by Elle, Leen
"You know a lot about Slavsky?" Sophie asked, impressed by his knowledge.
"My father told me everything when he worked for Cleo. I have a good memory."
"So, what is this plan that Rob was talking about?"
"I have no idea about that one. A few years ago he had a couple high-profile missions in Siena, so he might be referring to what he did then. If it's important, he'll let us know."
"It's irritating not knowing what they're saying."
"You'll get used to it eventually." Rylan laughed.
"We'll need you to be our scout." Robert was telling Cleo.
"Shouldn't be an issue. I have other matters of business that I can discuss with Slavsky."
Rylan was ready to translate before Sophie had to ask. "Slavsky likes to give a personal touch to his higher priority clients. He makes a point of taking them inside of his vault of information. If anyone will be able to provide us a map of what the vault will look like, it'll be Cleo."
"Wait, why are we going through all this trouble?" Sophie asked Rylan. She'd already given up hope that she'd be able to join in on Robert and Cleo's conversation. "If it's information we're after, why can't we just hack into Slavsky's system? We won't have to worry about the vault at all."
"Not exactly. Slavsky made his empire way before technology took over. He doesn't trust computers, and prefers to work old school. The only technology he uses today are security cameras, which we can easily hack." Rylan paused, realizing she hadn't caught on. "By old school, I mean he uses paper files. He believes they're easier to protect."
"In this case, I guess he's right." Sophie muttered.
"What about Sophie?" Cleo was asking Robert. Sophie focused back in on their conversation once she'd heard her name. "Do you think she can handle this?"
He glanced at her with his judging blue eyes. "In my professional opinion, she doesn't stand a chance. She has surprised me before though." He paused, his eyes narrowing in thought. He turned to the desk behind him, and began searching through it's drawers. In seconds he'd produced a weapon that made Sophie flinch in surprise.
"A taser gun?" She asked as he approached her with it. He tossed it to her and she caught it with shaking hands.
"Better." He mused, crossing his arms. "She'll be a lot harder to take down with that little toy."
"Slavsky's men will probably have guns." Sophie reminded him.
Both Robert and Cleo laughed together. "Slavsky's goons don't need guns." Cleo explained. "They're big enough to take down targets without them."
Sophie shuddered at the thought.
"Then, the only problem is Sophie. I can disguise myself as your assistant, but we'll need her to be invisible." Robert's concentrated expression turned cunning as an idea passed through his mind. "Oh." He whispered, exiting the room for a moment.
When he'd returned, he held a large black duffle bag in his hands. He tossed it on the floor in front of Sophie.
"She's not going to like this." Rylan winced in Sophie's direction. "You're really not going to like this."
"What?" Sophie glanced between Robert and the bag. "Wait, you can't mean...?"
"Cleo?" Robert turned to his boss with a large smile. "I think we've just found ourselves a plan."
Cleo's red lips curled into a devilish smile.
"Perfect." She whispered. "Then, we're all ready to begin."
* * *
As Sophie was jerked back and forth in the duffle bag, she cursed having trusted Robert. If she'd ever glimpsed hell, it would be in the last week of training he'd thrust upon her.
The sound of a car coming to a stop made her heart leap in her chest. She'd been riding hidden in the black bag for over two hours. Her only source of light came from her glow-in-the-dark watch. She only had one more hour to go before show time.
Instead of feeling cramped, Sophie's body was already used to the small space. Every day for the past week she'd worked on folding herself into the bag. Had she not been driven to succeed, she would've given up the moment Robert suggested it. Now, she felt like she wouldn't be surprised at any of his ideas in the future.
Sophie used the time she had left to replay the plan in her mind. When they arrived at Slavsky's mansion, Robert would take charge of Cleo's luggage. They would enter the fortress-like house, without raising any suspicion at all.
Slavsky's home was located in a mountainous region which many wealthy individuals used as a vacation spot. Cleo's request to borrow his home for her banquet had gone flawlessly. He was more than flattered to show off his own collections of art to her circle of friends.
Cleo had managed to provide a detailed layout of his vault, which she described as the size of two football fields. Thankfully, they knew the general location of the file they wanted. Cleo had also asked Slavsky for information on a potential investment she was thinking about making. This request would give Robert the perfect excuse to enter the vaults to retrieve what Slavsky had prepared for her. That solved the problem of breaking into the vault, though it was only one small victory.
Sophie had been forced into hiding as a "secret weapon" of sorts. All eyes would be focused on Robert, who was a known thief. While he was busy dealing with the guards, Sophie would deactivate the security system. It had been too difficult to hack from outside the house, so they hadn't had another choice. Cleo had provided a solution for this problem as well, requesting that she personally check over Slavsky's security for her guests' protection. While this might've been reason for Slavsky to suspect her, Cleo had a way of persuading him to get what she wanted.
Disguised as luggage, Sophie would be carried along with them until they reached the security room. Robert was to drop her off, and from there she was on her on. In many ways, they were all on their own. Robert didn't have a clear plan about what he was going to do after entering the vault either. Cleo would be busy distracting Slavsky while they operated. Should something go wrong, they were ultimately screwed.
It had taken much convincing from Robert for her to go through with such a reckless mission. His strongest point was the proof that all his missions were done through improvising. Even his more elaborate plans had been crushed by difficulties, which he continually reminded her.
She still felt nervous, but she felt herself gradually slipping back into her focused self. Robert had lifted her out of the car along with the rest of the luggage. She suspected he was carrying her into the house. Sophie was positive it was him from the gentle way in which he carried her. Anyone else would've thrown her around, not knowing she was hidden inside.
Checking her clock again, she noticed there was only ten minutes left. The security room would be the first stop on the tour.
Her heart accelerated for a brief moment before she forced herself to calm down.
"I can do this." She mouthed to herself, clenching her fists tightly. The anxiety was enough to kill her, as the ten minutes felt like years.
Finally, she felt herself hit the floor. The voices around her had been muffled since she'd been loaded into the car, but she distinctly heard them begin to fade away. The hallway must've been clear, as Robert hadn't alerted her to anyone around.
Just like she'd been taught, she skillfully unzipped the duffle bag from the inside. She rolled out smoothly, quickly stretching to reawaken her body. Discarding of the bag in a nearby trashcan, she took in her surroundings. The hallway was long, and ornate. The floor beneath her looked like marble, and the door in front of her was made of solid mahogany. She stepped towards the door, pressing her ear to the wood. The sound of voices on the other end wasn't unexpected.
Pulling out her taser gun from its' holster in her belt, she softly knocked on the wood. Thankfully, the security guards were lazy enough to assume that it was Cleo again. They didn't bother to check their cameras before opening the door.
Despite being absolute monsters in size, Sophie disabled them in seconds. They were almost too heavy to drag back into the room, but she managed to shove them inside. Her next
job was to erase the footage of herself from the camera feed. This was easy enough, as she'd had more than enough training in how to do so. Next, came the viruses. Hidden in a pocket of her belt were various flash drives. They hadn't known how many systems would be working within the room, but thankfully they'd brought enough.
Sophie planted the drives at their stations, feeling accomplished that everything had gone as planned. She even remembered to disable the hidden camera positioned in the back of the room, which Cleo had informed her of. For individuals in Cleo's circle, this extra camera was insurance in case something like this happened. Had it not been mentioned, Sophie would've been caught.
Her next task was to put her earpiece in place. It was the first time she'd worked with one, but Robert swore it wouldn't be a problem. Cleo had made sure to find them the best of the best.
"It's done." She whispered as she clicked the switch on.
Robert was ready on the other end. "Good, darling." He whispered back.
"Are you in the vault?" Sophie hadn't expected him to reply, which only meant that he was alone.
"You're surprised?"
"You just work quicker than I thought." Sophie kept her voice low. "The guard's will change shifts in twenty minutes. That's less time than we thought." She'd noticed the sheet of shift-times on the wall.
"I told you there's always something that can go wrong." Robert's voice was at normal volume, which Sophie figured either meant he was safe, or very cocky. "I need you to meet me outside the vault."
"Sounds impossible, but I guess I don't have a choice."
"Have a little trust in yourself. I figured out our escape route."
"How long do I have?" She whispered, already heading towards the door.
"Ten minutes."
"Don't lie." She hissed, as she slipped down the hallway. She'd already memorized where she was headed. "No one's that good. It's impossible."
"I enjoy doing the impossible. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing."
Sophie thought of a million different curse words in her head, but she kept them to herself.
The trip to the vault took less than three minutes when she was sprinting. The mansion was so big she didn't see another soul along the way.
To her immense surprise, Robert was already waiting on her when she arrived. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the file in his hands.
"I thought if I said five minutes you might pass out in admiration." He winked, grabbing her arm to lead her away.
"You didn't tell me it would be this easy." Her voice was accusing.
He smiled down at her. "Slavsky's guards were chosen for brawn rather than brains. The guide that was supposed to take me to pick up Cleo's fake info was easily convinced that it was located where our target was. It was simply a stroke of luck."
"So there was no need for me to come." She was insulted she'd worked so hard for something this easy.
"The games not over yet." His face grew serious. "We still have to escape."
Sophie nodded, letting him lead her out of the mansion. Waiting outside in the long, winding driveway were two black cars.
"That's ridiculous." Sophie muttered under her breath. "Two cars? We have enough room to bring in two different cars for an escape, and I have to live in a duffle bag for a week?"
"Out of all the things you find could find unbelievable..." He scowled, tossing her the keys to one of the cars. She caught them reflexively.
"Why're we in a hurry?" She asked, grinning. "No one knows..." She was caught off by the sound of voices shouting behind her.
"I may, or may not have cause some trouble on my end." He replied.
"Do they know we have the file?" She whispered, her eyes widening in fear.
"They know we have something worth stealing. I replaced the file with a fake so it'll be a while before they figure out what we stole."
"Unless they catch us." Her voice was filled with fear.
Robert's face had turned serious. "Get in and follow me. Keep your earpiece in."
"What's the plan now?"
Robert was already opening the door to his car. "I'll let you know when we're on the road." He glanced behind him where the sound of shouting voices was growing louder. "If you haven't noticed, we're kind of in a rush."
Sophie nodded, heading for the second car. It didn't look nearly as fast as Robert's, but she figured it would have to do. Sliding inside she quickly started the engine. They'd arrived at the mansion just before dusk, and now everything outside was pitch black. The winding driveway led out to a highway, which would take them to a nearby city. Slavsky's property was immense, so it was a while before Sophie saw any signs of other houses.
Just when she thought they'd gotten away, she glanced into her review mirror to see a half dozen headlights come to life behind her. If she hadn't been driving alone with Robert along the highway, she wouldn't have been suspicious. There was no room to argue that the fleet of cars didn't belong to Slavsky's guards.
She sped up as she fixed the earpiece. In seconds Robert was on the other line.
"Can you hear me?" He asked.
"Yeah." She glanced nervously in her rearview mirror. "They're catching up."
"Don't worry about them, just focus on me. Whatever you do, don't lose my car. Do you understand?" His voice was fierce.
"Yes, Sir." There were a thousand things Sophie wanted to tell him, and more than a few were curses. Now was not the time, but she reminded herself to tell him her thoughts in detail in the future.
She soon found that following Robert was harder than she'd thought. He was going almost ninety miles an hour on a road which consisted entirely of curves. She felt like at any moment he was going to fly off the side of the road. His speed would've been more concerning if she couldn't see the rows of cars behind them growing ever closer. Slavsky had sent out his entire fleet.
"We're turning right up ahead." Robert sounded completely focused.
If he hadn't told her, she would have missed the exit, it was so close. She had to slam on the breaks to make the turn without flipping.
The exit led to a ramp which twisted into another empty highway.
"Where does this lead?" Her voice was tense.
"Don't worry about it. Just trust me."
Sophie realized she was going one hundred and ten miles per hour once they'd hit the straightaway. Robert was still a good distance ahead of her, going even faster.
"We didn't lose them." Her voice broke when she noticed the flashing lights behind her.
"Keep driving." He hissed in her ear.
"I'm not going fast enough!" She yelled at him, her anxiety building. This was not a situation she'd been trained to handle. The cars behind had fanned out in each of the three lanes and were approaching in a V-shaped formation.
"Get in front of me." He ordered, though he forced her to speed up instead of him slowing down.
She heard the car engine groan as she pushed it to go faster. In moments she was ahead of Robert, but he was riding her bummer, encouraging her forward.
"In two minutes there's going to be a split, you take the right exit, I'll take the left. If we're lucky they'll think you're me."
"Why is that lucky again?" She asked, voice shaking.
"They know I work for Cleo, but they don't know who you are. They'll want to go for the weakest link. Since Cleo's behind me, that'll be you."
"How are we going to lose them?"
"We're going to have to wing it." He seemed satisfied with his answer, and she knew enough about him to know he wasn't joking.
She could see the split coming up ahead and her heart jumped into her throat.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Her question popped out before she could stop it.
"Not at all."
"Did you have to give me some bullshit honest answer? I don't need the truth right now." She found that she was yelling into the earpiece out of sincere fear for him. Sophie knew he was reckless, but she hated how he had such a disregard
for his own safety.
"Sorry, darling." Just as he whispered those words into her ear, they reached the split.
Sophie pushed the car to its' limit. Just like Robert hoped, most of the cars had followed him, leaving only one to chase her down.
"I have an idea." She said, noticing there was nothing but houses lining this road. She was forced to slow down due to the curves in the road, but that was also a blessing.
Before she could second-guess herself, she turned onto a new road. She didn't look back as she continued taking random turns, urging her car faster and faster. The car behind her had done a decent job of following, but it was getting harder to keep up, and Sophie knew it.