[Contributor 02] - Infiltrator (2013) Read Online Free Page B

and jutted her chin.
    “Yeah, you probably can, but I wish you didn’t have to.” Letizia’s tone was so sad that Dara stared down at her hands in discomfort.
    “Wishes aren’t very useful.”
    “No, they’re not.” With a sound of frustration, Letizia took one of Dara’s hands. “I’ll stop fighting you about this, and I’ll try to help you as much as I can.”
    “Thanks.” Dara squeezed Letizia’s hand.
    “I’ll pass along what you told me about Javier, just in case.”
    Relieved, Dara nodded. “Okay.”
    “If you hear anything more—”
    “I’ll let you know right away,” she cut in, rising from the couch. “I should go. I need as much sleep as I can get before facing Andersen again.”
    “Do whatever you can to make sure you aren’t off your guard around him.”
    “I will. I’m sorry for jumping all over you.”
    Waving the apology away, Letizia led Dara to the door. “It’s better you save your emotions for when you’re somewhere safe, like here.”
    Dara rubbed her forehead with a weary hand. “I’m not convinced that anywhere is safe.”
    “The sad thing is, neither am I.”

Chapter 5

    Dara decided to take Letizia’s advice and spent the next several days integrating into her role as Andersen’s assistant, all the while making a point of observing him as closely as she could. She hadn’t initially seen the sense in it, but it soon became clear to her. By familiarizing herself with Andersen’s normal routines and habits, it would be far easier to spot anything anomalous. He was too careful to do anything obvious, which was why keeping an eye on him had struck her as a waste of time. But she became convinced after a while that knowing him almost as well as she knew herself would enable her to spot the small, subtle tells that others might miss. If she was really successful, she might even make him forget that she was present. Being treated like a piece of furniture wasn’t appealing, but if she could convince him she was harmless he might let down his guard enough to let slip pieces she could use to try to construct a whole.
    Andersen treated her first days as a gauntlet of sorts, testing her at every opportunity. He purposely put her in as many awkward and confusing situations as he could, evaluating her endurance and her willingness to put up with the indignity. The stubborn part of her wanted to rebel, but the sensible part of her understood that being meek would garner her far more than trying to defy him, and she made a habit of biting her tongue until it bled.
    Whenever he was away, she schemed to gain access to his personal information. Covert study proved his office had been soundproofed. Unless she could get a bug inside, it was unlikely she’d ever learn what went on in it. His tablet was never far from him, and though she did find a stolen second here and there to glance at it, she hadn’t yet seen anything that stood out. Regardless, she meticulously kept a record of everything she saw, poring over it each night to ensure she wasn’t missing any common threads. Letizia had given her a self-erasing memory stick like the one Raj had used for Leona’s records, and Dara kept it spirited away in her apartment’s hiding place, along with her mother’s book.
    At the end of her first week, she and Letizia arranged to meet. Now that Letizia was no longer her master, Dara had no real reason to go to her apartment, and they had both agreed they shouldn’t be seen together. A friendship between his present and former assistants would make Andersen suspicious.
    Returning to the sculpture park provoked a metallic taste in Dara’s mouth. She’d developed an almost superstitious aversion to it ever since that awful day when she and Jonathan had overheard the altercation between Ryan and Javier. A part of her felt like the park was cursed, like her entire life had been ruined because of it. It was irrational, she knew, and yet she couldn’t quite shake her dislike of it. What