Back to Work
Valeria
Same day
We return to the office in the January rain and cold.
To avoid drawing attention, Dante and I arrive separately.
Louane stops me as I pass her office.
“So, how were the holidays?”
I smile.
“Fantastic. And yours?”
“I didn’t go anywhere. I’ll take my vacation later. And that’s probably a good thing.”
Something in her tone catches my attention.
She steps aside slightly, silently inviting me into her office before closing the door behind us.
We sit on opposite sides of her desk.
“Bianca approached me several times over the holidays. She even came here on December twenty-eighth, late in the afternoon. Officially, she wanted to check that everything was running smoothly… but what she was really interested in was what you were working on.”
She pauses to study my reaction.
“I told her I had no idea and asked why she didn’t ask you directly. She said she would… but she was lying.”
From the searching look in her eyes, I realize she has already guessed part of the truth.
“You did the right thing.”
“I think so too,” she replies with a knowing smile. “I thought she was finished, but just before leaving, she asked me something rather surprising.”
“What?”
“Who we were negotiating a partnership with.”
My entire body goes still.
“I told her… that it was still confidential.”
“But tell me… are we actually negotiating a partnership?”
“Not yet… but it’s part of the plan.”
A wide smile spreads across her face.
“I want in.”
I return her smile before explaining our suspicions regarding the link between the cyberattacks, Bianca, Gaspard, and Wald, along with Dante’s plan to bring them down.
Louane goes pale.
“It’s bold… but it could work.”
“If they take the bait, yes.”
She slowly leans back in her chair.
“I’m going to ask security to revoke her access to this floor. She has no reason to be here anyway.”
“No.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t do anything for now. If we revoke her access now, she’ll realize we’re hiding something from her.
I want her to keep questioning things without ever getting certainty.
I want her worried. Searching. That way, when she gets hold of carefully selected information, it won’t even occur to her to question it. ”
Louane studies me for a long moment.
“You’re diabolical.”
I smile.
“Let’s just say Bianca taught me a lot. She’ll be our Trojan horse. The day we stand before a judge, I want a case file that leaves absolutely no room for doubt.”
“So we just keep watching her while Dante prepares his trap?”
“No. We also have work to finish.”
I pause before adding:
“The best way to outmaneuver them is to finalize the formula before they can steal it.”
Louane’s face lights up.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
That evening, after work, Stephen drives me back to the manor.
Suddenly, his shoulders tense and his driving becomes sharper. I catch him checking the rearview mirror several times.
Are we being followed?
Would Wald really try something that reckless in broad daylight?
After several sudden turns, Stephen finally relaxes and resumes normal driving.
“False alarm,” he says. “I thought someone was tailing us.”
And yet, he checks the mirror three more times before stopping in front of the gate.