Taekjoo was entering his room when he suddenly stopped. Zhenya was sprawled shamelessly on his bed. He gestured for Taekjoo to come in, just like he had back at the hotel.
“Please, do come in.”
Taekjoo glared at him for a moment before reluctantly stepping in and closing the door. He lowered his voice right away and asked Zhenya how it went.
“How did what go?”
“The thing you were going to check. You said you’d look at the study.”
“Oh, yeah. I checked it out. I was personally intrigued by what they could be keeping in there that required the place to be double, even triple, guarded. It was underwhelming—it was just a vault. I didn’t break it open, just scanned what was inside. Just some gold bars, cash, and a few documents.”
“Anything else?”
Zhenya shook his head. So it wasn’t in the study. That left them with only two options. It was either in the attic at the top of the tower or in the secret room inside Sergey’s bedroom. If there was no trace of SS-29 in either room, the mission was as good as a failure.
There was only a day left until the people involved with SS-29 arrived. If the weapon issue was fixed successfully, SS-29 would soon be moved to a new location. And if Psikh Bogdanov was one of the visitors coming tomorrow, then it was only a matter of time until Taekjoo’s cover was blown.
Of course, there was also the chance that Sergey might change his mind and kick Taekjoo out. So the ideal scenario would be to take care of everything tonight, before Sergey had a change of heart. It might be the only chance to confirm the identity of SS-29. Taekjoo couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. He had to be quick and careful at the same time.
But the remaining two places weren’t easy to penetrate either. There was only one path to the tower: the air vent Taekjoo had used to reach the basement, which extended all the way to the top. The problem was that the higher it rose, the narrower it became—only a child could fit through it. He could try climbing the exterior of the residence, but doing so in the merciless winter wind on a cliff was practically a death wish. Avoiding the CCTV cameras and guards inside and outside the mansion also seemed impossible. So, Taekjoo would have to climb the stairs if he wanted to get to the top. Obviously, that wouldn’t be possible—not in a place where they inspect people just to let them enter a room. Especially not if the room in question was where SS-29 was being kept.
Sergey’s bedroom wasn’t any easier. The sun had already set, and Sergey would soon be asleep in his room. Taekjoo didn’t need to see it to know that security would be doubled during those hours. Cameras and motion sensors would be active in the room as well. The more Taekjoo thought about it, the more obstacles came to mind.
He blurted out something random in frustration.
“What if we just grab Sergey and beat him up until he spills?”
“We’d be riddled with bullets first. We don’t even know exactly how many guards he’s got here.”
Zhenya was entirely right. Right now, the only information they knew was the mansion’s size and layout. They didn’t know how many people were inside, or the type and number of security devices throughout the estate. They had managed to deal with Boris face-to-face only because they lured him out of his safe house. That was very different from their current situation, deep in the heart of the enemy’s lair.
No matter how hard Taekjoo thought, he couldn’t come up with a solution. When he was outside the mansion, his only problem had been getting in. But now that he was inside, an entirely new set of obstacles awaited him.
“Sometimes, soft power is much stronger than knives or guns.”
Zhenya suddenly mumbled. Taekjoo looked at him questioningly. Soft power usually meant the opposite of violence, most commonly associated with feminine influence. It referred to the use of wisdom, persuasion, sensibility, empathy, and the like. Of course, one of them was honey traps. History has shown that even men of steel are rendered powerless before women they desire.
But what good would that do in this situation? Taekjoo dismissed the idea right away.
“Yeah, the damn old coot obviously has his mind in the gutter, but where are we supposed to find the honey for this honey trap? The only woman we’ve seen since we got on the island was the innkeeper.”
Zhenya put on a curious smile as he listened to Taekjoo. Then he stood up and lazily closed the distance between them. Taekjoo stood his ground until Zhenya was right in front of him. When Zhenya suddenly reached out his hand, Taekjoo instinctively stepped back before he could stop himself. He tried to act like he hadn’t, but it was clear he was still on guard.
Zhenya didn’t pause for a second, and his outstretched hand finally reached Taekjoo’s ear. It barely brushed against his skin, but the hair on that part of his body stood on end. His dark skin made it stand out even more. Zhenya gave a gentle smile as he brushed Taekjoo’s hair from his face.
“No need to worry about that. Rumor has it, Sergey Ilyich is into men. Particularly tanned ones.”
“What—”
“It wasn’t ordinary, the way he looked at you.”
Zhenya kept teasing, so Taekjoo just shoved him away. Taekjoo jabbed a finger at Zhenya, telling him to shut up.
“Are you mad? I’m not that dedicated to my job.”
“Just think about it. You could get into Sergey’s bedroom without all that running, crawling, and rolling around. Who knows? He might start spilling everything about SS-29 in the heat of the moment. Just escort him to the bed, and after that—whether you beat him up or actually make out with him—I don’t care. That would be private business between the two of you in that room. Am I wrong?”
Zhenya continued persuading Taekjoo. Easier said than done. Taekjoo scoffed. If it were the other way around, there was no way Zhenya would let some old creep knead his hand like dough.
Taekjoo dismissed the idea completely as he walked to the windowsill.
“Drop the nonsense. I’m not doing it,” Taekjoo snapped.
“Why are you dismissing it as nonsense?”
Zhenya tossed something at Taekjoo, who instinctively turned and caught the object speeding toward his back. It was the GPS tracker. The red dot on its screen was beeping near the center of the coordinates, but the two dots didn’t quite overlap, meaning the target was pacing nearby.
Taekjoo glanced at Zhenya, demanding an explanation. Zhenya smirked and threw back a question—who do you think that is, pacing right outside your room? Zhenya must have managed to plant a tracker on Sergey.
Taekjoo shook his head again and tossed the tracking device onto the bed.
“I’m not doing it, no matter—”
“Did you know that the more competition a male faces for a female, the stronger his desire to conquer becomes?”