Tea.
I opened the door to my apartment and walked in, my eyes glued to the envelope in my hand. My first thought was that I needed some beverage, some black tea. My preferred drink.
My home was a simple, one-bedroom apartment. I hadn’t changed it ever since I had moved in five years ago. A small corridor led to the room doubling as bedroom and living room. There was a small kitchen on my left and a bathroom on my right. I went straight to the kitchen and brewed up some tea. While I waited for the water to boil, I opened the envelope, failing to tear it and finally deciding to use a pair of scissors to cut through it. I took out the bundle of papers and my eyes immediately fell on the vaguely familiar name.
Atkinson Association
The billionaire beauty chain’s founder was my newest target. She was world-famous. An icon revered globally, and for good reason.
My stomach clenched in anticipation. I removed the saucepan from the fire and poured the steaming liquid into a cup. Strangely, the aroma and tint of tea always managed to comfort me. I plopped onto the couch, placing the cup on the table and lying down as I slowly started going through the many pages.
The first page revealed the photograph of a stunning, smiling woman in a sexy red dress. Probably at some store opening. I whistled under my breath as I studied her. She had wavy, golden hair and grey eyes. A gorgeous smile. High cheekbones. She was stunning. She looked to be around her mid-thirties. The name below read Rosalie Maria Atkinson.
I sat up straight, taking a sip of the tea and letting it warm my throat and penetrate my very senses. I couldn’t understand why this assignment was making me more nervous than all the ones before it. Maybe because I knew how highly important it was. When and if exposed, it would cause a scintillating scandal. An international one.
I took a deep breath. Having these thoughts weren’t going to help my nerves. I sighed, raking a hand through my hair as I placed the photo on the table. The next page was a newspaper article. I began reading it.
‘Atkinson Association estb. 2009 began as a straightforward start-up. It aimed to milk the already booming beauty industry by providing an array of cosmetics, perfumes and even medicines at both affordable as well as luxurious prices to cater to a vast demographic.
Spearheaded by the breathtaking Rosalie Atkinson, The Atkinson Association is today, set to expand their business further and venture into other personal care products as well as clothing.’
Below it was a few graphs and pie charts, analyzing the growth and fall of Atkinson Association. I noticed that its formative years had been extremely unstable. Somewhere, around three years back, it had attained an overnight boom due to the generous contribution of one unknown investor. This had propelled Rosalie to become a billionaire and made her company one of the brand leaders in the fashion and beauty industry.
I studied the charts, trying to figure out some hidden pattern. I couldn’t see any reason why anyone would have invested in a company that seemed to be really slow-paced in a highly competitive market.
My head snapped upwards as there was a loud knock on the door. I gazed at my wristwatch and saw that it was almost nine. Pretty late. I hoped and prayed it wasn’t Annalise from downstairs and found myself planning passable excuses. I had already used the ‘I’m sick,’ excuse and would have to rely on ‘Sorry, have to wake up early tomorrow,’ if she arrived again. She was a little too over-friendly for my taste.
The knock was repeated and I sighed, placing the papers carefully on the table and making my way to the door. I opened it to find Grayson instead, his eyes dark and wary. He gave me a soft smile.
“Hey.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Hey.”
“Harold wanted to make sure you were making progress. This is the most important assignment we’ve ever got.”
I nodded and stepped back to let him in.
“You have a nice apartment here,” he said, gazing around. His hands nervously stuffed in his pant pockets.
“Skip the small talk, Shelby. You’ve been here before. Let’s just get on with it.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak but then shook his head, smiling slightly. “What have you learnt so far?”
“She’s fucking gorgeous,” I said as I took my seat on the couch. “I’m not going to offer you anything by the way. Although if you want to eat or drink something-” I nodded towards the kitchen, “you can help yourself. While you’re at it, make something for me as well.”
He sighed before he came and sat beside me on the couch, curiously peering over the file as he muttered, “Rosalie Atkinson.”
I handed the topmost sheets to him, the ones I was done with already and went on to the next one.
“Read it aloud will you?” he asked.
I stared at him and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know this case? You’re assigned to it and you don’t know it?”
He shrugged sheepishly. “There was no need for me to know before now.”
I sighed. I knew I might be coming off as meaner than I intended to. However, being close to him made me nervous and I didn’t want him to see that. I focused on the document in front of me and started reading aloud.
“We have our reliable resources confirming that Rosalie Atkinson has been siphoning off money to the neighbouring government. This suspicious activity began around twenty seventeen.”
I chewed my lip. Atkinson Association gets a mysterious sponsor, and at the same time, the money starts disappearing. This had to be the link I would be investigating.
“However, we have no hard evidence. It has also been noticed by our intelligence that the amount of weaponry manufactured in neighbouring countries have increased manifolds ever since Atkinson’s suspicious donations started. We fear that her supposed hostility towards the government’s policies has fueled her hate and is now aiding other countries in order to cause insurgency.”
I sucked in a deep breath as I concluded reading. No wonder our intelligentsia had failed. As far as international and cross border transactions were concerned, there were very strict guidelines in place. There were a few places between landlocked islands where border security was relatively lax or flexible. It was clear that it was through these places that she was siphoning off the money. Our government had been deteriorating after political instability and a hung parliament in the last elections. This left our entire country vulnerable.
“That sounds impossible to track.”
I almost jumped at the sudden proximity of Grayson’s voice. I turned sideways to see that he had sidled closer to me, his eyes wide. I held my breath and surreptitiously moved an inch away. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice my uncharacteristic awkwardness.
“It has a deadline,” I said softly, pointing to a date a little more than a month from today. “Why is there a date?”
Grayson stared at it before speaking slowly. “I suppose it’s an estimated date. When the firearm supply will have increased enough to overtake our country’s. Provided they increase at a constant rate,” he shook his head. “I suppose Rosalie is still not over how her father was convicted. Even though it was like…two decades ago?”
I sighed, biting my lip. Rosalie’s father had been an up and coming director about twenty years ago. He had been falsely accused of sexual harassment which had ruined his career and life. His wife had been vocal about the injustice against them done by the judiciary. It made sense that justified or not, Rosalie nurtured a strong hatred towards the legal system and the government in general.
Although she hadn’t directly made any controversial statements, (she was too intelligent for that), she had made some suspicious donations before which seemed to propel anarchic activities in the country. Funding terrorist activities was something she had been charged with before, however, there was no evidence. Now it seemed, she had gone overseas with her prejudice.
The cases I had had before this were personal. The only things at stake had been money, reputation or individual lives. Never the security of an entire nation. I knew that tensions between the neighbouring countries were running high. If Rosalie succeeded, it would be a mighty blow to our nation. One that we weren’t financially equipped enough to handle.
“Wow,” I raked a hand through my hair, hiding my face as I breathed slowly. My voice sounded muffled when I spoke. “So I’m supposed to seduce this woman who is basically planning to blast our damn country.”
He sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s tough but…you’re our best bet.”
He squeezed my shoulder gently. I was a little surprised at his sudden kindness but accepted it. I felt too stressed to be suspicious.
After a while he stood up, gazing down at me as he spoke. “You’ll have to come with me to the city hospital tomorrow.”
I leaned back and stared at him. “What?”
“There are some precautions Harold wants us to take. Making sure your overall health is fine.” He pulled at his collar slightly, fidgeting his feet in what I assumed was unease. Although I couldn’t understand why.
I sighed, “Okay.”
“Your blood sugar level and blood pressure,” he continued.
“Sounds fun.”
He almost smiled as he nodded and bid me goodbye, shutting the door behind him. I gazed at the door, lost in thought. I sighed, raking a hand through my hair and leaning back against the couch. I knew that there was a lot at stake with this assignment. My nervousness was unsettling me, but I knew I had to take control of it.
I whispered silently to myself, trying to give myself a pep talk. “Best in the business, Xavier. Fucking best.”
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