Chapter 13
He watches her lightly twirl her pen between her fingers as Sloane's voice slowly become monotone in the background. He wonders if it is nerves that's making her jittery or if it is just an unconscious little habit. This is the first assignment that they are going to be working on together as partners. Maybe she is still hesitant.
After pondering awhile, he settles for the latter as he sees how calm and collected the rest of her seems. Her eyes quickly glance across the table to see him staring at her hand. She stops abruptly feeling a little self- conscious. Noticing her sudden stiffness, he shifts in his own seat to a more comfortable position. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him give her a quick half smile, and her hand nervously goes to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Their attentions turn on Sloane again as he pushes a black folder towards their direction. The leather folder glides down the smooth surface and they both reach out to get it at the same time. Just as their fingertips are about to brush past lightly, Vaughn quickly retracts his hand.
"Uh, you go ahead," he nods. She can have first look; he'll wait.
"Those are the floor plans of the building. Marked in blue are the two places where the suitcase with the Rambaldi artifact could be located. There's one in each of the far ends."
" There are two suitcases?" Sydney questions as he hands the folder over to Vaughn.
" Yes. Giovanni DiRisio is a man who knows the value of Rambaldi. One of the suitcases is a fake."
" How do we know that both aren't fakes?" Vaughn asks the exact question that Sydney is also thinking.
" Good question. We don't. We do not have intel of another suitcase as of now, so we will get what we can. Sydney, you will go to the one in the left and Vaughn, you will retrieve the one on the right. There is no way you two will walk out of the party undetected with two rather large suitcases. Another agent will be waiting in the last room down the middle of three corridors marked in green. Just hand the suitcases over to him and he'll take it from there. You leave for Florence tonight. Any questions will be answered when you get back." Sloane ends cryptically.
Vaughn gives a sideways glance to Sydney at Sloane's last words. Her eyebrows go up to say she has no clue what he meant either.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Vaughn ties Donovan's leash to the leg of a park bench, then sits down and takes out the newspaper. The sun's glare is unbearable so he pulls down the shades that were resting on the top of his head. As he scans the headlines, he hears the footsteps of someone approaching.
A woman sits down on the opposite side of the bench, crosses her legs, and sets a lunch box down in her lap. Donovan immediately inches towards the direction of food. Vaughn looks at the lower left corner of his newspaper, but his eyes follow Donovan's movement. As the dog sniffs around the woman's sandals, Vaughn catches a glimpse of red painted toenails through the open toed shoes. " So she's a girly girl at heart," he thinks and smiles. No dress shoes today either. He has never seen her dressed so casually. Her hair is even down. He decides that he likes seeing her more relaxed, even if they are here for business.
Kristine reaches down to pet the cute little pup. She never knew he had a dog. Then again, she is not surprised. He seems like he would be a dog person. She giggles as the dog starts licking her toes and whimpering.
" Can I give him something?" she asks quietly.
" Sure. Just don't spoil him."
She breaks off a piece of her sandwich and tosses it to the ground. " I'll try not to," she smiles.
" The key is to not look at those puppy dog eyes. One look and you're his slave," he chuckles and shakes his head baffled about how much he does for that dog. He just can't say no sometimes.
" Yeah. There are some eyes I just can't resist," Her face suddenly flushes. Thank goodness a slight breeze passes. She quickly changes the subject.
" Anyway, I understand you two will be arriving separately."
" Right. Sloane thinks that will make it less suspicious since we're after two suitcases. The people would suspect couples that came in together." She nods her head at the logic, but then he adds on, " But we're flying out together. Just arriving at the party separately."
" Okay. . . you have to make sure you are the one to get the suitcase in the left room."
" He assigned that one to her,"
" I know. But that's the real one. You have to figure out a way to make her switch with you."
Vaughn sighs in frustration. Of course, they always HAVE to make the counter hard on him. Sydney will be suspicious if he just asks to switch. What's he going to do?
" How do you know that's the real one? Sloane didn't seem to know," Vaughn does not trust that evil man and wonders if he lied.
" We've been following DiRisio for awhile. Sloane just got his intel recently."
" Alright. If I get to the right suitcase, I still just can't walk out with it." She likes how his mind is always working and questioning. Though it is irritating when he presses on about something she can't tell, she believes no one can afford to blindly follow orders in this trade.
" We're also sending someone there. Instead of going to the middle corridor, you'll have to be fast and get to the right corridor, where our agent is located with another fake suitcase."
"This just gets better and better, doesn't it Donny?" he sarcastically lets out and pulls at the dog's leash.
She pops a grape into her mouth and says to the dog, " I think he's ready for the challenge, don't you think?" She gives the dog a wink and gets up. He finally looks up to see her stride away in a purple floral dress with her hair bouncing up and down. His hand reaches down to scratch behind Donovan's ear to silence the dog's whimpers.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Vaughn stands on the balcony overlooking the city. Their first stop before the mission is this hotel. It is a place for them to transform themselves into completely different characters. They could not simply get on the plane dressed the way this grand gathering requires of them. He closes his eyes feeling the night breeze. He takes a deep breath and looks up at the stars.
" So are you watching dad? Why am I nervous? I've done this. Maybe it's been a while since field work, but it's like riding a bike right?" He wants to run his fingers through his hair but remembers that it was just done up for the occasion.
Inside the room, Sydney applies the final touches to her make up in front of the bathroom mirror. She presses her lips together a few times and bats her long eyelashes. In the mirror, she sees the scar on her shoulder from her last mission. It is healing nicely, but it is still a reminder of her failure. And of that man. It bothers her that she has no clue who he is. After dabbing a little cover-up on her shoulder, she does a final assessment of her appearance.
She gently pushes the door open and steps out of the bathroom. She looks over at the door to the balcony and sees his outline against the moonlight. He is all dressed up and ready in his black suit. He leans against the balcony rail in a slouching manner and he seems to be in deep thought. She walks closer to where he is, but he doesn't notice with his back turned. She hears him mumble a little.
" Am I ready? Of course I am."
She almost laughs when she realizes that he's giving himself a pep talk about the mission. It is funny, yet delightful to see someone prepare himself as if he were going out to a battlefield. As she thinks that maybe she should give it a try sometime, she just can't hold it in any longer.
His heart jumps and his eyes open at the sound of her laughter from behind. He whips around and forgets what he was going to say as he sees her disguise.
She looks very different. She is wearing a clingy black dress with a plunging neckline. Two long slits travel up her thigh coming dangerously high up. With the sparkling diamond necklace, it is difficult not to stare at her long neck. Her eyes are blue and complimentary to her short blond wig.
Sydney looks at Vaughn's blank stare and immediately goes on the defensive. She holds up a hand and says, " I know what you're going to say. . . .I DON'T pick the wardrobe. So just don't say anything.."
He doesn't mean to stare. He is just caught off guard by her ensemble. " I wasn't going to say anything actually," he says as a smile unconsciously creeps to his mouth. It is funny to see her so defensive about what she looks like.
" Well, I knew you what you were thinking . . . ." she says back stubbornly. " See? You're laughing at me . . . " her arms fold across her chest to try and hide herself.
" No, I'm not. You think you can read my mind?" he turns around again to hide his amusement.
Sydney stands there unsure what to say to that.
Not noticing her silence, he continues " If you can do that, tell me what I'm thinking right now." He meant those words to be funny, but they are both caught off guard by how different it came out. He said it too slowly and tentatively to be taken as a light joke. He silently curses himself and wants to take it back.
She hangs her mouth open as she thinks and then finally says, " You are thinking.that I will hurt you if you continue to tease me." With that, they both relax again. "You should get going. I'll see you in an hour," she returns to the room and he follows.
As his hand opens the door to leave, he hears her say, " You're ready . . ."
He watches her lightly twirl her pen between her fingers as Sloane's voice slowly become monotone in the background. He wonders if it is nerves that's making her jittery or if it is just an unconscious little habit. This is the first assignment that they are going to be working on together as partners. Maybe she is still hesitant.
After pondering awhile, he settles for the latter as he sees how calm and collected the rest of her seems. Her eyes quickly glance across the table to see him staring at her hand. She stops abruptly feeling a little self- conscious. Noticing her sudden stiffness, he shifts in his own seat to a more comfortable position. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him give her a quick half smile, and her hand nervously goes to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Their attentions turn on Sloane again as he pushes a black folder towards their direction. The leather folder glides down the smooth surface and they both reach out to get it at the same time. Just as their fingertips are about to brush past lightly, Vaughn quickly retracts his hand.
"Uh, you go ahead," he nods. She can have first look; he'll wait.
"Those are the floor plans of the building. Marked in blue are the two places where the suitcase with the Rambaldi artifact could be located. There's one in each of the far ends."
" There are two suitcases?" Sydney questions as he hands the folder over to Vaughn.
" Yes. Giovanni DiRisio is a man who knows the value of Rambaldi. One of the suitcases is a fake."
" How do we know that both aren't fakes?" Vaughn asks the exact question that Sydney is also thinking.
" Good question. We don't. We do not have intel of another suitcase as of now, so we will get what we can. Sydney, you will go to the one in the left and Vaughn, you will retrieve the one on the right. There is no way you two will walk out of the party undetected with two rather large suitcases. Another agent will be waiting in the last room down the middle of three corridors marked in green. Just hand the suitcases over to him and he'll take it from there. You leave for Florence tonight. Any questions will be answered when you get back." Sloane ends cryptically.
Vaughn gives a sideways glance to Sydney at Sloane's last words. Her eyebrows go up to say she has no clue what he meant either.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Vaughn ties Donovan's leash to the leg of a park bench, then sits down and takes out the newspaper. The sun's glare is unbearable so he pulls down the shades that were resting on the top of his head. As he scans the headlines, he hears the footsteps of someone approaching.
A woman sits down on the opposite side of the bench, crosses her legs, and sets a lunch box down in her lap. Donovan immediately inches towards the direction of food. Vaughn looks at the lower left corner of his newspaper, but his eyes follow Donovan's movement. As the dog sniffs around the woman's sandals, Vaughn catches a glimpse of red painted toenails through the open toed shoes. " So she's a girly girl at heart," he thinks and smiles. No dress shoes today either. He has never seen her dressed so casually. Her hair is even down. He decides that he likes seeing her more relaxed, even if they are here for business.
Kristine reaches down to pet the cute little pup. She never knew he had a dog. Then again, she is not surprised. He seems like he would be a dog person. She giggles as the dog starts licking her toes and whimpering.
" Can I give him something?" she asks quietly.
" Sure. Just don't spoil him."
She breaks off a piece of her sandwich and tosses it to the ground. " I'll try not to," she smiles.
" The key is to not look at those puppy dog eyes. One look and you're his slave," he chuckles and shakes his head baffled about how much he does for that dog. He just can't say no sometimes.
" Yeah. There are some eyes I just can't resist," Her face suddenly flushes. Thank goodness a slight breeze passes. She quickly changes the subject.
" Anyway, I understand you two will be arriving separately."
" Right. Sloane thinks that will make it less suspicious since we're after two suitcases. The people would suspect couples that came in together." She nods her head at the logic, but then he adds on, " But we're flying out together. Just arriving at the party separately."
" Okay. . . you have to make sure you are the one to get the suitcase in the left room."
" He assigned that one to her,"
" I know. But that's the real one. You have to figure out a way to make her switch with you."
Vaughn sighs in frustration. Of course, they always HAVE to make the counter hard on him. Sydney will be suspicious if he just asks to switch. What's he going to do?
" How do you know that's the real one? Sloane didn't seem to know," Vaughn does not trust that evil man and wonders if he lied.
" We've been following DiRisio for awhile. Sloane just got his intel recently."
" Alright. If I get to the right suitcase, I still just can't walk out with it." She likes how his mind is always working and questioning. Though it is irritating when he presses on about something she can't tell, she believes no one can afford to blindly follow orders in this trade.
" We're also sending someone there. Instead of going to the middle corridor, you'll have to be fast and get to the right corridor, where our agent is located with another fake suitcase."
"This just gets better and better, doesn't it Donny?" he sarcastically lets out and pulls at the dog's leash.
She pops a grape into her mouth and says to the dog, " I think he's ready for the challenge, don't you think?" She gives the dog a wink and gets up. He finally looks up to see her stride away in a purple floral dress with her hair bouncing up and down. His hand reaches down to scratch behind Donovan's ear to silence the dog's whimpers.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Vaughn stands on the balcony overlooking the city. Their first stop before the mission is this hotel. It is a place for them to transform themselves into completely different characters. They could not simply get on the plane dressed the way this grand gathering requires of them. He closes his eyes feeling the night breeze. He takes a deep breath and looks up at the stars.
" So are you watching dad? Why am I nervous? I've done this. Maybe it's been a while since field work, but it's like riding a bike right?" He wants to run his fingers through his hair but remembers that it was just done up for the occasion.
Inside the room, Sydney applies the final touches to her make up in front of the bathroom mirror. She presses her lips together a few times and bats her long eyelashes. In the mirror, she sees the scar on her shoulder from her last mission. It is healing nicely, but it is still a reminder of her failure. And of that man. It bothers her that she has no clue who he is. After dabbing a little cover-up on her shoulder, she does a final assessment of her appearance.
She gently pushes the door open and steps out of the bathroom. She looks over at the door to the balcony and sees his outline against the moonlight. He is all dressed up and ready in his black suit. He leans against the balcony rail in a slouching manner and he seems to be in deep thought. She walks closer to where he is, but he doesn't notice with his back turned. She hears him mumble a little.
" Am I ready? Of course I am."
She almost laughs when she realizes that he's giving himself a pep talk about the mission. It is funny, yet delightful to see someone prepare himself as if he were going out to a battlefield. As she thinks that maybe she should give it a try sometime, she just can't hold it in any longer.
His heart jumps and his eyes open at the sound of her laughter from behind. He whips around and forgets what he was going to say as he sees her disguise.
She looks very different. She is wearing a clingy black dress with a plunging neckline. Two long slits travel up her thigh coming dangerously high up. With the sparkling diamond necklace, it is difficult not to stare at her long neck. Her eyes are blue and complimentary to her short blond wig.
Sydney looks at Vaughn's blank stare and immediately goes on the defensive. She holds up a hand and says, " I know what you're going to say. . . .I DON'T pick the wardrobe. So just don't say anything.."
He doesn't mean to stare. He is just caught off guard by her ensemble. " I wasn't going to say anything actually," he says as a smile unconsciously creeps to his mouth. It is funny to see her so defensive about what she looks like.
" Well, I knew you what you were thinking . . . ." she says back stubbornly. " See? You're laughing at me . . . " her arms fold across her chest to try and hide herself.
" No, I'm not. You think you can read my mind?" he turns around again to hide his amusement.
Sydney stands there unsure what to say to that.
Not noticing her silence, he continues " If you can do that, tell me what I'm thinking right now." He meant those words to be funny, but they are both caught off guard by how different it came out. He said it too slowly and tentatively to be taken as a light joke. He silently curses himself and wants to take it back.
She hangs her mouth open as she thinks and then finally says, " You are thinking.that I will hurt you if you continue to tease me." With that, they both relax again. "You should get going. I'll see you in an hour," she returns to the room and he follows.
As his hand opens the door to leave, he hears her say, " You're ready . . ."