Frost

Chapter 98

Test run

Finding one of the best hackers in the world who didn't want to be found was difficult. For the past five years, Ivy had respected his decision that he needed distance and hadn't distributed his wish. She should have, after all, he was her friend. Her friend who had a lot of secrets. His true identity had been one of them. Over their time together she had found out a little more about him, through some split upd he had made, like sometimes saying a little more than he should. Especially when he was drunk, sometimes some information had left his mouth that Ivy had remembered. Jack had been too drunk for that most of the time to remember it but she hadn't been able to turn off the instinct to pay attention to every little detail around him.

And every little detail that Dave's mouth had left at one point had brought her here. To the streets of Moscow. A few people streamed past her as she walked through one of the many neighborhoods, trying as best as she could not to stand out. Her long hair, she had let fall in slight waves down her back while wearing the same coat she had worn a few hours ago in the US. There it would have to be evening right now, while here the night reigned over the streets. The heels of her black pumps left a small echo as she walked down the street and slipped into one of the large houses. With a touch, the lock of the large apartment complex broke and Ivy slipped inside as if nothing had happened.

The house had 15 floors and each of the floors had three to four apartments. The house itself seemed to be kept in good shape, the paint still hung on the wall as if it was freshly painted and the elevator worked. Climbing the stairs to the twelfth floor was not something she had really intended to do anyway. Her skirt moved slightly with her as she walked over to the elevator. Under her skirt, she had a thigh holster on her left leg with two daggers and a gun. The doors closed behind her and Ivy breathed relieved out when there was no one else in the elevator but her. She wasn't really a social person to make any small talk in elevators. She tapped the button for the twelfth floor and corrected her blood red lipstick in the elevator mirror.

The last time she was in Russia it was to keep Zemo from waking up more super soldiers, or so she had thought at the time. She remembered barely having access to her powers and being on the verge of dying, whereas now she could bring down entire buildings if she wanted to. It didn't take long to arrive at the twelfth floor. Thirty-three seconds, to be more precise. The elevator doors opened with the typical elevator sound that existed and Ivy stepped purposefully out of it to walk to the third apartment on that floor. She considered whether to kick the door in, break it down, or just ring the bell. She decided to ring the doorbell, the polite option, since she had seen the light on earlier when she walked by. She kept her relaxed attitude even when it took too long and the door still wasn't open. When the door did finally open and a gun was held to her face, the only thing Ivy did was smile.

"Danil Kusmin, you are just the person I was looking for."

Dave didn't lower his gun and looked at her skeptically, while Ivy kept her relaxed smile. He had changed a little. His features looked a little sharper and he had gained significant muscle, plus he was holding a gun at her face. The only weapon Dave had needed earlier was some electronic device that had access to the internet, that had been his words. "Relax a little bit. You look a little tense." She walked past him and entered the apartment, looking around curiously. Behind her, she heard the door close and Dave walk up behind her. Something she noticed right away was that Dave didn't live here alone. It was small details of how the apartment was decorated. The apartment was made up of a living room where Ivy stood, a kitchen, a bathroom, Dave's bedroom and another room that Ivy couldn't see into.

"I like what you've done with the place here" she commented as she lifted a few items and put them back exactly as she found them. Dave said nothing, just watched her tensely. At least he had put his gun away. "How did you find out?" Whoever lived here with him must still be in the apartment, because Dave kept squinting at the closed door while his shoulders were still tense. Ivy flopped down on the gray sofa behind her and put one foot over the other. "No hello? I haven't seen you or heard from you for five years and I don't even get a hello?" she asked instead of answering his question.