[Contributor 02] - Infiltrator (2013) (3 page)

“Does it matter?” Dara began pacing again. At this rate, she’d wear a groove in Letizia’s floor.

“Of course it matters. Use your head for once, instead of letting your emotions get the better of you,” Letizia snapped. “This is precisely why I didn’t think it was a good idea to let you do this.”

“Might I remind you that I neither need nor want your permission?” Dara snapped back.

Jumping up, Letizia strode over to Dara and seized her shoulders. “Stop acting like a spoiled little girl. I know you’re pissed about your mom, and you have every right to be, but stop channeling your anger in Andersen’s direction. He’s only a small part of a much larger problem.”

The fight went out of Dara.“You’re right,” she said grudgingly.

“Do you have any idea how frustrating you are? Sometimes I feel like talking to you is about as productive as beating my head against concrete. You have to stop doing this. It’s going to make you sloppy. You have to learn to be cold, calculating, if you’re serious about helping us.”

Jerking out of Letizia’s grasp, Dara took a few steps away and ground the heels of her hands into her burning eyes. “I’m so angry all the time. I thought nothing could rattle me anymore, but then Andersen conveniently neglected to tell me that logistics would be at his meeting yesterday, which meant I wasn’t prepared to see Jonathan. Now Andersen’s busy buddying around with the Head of Accounting just as Javier is trying to change departments to work with Jasmine Shah—”

“Wait, what?” Letizia interrupted, moving closer and peering down into her face.

Dara dropped her hands to her sides. “Which one are you asking me about?”

“Both.” Letizia frowned in concern. “I’d say I can’t believe he put you in that awkward position in the meeting, but, problem is, I can and do believe it. I’m sorry, Dara. That must have been hard.”

“It was.” Wrapping her arms around herself, Dara considered telling Letizia about Jonathan’s surreptitious caress, but she didn’t want to share that information. Her loyalties were still torn. He had disappointed and hurt her, but she couldn’t accept the thought that he might be working against her, now that he suspected she was engaged in something subversive. She hoped she wouldn’t live to regret her conviction.

Sighing, Letizia slipped an arm around Dara’s shoulders and gave her a light squeeze. “I wish I knew what to say to make that whole thing better.”

“There’s nothing you can say. There’s nothing to do but get through it, and it would help if Andersen wouldn’t rub my face in it.”

“Be prepared. This probably won’t be the last time.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dara pulled away, flopping down on Letizia’s couch. She planted her elbows on her thighs and buried her face in her hands. The temptation to lie down and pass out on Letizia’s couch was nearly overwhelming.

The cushions compressed as Letizia sat down next to her. “What did you say about Javier?”

Rubbing her face one last time, Dara balled her fists against her knees. “My dad told me last night that he’d heard Javier was trying to move to accounting, to work with Jasmine Shah. He said Shah and Andersen pretty much hate each other.”

“They do,” Letizia confirmed. Her face was troubled.

“You don’t think it means anything, do you? Andersen’s meeting with Adams today?”

“It might not. Andersen meets with Adams on a fairly regular basis. Still, I think it’s something worth paying attention to.”

“Do you think Andersen would be that vindictive?”

Letizia gave her a look that implied she thought Dara’s brains had oozed out of her ears. “Do you really need to ask me that?”

“I guess not.” Dara sighed.

“Besides, I think you’re missing something. While I wouldn’t put it past Andersen to be on a crusade to make Javier’s life miserable—he was furious at both Javier and Ryan for making him look bad—you have to consider this from a different perspective. Javier worked closely with Andersen for almost all of last year, and Jasmine Shah would do anything to discredit Andersen. She’s jealous of Andersen’s close relationship with the Job Creators.”

Dara’s eyes widened. “You think Andersen might be worried that Javier can provide her with something she can use as leverage against him?”

“Yes. Andersen gets his kicks from being a bastard, but his maliciousness is also driven by a sense of paranoia. He thinks everyone is after him.”

“Whether they are or not.”

“Yep.”

“What should we do?”

“Observe.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

Letizia smiled. “It may be nothing. Or it may be something. We don’t have enough information to figure that out yet.”

“I hate feeling like I’m not doing anything.”

“I know,” Letizia said, her face sympathetic. “But you are helping, whether you think so or not. I didn’t want you to do this, and I still think you should back out, but, well, I have to admit that I don’t have the time to keep an eye on Andersen.”

“That’s why I’m not backing out of this.”

“You can be very stubborn sometimes, you know that?”

“And impatient. Don’t forget that one.”

“Trust me, I haven’t.” Letizia rolled her eyes.

“So Andersen really is paranoid?”

“Yes.” Letizia’s expression became grim. “He’s ambitious. He wants to make it all the way to the top, however unlikely that may seem, and he’ll stomp on anyone standing in his way.”

“What about you?” Dara asked, trying to suppress a shiver. What would she do if Andersen turned on Letizia? What if Letizia was forced to go into hiding, leaving Dara all alone? The thought made her feel selfish, but the truth was she didn’t know if she could make it without Letizia’s advice and counsel.

As if reading Dara’s thoughts, Letizia smiled wryly. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave you to fend for yourself with Andersen.”

Her cheeks flaming, Dara ducked her head. “Am I that transparent to everyone?”

“I don’t think so. I have a special talent for reading people, I suppose.” Letizia shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve managed to convince Andersen that I’m no threat—at least, I think I have.”

“What about what happened today?”

“Oh, that? That was just Andersen putting me in my place,” Letizia said dryly, her mouth twisting.

For the first time Dara let herself feel the fear. How could she have deluded herself into thinking she was up to the task of trying to keep tabs on this man? He would chew her up and spit her out if he found out what she was doing, and he wouldn’t feel a modicum of remorse. She could believe that someone like Letizia was skilled enough to deceive Andersen, but did she honestly think she could outsmart him?

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered.

Letizia sighed. “Dara, I hope you know how much I respect you. You’re an intelligent person, but your acting skills leave something to be desired, and I’m very worried about how you’re going to handle yourself.”

“Was it different for you when you started doing this?” The question was in earnest. She needed to know if Letizia was a natural adept when it came to dissembling.

“I…well, I guess…” Letizia flailed around for words for a few seconds, but then her shoulders slumped. “No, I guess it wasn’t.”

“You couldn’t possibly have been as naive as me.” The words sounded somewhat sarcastic, but Dara meant them. It shocked her to think of Letizia being anything less than in control at all times.

“I was, actually,” Letizia admitted.

“Well, you learned, right? I can learn too.” Dara lifted her head and jutted her chin.

“Yeah, you probably can, but I wish you didn’t have to.” Letizia’s tone was so sad that Dara stared down at her hands in discomfort.

“Wishes aren’t very useful.”

“No, they’re not.” With a sound of frustration, Letizia took one of Dara’s hands. “I’ll stop fighting you about this, and I’ll try to help you as much as I can.”

“Thanks.” Dara squeezed Letizia’s hand.

“I’ll pass along what you told me about Javier, just in case.”

Relieved, Dara nodded. “Okay.”

“If you hear anything more—”

“I’ll let you know right away,” she cut in, rising from the couch. “I should go. I need as much sleep as I can get before facing Andersen again.”

“Do whatever you can to make sure you aren’t off your guard around him.”

“I will. I’m sorry for jumping all over you.”

Waving the apology away, Letizia led Dara to the door. “It’s better you save your emotions for when you’re somewhere safe, like here.”

Dara rubbed her forehead with a weary hand. “I’m not convinced that anywhere is safe.”

“The sad thing is, neither am I.”

Dara decided to take Letizia’s advice and spent the next several days integrating into her role as Andersen’s assistant, all the while making a point of observing him as closely as she could. She hadn’t initially seen the sense in it, but it soon became clear to her. By familiarizing herself with Andersen’s normal routines and habits, it would be far easier to spot anything anomalous. He was too careful to do anything obvious, which was why keeping an eye on him had struck her as a waste of time. But she became convinced after a while that knowing him almost as well as she knew herself would enable her to spot the small, subtle tells that others might miss. If she was really successful, she might even make him forget that she was present. Being treated like a piece of furniture wasn’t appealing, but if she could convince him she was harmless he might let down his guard enough to let slip pieces she could use to try to construct a whole.

Andersen treated her first days as a gauntlet of sorts, testing her at every opportunity. He purposely put her in as many awkward and confusing situations as he could, evaluating her endurance and her willingness to put up with the indignity. The stubborn part of her wanted to rebel, but the sensible part of her understood that being meek would garner her far more than trying to defy him, and she made a habit of biting her tongue until it bled.

Whenever he was away, she schemed to gain access to his personal information. Covert study proved his office had been soundproofed. Unless she could get a bug inside, it was unlikely she’d ever learn what went on in it. His tablet was never far from him, and though she did find a stolen second here and there to glance at it, she hadn’t yet seen anything that stood out. Regardless, she meticulously kept a record of everything she saw, poring over it each night to ensure she wasn’t missing any common threads. Letizia had given her a self-erasing memory stick like the one Raj had used for Leona’s records, and Dara kept it spirited away in her apartment’s hiding place, along with her mother’s book.

At the end of her first week, she and Letizia arranged to meet. Now that Letizia was no longer her master, Dara had no real reason to go to her apartment, and they had both agreed they shouldn’t be seen together. A friendship between his present and former assistants would make Andersen suspicious.

Returning to the sculpture park provoked a metallic taste in Dara’s mouth. She’d developed an almost superstitious aversion to it ever since that awful day when she and Jonathan had overheard the altercation between Ryan and Javier. A part of her felt like the park was cursed, like her entire life had been ruined because of it. It was irrational, she knew, and yet she couldn’t quite shake her dislike of it. What would her life have been like if she hadn’t overheard that conversation?

Tears stung her eyes, but she gave no outward sign of her distress, which made her feel a fierce bolt of pride. Andersen had given her plenty of chances to learn how to conceal her real feelings, and she had been impressed by her own skill. Perhaps she was a better actress than Letizia thought.

Gathering her will, Dara pushed her thoughts aside. It was pointless to pretend her life would have been wonderful if she hadn’t developed the awareness she had. Maybe some people would have been content with that kind of blissful ignorance, but she wasn’t one of them. Painful as her new reality might be, it was preferable to the blindness from which she had once suffered.

From which Jonathan still suffers.

She suppressed a sigh. There was nothing more she could do about Jonathan. She had tried to open the door for him, but he hadn’t wanted to step through it. It didn’t make him a bad person, but she couldn’t shake her guilt at the thought of letting him remain where he was. Shouldn’t she have tried harder, done more, to attempt to save him from becoming another cog in Magnum’s machine? She felt like she had failed him.

But that was ridiculous. She wasn’t responsible for other people’s actions. Jonathan’s mind was his own, and he had to do what he thought was right. He might still come around, but she had to learn to accept that she couldn’t open his eyes for him any more than he could lure her back into the belief that Magnum was a benevolent organization with its Contributors’ best interests at heart.

Caught up in her thoughts, Dara almost failed to notice Letizia’s approach. She shook herself out of her reverie just as Letizia emerged from behind one of the sculptures.

“Contributor D’Angelo,” Dara greeted, in case anyone was around to observe. The thought made her frown. She shouldn’t have become so lost in her thoughts. She should have been scoping out the park to make sure no one else was nearby.

One look at Letizia’s face was all she needed to know her former master was thinking the same thing. “We’re alone here, though I passed a few other Contributors on my way. I’m surprised you didn’t notice them.”

“I let down my guard,” Dara said, deciding it was better not to fight with Letizia, especially since Letizia was right.

Letizia opened her mouth and Dara braced for a lecture, but then the other woman shook her head and sighed. “Tell me about your week.”

Dara wasn’t sure why Letizia was letting her off so easily, but she wasn’t about to protest, so she gave Letizia a recap of everything she’d noticed.

“I get it now,” she said, once she was done detailing the minutiae of Andersen’s life. “I understand what my role is.”

“Do you?”

“You can gather electronic information about Andersen, but having eyes on him might provide something even more valuable. The data can’t predict what he’ll do next, and it may not catch small details that are out of the ordinary.”