Chapter 25
When Sydney had gone, Tatiana looked at her parents, who were studiously not looking at each other. Her mother looked upset, and her father looked angry. "Um, I think I'll go.do something else," she said, and beat a hasty retreat. She went upstairs to the guest room where she'd put her things. On the way, she passed the closed door to Sydney's room, which she'd peeked into the night before.
She left her door open, sat down, and finished checking the financial news. She was pretty sure that the dollar was set to fall against the Euro on Monday, so she put in orders to sell several million dollars' worth of American stocks and buy about the same amount in European stocks; she also transferred most of her banked money from dollars to Euros. She'd been siphoning money from her employers since she was ten and had found that she had a gift for both stealing without being caught and for investing; her "nest egg" was currently worth about two hundred million dollars.
Tatiana heard Sydney's door open and looked up as her sister appeared in the doorway. Sydney's eyes were a bit red, but she looked reasonably composed. "Hi."
"Hi. Come in." Sydney entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" Tatiana asked.
Sydney tucked her hair behind her ears nervously. "I don't know. I just.I want to believe Mom, but I just can't believe that I'd choose to erase my own memories and not want to know what happened to me. Especially if I was working with Mom last year and got to where I could trust her.shouldn't I have left myself some kind of message or something?"
"If you'd had a message when you woke up in Hong Kong, would you have believed it? Or would it just have freaked you out?"
Sydney frowned. "Freaked me out, probably."
"Maybe you did leave yourself a message, but you left it somewhere where you wouldn't find it for a little while, until you'd had time to adjust. That's what I would have done."
"Maybe, but I don't know where I would have left it. If I was working with Mom, the most logical thing would have been to give her something to give to me."
"You didn't trust her two years ago, before your lost time, did you? You told me that you really didn't know what to think about her." Sydney nodded. Tatiana continued, "Again, if it were me, I would figure that the only way I would really trust that a message from myself was really genuine would be if I put it somewhere no one else knew about, and if I found it myself without anyone telling me where it is."
"But that would mean taking a chance that I'd never find it." Tatiana just nodded. Sydney sighed. "I don't know where I'd put something like that. My apartment was destroyed."
"You grew up in this house, right?" Tatiana asked, thinking that this would be about the only familiar place for Sydney to hide something.
Sydney nodded, then her eyes widened. "I know!" she gasped. She stood and hurried out of the room and down the stairs; Tatiana followed. They burst into the kitchen, startling Jack and Irina; Sydney went right past them, down the stairs to the basement. The others followed, Jack and Irina looking very confused.
Sydney reached the bottom of the basement stairs and went around to the side of the staircase, which was walled off. She bent down and ran her fingers along the baseboard until she found a slight depression, which she pressed. There was an audible click as a section of the wood paneling separated from the rest.
"What the hell?" Jack muttered.
Irina glanced at him. "The KGB put that in after we bought the house, before we moved in. I thought that it was too easily found, so I never kept anything in there."
"I found it when I was eight," Sydney said as she opened the hidden door. "I was playing fetch with Buckley, and the ball hit that spot."
"Buckley?" Tatiana asked.
"My dog." She went into the hidden room and flipped the light switch. A moment later, she emerged, staring at the envelope in her hand.
"What is it, Sydney?" Jack asked.
"I think it's a message from myself. It's got my name on it, in my handwriting."
When Sydney had gone, Tatiana looked at her parents, who were studiously not looking at each other. Her mother looked upset, and her father looked angry. "Um, I think I'll go.do something else," she said, and beat a hasty retreat. She went upstairs to the guest room where she'd put her things. On the way, she passed the closed door to Sydney's room, which she'd peeked into the night before.
She left her door open, sat down, and finished checking the financial news. She was pretty sure that the dollar was set to fall against the Euro on Monday, so she put in orders to sell several million dollars' worth of American stocks and buy about the same amount in European stocks; she also transferred most of her banked money from dollars to Euros. She'd been siphoning money from her employers since she was ten and had found that she had a gift for both stealing without being caught and for investing; her "nest egg" was currently worth about two hundred million dollars.
Tatiana heard Sydney's door open and looked up as her sister appeared in the doorway. Sydney's eyes were a bit red, but she looked reasonably composed. "Hi."
"Hi. Come in." Sydney entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" Tatiana asked.
Sydney tucked her hair behind her ears nervously. "I don't know. I just.I want to believe Mom, but I just can't believe that I'd choose to erase my own memories and not want to know what happened to me. Especially if I was working with Mom last year and got to where I could trust her.shouldn't I have left myself some kind of message or something?"
"If you'd had a message when you woke up in Hong Kong, would you have believed it? Or would it just have freaked you out?"
Sydney frowned. "Freaked me out, probably."
"Maybe you did leave yourself a message, but you left it somewhere where you wouldn't find it for a little while, until you'd had time to adjust. That's what I would have done."
"Maybe, but I don't know where I would have left it. If I was working with Mom, the most logical thing would have been to give her something to give to me."
"You didn't trust her two years ago, before your lost time, did you? You told me that you really didn't know what to think about her." Sydney nodded. Tatiana continued, "Again, if it were me, I would figure that the only way I would really trust that a message from myself was really genuine would be if I put it somewhere no one else knew about, and if I found it myself without anyone telling me where it is."
"But that would mean taking a chance that I'd never find it." Tatiana just nodded. Sydney sighed. "I don't know where I'd put something like that. My apartment was destroyed."
"You grew up in this house, right?" Tatiana asked, thinking that this would be about the only familiar place for Sydney to hide something.
Sydney nodded, then her eyes widened. "I know!" she gasped. She stood and hurried out of the room and down the stairs; Tatiana followed. They burst into the kitchen, startling Jack and Irina; Sydney went right past them, down the stairs to the basement. The others followed, Jack and Irina looking very confused.
Sydney reached the bottom of the basement stairs and went around to the side of the staircase, which was walled off. She bent down and ran her fingers along the baseboard until she found a slight depression, which she pressed. There was an audible click as a section of the wood paneling separated from the rest.
"What the hell?" Jack muttered.
Irina glanced at him. "The KGB put that in after we bought the house, before we moved in. I thought that it was too easily found, so I never kept anything in there."
"I found it when I was eight," Sydney said as she opened the hidden door. "I was playing fetch with Buckley, and the ball hit that spot."
"Buckley?" Tatiana asked.
"My dog." She went into the hidden room and flipped the light switch. A moment later, she emerged, staring at the envelope in her hand.
"What is it, Sydney?" Jack asked.
"I think it's a message from myself. It's got my name on it, in my handwriting."