Chapter 6 –Isabel Rochev
An: I do not own Arrow. This is part 1 of the team in Russia. Enjoy!
A loud bang woke Felicity up. It took her a moment to remember she was on board the Queen's private jet and not home in her apartment. She realised the loud bang she heard was the plane landing and that they were decelerating down the runway. Either the conditions outside were bad or their pilot wasn't very good at landings. Every time she travelled between Vegas and Boston she always rated the pilot's landing. She's had pilots she swore were trying to test the stress failure point on the landing gear, like the landing she just had and she's had pilots she thought aced their landing test. Her best ever landing was with a former air force pilot in charge. He put that plane down like it was a feather. She actually had to question if they were on the ground because she hadn't felt a thing. She would withhold her grading of this pilot until she could see the conditions outside.
Speaking of outside, she couldn't have slept the entire way to Russia did she? Maybe they had to land to refuel but she remembered that the jet was a transcontinental jet. She had researched the technical specifications of the jet before stepping on board. Moscow was just within the jet's maximum range. However if the weather was bad and they had to drop to a lower altitude or they encountered a strong headwind, they might have had to stop earlier to refuel to stay within safe parameters.
She sat up and the top half of the blanket that was covering her dropped into her lap. She didn't remember pulling a blanket around her when she collapsed on top of the bed. Oliver or Diggle must have covered her while she slept. She stretched and tried to get her brain jump started. She needed to focus on the mission. According to the ARGUS file, Lyla had been assigned to infiltrate the operations of a Russian business man, Konstantin Kovar. He was suspected of supporting a terrorist group that was plotting attacks in the US. Lyla was to determine who he was liaising with in the group and how he was funnelling the funds to the terrorist group. ARGUS was hoping that the money trail would reveal more information about the group.
Kovar was filthy rich but Felicity couldn't determine exactly how he came into his money. He worked at an import/export business one day and the next he owned it, supposedly buying the owner out according to the paperwork on file. From there he expanded quickly and he currently owned several businesses throughout Russia, the most recent of which was a casino located in Moscow.
Lyla was able to gain employment at said casino as a dealer. She had been making progress up to three days ago or maybe it was four days now. Her partner on the mission suspected Kovar discovered she was a mole and was holding her captive in the basement of the casino. The good news was that no body had turned up matching Lyla's description yet. He probably wanted to interrogate her to find out what she knew and who had sent her.
There was a knock at the door and Oliver entered, "We're here." He already had his black pea coat on and looked ready to step off the plane.
"Russia?" she double checked.
"Yes," he replied.
"I slept all the way here?" she asked horrified. She hadn't slept that long since the hackathons she used to do in college.
"Yes," he replied again. "You curled right up when I covered you with the blanket."
"Frack, I didn't mean to hog the bed," she said.
"It's ok. Digg and I spent most of the flight reading the file and devising a plan to retrieve Lyla from the casino," Oliver revealed.
"What do you need me to do?" Felicity asked.
"Nothing," He signalled to the corner of her mouth. "I'll give you a few moments to get cleaned up while we taxi to the terminal. There's a bathroom through that door."
Felicity's hand flew up to her mouth and she was horrified to find drool. She looked back at the pillow to find she had drooled all over the Queen's expensive pillow. It was all naked Oliver's fault. When Oliver made a choking sound at the door she realised she had said that out loud. She grabbed the blanket and fled to the bathroom.
The mirror in the bathroom was most definitely not her friend. Her hair was a bird's nest, there was a long thick white line of drool running from the corner of her mouth down her face, and her makeup was all smudged. In other words she looked terrible! She turned on the tap and splashed water on her face and scrubbed it clean. There was a hairbrush in the bathroom and she assumed they wouldn't mind if she used it to brush her hair. Once that was under control she straightened out her blouse and skirt. It was a good thing she had a coat to wear that would cover all of the wrinkles in her blouse.
Feeling refreshed and a little more presentable she left the bathroom and headed back towards the main cabin where her boys were. The plane had come to a halt and Felicity looked out a window to see the main building 50 feet away.
"So what's the plan and why do I have nothing to do?" she asked fiercely. Oliver and Diggle were hovering by the seats they had occupied before she went to sleep. Both of them looked refreshed and alert. No one would guess that they were stepping off a plane after a long flight.
"We'll explain at the apartment," Oliver said picking up the bag with her laptop.
Felicity grabbed her purse before he could reach for it,"You have an apartment here?"
"My dad used to make frequent trips here when we were younger. He bought the apartment and QC management uses it when we visit the subsidiary here," he said heading towards the door.
"Oh," she said picking up her coat and following behind him.
They were stopped from exiting by the pilot's voice on the intercom announcing that Russian officials would be coming to the plane to clear them. They needed to wait on board until the officials arrived. Felicity dropped into the seat she had previously occupied and pulled her phone out of her purse. She turned it on and found three missed calls from her mother, Mrs. Queen and Frank.
She wasn't in violation of her deal with the FBI. She had informed them that she would be out of the country for a week on vacation. That was all her deal required. She didn't need to wait for permission to leave. Frank was probably calling to find out where she was going, with whom she was going, where she was staying and what she was doing. He thought that if he knew every little detail about her life then she couldn't be in violation of her deal. How wrong he was! She refused to incur any roaming fees by calling Frank back. She would send him an e-mail later to enquire what he wanted. He was free to check her apartment and office while she wasn't there.
She moved onto the missed call from Mrs Queen who had also sent her a message. She opened the message to see what the Queen Matriarch wanted and she found a warning.
Be careful of Isabel. She's worth $700 million.
Isabel who was Isabel? Was Moira referring to the woman that Robert nearly left her for? She fired off a quick text to Mrs. Queen letting her know that they had landed and she would be on the lookout for Isabel.
Felicity stared at the missed call from her mother. Admittedly, leaving a quick note that said she was going out to town for a little while for a case was not the ideal way to tell her she wouldn't be home but it was much better than not telling her at all. There was no way she was having that face to face conversation with her mother. There would be all sorts of demands to know where she was going and with whom. The minute she said the name Oliver Queen all hell would break lose and somehow her mother would want to know when the grandchildren were coming. She wished she could send her mother a quick text but that wouldn't work. She would have to call her and run up her phone bill with roaming charges.
She glanced out of the window and not seeing any officials, she decided to make the call. It was after 8:00pm in Starling so her mother could be home or she could be busy out. Felicity was hoping for the latter. When the call went through to voicemail Felicity fist pumped. She left a quick message stating that the case was going well, she was safe and she would call her again later.
Both Oliver and Diggle gave her strange looks. Was it that obvious that she hadn't told her mother the whole truth?
"No comments! Oliver, you didn't even tell your mother you were leaving until just before takeoff."
Soon the cabin door was opened and Russian officials entered. They were each given immigration and customs forms to fill out. Felicity didn't know the address of the apartment so Oliver had to write it in on both hers and Diggle's form. The officials reviewed the information, scanned their passports and then stamped them. Oliver thanked them for their service and they were taken to the main arrival area for passengers. They made their way out from there.
"Oliver," a female voice said as soon as they exited the arrival area.
Oliver stiffened next to her which was not the usual reaction he had to women. Felicity turned to find a brunette with long legs. She wore a thick fur coat over a black knee length dress with black heels.
"Isabel," he said tersely.
Isabel! This was the Isabel woman that Moira had warned her about. The woman that Robert Queen had been willing to give up his family for. From Oliver's reaction she wondered if he had slept with her as well.
"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked plastering on that fake smile.
"Your father informed me of your arrival. He asked me to keep an eye on you," she said in a bored tone. She watched Oliver like he was no better than the dirt under her Louis Vuittons.
"Isabel there is no need to keep an eye on me. I know my way around quite well. I did spend an entire summer here with my father," he reminded her.
She gave a non-committal sound before her eyes landed on Felicity. "Still chasing after the short skirts I see." The disdain in her voice was clear. She did not like Oliver at all.
Oliver turned to look at Felicity, his eyes dropping down momentarily to her skirt before he turned back to Isabel, "It's not that short."
That was the second comment about the length of her skirt in 24 hours. Seriously, her skirts were not that short!
"The car is waiting for us." Isabel walked off, the unspoken command of follow her hung in the air.
Diggle and Oliver shared a look and she knew this was not a part of the plan. She felt Oliver's hot breath on her ear as he leaned closer to her, "Remember how I said we didn't need you earlier," she nodded, "Well I was wrong. We need you to keep Isabel occupied while Digg and I meet up with Lyla's partner."
She turned her head to look at him, his face was an inch away from hers and her eyes flicked down to his lips for a second before she looked back up to his beautiful eyes, "Why should I?" she sulked.
"Because we do not want to clue Isabel in on why we're really in Russia," Oliver said his eyes flicking down to her lips before travelling back up. "If she knows then my father will know and we do not want my father involved."
Felicity's tongue automatically darted out to wet her lips, the action causing Oliver's gaze to shift to her lips again. "Why does he think we're in Russia?" she asked curiously.
Oliver's gaze moved back to her eyes and he stared at her. It was really easy to get lost in his eyes. They were the window to his soul and she saw the real him when she looked into them.
"Oliver!" Isabel's annoying voice rang out interrupting them.
Oliver looked away, "We should probably get going before Isabel has a stroke. Something tells me my father won't take her death well." His hand dropped to the small of Felicity's back and he guided her out of the airport with an amused Diggle on their heels.
There was a town car waiting right by the official exit. The security for the airport wasn't allowing any other car to wait but their own. She was glad it was close because Russia was a lot colder than she thought. When she stepped out of the plane she regretted not wearing pants. She needed a thicker coat too because she swore the wind was penetrating straight through the fabric into her bones.
"Get in," Isabel ordered, she was standing next to the driver who had opened the backseat door for them.
Oliver allowed Felicity to enter first, he followed in after her and then Isabel sat at the end. Diggle was forced to sit in front with the driver.
"Where to?" Isabel asked.
"I was hoping to stop by the bar near QC," Oliver answered.
"Of course, it's nearly seven am in the morning but that's never stopped you from drinking," Isabel said sardonically. She spoke in Russian towards the driver and he nodded. She turned back to Oliver, "Your father said you were her to visit a friend. At first I thought maybe it was Tatiana, or Svetlana, even Oksana or Natasha but then she appeared." Isabel nodded her head towards Felicity.
Felicity was grateful that Oliver decided to sit in the middle and separate her from Isabel because she was sure if she had to sit next to that woman a cat fight would break out in the car.
Oliver sighed, "She is my personal assistant."
Felicity's fist clenched, her eyes shooting daggers at Oliver. She did not get her masters in cyber security to become someone's assistant. Not that anything was wrong with such jobs, they just weren't for her.
"I'm sure she attends to all your needs," Isabel drawled before turning to look out the window.
Felicity bristled at the implication, "I'm a working professional."
Isabel ignored her but Oliver slid his hand into hers and squeezed it.
"Behave please," he whispered in her ear. "We don't need her causing any trouble for us."
Felicity pulled her hand from his, crossed her hands over her chest angrily and turned her body to look out the window. She was not talking to him until he came up with a better story.
The car eventually pulled to a stop in front of a building. Felicity had no idea where they were but Oliver was following Isabel out of the car. When he exited he turned around and held out a hand for her. She scooted across the seat, ignored his hand, and exited the car by herself. She pulled her coat tighter around her to fend off the cold.
Oliver pursed his lips disappointed and then headed inside, Isabel following behind him. Diggle fell into step next to her.
"Felicity, we all have our parts to play. It could be worse, you could be the black driver," Diggle quipped.
She looked up at him, "I spent years studying at MIT and it wasn't the secretarial arts I studied. Even when I couldn't go into my field of study, I found something else that fulfilled me. Fetching someone their coffee does not fulfil me, neither does fending off blows from that banshee."
Diggle's hand fell on her shoulder, "It's just for a day. As soon as we get Lyla, we're out of here and you will never have to see Isabel again."
"Is that a promise? Because I hope it's a promise. That woman is just so mean," Felicity whined. "I'm trying so hard to be the better person here."
Diggle chuckled and they both headed inside.
The bar was like any other bar she had been to. There was nothing remarkable about it other than the fact that it was in Russia and it was warm. At that hour of the morning it was mostly deserted, just one or two drunk people asleep on the table. Truthfully, she was surprised it was even open. Oliver and Isabel were already seated at a table in the back. He signalled to the bartender and then spoke in Russian to him.
Felicity's feet came to an abrupt halt. Oliver spoke Russian! And he sounded so hot speaking it.
"Felicity?" Diggle questioned and she shook her head to get out of the little haze she had entered.
"I'm fine," she assured him.
The table had four chairs around it, two on each side. Oliver and Isabel were sitting opposite each other leaving her with the choice to either sit next to Isabel or sit next to Oliver but Diggle made the decision for her by sitting next to Isabel.
"I thought the bodyguard was supposed to stand in the background," Isabel commented her tone laced with venom.
"I have a perfect view of any threats around Oliver. I can see behind me in the reflection of the mirror behind the bar and to the casual observer I'm just another normal person in the bar. Hovering behind Oliver will only attract undo attention, Ms. Rochev." Diggle stated to her.
It was only when Diggle revealed Isabel's last name that it occurred to Felicity then that they hadn't been formally introduced. She didn't really mind considering how hostile Isabel had been acting. Perhaps it was a good thing the woman didn't know her name.
The bartender arrived with four shot glasses filled with a clear liquid.
"Vodka," Oliver said to her. He picked up a glass. "Prochnost!" he said and then downed the shot.
Diggle followed suit and Felicity picked up her glass and downed the liquid. It burned the back of her throat, making her cough violently. Oliver's hand started to rub her back in a soothing gesture.
"I'd forgotten how strong the vodka is over here," Oliver commented wistfully.
Isabel looked unimpressed. Her shot was still sitting in front of her.
"Isabel, I'm sure you have better things to do than keep me and my friends company," Oliver said to her when he was satisfied that Felicity had recovered.
"Of course I have better things to do," she snapped. "I have the entire subsidiary here to run but when the CEO of the corporation you work for asks you to do something you do it. So if that means I have to spend my entire day watching you drink then I have to watch you drink."
"We won't be drinking the entire day," he said in his defence.
"What or should I say who will you be doing?" she asked for clarification.
"First, I intend to get some sleep at the apartment. Are you going to watch me sleep too?" he asked her pointedly.
Isabel's face contorted in disgust and that was enough of an answer.
"I heard a new casino opened. I was thinking of checking it out," Oliver said with that fake smile of his.
"You've picked up a new vice then," she replied dryly. "Although it does make sense. Lots of women and alcohol all in one place while you wastefully spend your money. Not much different to the clubs you usually go to."
Felicity noticed Oliver's eye track someone across the bar and he excused himself to use the bathroom, Diggle going with him as his bodyguard. That left her alone with Isabel. The only reason she didn't complain was because she knew they were meeting with Lyla's partner and that was more important than her discomfort with Isabel.
"You don't need to hold his dick for him to pee?" Isabel said rudely.
Felicity laughed, that was it. She was totally done with Isabel and her power trip. "I realize, considering your affair with Robert Queen, you do not understand the true meaning of professional relationships but I do. I am not sleeping with Oliver or attending to any of the tasks you allude to. Just because you had to bed a Queen to get where you are, doesn't mean I had to."
Isabel's mouth opened and closed like a fish. The reference to her affair with Robert Queen had shut her right up. She picked up the shot glass in front of her, downed it and then ordered another one."Whatever you think you know, you don't," she sneered at her.
"And whatever you think you know about me, you don't," Felicity replied sweetly back to her.
They fell into silence until Oliver returned to the table. He faked a yawn and then went over to the bartender. She saw money pass on the counter and then he was signalling to her that it was time to leave. Even though the sun was higher in the sky she found it was still very cold and she sprinted for the car where the driver was waiting with the heat on.
Oliver gave the driver an instruction and Isabel said something in Russian to him but he ignored her. The next time they stopped, they were outside what looked like a big department store. The employees were opening the entrance for the day.
"I'll be back in a minute. I just need to pick something up," he said roughly pushing Isabel to get out of the car.
A few minutes later he returned with a large thick coat that he wrapped around Felicity. Usually she hated gifts but this coat was so warm. His eyes begged for forgiveness.
"Thank you," she said. All was forgiven.
He smiled back at her.
The apartment was on the top floor of a three story building. It was tastefully decorated but it didn't strike her as Moira's style. Perhaps it was Isabel's. This was Robert Queen's apartment and if he entertained his mistress there it would make sense for her to have an impact on the decorating.
Isabel did a walk through the apartment with Oliver to ensure everything was in order. The crew of the plane had brought their luggage straight there and it was lined up against one wall. After Oliver assured his father, via a quick phone call, that he was in fact going to stay in the apartment until that night, Isabel finally left them alone with an agreement to pick them up at 9:00pm to go to the casino.
"There are only two bedrooms. Diggle and I can share," Oliver said to her.
"I slept already. I'll sleep after we get Lyla back tonight. You guys rest. When you're ready we'll discuss the plan."
Oliver and Diggle retired to separate rooms and Felicity curled up on the couch with her new coat. She pulled out her laptop and sent a quick e-mail to Frank. She then started familiarizing herself with a map of Moscow. She learned several routes to go between the apartment, the casino and the airport. She also noted where the major medical facilities were located.
Her preparations for their mission were interrupted when her phone beeped with an alert. It was for a new newspaper article that mentioned Oliver. She read the headline.
Oliver Queen wanted for role in hit and run tragedy.
What! Felicity opened the article by Susan Williams.
Girlfriend of Oliver Queen, Hannah Smith gave a statement to police that Oliver Queen was driving her black BMW when he ran a stop light and hit a man that was using the crosswalk. She alleges that they were having sex while he drove back to her apartment and neither of them saw the red light or the man crossing the road. She stated that she asked him to stop the car so that they could provide assistance to the man but he refused saying that his father would take care of it.
White hot anger flooded Felicity. How dare that bitch throw him under the bus for something he didn't do! The article further infuriated her when she read that an inside source of Ms. Williams claimed that Oliver had fled to Russia where extradition was difficult.
She needed to talk to Mrs. Queen but she couldn't use her phone. She was sure Frank was keeping a close eye on it. She pulled out the burner phone that Oliver brought with them and called Mrs. Queen.
"Hello?" she answered uncertain who was calling her.
"Mrs. Queen its Felicity. I saw that newspaper headline and its garbage. Oliver was with me in the base when Hannah called. She was in a state because she had hit that man and didn't know what to do. She wanted Oliver to take care of it for her and he refused. He told her to go to the police station to report it but she refused," Felicity rushed out.
"I figured as much," Mrs. Queen replied calmly. "Do you have footage of Oliver arriving at Verdant that night? Tommy's been pretty useless so far."
"Not yet but I can pull it up. I'll send it to you shortly. I'll also see if I can pull some footage that shows Hannah was the one driving her car alone," Felicity offered. Her fingertips were already flying over the keyboard as she logged into Verdant's security system remotely.
"Excellent, and Felicity," Moira added.
"Yes?" she answered innocently.
"I told you to call me Moira." The call then ended abruptly.
Felicity stared at the phone for a few seconds before she focused on the task at hand, clearing Oliver. The Verdant footage was easy to get but the footage of Hannah was a bit more difficult. Starling City really needed to organise their CCTV city coverage better. She was able to secure footage that showed Hannah had left Jade Dragon by herself and Oliver left by himself, both heading in opposite directions. She sent the files to Moira. Now it was up to the Queen Matriarch to finish the job. Whatever Moira intended to do, Hannah Smith was toast.
An hour later Diggle emerged from the bedroom.
"You still have plenty of time to sleep," she said to him.
He stopped and stared at her, "Felicity, Lyla is being held hostage in a casino 20 miles away. There's no way I'm getting any sleep until we get her out. If it was up to me we would have gone there straight from the airport but her partner insisted that was a sure fire way to get her killed and that is the only reason I am sitting in this apartment right now waiting."
Felicity nodded and slid her laptop over to him, "This is a map of Moscow. You might feel better if you got a better sense of your bearings."
"Thank you Felicity," he said before he started studying the map.
Oliver eventually joined them, walking out of the bedroom in just a pair of sweatpants that were hung low on his hips. Was he trying to kill her? Her imagination was going to have a field day with those pants.
"Anything happen while I was asleep?" he asked.
His hair was sticking up in odd directions and her hands itched to straighten it. She clasped her hands together tightly in her lap and chewed on her bottom lip. He stared at her.
"We might have a slight problem back home," she rushed out.
"Which problem are you referring to?" he asked taking a seat on other end of her sofa. "Because I've heard of several from Tommy and Thea about the security combination to get into the base."
"Captain Lance followed up on the anonymous tip about the hit and run accident," she started to explain.
"And he complains about the work the vigilante does but it takes him days to follow up on a lead," Oliver commented.
"He found Hannah and she's claiming that you were driving the car and well you know how Captain Lance feels about you so it wasn't that hard to convince him. It's all over Starling City News but don't worry. Your mother and I have a plan to clear your name. We got your back," she reassured him standing up. For some reason sitting on the same sofa as him was making her nervous. She could clearly see herself crawling into his lap and doing things she shouldn't be doing with him. "Are there any snacks in this apartment? I feel like snacks. Or better yet is there a Big Belly Burger in Moscow?"
Oliver laughed, "I know you got my back. I was never worried. I told my father we were handling it. There isn't a Big Belly Burger but there is a nice restaurant down the street that serves traditional Russian food. I'll go and get some food for us."
Originally the plan was for Oliver and Diggle to go to the club, infiltrate the basement and get Lyla out but with the addition of Isabel the plan had to be changed. Oliver, Felicity and Isabel would arrive at the club together. Diggle would go to the club an hour ahead of them and do some reconnaissance. Isabel would be told he was checking the security at the club to determine if it was safe for Oliver to go. In reality, Diggle going early was to disconnect him from their party since he would be the one physically retrieving Lyla. If he was identified on the security cameras, he wouldn't be connected to the Queen party. Of course Felicity offered to infiltrate their IT system but neither man wanted to go that route. They wanted to do a quick grab and run.
The other issue was Oliver had only packed comm units for himself, Diggle and Lyla's partner. That meant Felicity would be without a comm. She would have to rely entirely on Oliver for intel and somehow manage not to clue Isabel in on what was really happening.
Felicity knew they were going to be visiting the casino so she packed a long red dress with a slit at the back for the mission. She paired the dress with silver chandelier earrings, silver heels and a silver clutch. She clipped most of her hair to one side and left it curly. Oliver seemed very pleased with her outfit. Isabel arrived on time and turned up her nose at the outfit. Felicity ignored her because she did the exact same thing to Oliver and Felicity thought Oliver looked down right gorgeous in his black suit.
The drive to the casino wasn't as long as she thought it would be. She stepped out of the car and walked to the front door of the casino. The coat Oliver had brought wrapped around her keeping her warm in the cold Russian air. She checked the coat at the door and stepped into the room on Oliver's arm. It seemed like the minute she walked in all attention was on them. Several women were watching her with envy and the wait staff was offering to get them whatever they wanted. It felt good to be with the most powerful man in the room. It was an intoxicating feeling but she knew she could not get accustomed to it. Oliver was not hers.
"Let's go to the black jack table," Felicity suggested excitedly.
"That would require some skill to play, why don't you stick to the slot machines," Isabel advised with a scowl. She then broke off to observe the roulette table.
Did that women ever smile? Did she know how to smile? Felicity wanted to take the bottle of wine off of a passing waiter's tray and break it over the woman's head but that would be a waste of a perfectly good bottle of wine. Plus she was supposed to keep the Isabel occupied without creating a scene.
Oliver tried to steer her away from the black jack table but she fought his pull. A passing man in a suit noticed her distress and politely asked her something in Russian.
"What?" she asked.
"We're fine," Oliver said tersely his hand falling to the small of her back as he changed directions and moved towards the black jack tables with her.
"What did he ask?" she asked him curiously.
"He wanted to escort you to the black jack table," Oliver said bitterly.
"Oh, how nice of him," Felicity said turning back to wink at the man.
He raised his glass at her in reply.
"Felicity you are not here to flirt," an angry Oliver said.
"I know but we are here to play a part. You know very well I grew up in Las Vegas. It was in that file that you gave me, which by the way did you get that from Lyla?" she asked going off topic.
"Felicity, focus! You need to keep your head in the game," he said sternly.
"My point was I know how to act in a casino now you go do your job and accidentally bounce into that security guard over there and get his pass," Felicity said motioning to a guard that was near the bar.
She looked at the various tables and chose a seat at one that was now opening. Oliver stood silently behind her and surveyed the room. Isabel seemed to change her mind and joined them at the table. Felicity wished she had Superman's laser vision because she would have burned a hole in her for taking the seat right next to her.
"Oliver," Felicity said sweetly, "Can I get a glass of red wine please?" She was staring off towards the bar, the bar where the security guy she pointed to earlier was still located.
"Yes," he then turned to Isabel. "Anything for you Isabel?" he asked.
Felicity rolled her eyes. He could have ignored the party crasher.
"I thought the secretary was supposed to be getting the drinks?" Isabel commented in a scathing tone.
"Oh we have an arrangement. I don't do beverages," Felicity explained in sickly sweet tone while she pushed Oliver away to get her drink. Isabel would have to fend for herself.
Felicity turned to the dealer and made the lowest bet, Isabel followed suit. She won three hands in a row but knew she had to lose some in order to stay under the radar. That wouldn't be a problem because on some hands if she went over 21 purposely it would also cause Isabel to lose. She didn't mind the small sacrifices to ensure the brunette didn't win for the night.
A large warm hand soon fell on her lower back. "You're good at this game," he whispered in her ear as he placed a wine glass down to her. His hand moved from her lower back across her hip bone to the clutch she had walked with. She knew he was putting the security badge in there.
"Oh it's not a game when I play," she told him. "Here play for me, I'm going to the little girl's room. And don't lose my chips," she threatened lightly.
She made her way to the washroom. Diggle had told Oliver earlier that there was a blind spot in the camera feed outside the washroom which was where Felicity was going to hand over the security card to him. Felicity got the card out of her purse and held it lightly in her left hand as instructed. Diggle was already slowly making his way out of the men's room. He timed his walk to pass her in the blind spot and relieved her of the card as they passed. She spent two minutes in the bathroom and then returned to the table.
Half her chips were gone and Isabel had a nice little pile in front of her! "Oliver," she growled.
He gave her an innocent shrug.
"Move," she commanded. "Take your terrible luck over to the craps table or something. I need to win my money back."
Oliver just took another seat around the same table and continued to lose money at the table. As was part of the plan the lights in the casino suddenly went out. Lyla's partner cut the power for six blocks at a power relay station. The backup generator would kick in in 30 seconds and that was the window Diggle had to get into the basement without being noticed.
Felicity really didn't like being kept in the dark, pun intended. She was in a strange place with many armed men around and she had no clue what was going on. She could hear people scampering about as the security was busy trying to reassure people and make sure no chips or money was stolen. Two waiters must have bounced into each other because there was also the sound of falling glasses and some Russian words that Felicity strongly suspected were curse words.
She had no idea if Diggle got in unscathed and Oliver hadn't given a thing away only asking the dealer what happened to the lights he couldn't see his cards. Despite complaining about not seeing his cards he still told the dealer to hit him. He pulled off spoiled billionaire very well. No one would think for a moment he had anything to do with the outage.
The power returned and the staff started checking on all the tables. After they played the next hand, in which she recouped some of her lost funds, Felicity did a discreet look around and found Diggle seated by a slot machine alone. Something had gone wrong but she didn't know what.
An: In the next chapter I intend to reveal who Lyla's partner is. Is there anyone readers would like to see as her partner?
Oh and by they way, would anyone be opposed if I took next week off?
