Mission: Undercover

Chapter 6

That night, when the man from Vanessa's basement regained consciousness, he could do nothing but regret his mistake two days earlier.

"I sent the money. But there is a change of the plan," he recalled his phone call to someone two days ago. "I want to take care of him personally. You take care of the girl. I'll send you the rest of the money when you're done."

If he hadn't had this conversation, he probably wouldn't have met this woman, who had no idea who she was, and he wouldn't be in this basement. All his attempts to get out of there were unsuccessful, and he no longer had the strength to try again.

Vanessa, meanwhile, had to take other steps to find out who the man was. She picked up her phone and dialed a number. After just one signal, a male voice was heard.

"I'm listening."

Sergey Karevsky—the nightmare of all programmers and IT professionals. With his unsurpassed hacking skills, he was hired by banking institutions and government departments to test their firewalls in cyberspace. There were very few who remained impenetrable after his attacks.

Sergey Karevsky—the dream of many women and even men. With his typically Russian features, light blue eyes, pale skin, and brown hair, he attracted the attention of everyone he met.

Sergey Karevsky—Vanessa's only trusted person.

"I want to know everything about this man." Vanessa began, sending him a picture of the man from her basement.

"Couldn't you take a picture of him before you beat him like that?" Karevsky asked her, laughing at the same time.

But Vanessa answered him with a question. "How long will it take?"

"A few days, maybe..."

"Okay, I count on you."

"Always. Take care of yourself, Blake."

"I do."

***

The following day, after quick jogging, Vanessa got ready for work. When she arrived at the building and greeted the guard, she spotted Mike and Rebecca at the back of the lobby. Mike seemed to be explaining something serious, but Vanessa noticed that Rebecca hardly listened to what she was being told. The way she was looking at Mike revealed more than friendly feelings.

"Hey, guys. Why are you here?" Both were startled by Vanessa's words. "Wow, I didn't want to scare you."

"You didn't scare us," Rebecca replied as if apologizing for something. "We just met here."

"O-okay... I will go." Vanessa winked at Mike and walked away from them.

But Rebecca followed her. "Nessa, wait! I'm coming with you."

The two climbed into the elevator, and as the doors closed, Vanessa looked at Rebecca questioningly.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering... Is there something between you and Mike?"

"No. Why are you thinking like that, Nessa?"

"Because of the way you looked at him."

"How did I look at him?"

"In love," Vanessa whispered to her with a slight smile while exiting the elevator.

"I am not—" Rebecca tried to deny it, but Vanessa headed straight for her office. "...in love with Mike," she finished. "I am not."

***

Vanessa sat in front of her desk. As soon as she turned on her computer, an unread email message appeared on the screen.

07:58