CHAPTER 11

Undercover

"Sit tight here guys!"

Nate said cheerfully as he pushed a button on the remote control. A small plasma screen faintly illuminated the dark room; blue light threw shadows over the faces of two men, who lay motionless, propped up against the wall of washing machines.

"Really?" Sam's brow arched questioningly at the house remodel show as he checked the knots on the arms and legs of the immobilized men one more time.

"Yeah," Nate shrugged, "At least they'll have something to help pass the time when they wake up."

"And you really think watching this girl pick between pearl river and harbor fog shades of grey paint going to help them?," Sam grunted sarcastically, pushing one of the men against the other as they started to slide off the wall, "Sounds like you wanna torture them."

"All right…all right," Nate sighed and switched the channel to sports.

"You know what," Sam winced at the screen, "Actually, the remodel show might be the lesser of two evils."

"Are you really sure this is necessary?" James's concerned voice interrupted them as he emerged from the dark corner of the room, now dressed in an expensive designer suit. He looked at the two hotel employees with hesitation, uncomfortably tugging on the tight collar of his dress shirt.

Both brothers looked at him dubiously – apparently the thought of how deeply immoral their actions appeared to an untrained eye never crossed their minds.

"You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs," Nate finally said in their weak defense.

"Really, after what your boss did this seems wrong to you?" Sam added and walked to a pile of clothes they stripped off the two bell boys.

Soon the Drake brothers were both freshly vested in matching green uniform complete with two round caps lined with golden stripes.

"Ready?" Nate looked at the other two men and they nodded.

Tugging two empty suitcases behind them, the trio walked out into the darkness that reigned at the bottom of the stairs, which led out of the basement and into the main area of the hotel

"Well then," Nate said as the door into the laundry facility closed behind them and he locked it with a key, "Let's try to make our way up to Panofka's room as quietly as we can. Everybody remembers the roles?" Sam grunted positively in response and Nate sensed, rather than saw, a hesitant nod that came from James "Let's summarize it just in case," Nate said, giving the older man a look of doubt, "We're going to-" Nate paused and the trio held their breaths while someone walked past the door above them, blocking the thin strip of light that seeped into the stairway. The figure halted by the door, speaking gregariously in German, then the feet shuffled and the heavy steps marched further down the corridor away from the door.

"As I was saying…-," Nate continued, toning his voice down a notch, as they joined their heads together, "We're going to escort our valued guest…-," he patted James on the shoulders of his sleek suit, "…up to his room," the three of them exchanged nods, "But once we get into the elevator we ride it to the top floor and to the suite that used to be Panofka's old apartment."

"Then we hope there's no one inside," Sam added.

"But. If there is…," Nate looked expectedly at James.

"…Then I go knock on the door and tell them they are flooding my room downstairs," James picked up the narration.

"And I will be there as the hotel representative to validate the complaint," Sam continued, "Then, everyone walks away to the hotel room downstairs, which Ruslan has booked for us, while Nate sneaks into Panofka's suite and finds whatever the key opens."

"Great," Nate concluded, "And after that, with the Hourglass in hand - hopefully - we all quietly get into the getaway car in the back."

"Great," said Sam.

"Great," echoed James.

"Great," Nate repeated and all three nodded with determination.

"Except for one thing," Sam added after a pause, "What are two men in their forties still doing working as bell boys?"

"Well," Nate shrugged and adjusted his bell boy cap, "Let's just pretend we've made some poor life choices."

"Like that would be so hard to imagine," Sam commented as he and Nate picked up one suitcase each and the three men headed up the stairs.

Nate pushed on the door and carefully poked his head out - beyond the sharp clinking of dishes and soft piano music reaching from the hotel restaurant, the corridor was empty.

"All right," he briefly looked back, "let's get going before we bump into someone."

The rest of Nate's body nimbly seeped through the door and he turned in the direction of the lobby, but when he made another step the suitcase pulled him back – the small wheels grinded against rock in pained protest, jammed in the threshold.

"Son of a-," Nate cussed, looked left and right, and dragged the stubborn piece of luggage out onto carpeted floor.

"Real smooth," Sam said, looking suspiciously smug as he noiselessly maneuvered his suitcase through the door.

"Show off," Nate replied light-heartedly and pulled Sam's green cap toward his eyes.

"Get it together, boys. No time for playing now," James shushed, nervously looking over his shoulder.

With James at the head of their small procession, they walked into the sparkling hall of the lobby where the grandiose chandelier dropped hundreds of flares onto the espresso-dark marble floor. Carpet no longer swallowed the sound of their steps, and Nate felt involuntarily slouching as wheels rolled on naked tile. With the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of one of the front desk employees throwing a skidding look at the sight of them passing through. Nate looked straight in front of him, trying to look importantly busy.

"This way Mr. Ambassador, sir," he addressed James, picking up his steps and making a grand hand gesture toward the elevator, "Your suite awaits."

Nate couldn't help but notice a slight squint in the concierge's expression, but before the guy could say anything, he was interrupted by a group of newly arrived Russian tourists, who talked so loudly and made so much commotion, that the humble trio walked the rest of the way toward the elevator largely unnoticed.

"Step one - check!" Sam said, as Nate pressed the stolen employee card to the electronic panel of the elevator and pushed the button of the top floor,

"Yeah, let's hope the rest will be a walk in the park," Nate replied and gave James a small pat on the back, "Well done…-"

"Mr. Ambassador, sir," Sam chuckled.

"Ah," James waived it off and wiped a bead of sweat off his greyed temple, "Let's just get this over with."

In the muted piano tune of the elevator, all three of them gave out a collective sigh.

Then the doors slid open and they walked out into a small room that forked into a long corridor on either side. The corridor carpeted in signature emerald-green of the hotel was dimly lit by flickering light of old-fashioned sconces. A pleasant fragrance of luxury floated in the amber semidarkness. A golden plate on the wall informed them that Room 607 was located on the left side of the corridor - that's where they turned.

"Nice place," Nate commented quietly.

"Think they pay us well?" Sam mused.

"I think we can at least expect some decent tip if nothing else."

"Here. Room 607," James pointed out and the three of them stopped in front of a massive wooden door, enclosed in an arch of thick stained glass.

Both Nate and Sam moved closer to either side of the door, trying to see inside, but the glass muted and tangled all contours. Nate strained his ears. It was quiet. No voices, no sound of television and no footsteps.

"Maybe no one's home," James wondered hopefully.

"Maybe it will be easier than we thought," Nate muttered, drawing the employee card toward the keypad. It responded with a twinkle of green light and a sliding electronic noise, "We're in."

Nate grasped the ornate doorknob - it twisted slowly under his fingers - when he heard a sound of sliding doors and a short beep of the elevator, "Crap!" he let go of the knob as if it burned him.

"This way, quick!" Sam was the first to orienteer the escape route and ushered them further down the corridor and toward the room at its very end; he smashed his own stolen key card into the panel and all three of them barged in, stirring something that came back with rude metallic rattle and a sound of something scattering across the floor. The three men froze in incidental positions, fearing further noisy consequences, as the door into the room closed, leaving them in complete darkness.

When Nate's eyes recovered from the drastic drop in light levels, a shy glow of light appeared, seeping through a peephole in the door. Noiselessly he lowered the suitcase on the floor and clung to the door.

Two people appeared from around the corner and walked down the narrow corridor. Their contours were steadily taking shape – the shorter figure was a man and the slightly taller a woman. The couple stopped in front of the Room 607 and Nate picked up on the clearly hostile tones of their voices - an argument, which sounded like it had been going for a while, seemed to reach its culmination.

"We're not getting anywhere… thousands of dollars down the drain… supposed to be a quick job and now we're… this information is not worth a shi-… he said it was there, but it wasn't…" the man spat the words with venom. A fluttering guess of the identity of these two people made Nate abandon the peephole, pressing his ear against the door instead.

"I told you this plan wasn't gonna go anywhere," replied the female voice, carrying a subtle hint of French accent.

"If you didn't let them go, we wouldn't have to sit our asses here in complete darkness, while Drake sprints through clues and is getting closer and closer to Hyperborea!"

"What was I supposed to do?! Tackle him? Tackle all three of them while you and the rest of your cowards were on your merry way from hell ride, leaving me behind?! How very typical of you, Leonidas, to blame others for your own…," there was a meaningful pause and, behind it, Nate could sense the woman demonstratively looking down at the man, "…shortcomings," she said with a sugary smile in her voice, clearly jabbing at the man's stature.

Silence followed and Nate winced, expecting Leonidas's reaction.

"You know what, Elise," finally followed the response and the man's voice sounded much calmer than Nate had expected, "I would be very, very, very careful if I were you. You're treading on ice so thin that I'm starting to wonder why I'm still keeping you around."

There was quiet shuffling of feet and then the sound of a slammed door echoed in both directions of the corridor. Nate looked through the peephole again.

The blond woman stood looking at the door in front of her for a second longer. Then she showed it a middle finger and Nate heard illegible muttering in French as she turned to walk in the direction of the elevator. Nate cracked the door open and peered into the corridor.

"Elise!" he called in an agitated whisper. The French woman stopped in her tracks and then turned slowly back. Seeing Nate's face poking out from the door at the end of the corridor gave her pause, and then she leaned forward, squinting in confusion.

"Nat-" she began, but stopped herself, throwing a cautious look at the door Leonidas disappeared behind.

"Come over here!" Nate mouthed the words and beckoned her over. He expected more hesitation, but Elise, without much doubt, quietly walked toward him. She stayed silent up until she followed him through the door and into the darkness of their hideout. Nate stepped back into nowhere, trying to give Elise more room, and felt James – or was it Sam? - shuffle out of the way.

"Sorry," Nate apologized and glided his hand along the wall, trying to locate the light switch. He brushed against rattling cold metal and his foot kicked something, causing a bunch of small objects to roll across the floor, "Dammit, where the heck is the…?"

The door closed with a tap.

"Nate, what the hell are you doing here?!" followed Elise's surprised voice, but he already knew her surprised tone was fake. It seemed all too fortunate for Leonidas to accidently stay at the same hotel – in the same room no less – that Panofka's riddles had lead them to. No, it couldn't be a simple coincidence.

"Hold on, let me find the…"

"I think I got it," Sam said and the light came on, "Here we go."

They found themselves inside a small stockroom, squeezed between metal racks full of towels, boxes of toiletries and toilet paper. One box lay open on its side on the floor and little bottles of shampoo were scattered all around the room with a couple of them turned into gooey mess when the three of them had barged in there earlier. James stood in the corner, while Sam sat on a bucket, next to an unassuming square sink the exposed pipe of which snaked down into the concrete floor.

Elise stood by the door, looking around the small room. Her grey eyes skid across the faces of the three men, taking note of the hotel uniforms Nate and Sam were wearing, lingering on the green caps, which made the corners of her lips slightly quiver - the haunted expression in her eyes stepped back, obscured behind shifty twinkles of laughter.

"Are you two trying to make some pocket money or something?" Elise finally said with a twisted smile.

"Well," Nate adjusted to her tone, "Fancy our surprise when, on our very first shift, we bump into you two here – what a small world!" he squinted sarcastically and Elise's expression gained a degree of caution, "Did some little bird tell you about the Hourglass in Room 607 or did Leonidas just have helluva lucky hunch?"

There was a pause and only the faucet in the sink dropped slow dragging drips into the cold silence. Elise looked back at Nate calmly; she pursed her lips as she measured him with a long calculating look. He could already tell she wasn't at all surprised to find them at this hotel tonight.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nate, but I would suggest you abandon the idea of finding the Hourglass now that Leonidas is involved in this," she said.

Despite the fact that Sam and Nate collectively dispatched a countless number of men, Elise, evidently, wasn't afraid of them. Perhaps she didn't know. Perhaps she thought her brief acquaintance with Nate in the past guaranteed her safety now. Or…perhaps someone else instilled her with more fear than they ever could.

"You don't know what he's capable of," she added and the French accent in her voice became more pronounced.

"I wish I could just quit, Elise, but, like you, I'm forced into this," Nate replied candidly. Maybe they could still make it work, "Abbas, they guy who is also looking for the Hourglass- I know you know who I'm talking about-," Nate quickly added, seeing as Elise briefly looked away and her hand lightly rested on the door knob, "He's got my wife. Look, I was done with this crap. Done with this life – Elena and I started a normal legal business, we are expecting a baby," he tried appealing to Elise's better qualities, "And then I go out of town and she gets kidnapped by this guy, who then starts blackmailing me to find him the Hourglass or…," Nate's face darkened, "…or else. So believe me if I say that if I could abandon this idea – I really would. In a heartbeat. But, since I can't… I need your help," he looked her squarely in the eyes, sensing new notes of compassion and doubt reflecting on her face.

"I… I'm really sorry Nate," Elise said after a moment. She looked apologetically from him to the other two men, "But I really can't help you. He's already pissed with me for the way things went in Siberia and I just… I don't know how much longer he'll be happy with just toying with me before he…," she sighed in conclusion, "Look, I know you'll figure it out anyway and then that would ultimately reflect on me, so…I'm sorry, I can't."

Suddenly agitated and fearful again, Elise turned to the door. Nate threw his head up toward the cracked ceiling in frustration.

"Can you at least tell us if he found the Hourglass?" Sam called into her back, "Or hint at which one of Abbas' men is leaking the information?"

Elise paused, her head slightly tilted with doubt, but then, without saying a word, she twisted the door knob.

"Thought after all he's done to you, you'd want to pay him back!" Sam insisted, himself losing patience when they almost had an ally in their pocket, "But I guess you're too much of a chicken to do that! C'mon, darling, live a little!"

Upon hearing those words, Elise shut the door quietly. Then turned sharply around and glared at Sam.

"Live a little?" she repeated his words with a pained chuckled, "Live a little?! Do you have any idea what I've gone through?!"

Sam met her glare with an unfazed expression.

"Well isn't it all the more reason to put as many spokes into his wheels as you can? Maybe… maybe we could convince Abbas to help you and break you free? If you can help us."

"I wouldn't hold your breath…," James intervened from the corner of the room.

"That's not really helpful," Sam shook his head at the historian.

"I just don't want to give the young lady a false hope," James shrugged, "That wouldn't be fair."

"Didn't you say in the beginning that Abbas was gonna pay me half a million dollars for this job?" Nate turned to James, "Well - that is - before he decided to kidnap my wife. My point is – if she really wanted to cooperate with us," he gestured at Elise, "why wouldn't he employ her as well?"

"Because he was only gonna pay you because of your reputation! She doesn't have one."

"But he'd have our word," Sam argued.

"Hmph," James huffed skeptically.

While his brother and the old historian bickered, Nate glanced at Elise. She still stood by the door and watched them argue, but the look on her face seemed far away - as if she just realized she might have left the stovetop on and was trying to piece it together if it was really true. Then suddenly she realized Nate was watching her and snapped herself back into present moment. Her chameleon grey eyes became impervious and hard to read.

"Ok, I'll help you," she suddenly said, putting an end to the bickering and stepped away from the door.

"You will?" Sam uttered in surprise.

"I will," Elise confirmed with a smile, "And he didn't find the Hourglass," she said, answering Sam's earlier question, "He didn't find anything. So what do you need help with?"

Sam stood up and, grabbing one of the fluffy towels off the shelf, spread it over the improvised seat on the bucket, "Madam?" with a gallant gesture he offered the seat to Elise. After a small pause, during which Elise measured both Sam and the bucket with an ironical gaze, she conceded.

"Well," she sat down and looked up at the men, "Are you about to hit me with some shocking news that you want me to sit down first?" she asked Sam almost flirtatiously.

"Hit you? Maybe. With news? Eeeehm," Sam matched her tone, moving his hand side to side in a gesture of unlikely.

Nate rolled his eyes. Although he was glad Sam found rapport with Elise and things were beginning to work in their favor, he couldn't help but wonder:

What caused Elise to have such a sudden change of heart?

Elise Allard did not consider herself a lucky woman. Not for a long while anyway. She had many reason not to. Life, which used to so eagerly and plentifully bestow Elise with gifts both tangible and immaterial, seemed to have completely blocked the precious stream of luck. But today… Today, Elise sensed that maybe a slow trickle of it was beginning to, yet again, flow her way.

She did not consider herself a brave woman either. Not anymore. But…

This time – she had to try.

Leaving Nate, Sam and James behind in the cramped stockroom, she went straight to her room, which was three doors down from Room 607. Carefully, she set the earpiece Nate gave her down on the small entryway table and went for the bathroom where she begun changing into the Elise she faintly remembered being those many years ago - back when her life did not feel like a long drawn-out nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

Elise glanced at her reflection in the mirror gilded inside a heavy golden frame. She pulled wispy blond strands from her hairdo and let them delicately frame her face. An added layer of makeup almost completely erased the pink scratch on her temple, while a quick swipe of blush livened up her complexion to look more porcelain rather than lifelessly pale. Black and champagne-pink gemstones sparkled, playing in the light, as she clipped the earrings on – a gift from Leonidas of the past.

Shoes clicked repeatedly on the parquet floor as Elise walked back and forth, putting her belongings into a travel bag that lay open on an armchair in the corner of the room. All the while, the French woman's eyes were heavy with thought as she questioned and weighed the subtleties and risks of her plan. In the end, Elise measured the room with one last encompassing look.

If all goes well she will be far away from here by the end of the night.

Lastly, Elise walked over to the bed. Lifting the side of the bed spread out of the way, Elise grunted, trying to raise the side of the mattress just enough for her to slip her hand into the opening. A rectangular brass object glimmered in the light of the bedside table lamp. It was still locked. The woman set it briefly on the bed, while she, herself not knowing what for, made sure to pull the bed cover back down and fixed the pillows.

Then she took the object to her handbag by the door and wrapped it into a scarf. Theodor Panofka's hidden brass box sank into the dark confines of the handbag without a struggle and rested on its side against a small makeup bag and a leather sunglasses case. It was true - Leonidas Gataki hadn't found anything hidden inside Room 607. But it was only because Elise Allard had beaten him to it. And only Elise knew the entire truth.

Elise put the earpiece back on and briefly glanced at herself in the mirror.

"One who doesn't risk – will never drink champagne," she told herself encouragingly.

Then she took in a deep breath, twisted the doorknob and walked out into the corridor.

Sam sighed as he peeked around the corner yet again, but the corridor was still empty, "How much time does a woman need to change clothes?! It's been forty minutes already!"

"Well, I suppose it depends on a woman…," James said philosophically as he stood, leaning against the wall in complete boredom. It seemed they had been waiting so long – first in the stockroom, then out in the corridor, hidden behind the corner - that even the old historian shook down his usual anxiety-induced alertness, "Italian?" he mused, "Eeeh…twenty minutes perhaps…Russian?...probably an hour…American? It depends, but…ten to twenty? French?"

Both he and Nate habitually glanced at their watches.

"Forty minutes and counting," Nate finished James's line of thought and banged the back of his head against the wall in annoyance, "But she said she's got a plan."

"Hmph," James grunted ambiguously, "Let's hope it's a good one. Why all the secrecy?"

"She really just needs to get him out of that room and keep him away long enough for us to find the Hourglass," Sam chimed back in, "It can't be that hard."

"Would be easier if she didn't make jokes about his height again," Nate nodded.

James gave another doubtful grunt and thoughtfully fumbled with the telescopic handle of one of the suitcases, which they dragged out with them if only to stick to the story in case they bump into hotel staff, "I just…," he looked at Nate and his light brown eyes shone keenly in the amber light of the wall scones, "Doesn't it seem strange that even though Leonidas seems to have gotten a tip- whoever from- about the location of the Hourglass, yet…," James made a meaningful pause, "…he still. Didn't. Find it. I mean, he doesn't have the key, but he could very well find whatever it opens, right? So why didn't he?"

"Well," Nate pursed his lips and took the key they found at Panofka's suburban house out of his pocket, "Maybe there's a trick to finding it that he couldn't figure out?"

"Or maybe there's a compartment in the fireplace that only the key can open?" Sam threw in an idea, "Anyway - the guy doesn't seem like much of a genius," he added and Nate hummed in agreement.

"Hmph…," James's grunt was still full of suspicion, "Perhaps."

There was a small pause as all three of them contemplated the topic. Nate scanned the corridor absent-mindedly, but it remained empty. It seemed that the top floor consisted of expensive suites, but only a handful of them was booked. During the time they've been waiting, they had only seen people once – an elderly couple leisurely strolling down the corridor on the far side opposite from theirs. Their corner remained secluded – it only led to one door and entered into emergency exit staircase.

"Well, Elise said he didn't find anything and I'm leaning towards believing her," Sam resumed the conversation.

"I wonder why," Nate smirked at his brother and Sam returned his look with a roguish chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know. Normally you hate letting new people in on the job. But this time…," Nate looked at Sam meaningfully, "Just saying."

"It's just… she needs us and we need her," Sam explained, struggling to keep his face serious, "Mutually beneficial alliance."

"Ah, is that what it is?"

"I mean…," Sam let Nate's ironical comment pass this time, "Why would she lie?"

"Because she wants to lure us into a trap?" James voiced the concern that had been gnawing at him ever since they spoke to Elise.

"Elise?" Nate grimaced with disagreement, "Naaaah, I don't think so."

"But how can you know?" James argued, "You said you've only met her once before all this? The soul of another is a dark place," he finished thoughtfully, "Even if there are long legs and fluttering lashes involved."

As his words sank in, Nate and Sam shared a doubtful look.

"Let's just get into that room and go from there," Sam shrugged, "And hope our secret weapon won't backfire on us… if she ever shows up," as he said those words, they heard the sound of an opening door.

Sam and Nate carefully peeked from around the corner and into the corridor. Sam gave a quiet whistle, "Yeah, I don't think she'll have a problem luring the guy out of the room."

They saw Elise walk down the corridor toward them. Dressed in a silver satin sheath dress that ended past her knees, with her hair pulled into an elegant French twist, she clutched onto a dark blue velvety handbag on her shoulder. Reaching Room 607 she gave them a long look, which Nate responded to with a thumbs-up and pointed at his ear.

She nodded and Nate turned the earpieces on.

"Can you hear me well?" he said quietly.

Elise nodded again.

"Loud and clear," he heard her response in his ear.

Nate gave her another thumbs-up and Elise turned toward the door.

After a moment's hesitation, she gave three loud knocks, while Nate and Sam hid out of sight. Silence of anticipation hung in the intercom and then, they heard the door open.

"Elise?" came Leonidas's surprised voice and there was a pause as the Greek man took in the sight in front of him, "Why are you- What are you doing here?"

"I-, I just wanted to talk to you… I've been thinking about…about us…and how we used to be…and then what we've become now and I-," Elise gulped down and there was genuine sorrow in her voice, "This is not right. I don't want us to be like that. Anyway… would you like to talk things over a dinner?"

For several seconds there was silence – apparently Elise's speech dropped quite a bombshell.

"I knew you'd come to your senses in the end," Leonidas finally said with clear notes of triumph.

There was shuffling, jiggling of keys, but then the door closed and they heard the sound of steps growing distant as Elise and Leonidas walked down the corridor toward the elevator.

"Nicely done Elise," Nate said and met the eyes of Sam and James.

They waited for the beep of the elevator from the hall to announce that it was heading down, after which the three of them nodded in unison and, spurred and united by the nagging impatience of a treasure hunter about to uncover the long-sought relic, hurried around the corner toward Room 607.

Where - they were sure - the Hourglass was still waiting to be found.

A/N:

...or not!

Haha :D
Yes, dear readers, I'm still alive and this story is still going and will be for a while. As you may have noticed, this is definitely not an express train as we're taking many stops - some short, some quite long - but I appreciate and thank everyone who is still on for the journey! We will reach the final destination in the end.
Someday ;-)