Irina was halfway through analysis of Sydney and Kaylee's surprise confrontation in Madrid when the doors to her office burst open. An irate Sark strutted in and threw a package down on Irina's desk.
"Here it is," Sark snarled as he took a seat in one of the leather armchairs on the other side of her desk. "Your precious package."
"What are you so mad about today, Andrew?" Irina asked in her casually calm voice.
"The second Kaylee and I return home from Madrid--"
Irina interrupted. "Where you should have been in the first place."
"I know, I know. The second we return you send me on a mission to Antarctica. I barely had time to talk with Kaylee before I was shipped out on one of your personal jets. What the hell are you playing at, Irina?"
"This package you got me is almost as important as my whole operation. It's a clue to what Rambaldi's prophecy truly means." Irina untied the string and unwrapped the brown paper covering. She lifted out a small book that was bound by twine. The book looked to be at least five hundred years old.
"Is that one of Rambaldi's diaries?" Sark asked, intrigued.
Irina didn't say a word. She just smiled at Sark, slipped the book into her top desk drawer, and locked the drawer.
"Okay, Irina. Back to me being furious. Why are you bloody keeping me in the dark about everything all the sudden?"
"I've learned that it's best to keep the key players in the dark about most everything."
"Key player?" Sark inquired.
"If you think I'm going to explain what I meant by that phrase to you, then you really haven't caught on to what I'm about."
"I know. Mystery and intrigue. You thrive on it." Sark dejectedly stood up from his seat and made a move to leave the room.
"Andrew?" Irina said calling Sark's attention back to her.
"Yes?"
"Good job keeping Kaylee safe while you were in Madrid."
"Thanks."
Sark walked out of her office and up the main stairs. He was determined to find Kaylee and see if she knew more about the situation than he did. True she was Irina's daughter, but that still didn't give her the right to be more informed than he was. He knocked softly on her bedroom door and heard someone mutter something close to English. He could only assume it was an invitation to enter.
Kaylee was lying stretched out on her bed. "I'm too tired to talk. Leave me alone," she mumbled.
Sark just smiled and lay down on the bed next to her. "I'll leave if you really want me to."
"No, stay," Kaylee said as she turned over into his arms. "I hadn't heard that you had returned. How was the trip?"
"Productive, I think. I didn't get much information out of your mother on the purpose or impact of the package I picked up for her."
"And you came up here because you wanted to see if I knew anything?" Kaylee smirked.
"Yeah, I did." Seeing her outraged look, Sark added, "But I also just wanted to see how you were doing."
"That's right," Kaylee said, relaxing back onto the bed again. "I'm doing all right. Still coping with the shit Sydney pulled on me. Speaking of, how are you doing? Still sore?"
"If nothing else, Sydney sure can punch." Sark wasn't too found of the handful of bruises Sydney had produced on his body. "I'm not looking forward to the day when I find out that you are just as good if not better."
"I promise to punch you only if you really deserve it."
"I'm in trouble," Sark said as he pulled Kaylee in for a kiss.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Irina began to close down her laptop which she had been running probability figures on. She wanted to judge what the CIA's next move would be now that she had handed them the Rambaldi building clue on a silver platter. She wouldn't be surprised if the CIA demanded that the whole building in Madrid be carefully broken into pieces and shipped back to the States for analysis.
"Idiots," she murmured as she shut off the lights.
She was too busy thinking of the many flaws in the U.S. government to notice the odd movements in the shadows.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Sydney couldn't believe that her mother didn't see her scale down the side of the building and drop onto the balcony outside Irina's office. The equipment Marshall had provided her was fairly new and had some major bugs that needed to be worked out.
She softly pushed on the balcony doors and was surprised to realize that they weren't locked. "Looks like Mom's getting sloppy," she thought to herself. Just to be sure she scanned the room quickly for security devices with the tool Marshall gave her. Nothing came up. "Definitely sloppy."
Working her way slowly over to her mother's desk, Sydney was completely on alert. Even though the security scan came up blank, she still didn't believe her mother wouldn't protect what she had seen her lock up in her desk. Sydney leaned down to inspect the lock on the drawer. A solid one that was rather old-fashioned. It was just the key-turn-the-lock kind.
Not one to fuss with locks for too long, Sydney pulled a couple of locks picks out of the wristband she wore. Within seconds, she heard the satisfying sound of the lock tumblers clicking into place, and the drawer slid smoothly open. The book sat in plain view on top of everything in the drawer.
Letting her guard down slightly, Sydney grabbed the book without thinking or scanning for security alarms. Realizing what she had done, she was grateful that there were no alarms sounding. She was growing more suspicious of the whole operation. Why wouldn't her mother equip her office with alarms? It just didn't make sense.
Sydney pushed suspicion out of her mind and tried to exit through the same doors she had entered in. They wouldn't budge no matter how hard she pushed them. "That's the security system," she thought. "Someone enters, thinking they'll just steal what they need and leave the way they came. The doors don't open, and they're forced to exit through the most heavily trafficked area in the house. Not something easy done. But not everyone's me." She smiled at the idea of a challenge.
She slid the office door open a crack and scanned the hallway. No one was out there. Or at least no one she heard or saw. She did see a small cubby across the way. Quickly she darted out of the office and into the nook. She was pleased to realize that there really wasn't anyone in the hallway.
Sydney softly and carefully began to walk down the hall. She made it three fourths of the way to the main door when she heard talking from behind her. Taking in what was around her, she kneeled down to hide behind the massive sculpture that was next to her. It probably would have been better to dart into one of the rooms so she would be completely out of sight. But she really wanted to observe what was going on. Whoever was talking was making sure that they were as quiet as possible.
"I might not be the only one on a mission tonight," Sydney thought to herself.
She was surprised to see Sark and her sister walking down the hall. They paused at Irina's office door and listened for a moment. Hearing the silence that confirmed Irina had left, they entered.
"I need to get out of here and fast," Sydney realized. She stood up and began running down the hallway as fast as she could. She no longer cared to be careful or sly. "They're probably going in for the book I just stole." She opened the front door. "Which means they'll probably find out about the theft right about…" Sydney heard someone cursing as she stepped out into the cold and chuckled softly to herself. Amateurs.