chapter twelve

"Roma."

How many years have passed since Antonio used this nickname for a last time? Six, seven? Maybe it was when she told him what she felt or maybe when he betrayed her. Lovina wasn't sure.

"Roma." Stupid nickname that Antonio gave her when they met for a first time, when she was twelve and she was thinking about herself "queen of thieves." A little older Spaniard quickly showed that she was wrong. He hit Italian girl when she tried to rob him, then he learnt her everything.

The two were the best in 7th district. Truth was that they were rather ordinary thieves which robbed people on the streets, but Lovina believed that they can everything. Antonio always knew, who had the money and who would be easy to rob. And then Lovina found out why he was so good.

Adnan Sadik. He was Antonio's boss, he pointed the targets, mostly people who hurt him or he simply didn't like. Antonio hid that from Lovina, who hated Turk, because his people bullied Feliciano.

When Lovina turned sixteen, something happened. She has never forgotten and always regretted.

"Antonio…Have you ever thought about us… about me?" She asked, looking defiantly into his eyes.

"What?" Spaniard looked at her with curiosity.

"I ask if I…if I mean something to you? Have you ever…?" The whole courage floated somewhere. She blushed. "It doesn't matter."

Antonios' long fingers clenched around her wrist.

"Do I what?"

"I said it is not important. Let's go."

"First finish."

"I have nothing to say."

She tried to jerked her hand, but Antonio pulled her to him, they faces were close together. Too close, now she was red… Red like hmmm. Like tomato, of course.

"It hurts you damn bastard." She hissed.

"Look at me Roma."

"No."

"Look!"

Lovina looked at his face for a second."

"I looked, happy? And now, can we go?"

She paused when she felt Antonios' lips on hers. It wasn't a kiss, he just touched her lips, but Lovina was paralyzed, she stared wide eyes at the Spaniard.

"Is this an answer for your question, Roma?" Antonio asked and his lips were brushing her with every word.

"B…bastard…"

Antonio kissed her, this time really. With every quiet moan, he kissed deeper and deeper and it was true, every of this was true.

But a kiss couldn't last forever. Just like everything else.

A few days later, when they tried to rob the car, which belonged to Honda (she didn't know). Antonio stole a briefcase with money and ran away leaving Lovina in the hands of that gangsters.

"Why did I think about him? Lovina touched her lips like she wanted to remember his touches. "I have more important things to do."

O

Lovina didn't realize how important things she had to do. She slowly came to Honda's office. The Japanese had his usual serious look, but Vargas knew him well. She saw the small signs of rage. She knew she had troubles.

"Our disk is in hands of police." Kiku didn't even wait until Lovina closed the door, he was angry. "Can you explain this?"

Lovina was speechless. After a while she understood.

"I have to explain this? I guess I misunderstood something."

"You misunderstood?" He slowly rose from his chair. "I will explain this to you. Our disk has a woman, who worked for police, now she is in a wheelchair and your brother is her caretaker. Guess what she said when her old friends asked her who gave her that disk."

She was staring at Japanese still not understanding. But suddenly she felt fear.

"You don't get it? Your brother, who works for that former cop. He must gave her our disk!"

Lovina paled. She didn't know that Feliciano's employer used to be a policewoman.

"According to the police report that I received from my contact, the disk was in digital camera which belonged to Feliciano Vargas. Is that clear for you now?"

The shock caused that she took a step back and tripped.

"Data disk…It was in camera?"

Lovina bought this camera from Swiss's sister. Despite visible signs of using, it was really good equipment. She never suspected that she could have so bad lack.

"I didn't know… I had no idea that the disk was in the camera." She tried to explain. Honda walked around the desk and stood in front of the Italian woman.

"I know." He said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "It is not your fault Lovina."

However she didn't fell relief. Hondas' hands were heavy.

"However, you must retrieve my data. It is your responsibility as an older sister. You don't want to involve Feliciano into this, right? It could hurt him and this ex – cop is not the best company for him."

Lovina violently jerked her head up and looked into his face, she found mocking smile. She slowly nodded.

"I will bring you the disk." She assured. "I get rid of that ex – cop and there will not be any more troubles.

Honda smiled, but Lovina didn't see that.

O

"Are you sure that I can take part in this?" Sophie asked when Alfred stopped in front of the building in 9th district, next to her stopped Daniel. Sophie didn't want to come without him. "Investigation is not secret or something?

"I need you, you can know something important." Alfred looked down the street as if he was waiting for someone else.

"I already consisted explanations."

"But you can be useful on our meeting."

"Why do we meet in this house not like normal people in the police office?" Daniel asked without looking at Jones. He was busy watching the building.

"It just a consultation or brainstorm. Can't you understand that I need her help?"

"These methods of investigation are even acceptable? " Daniel finally looked at Alfred, frowning.

"I have certain privileges. My team is the best, because I have free hand." Alfred said with pride. Sometimes Hungarian really annoyed him. "I choose this house, because here lives someone who has Sadik's disk."

Sophie jerked violently her head up, she looked at Alfred.

"We can't meet in office, because this woman had not left her home for almost two years."

"We can trust her?" Sophie asked.

"She is former cop. I have never worked with her, but I know, we can trust her." Alfred looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hello Wang. We were waiting for you."

Long haired Chinese approached the group. Jones introduced him and they entered the building.

"Oh right, you go and I must wait for someone else, I will come back for a second." Alfred said and went out.

He didn't wait long, shortly after he exited the building, a man approached him, he was Wang's agent.

"I need information…" Jones started as soon as they exchanged slogans of connaissance. "But not here, look there is a small restaurant, Hey are you listening?"

Agent was looked intensely at a big window in the building in which were Sophie, Daniel and Wang.

"This girl, who stood with Wang…" He asked.

"You know her?"

"Yes, I saw her in Swiss shop, she was selling a few things. She helps you?"

"Yes." Alfred replied cautious, wondering what to do now. He shouldn't disclose the identity of Wang's agent, but he had so much information that can be useful… "Listen, we have here a small brainstorm, maybe it will be better if you join us…uh…"

"Gilbert." Agent suggested. "Sure, I agree."

O

When she heard that the woman didn't go out for two years, Sophie expected to see an eccentric detective. But Sophie felt embarrassed when she saw the woman in a wheelchair, wearing a crumpled shirt and pants. The woman was embarrassed too, she nervously tried to comb her hair with her fingers.

"Jones didn't mention about guests. I was expecting only him and you, Wang." She murmured apologizing for a mess.

"It was in Alfred's style." Chinaman shook his head disapprovingly.

"Sit down, Feliciano, could you prepare some coffee or tea? " Luise, because it was the woman in a wheelchair, she turned to young caretaker, which seemed to be strangely familiar to Sophie. The boy nodded vigorously and went to the kitchen. "I will bring disk and computer."

She turned and went into another room.

Sophie couldn't sat still. She wanted to create the action as soon as it was possible. Peter was waiting for them. She jumped up from the sofa, when door opened and she hear Alfred.

"I have one person, who can help us."

Sophie turned to look at this person. Her eyes widen in amazement when she recognized him.

"Hi Soph." Gilbert approached her in three long steps and kissed her deeply.

The girl groaned in a protest and pushed him violently.

"Are you crazy?" She hissed. Wang slightly raised his eyebrow, but Alfred didn't hide surprise, he stood in a doorway with his mouth wide opened.

Daniel get up and walked to Sophie. He was not pleased.

"Who is it?" He asked, trying to calm down.

"A friend, who once helped me." She quickly responded. Gilbert smirked.

"A friend?" He muttered then added aloud, turning to Daniel. "Who are you?"

"Gilbert, this is Daniel. He…"

"I am her fiancé." Hungarian grabbed Sophie by the hand, not taking his eyes from Gilbert, who suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so fun?" Daniel asked with a cold voice.

"Fiancé?" He laughed again. "You are fast Soph! Or maybe you are pregnant?

Sophie was speechless.

"W…what? No!"

"Are you sure? Because I could be a father."

Sophie blushed.

"I am not pregnant and certainly not with you." She tried to not show her rage.

"Sophie, can you explain me this?" Daniel asked.

"Wait, wait, I know you…" Gilbert approached Daniel and examined him carefully. "It is a guy from the pub. Congratulations Sophie, you caught him."

Suddenly they heard the sound of falling laptop.

At the door was Luise. She looked at Gilbert clearly shocked. But after a moment her face was full of rage.

"What he is doing here?" She snapped to Alfred who was still standing.

"He? I invited him to take part in our brainstorm."

Gilbert was as surprised as Luise, he stepped towards her.

"Luise, sister…"

"I don't have a brother. Get out! I don't want you here!"

She slammed the door. Feliciano came from the kitchen and saw what was happening.

"Go to her." Sophie said, but for truth she didn't understood what just happened.

"Sorry." Feliciano said and went after Luise. For a while they heard Luise's raised voice, but the there was silence.

Alfred sighed and sat on the sofa.

"Can someone explain me, what the hell happened?" Wang didn't hide his astonishment.

"And how we could know?"

Yao raised his eyes to the celling. Was his partner always so stupid?

"A name of these two did not say anything to you?"

"Name? Luise Beilschmidt and Gilbert… Oh shit."

Wang sighed. Alfred snorted.

"Why I should pay attention? Gilbert is your agent!" Chinese looked at him significantly. After a short silence Jones said. "But, after all it is good that you can see each other, right?"

"Did you even read his dossier?

"Stop talking about me like I am not here!" Gilbert growled. "I will explain it by myself….I was a problematic kid. " He began. "And bad older brother. I started messing up with a bad company and I cause many troubles to me and to my family. Mother couldn't stand it and she left. She left us alone. Luise went to police academy. She wanted to protect me, you now? Even then I was working with smugglers and I was good, but in the end police caught me and they offered me a job. I knew everyone, so I was pretty useful. I agreed, of course. It was better than a prison. Then I went to Luise, I told her that I ended with m old life. You don't even know, how happy she was."

Sophie looked at Gilbert, who acted different than before. He wasn't malicious bastard, he had other side, caring for another human being, like when he rescued her from Sadiks' people.

She noticed that the door opened and there were Luise and Feliciano with his hands on her shoulders. Gilbert didn't notice and continued the story.

"I had a status of a secret agent, so Luise couldn't know what was I doing. I started working with a gang, which was responsible for the riots. I helped them. But something happened." Gilbert was silent for a moment. "My group took part in a riot, so was I, but I tried to avoid the main line of confirmation. I was informed that my sister would be in a group which supressed the riot. And then was an explosion. I ran there and Luise…"

Gilbert rubbed his temples.

"I wanted to help her, but I had my orders. I had to withdraw. So I was looking patiently like my boss shot into my sister's back."

Sophie wanted to touch him, but he didn't expect sympathy, he was blaming himself for a past.

"Much later, they told me that Luise was alive, but she gave up her work. I couldn't contact her, so she still thought that I betrayed. Some time later I was assigned to Wang Yao group, which tried to solve Honda's case."

"Why didn't you say me this?" Luise couldn't remain silent. Gilbert jumped like scalded, looked at her. He didn't realize that his sister was listening him too.

"I couldn't…"

"You couldn't tell your own sister I didn't deserve even for that?"

"It is not like that…"

"Luise."Alfred interrupted. "I know it is not my business, but maybe you should stop it."

Luise didn't look at Jones. She looked at her brother with a mixture of uncertainty and wounded pride. Suddenly she approached Gilbert and pulled out her hand to him.

"I didn't forgive you, yet." She warned when they shook hands. "We must explain many cases."

"Especially one." Jones interrupted one more time. "If we have agreement, can we start thinking about our case?"

Lusie gave her laptop and the disk to Wang. On the screen they could see the diagnostic messages and request for a network. Chinese was thinking in silent.

"It looks like common launcher program. Well maybe not common, it uses network and bypassing security after that it sends signal to the transmitter and immediately starts its work."

"And where is uniqueness?" Daniel asked. "It is nothing special."

"It is true, but when you use a common program, it is recorded and any unauthorized use is immediately detected. It seems that this program including masking, it is undetectable. I suspect, it was created to bypass network security in BraginskyNet, which is considered as the safest network in the country."

"Okay, let's say that is superprogram." Gilbert began, really he wasn't interested in technical details. "But what it starts? TV? The door to the garage?"

"Transmitters and antennas are on the list in this program." Luise said. "It seems to be a simple abbreviations so I deciphered them. For example 0antenaBN. It is an antenna in 0th district, BraginskyNet."

"And this." Alfred pointed one of the codes, which were on the screen. "3.M.2736?"

"The third district, moat, house number 2736. The first number is the district, then letter is the street and the second number is a number of the building. See? All of the first numbers are in a range from 1 to 12, which comprises twelve districts."

"Well, but you have many street on the same letter." Gilbert noted.

"Yes, but I noticed that everything is connected with BraginskyNet, branch offices, transmitters, amplifiers, costume service centres or even the main office in the 1st district."

"Phone from the Latvian…" Alfred muttered to himself, lost in thoughts. "This program is run bombs!"

He told everyone about the phone from Latvian, about Honda who wanted to destroyed Anya Braginsky.

"That is why Honda sent that Englishwoman." Daniel turned to Sophie and looked straight into her eyes, first time since Gilbert made a small show. "He wanted this program…"

"But why Sadik wants this program too? He works with Honda?" Wang bit his lips. "And why he is so desperate that he kidnapped a child? Now, if we catch him, he will be sentenced for years in prison."

"At first." Luise proposed. " Sophie, when you left Sadik, you took a camera. There was this memory card?"

"No." Sophie replied after a moment. "I was packing in a hurry, gathering things from his desk. There were memory card and the camera, so I just put one to another, I didn't know what is on this card."

"What did you do after that?"

"I sold it in a Swiss shop."

"The same day it was bought by a woman from Spain or…she was…she was like him." He pointed Feliciano.

"This was my sister, Lovina, she gave it to me as a birthday present."

"It was your sister? I often saw her at Swiss shop, she was taking care of Honda's business."

Feliciano jumped on his feet.

"It is not true, my sister couldn't…"

"Calm down Feliciano." Luise grabbed him by his elbow.

"But he…"

" I know, who you remind me!" Sophie said suddenly, staring at Vargas's face. Everyone looked at her surprised. "Two months ago I was almost caught by a group of several people, who were with young Italian woman. They were not from Sadik."

Feliciano sat on the floor, unable to believe what he heard. Luise put her hand on his shoulder, trying to give him encouragement. After a while Alfred said.

"From what you said, it look like Honda was looking for you or rather for a disk and he is not in agreement with Sadik. They have never liked each other. But still we don't know why Sadik needs it so desperate. Maybe he just wanted to annoy Honda or it is about you not data."

"How do you want to rescue Peter?" Sophie asked.

"The way you said it, I guess you decided what you will do." Wang said.

"I think it is clear. I will go there and I will give Sadik everything he wants."

"You can't" Alfred said. "If he connects it with network he can blow up whole city. You can't expose the citizens."

"I am aware of that!" Sophie cried, suddenly losing her temper. She was tired. "What else can I do? Sacrifice Peter?"

"No." Alfred calmly replied. "We should work together. And I am talking to everyone here. " He turned to the others. They looked at him with anticipation.

He felt responsible for Peter and for city residents, who even didn't know about the danger hung over them.

"I have a plan." He started. "Listen to me carefully…"