Fractured

Chapter 16 - The Russian Way

I was still working away on the computer when I heard the drawers in the bedroom open, followed by heavy footsteps and the sound of metal being placed on the glass table. If there was an issue that I needed to be aware of, I was sure that Raven would have told me, which led me to believe he was feeling as restless as I was this morning and was planning on cleaning the guns as a way of helping him to relax. Hearing him sit, I tuned out the noise and focussed on my my computer again.

Deciding I needed a break from sorting through Sputnik's contacts - turns out being Russian and from the circus gets you a lot of associates, I decided to put the finishing touches on a couple of new identities. I always had three ready to go at any given time. The identity I was using and two backups. I used to only have one backup but the Academy rule of two made sense and I decided having options for a backup was a good idea. Only, this time, I couldn't just use one of the backups I already had because I had no idea who had shared enough information about me for someone to track me down.

I quickly finished the off backstopping the new identities and then made a group call to Victor and Corey. After the standard greeting, I asked each of them to organise the documents for two of the three identities I had been working on. I would usually do it all myself, but given the situation I was currently in, it wasn't an option. I told them both to use someone different, and neither of them was to use Jebediah. I usually went to Jeb, but since I didn't know who'd talked about what they knew, I needed someone new and didn't want to trust just the one person with all of the information. If The new person was given the opportunity to sell the information, I wanted to know I had a fallback plan.

Phil and Axel both called a few times during the day, neither having much to report. I had managed to get a moment to ask Phil to have the third set of documents completed and he agreed he would drop them off as soon as they were done. Sputnik's goons were out looking for Raven's car and trying to track him down, no one was seriously injured by the perfectly timed car accident and Corey and Victor were as stuck as I was with trying to work out who hacked me.

By the third call from Phil, I managed to convince him to let Victor go back to his family and work from home. I had only found out Phil had him set up in the hospital conference room after he called to tell me that the set of documents he was taking care of for me would be ready the next day. Pulling off my glasses, I rubbed at my eyes before deciding I should clean myself up a bit. Having sat in the one place for most of the day, wearing sweats, I was feeling like a bit of a slob.

Walking into the bathroom, I spied the bathtub. When we got here last night I had been so frustrated, confused and overwhelmed with all that was happening that I had tunnel vision and zeroed in on the shower. Looking at the tub now though, I knew I was going to be taking a bath instead. I quickly found some lavender bath salts and made sure the water was hot so I could soak. I often found the answers problems when I was relaxing in the tub and letting my mind wander.

I had been in there for about 10 minutes, just relaxing and enjoying the warmth, when the bedroom door slammed open and an angry looking Russian stormed into the bathroom. Somehow, with him working quietly on the weapons and me working on the computer, I had forgotten he was here. I was so used to being alone that I often forgot when I had people around me.

"Oh thank god!" He lifted the phone back to his ear. "I found her. No. Phil was right. In the bathtub. Da. We will check in later." He ended the call.

"You should have told me you were taking a bath." He scolded me, before adding, "I would have joined you." He wriggled his eyebrows at me, still scowling.

"Sorry, I hit a dead end and decided to freshen up, but as soon as I saw the tub, I had to take a bath." I told him. "I was so focussed on what I was doing, and you were so quiet, that I forgot that I wasn't alone."