Happy Thanksgiving!
30 The Launch of the big affair
Irons was worried. Sarah hadn't yet spoken a word that morning, she had ate breakfast in her room and then descended from it silent and stony. Her entire demeanor had been cold, frozen, and almost, he detected, frightened. She had smiled a little shakily and they had left, but the entire time she hadn't spoken a single word. He called it worry, but deep inside he knew it was concern, the concern disconcerted him, it was something he hadn't felt for a long time, a long, long time.
***
Dovidi D'angitino is either an idiot, or a genius, was the general consensus amongst Armand Parsigie and his various colleges. To hold this type of a meeting a public place, with so many witnesses did two things, one it exposed them to many unwelcome eyes and two it deflected any real interest by disguising any real importance. As they began to settle in around the table, Armand inspected the others around him, most were of minimal concern to him, all had at least one bodyguard. Four of the seats remained empty, the people who would fill those four seats were likely the most influential in this matter. One would go to Mr. D'angitino, one to the creator of this weapon, and one to whomever was backing Dovidi. The fourth was the mystery to all present.
As if on cue, the door, which until then had been closed after each man had entered, was opened and then held by a man with black hair and dressed in a dark suit. Behind him, entered a stunning woman in a black suit and a diamond choker, she came in on the arm of Kenneth Irons. Kenneth Irons was well known in many circles, and while somewhat unusual, his participation was unsurprising. The woman on the other hand was a mystery, she had an air of strength and elegance walking through the room she took no notice of anyone. Armand Parsigie soon saw that it wasn't arrogance that colored her stride, but assurance. She was not worried for the simple reason that she didn't care.
***
Jake McCartny watched the feed from the hidden cameras half-bored. No one in the meeting room was doing anything halfway interesting – or incriminating. Armand Parsigie sat imperiously looking down on everything, most of the others sat still, carefully arrogant and disinterested. Nearby bodyguards sized each other up. Looking for as many alternate exists as possible. When the door at last opened, Jake was almost glad to see Kenneth Irons walk through – he should at least do something interesting, a nanosecond later however, that thought changed. Sarah? He could hardly believe himself as he watched his former partner walk in on the arm of Kenneth Irons, wearing diamonds that had recently been stolen from the Louvre no less. She was steely that for a moment he wondered if it really was her, then came to the conclusion that it was.
Barely had he come to terms with this discovery when the host of this affair, Dovidi D'angitino came in. Jake noted that Dovidi was not the last to arrive as was custom, but that one seat still remained empty, puzzled he returned to the list that had been retrieved from Dovidi's computer and saw that all fifteen names could be matched to a face in the room. Could it be a misplaced chair? Not likely, in Dovidi's world, even a carelessly placed chair could mean severe punishment for whoever had put it their, who then could it be for?
When the door opened again, an agonizing five minutes later he strained his eyes to see who it was. When he recognized the face he felt his own eyes widen in astonishment. The man was Luka Giamano, and Jake found once again that everything tied back to Sarah. Remembering his orders however, he quickly turned on his COM unit. "All present, two wildcards. Sarah Pezzini and Luka Giamano, both from New York."
***
Sarah and Luka… Erik turned his COM unit off as he suddenly realized where he'd heard those names before – Onica had said them. As he thought about it, he remembered her saying something about Luka being closer then he was supposed to and Sarah being in perilous danger. He mulled over that conversation, trying to recall every detail, he was so engrossed in fact that he almost missed Dovidi's office. Scolding himself he backtracked slightly and began working on the ceiling panel, moving it away so that he could lower himself down.
It was broad daylight, so there was no way for him to know where the lasers were if they had been repositioned, what he did know however was that he had their previous locations memorized. Landing softly on the office floor, he moved stealthily towards the painting behind which stood a safe. When he'd moved the painting he was glad to get to back to good old safe cracking and diligently he set to work. When he got the combination however, he found that he was not careful enough and in opening the safe door, he tripped a laser. Knowing immediately what he'd done, he returned the safe back to it's original condition and made for the vent from which he had come. Cursing quite fluently all the while. He'd botched jobs before, but this had to take the cake. As he disappeared from the room, Security guards came running in.
Damn he thought, looks like plan B's gonna have to do after all.
***
Sarah knew that things were not going well the minute Luka came in. His late entrance had been planned, hoping to anger Dovidi enough to cause an error in judgement, in stead it only elicited a cold disdain, and an even cooler slight. Behind her mask of nonchalance, Sarah wondered just what it was that gave Dovidi this confidence. Then mentally kicked her self for not having thought of it sooner. Dovidi knew Irons backed him, this knowledge was enough to give him all the confidence he needed. Languidly Sarah turned her eyes to Kenneth, and saw that his eyes were fixed on Luka with a mix of hostility, resentment, and – she was surprised to see – regret. When he noticed her eyes on him, he turned to look at her, Sarah in turn raised an eyebrow and gave him an 'I'm bored' look. He smiled tightly and returned his gaze to where it had previously been fixed.
At long last Dovidi began t get to the matter at hand. "Now that everyone has finally arrived, I think its high time we begin. At present I don't believe that introductions are necessary, in a business like ours, the more secrecy the better." Around the table a few eyebrows rose. 'Get to the point' was clearly etched on more then one face. Dovidi himself was eager to get the matter at hand, but before he could continue, the door opened and one of his own bodyguards stepped in. Walking up quickly he murmured a few quick words in Italian, and of those within hearing distance only Luka heard, his eyes immediately filling with something akin to mischief. Dovidi almost growled and barked a quick order also in Italian. The bodyguard lowered his eyes and slowly backed out of the room. When Dovidi turned back to the gathering he was clearly trying to get his temper under control. Looking the Luka Sarah saw him mouth two words to her, and she too almost smiled. His words were simply said, 'security breach'.
***
Onica's mind was far from the boring report that she was typing. Wondering instead why it was that Dovidi had asked her to make an appearance at his meeting this afternoon. He hadn't asked her to bring any work, or even get coffee. He had simply requested her presence, as she thought about it, she forgot to pay attention to her surroundings, and when a voice came from behind her, the first thing she did was reach for a gun to point at it. Making a very strange seance when she finally processed the words.
"I need your help."
***
You know, it's depressing to have the same three of four people reviewing me, does that mean no one else is reading? I'd do the whole 10 review thing Icani started – everyone else seems to be – but frankly I know I'd never get the next chapter that way. Please folks, make a poor college student happy and give her a review, especially when come Monday she has to go look for a new job. Please? It might just give her enough incentive to write the next chapter!
