In the Shadow of His Sin

6. The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend.

"Here's your breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and cheese sandwich."

"I see." Mira tried to act indifferent, but her tummy rumbled.

"You really outdid yourself this time, attacking me with my favorite food. This is not fair," she said, sounding like a little child.

"I will get you back one of these days. I should sue you."

Alex chuckled.

"I didn't do this on purpose though, I mean, come late. I really wanted to come in that hour, but something else came up."

"I didn't..."

"Let's go to the apartment. This food is getting cold."

———

They got to the apartment, and in no time, she was eating while Alex played with Jasper. Soon, they sat down to craft a perfect plan.

Alex pinned the latest clue on a small board.

"So let's go over it, shall we?"

As it stands. Alex has managed to get an invitation pass to the 70 birthday party of the Baroness, Kade Valenti's mom. It took a series of clever manevre and trickery, but here it is, the plastic pass that will make sure Mira goes through the heavy-duty security at the cottage.

Once she gets in, that is when the game really begins.

She will need to find out and meet up with a mysterious man who is known only as Mr X.

"Wait, Mr X?"

"Yes. He is withdrawing his name for good reasons."

"Can we trust this...Mr X?"

"I would not lie to you. I can't really say. But my man on the inside, the one who got me the pass, trusts him. So this is a risk we can take if you are willing."

Mira sighed. "A risk, but all of these are too, so I am willing to."

"Okay. Mira. You know I won't ask you to do this if I know it will get you into trouble, I wo..."

"Please. It's fine. I told you I would pay any price, so if this risk is the price, this is how we play. Please continue."

Okay. Now she meets Mr X. This man, the source explains, has access to the darkest of the Valenti operations. Most of these operations are on a secret computer buried in a vault in their castle. Mr X has the key to this compartment.

Because of the party, security will not be as tight as usual. They can sneak out of the party and go after this computer.

"Hmm. It's a good plan. Not foolproof. There are too many problems. Number one, what does Mr X want for bringing down his boss. If he is on the inside, clearly Kade is his boss. What does he stand to gain to ruin him? And what about the risks to him? What does he stand to gain?"

"He is..."

"Please wait, I'll finish, and you'll talk. And what is the evidence in the computer?"

"Okay. First, my source told me Mr X is a broken man. He used to be a loyal servant of his boss until one day a deal went south. It was all Kade's fault, Mr X lost his young daughter. From that day, he had been looking for a way to destroy the Valenti empire."

"Fair enough. But is that good enough? These people, this clique, they stick to one another. They are like family. If Mr X is willing to destroy his boss, I reckon he loved her daughter a lot, and Kade ruthlessly disposed of her. Or..."