Chapter 13 - Dahlia

Staying in the van with Alyssa and Mila wasn't as exciting as going to the party with the men. But it beat staying at home. We were the surveillance team, as Konstantin had called us., their eyes and ears.

I stared at the monitors as the three men entered the party. Mila hacked into the security system of the building, and we could see all the cameras captured. Piotr was in the lead as they entered the party with fake IDs. Inside somewhere were important files that they needed to retrieve for the Morozov family.

Alyssa and I were wearing earphones so we could hear them. Mila only had one earpiece and she communicated with them on their earpieces. After entering, the three split up to search for the documents. Konstantin stayed close to Piotr as he would be the distraction should something go sideways.

Keeping a close eye on Konstantin, I noticed him nearing two women. They were a couple of feet from a door with a board that read ‘Offices.' Piotr was close on his heels, and I assumed they wanted to gain entry to what was behind the door.

"Evening ladies," Konstantin said in a smooth voice as he started to pass them. Then he stopped and turned to face them. The two women were now standing with their backs to the door. That was clever, I thought.

Both wore yellow-green evening dresses. The one with the short blond hair appeared distracted by someone walking towards them from behind Konstantin. The other woman had long red hair and focused on him as he turned to them.

"Hi there," the one woman replied, smiling widely at him. "I haven't seen you here before, handsome," she added, stepping closer to him.

"This is my first party here, I have to admit," Konstantin answered. He seemingly didn't care that she was practically standing on top of him.

The woman reached out, taking hold of the fold of his dark blue suit. She moved her hand up and down the fold as she spoke. "Would you like to buy me a drink stranger?"

Instantly, I felt my anger rising. It was such a quick change. I couldn't stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth as I stared in awe. "How dare she, no, how dare he ?" I felt my face heat up as it surely turned crimson.

"Calm down, honey," Alyssa spoke next to me. "He's only doing his job."

The blond woman stepped past him and greeted the couple who had approached them. I watched in horror as Konstantin took the woman's hand and approached the bar. "I can't watch this," I uttered as I sat down.

I pulled the building plans closer and studied them, trying to distract myself. Looking at the plans, I turned them sideways. There was something between two of the offices that didn't look right. Turning to Mila, I tried to keep my tone even as I spoke. "Do you have any other plans for the building?"

Mila turned her head sideways as she pulled her eyes together. I was sure she was scrutinizing me, and there was no time for it. "Mila, are there other plans? Something is off here." I shouted as I rose and walked to her.

Mila held up a folder. As I grabbed it from her, she uttered under her breath. "Nothing's off, dear."

Ignoring her comment, I sat back down and quickly scanned the plans. Yes, there it was. "Piotr is in the wrong place," I said, glancing back at Mila. "Tell him not to proceed; he is going to get caught."

"What do you mean?" I heard Leon whisper into the earphones. I had spoken so loudly that they could hear me.

"Stop," Mila said, holding up a hand at me. "You don't know what you are talking about, so stop interfering."

"Mila," I huffed as I rose, holding the building plans in my hand. "There is a fake wall to the other side of the building." This I said as loud as I could without screaming. I had to make sure the men also heard me.

"Can you explain?" I heard Piotr asking quietly.

"It's like this. Looking at the plans, I can see where you are heading now, which is a fake wall. This is usually utilized for traps." Before I could continue, Piotr interrupted.

"Mila, give her a two-way earpiece. I need to hear her clearly."

Mila gave me a distasteful glance as she handed me the new earpiece. Removing the earphones, I placed the earpiece in and cleared my throat.

"Great," Piotr boomed over it. "Now tell me what's happening here."

Grinning, I turned back to the monitors and the table below them where I had the plans laid out. "As I said, the fake wall you are about to visit is a trap. There could be guards waiting for you. The documents you are looking for aren't even in that area."

"What do you mean?" I heard Leon huffed.

"I have analyzed the plans for the building and the modifications," I added, pleased with myself.

"How have you done that? We have all been over the plans, and none of us picked this up!" Leon declared, sounding angry.

"Explain your findings and do it quickly," Piotr said.

"During my time at the part-time company, they had me analyze more than numbers," I admitted, feeling a little rushed. "They also wanted detailed analysis of buildings they were planning to buy. There was also some test analysis on data of companies and buildings. I know what I am doing, guys," I breathed out.

The lines were silent. Biting my nails, I turned and looked at Mila and Alyssa. Their mouths hung open and their eyes seemed as big as saucers from the shock at my revelations. Shrugging at them, I smiled, hoping I didn't say something wrong.

"Okay, that was unexpected," I heard Konstantin speaking over the earpiece. "Please tell us what you see."

"If Piotr is where I think he is, according to the cameras, he is about to enter a room with a fake wall. This is most likely a trap. He should head back and take the stairs down one level. There will be three doors. One will enter the underground car park. One will lead to storage rooms and the other to a long passage."

I could hear my tone changing as I spoke. I hoped I didn't sound pushy, but they had to listen. Mila grabbed the plans from me and studied them. I saw concern on Alyssa's face as she studied the camera angles. "There's no camera once you enter the passage," she proclaimed, looking at me.

"I expected that," I replied confidently. "Most of the time, this is the place you need to search. According to the plans, there should be only one door down that passage. It may have a padlock entry."

"Piotr, move now," I heard Alyssa speaking in a rushed tone.

Glancing at the monitors, I noticed the two men heading his way. "Men are coming towards you from the front. Turn and head back to Konstantin."

We held our breaths as he moved back through the hallway and stepped back into the room. Konstantin was waiting at the door, keeping anyone heading that way distracted. Leon also joined them as he spoke up. "So where to Dahlia?"

"The next door leads to the stairs. There should be a sign showing the parking area on it." I replied.

Everyone in the van was silent as I directed Piotr and Leon through. Leon waited at the door as Piotr entered the hallway. "Just keep going," I said. "In front, there will be a single door; let us know if it has a padlock."

Alyssa and I kept our eyes glued to the monitors. Leon looked nervous as he shifted from leg to leg. Konstantin stood at the door leading to the stairs, smiling and greeting everyone who passed him.

"Right, I'm here," Piotr whispered. "The door has a silver pad with numbers on it."

"Spray it with the color spray; only the recently used numbers will color as they don't stick to dust," Konstantin added.

"The numbers are two, four, five, and nine. It's a Simplex," Piotr replied.

"Good, it's a four code," Mila added.

"Try the numbers in order," I added, not knowing where that idea came from. I felt sweat building up on the nape of my neck. I had never felt so nervous and excited at the same time. Working with them was thrilling.

"I'm in!" Piotr exclaimed. "Just give me a second to find the files."

We heard rustling and drawers opening and closing. "Found it," Piotr eventually said.

"Great stuff, now get the hell out," Mila huffed. "Take your seats, ladies; we're heading home. See you on the other side, guys."

"No problem," Konstantin answered.

As we secured everything in place, I noticed the three heading for the doors. We sat down and buckled in before heading home.