The Devil's Keeper - Blackhill

Chapter 5 - Dreykov's Daughter

[March 9th, 2007 – 100 miles North of Tomsk, Russia]

"It's a simple plan. Kidnap the kid, ask for the ransom. Dreykov is a very powerful man, he'll give us what we're asking for."

"That's it? He gives us the military plans you want and we're out?" asked one of the agents who were supposed to travel with her.

Natalia was sure this went against everything they'd drilled into her brain since she was a kid. This wasn't in the name of something bigger and it wasn't to make their country better. This was a purely self-serving mission. And yet, she could do nothing but go along with the plan, unless she wanted one of her brain switches to be activated again. Until somebody got hurt, she could comply.

The men each placed a hand on one of her shoulders and waited. She looked at Bezukhov, standing right in front of her. He nodded and she jumped.

Taking Dreykov's daughter was easy for two armed and trained Red Room agents. Natalia stood back and waited for them to bring her to one of their safe houses. They were only a couple of days in the past, so they didn't know how the mission would actually turn out yet. It was the first time Bezukhov had put so much trust in her. It was particularly surprising since it hadn't been that long since the day she'd snuck out to New York. He had yet to mention the three seconds she had been missing, but she couldn't assume he didn't know about it, that was too dangerous a way to see things. She might have fooled herself into believing she could get away with it again, but she couldn't quite risk it now.

The two agents called Dreykov and asked for the files they wanted in exchange for his daughter, while Natalia was assigned the task of keeping her calm and avoiding unexpected twists.

"What's your name?" she asked.

The little girl was quiet for a very long time. The men told her that her father had sent them to protect her and keep her safe. Whether she believed that they were her father's allies or somehow knew that they'd kidnapped her, she was aware that they probably already knew her name and asking for it was only to test the water.

"Antonia."

"That's a lovely name. How old are you?"

"I'm seven years old. You already know this stuff, don't you?"

"You're very smart for your age."

The girl didn't respond. Silence fell over the room and Natalia thought it was probably best to leave it at that for the time being.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, almost startling Natalia.

"No. I will keep you safe." she promised with a smile, "I'll make sure you get home safe and sound by the end of the day."

"Alright." The kid nodded while looking up at Natalia with her bright green eyes. "When can I talk to my dad?"

"Soon, I promise. Really soon."

They waited the whole day for the meeting to be arranged. Once Dreykov agreed to the exchange, the two agents went without her and retrieved the data, as Natalia and Antonia waited in the safe house.

They had chosen to go back in time to just a couple of days before, because they knew exactly what Antonia's schedule was going to be. But that also meant that the outcome was uncertain, because no information concerning the politician's daughter being kidnapped had been leaked in their present. They just knew Antonia had been missing and they knew when she disappeared, so they made sure the Red Room was behind it, but nothing else was known. It was a risk. Those plans must have been worth a lot to Bezukhov, Natalia knew that much.

"He mailed the external hardware to the address we gave him. Now we'll go back to the present, then you will jump there, take those files and disappear again. They won't know what happened." one of the agents told Natalia.