~ France, Chateau ~
Monday morning…
Aiden was ready for breakfast and waited for Sarah while checking his email on the laptop.
"Done.", she announced victoriously when she walked out of the closet.
"Do you want to go and visit the White Mansion?"
Sarah paused at the unexpected topic. "The one in Austin?"
Aiden bobbed his head and smiled. "Jeff emailed. He and Anna plan to go and visit. If we want to join them, they will wait for us so that we all go together, otherwise they will go now."
Sarah understood. She rembered that massive wedding cake which Aiden described as a decent replica of the White Mansion. And it was tasty. "I would love to go and visit. If they can wait so that we all go together, that will be great!"
"OK." Aiden likes Sarah's enthusiasm and typed the email response.
After breakfast, Sarah went to the tech room with her Sigma army mbers. Eliza went for a walk, Jesse agreed to follow her so that he makes sure nothing happens, and Aiden went to office to work on his work-work tasks (how he calls work done for White corp.).
…
Aiden was going through his work emails while organizing what needs to be done when Sarah's phone rang. It seems that she left it behind. Aiden saw that it's an international call from India and he picked up quickly. Just how he guessed, it was Mr. Patel.
"Thank you for returning the call.", Aiden said as soon as the call connected.
There was a pause before Mr. Patel spoke. "I was expecting Sigma to answer."
"She is busy. I am Oga. I hope you don't mind that I took the call, we are working together, and the request for contact was made by both of us."
"I see."
Aiden was able to hear mirth in Mr. Patel's voice while he spoke: "Oga, my day is full and I don't have much free ti. Let's skip the usual small talk. You reached out to because you want sothing. Tell what that sothing is."
Aiden can appreciate that man is not beating around the bush. On the other side, he knows that they are the ones asking for a favor, so all that pleasant façade Mr. Patel showed few months back in Las Vegas is gone now.
Aiden took a deep breath and told himself to sound as polite as possible. There is no way to deny the facts: they reached out to him because they need sothing.
Few minutes later, Mr. Patel understood the situation.
"So…", Mr. Patel lazily said. "You want to help you find a woman who was known as Tashi, and she was last seen in Serampore eighteen years ago? What will you give in return?"
This is the part both Sarah and Aiden fear, that Mr. Patel will be greedy because he has the upper hand. But Aiden thought about this already. It's all about the wording. "Since we are asking you this, you already know that finding the woman is not sothing that can be done by checking surveillance caras or online accounts. She is either living off the grid or she died and her death was not docunted. In case she is alive and has different identity, we would find her. You know how much effort will take for you to find her, na your price."
Mr. Patel laughed. He has to admit that Aiden's attempt was a decent one, but when facing a Gujarati*... Eh, he has a lot to learn.
Mr. Patel has no problem pointing out to Aiden that he failed: "Oga, Oga… if I set the price based on how much effort it takes to find her, I will be at a loss. Therefore, I believe that the fair approach is to co up with a price while thinking how much it will take YOU to find her. How does that sound?"
Aiden sighed while thinking that his soft skills really need to improve. "Are you confident that you can find her?"
"Are you doubting my capabilities?", Mr. Patel sounded half surprised half amused. "How about this… Let's make a bet. I guarantee that I will find the information you seek within a week."
"Seven days?", Aiden was not sure if this is a lot or not for a 'manual search'. For hacking, seven days is a lot, but for a search that needs to be done in person… he is clueless.
"Starting the mont we confirm the deal.", Mr. Patel confird.
Aiden needs to clarify what Mr. Patel has on his mind. "What are the stakes in the bet?"
"Stakes? I use my services and you use yours.", Mr. Patel vaguely responded.
Aiden already knows what his service are, but what services are coming from Mr. Patel? "Your services?"
"Since I said that I will find her in seven days, if I find her within 24 hours, you owe 7 jobs. No questions asked and no right to refuse. Deal?"
Aiden swallowed non-existent saliva while thinking that this man is extorting him. But he has to keep on talking. "What if you don't find her in one day?"
"For every day that passes, number of jobs you need to give in return will reduce. So if I find her on the seventh day, you owe one job. And if I take longer than that, I will give you information for free. What do you say?"
Aiden thought for so ti before responding: "I'm not sure I see how the stakes are balanced. No matter what, you give us information on the woman while on other side amount of what we need to give varies."
Mr. Patel snorted. "Hey, you called . Do we have a deal?"
Aiden closed his eyes and sighed. Seven jobs… it's a lot, much more than he thought, but that is not such a big problem. It will probably not be seven, considering that the man will take longer than one day to find that woman. However, the part of no questions asked, and no refusing will be a problem for Sarah. And considering that this is Mr. Patel, the requests will not be simple. After all, if it's simple, there are many others who can do it and there is no need for these shady conditions set in advance… just how he attempted to get them back in Las Vegas with the token given in advance.
Alarms rang in Aiden's mind that this is NOT a good deal. But, does he have a choice? This will provide an opportunity for Sarah to find out more about Lebedevs, to get an edge and maybe find a way out.
Sarah will need to do the trial for the master by herself while he can only watch from the distance, if he can even watch. But this… this is sothing he can do. This is his part in their quest for acquiring their freedom from the shadows of Eastern European families.
Aiden told himself not to overthink things. It's not like he is signing his soul away to the devil. It's only seven jobs, and with every passing day it's one less. He can do it. "I will need that in writing."
"You will have an electronic docunt in your inbox within fifteen minutes. The mont you sign it, the clock will start ticking. As a proof of my sincerity, I will inform you on the status as soon as any progress is made." Mr. Patel could not hide glee from his voice.
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