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need to find her.
Eyeing him without appearing worried, Johansen made his way to another
door at the far end of the salon. Sergei made an effort to control himself, but
the air filled with tension.
Johansen ignored it like the professional he was. He led Sergei to a wood-
paneled office and sat behind a massive mahogany desk.  Why don t you tell
me more about who you re looking for, and maybe I can help you find them,
he said affably with a warm paternal air of polite condescension.
He sounded like a favorite uncle trying to talk a crazy person down from a
ledge. It had the exact opposite effect.
 Don t even try. I know you set up those shell companies that appeared on
her resume. Kudos on the elaborate set up for just a CV by the way. But I
know you know her now, which means  Serge paused to brace his hands
on the desk opposite Johansen.   that I m not leaving until you tell me
where I can find her.
For a long minute, neither of them moved. When Johansen didn t say
anything, Sergei sat down in the chair in front of the desk, trying his
hardest to give the impression of an unmovable mountain. The two men
stared at each other in silence. But Geoffrey Johansen was a career criminal
and one of those didn t give up when someone tried to call his bluff.
Johansen smiled and sat back in his leather armchair.  I really wish I
knew what you were talking about, because I would love to help you out, he
said, oozing sincerity while simultaneously appearing concerned for his
ranting guest.
If the subject had been anything but Ada, Sergei s ability to read his
opponents character would have been severely tested. But this wasn t a
boardroom, and Johansen s charm only hardened his resolve.
Sergei glared at the friendly looking old man, frowning ferociously. It had
been months since he d seen Ada, and this guy was the only thing standing
between them. That and the fact that she probably despised him. He needed
to find her to make things right between them. He needed her with him.
Period.
 What is she to you? Is she your daughter? Granddaughter? Niece? Why
are you helping her? What is she hiding from? Sergei s hands were opening
and closing reflexively. When Johansen simply looked confused, he
continued.  Did she tell you how she tricked me into buying Adstringo? How
she reprogrammed the office spam filters when Tim downloaded a virus and
the entire office got porn-stormed? How she fixed the break room
microwave? I mean, who does that? You just throw them out and get a new
one. Who fixes a microwave?
Sergei shook his head helplessly. He missed Ada so much it hurt. It must
have shown on his face, because Johansen was looking at him with a softer
sympathetic expression that might actually be genuine.
 How well do you even know her? She doesn t look like you. Is that
because you re not a blood-related? Aren t you worried about her? Is she on
the run from the law? Did she get in over her head with something and it
got away from her? Was it because of one of your schemes?
Johansen continued to stare at him, templing his hands under his chin.
Sergei sighed.  Did you even know that she needs glasses? Real ones? It s
how I figured out that that unreal blue is her real eye color and not contact
lenses. She kept squinting when trying to read things from across the room
so I called in an oculist to come in during lunch. Even he couldn t believe
she wasn t wearing contacts at first...
There was still no reaction, but Sergei could sense the other man wavering
under the pressure of his honest desperation. Normally he would have eaten
his own shoe before baring his soul like he was, but instinct told him it was
the only way to get Geoffrey Johansen s help.
 I should have known then that something was up. She was wearing
glasses already but couldn t see. They were fakes, but I believed her when
she said her prescription must have changed a lot. Said it was from too
many hours squinting at computer screens.
Johansen stayed resolutely silent so Sergei continued.  She hums
nonsense when she s working. And she can t sing to save her life. She
couldn t carry a tune if you paid her. Really she s just awful. Niko won t let
her sing in the car when she rides up front with him because she ruins the
songs.
Johansen didn t bother to ask who Niko was, apparently abandoning the
pretense of not knowing what he was talking about. Sergei looked away,
thinking about all of the things he missed about Ada.
 When she s eating something she really likes, she closes her eyes and
sways from side to side. Not a lot, just a little, and only if she thinks no one
is around to watch. And she gets clumsy when she s tired. Tends to drop her
pen a lot. Drops her tablet, too which she jailbroke in the first five minutes
of having it. And she debugged a prototype cellular phone from one of our
Asian subsidiaries in under two hours.
There was a hint of a smile on Johansen s face now.  Where did she learn
to do stuff like that? Is she Batman s illegitimate child? What is her real
name? Sergei whispered the last question, his chest tight.
Johansen smiled sadly but didn t say anything.
 Why can t she be here with you? Don t you miss her? Sergei was
ashamed that his voice cracked a little on the last question, but it finally did
the trick.
Geoffrey sighed expansively before relenting.  I do miss her. Every day,
he said quietly, rubbing his chin.
He picked up a letter opener in the shape of a miniature sword from the
surface of the desk and began toying with it.
Sergei sat up.  Tell me where she is.
 I can t...because I don t know. It s how we set things up.
 Why? What is she hiding from?
Geoffrey stopped playing with the letter opener to meet his eyes.
 Someone a lot worse than you, he said.
****
Two days later, despite his earlier resolution, Sergei left Geoffrey Johansen s
little island hideaway with no knowledge of Ada s whereabouts.
The older man had convinced him that he truly did not know her
whereabouts or what name she was currently using regardless of Sergei s
alternating threats, bribes, and pleas. They had talked in circles for hours
but to no avail.
Aside from acknowledging that he helped her establish different identities,
and that those identities were necessary to protect her, Geoffrey had
revealed very little. Sergei hadn t even been able to convince him to get in
touch with him if Ada contacted him again.
But Sergei wouldn t let that stop him. He was more determined than ever
to find her, especially now that his worst fears had been confirmed.
His anxiety for Ada had tripled after meeting Geoffrey, who refused to
disclose the true nature of the threat to her, or even her real name and
background. Geoffrey had been vague about his connection to her, except to
say that he loved her and was trying to protect her from someone very
dangerous.
 If you care about her at all then don t try to find her, Geoffrey had said.
 Why not? Who else is looking for her? Who are you trying to protect her
from? he had asked repeatedly, but he hadn t gotten an answer.
He got the warning and nothing else. His best efforts hadn t been able to
crack the wily old con man. Eventually, the sense of urgency to be actively [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]