Somewhere in her wanderings, she had arrived in Vaughn's bedroom.
Irina stepped forward, nearly tiptoeing on the wooden floor. Despite undoubtedly having been searched by countless agents, the room was sparse and neat, and dust was evident everywhere, including the bedspread. Even before he was captured… he hadn't slept here in awhile.
Next to his bed, on his tall dresser, sat undeniable evidence of his career choice in the form of six black revolvers, neatly in a row. He or the investigators had tossed a CIA wallet and a flashlight carelessly to the side of them.
On his nightstand sat a picture of her daughter in a silver antique frame. Irina paused, fascinated at how out of place it seemed in the almost clinical coldness of the rest of the room. The frame, though fading now, was clearly polished regularly and no dust was evident on it or near it. He has his priorities in order. Good.
And then she frowned. The drawer to the nightstand was slightly open, another seemingly out of place occurrence in the clearly rarely used bedroom.
Hesitantly, Irina bent and pulled it the rest of the way. The drawer came out grudgingly for about an inch and then stopped altogether.
Puzzled, she peered into the little crack. It appeared empty. Contents removed by agents? The drawer's reluctance to opening spoke of its little use, but the lack of dust on the night table as a whole was a far more obvious clue.
What are you hiding, Mr. Vaughn?
On impulse, the former KGB spy tried to pull the resisting drawer all the way out. It proved to be such a difficult task that she placed her hands on each side and jerked with all her strength.
As a result, the drawer crashed to the floor, and she with it. Scowling, she began to pull herself back up.
And then froze.
Her hands were black. The sides of the drawer had been coated with something to make it almost impossible to remove.
And then she realized something else. The drawer had no bottom. Enough of the wood had been left in the front and back to hold it together and help it to appear normal to cursory investigations, but the wood in the middle had been entirely removed.
Well done, Michael. Well done.
Carefully, she stood up and picked up the flashlight left on Vaughn's tall dresser by the young agent himself, she now suspected. Bending once more in front of the nightstand, she peered into the hole left by the absent drawer. But aside from the heavy coating of the black substance, she saw nothing.
And then front door unlocked, startling her.
Weiss frowned warily, unnerved by the apartment's silence.
"Ms. Derevko?" he called hesitantly. "Will? Jack?"
"I'm here," a softly accented voice said from the side. Weiss turned to find Irina standing there, heavy black stains on her shirt and arms.
"What happened to you? I didn't interrupt something, did I?"
"I tried to move the night table aside, Agent Weiss, but it refused to move."
Weiss shook his head, brandishing the flashlight. On impulse, he knelt and studied the floor by it. He laughed, unable to stop himself.
"Agent Weiss?"
"It's bolted down," Weiss said, amused. Mike, when you get back, you'll never hear the end of this. Ever. Makes me wonder why you favored Sydney's apartment… yours was clearly more prepared!
"Agent Vaughn is quite an interesting young man," Irina said. Weiss started, praying she hadn't been able to tell his thoughts. Considering Jack's probable reaction towards the two agents, the old story about marrieds thinking alike, and the fact that Mike hadn't thought to put away the five guns sitting on the dresser behind the two of them before he was captured… the last thing Eric wanted was an angry Irina Derevko.
"That's one way to put it," he mumbled, studying the infuriating piece of furniture. What am I missing?
"There's no dust on the surface," Irina said carefully from where she stood on the left side of him, Weiss having politely requested she not stand at his back since his best friend hadn't bothered to hide his weapons in case a terrorist wandered by.
"Yeah. So?"
"So, everything else is covered," she explained patiently. "Either your friend dusted this and nothing else, or…"
"Or he used it so much that dust could never form," Weiss finished. She nodded.
"Ms. Derevko, you said he left the flashlight out."
"By the guns," she said innocently.
"Right. Did he leave anything else?"
She shrugged. "Just his ID wallet."
Weiss frowned. "He would have taken it with him to Zurich. We're required to."
"I am aware of CIA policy," Irina Derevko returned. "But despite that, it is indeed sitting there."
Grumbling about idiot friends, Weiss stepped over and picked up the black leather wallet, flipping it open with expert ease.
It was empty. "A spare one, probably," Weiss said aloud, though he doubted it. Come on, Mike. Throw me a bone.
With growing exasperation, he waved the wallet around haphazardly. Only then did he become aware of a slightly chunky feeling in the back.
Weiss looked over at Sydney's mother, shaking his head in amazement. "Just like Mike to hide something so out in the open that no one would ever find it."
Gently, he pulled apart the wallet, noting dryly that it had a fake back. False drawers, sure, but wallets with false backs? You outdid yourself, Michael. I wonder why.
Deftly, he removed the extra strip of cloth… and found a brass key hidden behind it.
Up next: Vaughn and Emily discover a common bond, but will it be enough to spare a certain agent? (See Review Responses for a one-line teaser from this chapter!)
Review Responses
Hmmmm. Everyone must be out of town for the weekend??
Nattie700: Argh, I can relate. I got my first glasses in third grade, man.
Kay10197: It's next, I swear!
Ilovemypenguin: LOL ohhh. Yeah, saw that one. Old pic, but always lovely.
Anonymousthinker: Hey now! She's a married woman! LOL
Kira: :gushes: Awwww! Thank you! So sorry I couldn't update yesterday. :( Hits are normal (around 280!) but no one reviewed for some reason! Should I take it personally? lol
Angela: Good 'ole Will. I always felt like he got an undeserved bad rap from too-intense shippers. If he really was annoying, Jack woulda killed him! lol
Kittyfantastico: :snerks: I hear Egypt is nice this time of year. ;) But I think that'd be a fun experiment!
UKHoneyB: LOL! Well thanks for the clarification. Hehe.
Teaser: "Make it fast?"