24 – Broken Trusts.
Luka let out a hiss at the photographs, his anger building as he sifted through them. In one of the pictures she was dancing with Dovidi, a smile brightening her face. Luka was livid, as much with jealousy as with anger, yet at the same time he found himself wanting to laugh at the irony of it all. Luka was engrossed in the photographs that he barely noticed Sarah walking up behind him. "So you know." Luka floundered for a moment, then realized that Sarah had known about Callie all along. For a moment his emotions were mixed, but he quickly pushed them down, the mission came first. That much he owed to his family. Placing them back where he'd found them, Luka firmly dismissed the photographs from his mind, if not his heart.
"Later. Right now we have an objective." Curtly dismissing Sarah he returned to his search, fighting back irritation she did the same. After a few moments of working in silence, Sarah found what she presumed to be the safe. As she worked to get it open, the Witchblade hissed in warning.
"Luka get under the desk." When he didn't move she dove toward him, using her momentum to roll them both under the desk just as the office door clicked open and a security guard ran his flashlight across the room. Fervently, Sarah prayed that nothing was out of place.
"No one's in here, besides, the lasers probably still on. Mr. D'angitino's office isn't connected to the rest of the buildings security." As the security guard's voice disappeared, Luka and Sarah reappeared. As Sarah moved back to the safe, Luka mused over her amazing instincts, at last he came up to her and offered a hand.
As the safe clicked open Luka broke the silence. "Thanks for before, I didn't even notice the security guard coming." Sarah only nodded and proceeded to open the safe, then moved aside so that Luka could see what was in it.
"It's here!" Luka kept his voice down to an excited whisper as he removed a rack of test tubes the safe. Seeing them Sarah frowned.
"Damn it Luka how the hell are we supposed to get this stuff out of here?" but already Luka was taking care of them, from his pocket he removed a cigarette case, inside were empty glass tubes quickly he removed the barest bit of liquid from each tube. Cursing when came up one tube short. Suddenly Sarah's watch beeped, reminding them that they were on a timetable. "Five minutes." Nodding Luka began to return the contents of the safe to their place. Quickly the two of them left, disappearing like writhes in a mist.
***
"Your room miss." Onica gratefully tipped the bellboy before finding the bedroom and dropping onto the bed. She was in the princess suite, courtesy of Dovidi. Sighing she rolled over onto her stomach and drew a pillow down to her cheek. Emotionally, it had been an extremely trying day, she had kept a smile on her face, a pleasant manor, and yet an attitude befitting someone who was amongst her betters. Onica didn't think of those people as her betters, and that was what had made the trip from half moon bay to Invercargill so difficult. The train ride that followed from there was even more torturous, Dovidi had been beyond kind, and that too had been a bother rather then a comfort. Burying her face in the pillow, Onica wanted nothing more then to sleep, but she had things she needed to take care of. Quickly she got up, and headed for the door, what she needed to do she couldn't do from where she was. Not so much because of any restraints the room produced but because paranoia would not allow it.
***
Erik stood stiffly at attention waiting for his immediate superior to finish his latest tirade. "…You used to be one of the best, and THIS is all you get. Damn it, a list of names does us NOTHING, nothing. This assignment is important; you know what the timetable is. Now go." Still simmering at his curt dismissal. Erik turned on his heel and left, he was trying his hardest on this assignment, but so far his only tie to excelsior enterprises was Onica, and his closest contact had been last night. Erik was so lost in his own thoughts that he barely noticed when Onica walked across the hall right in front of him. It wasn't until he had neared the elevator that he'd registered her presence. Cursing himself for his own daftness spun 180 degrees on his heel then immediately went down the same hall way she did, following her at a distance, but close enough to hear her. As she wound her way through the hotel grounds she glanced over her shoulder more then once. At last she stopped and pulled out her cell phone. Dialing in a number she glanced about herself nervously. As if she expected herself to be followed, she kept moving about as she waited for the phone to ring on the other end.
"Ian, It's me …Don't worry, I'm safe… I know… I can't talk; someone's following me… I know… Expect me back on Monday. I'll be ok… I will." Hanging up she quickly began moving back to the building. Leaving Erik in stunned silence. She knew he was following her that meant that she must have had some training to that end and her own conversation was indeed cryptic at best. It worried him, if even Onica Kohl wasn't who he thought she was, then he was truly on his own. Finally he decided to do what he had kept from doing up to now taking out his own cell phone, he dialed a number of his own.
"David? It's me… listen closely, I need you to do something for mer. Something important."
