Chapter 71 -- The New Alternate Universe of La Femme Nikita

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 14:00:01 06/21/02 Fri
Author: Repost Fairy
Author Host/IP: 64.193.19.25
Subject: Chapter 71
In reply to: Repost Fairy 's message, "Burden of Proof - 68 and up" on 11:17:24 06/21/02 Fri

It was early Monday morning. Frowning, Michael passed the minuscule scanner over the telephone handset a second time. He had not been mistaken. Once again, as he held it over the telephone, the green light embedded in the tiny device glowed red. He swore silently to himself and dropped the scanner back into the pocket of his overcoat.

Sweeping for surveillance equipment was a religiously performed, twice daily ritual�every morning when he arrived at chambers, and every evening when he arrived home. It had been over three years since these sweeps netted any results. This latest discovery was something of an unpleasant surprise, especially coming on the heels of the Duskovic mediation.

For the past three nights, his sleep had been disrupted by vague images of blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. Overtired, he�d slept through his alarm this morning and missed his run. He was definitely not in the mood for this.

How the hell had this happened? Stung by the unpleasant thought that he may have become too complacent, Michael made a snap decision. Without bothering to take off his overcoat or sit at his desk, he quickly booted up the laptop and brought up his calendar. He read through the appointments quickly. He wasn�t scheduled to meet with Vachek today, and the only names in his diary were clients whose appointments could easily be shunted to the following day. Shutting down the laptop, he reached for the briefcase at his feet.

His secretary glanced up at him as he approached her desk. She looked at the briefcase in his hand, then back at his now closed office door, obviously confused to see him leaving so soon. Her gazed dropped to the large black appointment book on her desk, and she quickly began scanning the entries. �Are you going to court this morning? I didn�t�I haven�t��

Michael rested his briefcase on her desk and gave her a deliberately wan smile. �I�m not feeling very well, Theresa. I�ll be working from home today.� He pointed at the two names written on today�s page of the appointment book. �I need you to call both Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Feeney to reschedule their appointments.�

Theresa Viszcano�s expression quickly changed from confusion to one of almost frightening sympathy, her dark brown eyes suddenly aglow with nurturing intent. �Oh, Mr. Samuelle, I�m so sorry that you�re not well.� Voice full of breathy concern, she gazed at him intently. �Is there anything I can do to help?�

Michael shook his head, wondering briefly what he had done to deserve such unnerving devotion. �If you can clear my diary for today, that will be an enormous help. You can reach me at home if you have any problems.� He gave her a faintly encouraging smile. �But I�m sure you�re more than capable of running things by yourself.�

Theresa turned pink with pleasure and dropped her gaze to stare at the appointment book. �Shall I ring them now?� She checked her watch. �Or is nine o�clock too early to call?�

Buttoning his overcoat with one hand, Michael picked up his briefcase, as he considered the question. Both clients lived some distance away from his Chambers and normally took public transport to the city. �No, call them now. It would be best to catch them before they leave home.�

Seemingly impressed by the logic of this, she nodded and quickly reached for the phone.

�Theresa?� The girl�s hand froze in midair as she looked up at him. �If anyone calls for me, tell them to call my cell phone.�

�Not your home number?� Her blandly pretty expression became puzzled.

�No.� After watching her laboriously scribble herself a note to this effect, he turned away, wondering how much it would cost to coax his previous secretary back from the joys of retirement.

~*~*~*~*~

His home line had not been tampered with. Michael sat back on his heels and studied the exposed phone outlet, his mind racing. The mediation. It was the only explanation. Damn it!

From the depths of his jacket pocket, his cell phone rang, making his heart skip a beat. Standing up, he pulled out the phone and glanced at the caller ID. Taking recent events into account, he quickly attached the scrambler before answering.

�Yes?�

�You weren�t in your office.� His caller sounded annoyed.

�No.�

There was an expectant pause, then an irritated �Jacqueline has just informed me that the land line in your office has been compromised.�

Michael grimaced. Bad news certainly traveled quickly. He would have preferred to report the incident himself, but that couldn�t be helped now.

�That�s correct. I immediately returned home to carry out a sweep here.�

�Anything?�

�No.�

�Good.� His caller didn�t skip a beat before launching into the real reason behind the phone call. �The Heads of State conference. Where are we on it?�

Despite having swept the whole house for bugs, Michael was unable to shake a lingering reluctance to have this particular discussion. But he knew an answer was required of him, however vague. �As you already know, the initial intel has been obtained and is being processed. And you have my report. The meet is next Saturday night. I won�t be able to obtain the final details until then.�

�Fine.� There was a heavy silence. �There�s another matter I need to discuss with you. Can you be here within the hour?�

Michael closed his eyes. Six more weeks. Six more weeks and this nightmare would be over. �Yes.�

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Chapter 72 -- Repost Fairy, 14:01:48 06/21/02 Fri