a well-performed and probably well-rehearsed scene because as soon as I enter, Sarah leaves by herself with no escort either. There is no time for us to speak - and I'm sure that that is by design and as they intended. Our eyes only meet briefly and neither of us make any gesture that could be interpreted one way or another by the many eyes on us.
The door is shut the instant I enter the library where another agent is standing on what I consider to be Daniel's side of the desk, leaning over the desktop computer. I give a few more steps inside and stop a few feet short of the table, standing there and waiting for him to give me his attention.
"Have they informed you yet, Ms…." He pauses, takes his eyes off the screen and looks at the small, black notepad placed on the table next to his hand. "Niehaus?" He completes and gives me his inquiring eyes.
"Of what?" I ask, keeping my voice neutral and my eyes steady on him.
He's an handsome man - not quite in his forties by my estimate. His black hair with sprinkles of gray on his temples is cut short in a military style. His well-kept beard is completely gray and doesn't hide a strong jawline and high cheekbones, which give him an almost friendly look. Only his deep emerald eyes give him away, they're narrowed in my direction, occasionally turning to his fellow agent standing behind me still by the door. His eyes don't miss much, there's guile in them, and I suspect that, although he's relatively young, this man is well experienced in these situations. As expected from field officers, he's well built - lean but not very tall, his strong shoulders pressed against the fabric of his white shirt.
"No one has informed you that your boss has been murdered?" He asks in a deep voice, his brow raises as a sign of disbelief.
Technically, Henry - Daniel's father - is my boss, but it'd be dumb pretending I don't know who he's talking about. "Daniel?" I shake my head and try to sound adequately distraught. "No, I haven't been told, but I suspected something bad had happened. When was this?"
"Last night," the agent says and his eyes never leave me, looking for a crack. "It's my understanding that you were supposed to meet with him for drinks."
I'm grateful for Delphine's early morning call, it's not likely that I'll be caught out of guard. "We were, but I never saw him last night," I answer.
"We as in you and his fiancée…" again he makes a big production of checking his notes and this gives me assurance that Delphine has kept her word, our cover still stands. There's no way he would've gone to so much trouble pretending he doesn't know damn well who Delphine is if it wasn't to, in his mind, keep me in dark regarding her role in Daniel's life. "Ms. Cormier, correct?"
"Yes," I nod. "We got to the hotel but Delphine got a text and asked me to leave. I assumed they wanted some time alone."
For once I'm not worried about throwing her under the bus. Delphine's one of them, she has good justification for being there and for meeting Daniel alone in a hotel room, regardless of how much my stomach turns thinking about even the prospect of it.
The agent who's been interrogating me moves around the desk and leans against it on the side I'm on. "And what is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Cormier… hmmm… Delphine?"
I was too confident in my answers, too relaxed and let my guard down. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "We're friendly," I reply, trying to do some damage control.
"Not friends…but friendly?" He seems slightly amused by my choice of words. "Even though you had dinner with her last night and were supposed to join her and Mr. Webster for drinks later."
"Yes, that's right," I agree without a moment's hesitation. I figure that in these situations, the more I talk the deeper the hole I'll dig. I have to keep it simple.
The agent raises a suspicious brow again. "The staff of this house has mentioned that it's not unusual for the two of you to go to the city together."
"We did, a couple of times," I admit. "Mostly because Daniel asked me to keep her company. There's nothing much to it."
He smiles once more as if he can't contain himself - but it's all an act, performed to throw me off. "Is that part of your job description? To keep the boss's fiancée entertained?"
"I'm the IT, as I'm sure you're well aware," I say, not bothered to hide the annoyance his questions are causing me. In any situation his insinuations are out of line. "I also had some free time and if Daniel asked me to join his fiancée when she's shopping for her engagement dress, I see no problem in it."
"But you're not friends?" He insists, the same mocking smile on his lips.
"That's exactly right!" I reply, my annoyance turning into anger. "I don't understand what this line of questioning has to do with the fact that my boss has been murdered."
He crosses his arms over his chest. "At this point we're just trying to establish what kind of environment Mr. Webster lived in, which sort of relationships surrounded him," the agent says matter-of-factly. "As I'm sure you know, usually the people who are closest to the victim are the ones who can provide the best picture of the victim's life."
"Our relationship was mostly professional: I did my job and reported to him," I explain, my tone more serene. "Occasionally that line was crossed, but that's to be expected when we spend so much time together living in the same property. I'm sure you understand."
He nods his head, presumably satisfied with my answer, but it's too late for that - I'm already on high alert with him. As I initially suspected, he's much more clever than his pleasant exterior lets on, yet I still underestimated him at the beginning of the conversation. I won't make the same mistake twice.
"Are you aware of anyone who'd want your boss dead, Ms. Niehaus?" He asks, tapering his tone.
"As anyone in his line of work, Daniel had enemies - he said so himself when I started working for him. Although he never mentioned any names," I reply in a more professional manner. "But I'm sure he only meant business competitors. He never truly expressed fear for his life, nor have I had the feeling he ever felt threatened."
The agent's nodding his head as I speak, scribbling on his notepad and when I'm done he resumes his place behind the computer. "We've been trying to access his files," he informs me with a finger aimed at the screen, "but we've been unable to do so. We were wondering if perhaps you could, being his IT and all."
I shake my head. "I don't have access to Daniel's personal computer," I explain. "I could try but I doubt it'll be any different than what your people can do."
"Then what sort of work did you do for him?" He asks, straightening up.
"I work for the company, mostly, supervising electronic traffic, some control of the Estate's network as well," I answer. "Any sort of security breach, suspicious communications, that sort of thing."
"How did you do that?" He continues to take notes.
"Through the laptop I have at the office in the cottage," I say.
"Inform Brown, will you?" He says to the other agent in the room, who calls someone and tells them to collect the computer I use for work. He then returns his attention to me. "Have you found anything during the execution of your work that made you suspicious?"
"Shortly after I started working there was an issue with one of the company's employees, but that was quickly resolved," I say, and then I decide to throw the bait. "But lately Daniel has requested me to take a closer look at his brother's communications and I found something that warranted concern."
"How so?" He asks, his stare not meeting mine, but he's acting too nonchalant about it for me not to notice it.
"Not sure yet," I shake my head. "The communications were encrypted and I'm not done cracking them."
"Very well," the agent replies quickly. "We'll take a look with our own expert."
Except they won't. They are the recipients of those suspicious communications, they know better than I do what's in them. They're probably relieved that I wasn't able to break it.
"I'm sure your people will know what to do," I comment. I will not press it, there's nothing in it for me other than to see him trying to squeeze himself out of it. Mostly I just want this interrogation to be over.
If he notices the slight disdain in my voice he makes no remarks regarding it. Instead he clears his voice and closes his notepad, puts the pen in his breast pocket. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, Ms. Niehaus, but remain in contact at all times and don't leave the State," he says. "We might want to talk a little bit more later on."
"Does that mean I can go?"
"After you leave your contact details you can." He rounds the desk again, retrieves the pen from the pocket and opens the notepad in front of me.
The number I scribble down is the same I gave Daniel - innocuous and clean, but not suspiciously too clean, there are a few uninteresting communications and it has been active ever since we've taken this mission. I'm sure that Sarah and Felix, when faced with the same request, did exactly the same. It's standard procedure for our team: a new mission, a new number. If they try to find out our previous activities through our phones they're in bad luck.
The deep breath I take once I'm finally out of the mansion is subtle, very aware that I have eyes on me all the time; if not directly then by the CCTV cameras covering the grounds of the property. To my surprise I see Sarah and Felix outside as well, standing at a safe distance from the cottage, where at the front door is a man.
I approach them and they turn their heads hearing my footsteps. "What's going on?"
"I hope you don't have any of your medicinal herbs in there, Cos," Sarah comments, her stare already back on the door further down. "Cause we certainly don't need any more attention."
"How did it go, Felix?" I ask, turning to the young man and ignoring Sarah's observation. She knows damn well I'm better than that and, besides, I have more important things to worry about.
"They ate it up like the good boy scouts that they are," Felix answers without looking at me.
"Are you sure?" I press.
"If Felix says they bought it then they bought it," Sarah says in a voice that invites no discussion.
"Alright," I nod. My stare, like theirs, locked on the front door of the cottage, from where a man is coming out, under his arm is my computer inside a plastic bag, evidence tape wrapped around it.
"Any lesbian porn in there?" Sarah asks.
I twitch my lips and start to walk towards the small house, having noticed the last agent coming out and closing the door. "Lesbian porn is made for straight male audience," I throw over my shoulder, continuing to walk.
"Fucking patriarchy," I hear Sarah mumble under her breath.