Page 35 of Belgian Betrayal

Catya swallowed the words she wanted to say. Having worked alone for so long, she struggled to trust anyone, especially strangers. But they were up against an impossible deadline and needed all the help they could get to figure out what information the disk held that had so many people trying to kill them for it.

Jasmine led the way to the end of a short hallway and through another door into a dimly lit room with a dark purple sofa against one wall. A large beanbag took up one corner next to a copper barrel table sporting a red lava lamp that cast a soft glow over a faux-fur black rug with a glass coffee table at its center.

In another corner of the room was a platform bed covered in a purple blanket and fuzzy black pillows.

The furnishings were bizarre, but what drew Catya’s attention was the array of eight monitors taking up the furthest wall, each displaying various images and data.

A barrel-chested man with a shock of white hair and a wicked scar slashed across one cheek turned toward them as they approached.

“Fearghas, my friend.” The man enveloped Fearghas in a bone-crushing hug, pounding his back several times before he stepped back. “We’re glad you got here so quickly. Did you bring the disk?”

Fearghas nodded toward Catya. “Dmytro, this is Catya Romanov.” He tipped his head toward the MI6 agent. “And this is Peter Atkins.”

Dmytro briefly dipped his head toward Catya and then held out his hand to Atkins. “I’m sorry to hear your daughter is being held hostage. I understand how you must feel as I, too, have a daughter. We will do our best to free her.”

Atkins shook Dmytro’s hand. “Thank you.”

Dmytro turned toward the person seated at a desk positioned beneath the array of monitors. “This is Lucie, the best hacker in all of Europe.”

A young woman, who didn’t look older than a teenager, swiveled in her gamers’ chair, smacking on a wad of gum. Her hair was dyed several shades of purple and was pulled up into a loose, messy bun with a lacquer chopstick stuck through the middle. She raised a hand with fingernails painted black. “Hey.”

Catya shook her head and turned toward Fearghas, ready to walk out of the basement apartment and go back to the train station. “Are we supposed to trust this child?”

Lucie’s purple eyebrows rose into the purple fringe of hair hanging over her forehead. “No, you don’t have to trust me. You can leave now if you like. The only reason I let you and your friends in is because Dmytro asked me for a favor.” She tilted her head to the old Ukrainian. “I’d do anything for Dmytro. I owe him my life.”

“You owe me nothing,” Dmytro said and faced Catya. “Lucie is very good at what she does. She can hack into any password-protected database.”

“That might be true,” Fearghas said, “but can she be trusted with the data she hacks into?”

Dmytro laid a hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “If Lucie gives her promise—how is it they say in the US—you can take it to the bank.”

“I trust Dmytro with my life. You can trust me with your data,” Lucie said. “I promise. Now, I might be good, but it takes time to break through a password. If you have to be in Bruges by midnight, we don’t have much time.” She held out her hand.

When Catya hesitated, Dmytro added, “We understand you need the disk to exchange for Atkins’s daughter. Lucie will not destroy the disk. She will work on the password. If she can’t get it before you have to leave to take the train to Bruges, she will return the disk to you unharmed.”

Catya exchanged a glance with Atkins. “You can take the disk without breaking into it.”

The man’s lips pressed together. “As long as she doesn’t destroy the disk, I’d like to know what it’s all about and who is behind the effort to retrieve it. Someone in the MI6 has betrayed us. I want to know who that person is and if he has someone else calling the shots.” He lifted his chin. “Give her the disk.”

Catya dug in her pocket and pulled out the disk. It went against her nature to hand over something of such significance to someone who could be no more than a teenager who happened to be lucky at hacking.

Dmytro gave her a gentle smile for such a scary-looking character. “I promise it will be okay. Lucie is a good girl.”

Lucie snorted. “I’m not a girl anymore. I turned twenty-one a month ago.”

Catya handed the disk to Dmytro. “A nineteen-year-old girl’s life depends on this disk reaching Bruges intact.”

Dmytro’s fingers curled around the item. “We will be careful with it.” He passed it to Lucie. “Good luck, Moya Lyubov.” The big, scarred man pressed a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

She pushed the disk into a slot on a docking station, moved the mouse and clicked on several icons. “It’ll take time to do this,” she said, focusing on the monitor directly in front of her. “Looking over my shoulder won’t make it go faster.”

Dmytro squeezed her should lightly and stepped away, turning to face the others. “When Lucie heard we were coming, she stocked her refrigerator with food and drinks. You can help yourselves.”

Lucie waved a hand in the air. “Help yourself to whatever you want. Feel free to cook. I haven’t had anyone cook for me since I moved out of my parent’s house two and a half years ago.” Talking didn’t seem to break her concentration. Her fingers continued to fly over the keyboard.

Catya’s inclination was to watch the young woman every second she had control of the disk. Madison’s life depended on them getting that disk to Bruges.

“I’m staying here,” Atkins said.

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