Problem is, I wasn't sending Dara into some dodgy situation by herself. She said she'd be fine. I just pointed to my old mug and said that's what happens when you think everything's gonna be fine. She said we had to get in there to get to the bottom of things. I told her no chance it was happening, till we didn't have any other options.
She took me to her computer, did an internets search, nothing came up. Said that the info from the government said nothing. Dara said we could stake it out, that skyscraper with all the people coming and going all day long, not knowing who to go after, or she could go in and get some info firsthand [What I hadn't informed Trace was that I created a local copy of the search results, removed all reference to Primary Services, Inc., and just navigated directly there. Based on what I'd found, it seemed safe enough. -Dara].
Dara broke out this crazy contraption in a jacket button, a mini video camera. It hooked up to her laptop, so I could see what she saw. Still didn't like it, but we needed to get a move on. I loaded Joan full, showed Dara how to shoot. Told her it was only for emergencies. All she had to do was get in, get info, get out.
Let me tell you, waiting in the car 2 blocks away in a parking garage while Dara was alone, I didn't like it [And while the camera was off, I had a chance to examine Joan. Trace etched a small heart on the handle, inscribing “T.L. + J.L.” inside. Where is Joan today, and how would I get Trace to open up? -Dara]. When she finally turned on the camera, everything looked fisheyed, but I was seeing what she was seeing, hearing what she heard. Kinda weird, being a woman like that. It wasn't right.
Dara sweettalked her way up to the top floor real easy. Figured she was winking while she talked. Real big area, lots of skylights, everything real shiny and new. Figured it probably was new, probably woulda bankrupted me for life if I rented it for a year.
Dara walked right up to the secretary, showed her resume and her computer skills, asked for a job. The slob, he was looking right at the button camera the whole time. Did I say that she put it on her shirt around chest level?
She saw a foosball table, pointed it out, walked right on in. With that weird fishbowl look, I could barely see their faces, but I could tell that they saw hers. She made sure to stop at every cubicle, look at the name plates. Dara said she was recording, so we'd be able to catch em later.
After playing a few rounds with the slobs, some guy with bushy eyebrows and thick shoulders asked what was going on. Dara apologized, said she couldn't resist foosball. Slob threw off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, said it was job interview time, if she could answer his questions and beat him, he'd bring her back for an interview. Viktor Lubchenko, that was his name.
Lot of crazy computer talk I didn't need, didn't care about, but she seemed like she knew what he was saying. They pulled even at 7 when she started asking him about the company. Turned out Viktor started it from nothing, it was his baby. Smile got real big. Had a slight Russian accent, really made his words sound hard. But the way he boomed his words, the way he forced Dara into a loss, and him posing after showed me he was real proud, the kind of person didn't take to disrespect well.
Viktor shook her hand, looked her in the eye, said he'd call to set up an interview. Meanwhile, I knew we had to figure out what George did to Viktor, and how he could make it right.
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