FireWall

realized there weren't any phone jacks. Even in a modern house that was taking minimalism a bit far.

Was it to make this place impossible to communicate with electronically? If so, Val took his work very seriously indeed, and it unnerved me a bit. I didn't like discovering things that I should know already.

I walked across to Tom's desk and stood over him, looking at a screen full of numbers and letters. Some of the vertical lines would change every time he hit a key.

'Do you understand what you've got there?'

'No problem; it's all about algorithms and protocols, hardened proxies, stuff like that. What it boils down to is that I need to find the access sequence among a million or so different sets of characters.

That's the firewall between me and the rest of the system.' He pointed at the screen, never letting his eyes wander from it. 'This is quite a sophisticated crypto, as it has a learning program that detects unusual events, like me trying to hack in, and interprets them as an attack. If we were trying to do this on site I wouldn't be able to do it in time.

But this setup is perfect: I have time to play.'

His attention was drawn away from talking to me as he leaned forward slightly and studied the screen. We were both silent for a few seconds as he mumbled crypto stuff to himself, then he came back to planet earth. 'Anyway, once I've hacked into it here, all I have to do is configure the Think Pad bring it with me and then I can download all the files she wants. Easy life.'

I watched him as he did his stuff. He'd turned into the master of his universe, hands gliding over the keys, quick, confident and in command.

Even his tone had changed as he explained what he was up to.

'Tom, will you be able to get past this thing?' The screen full of moving numbers, letters, and symbols looked like total confusion to me.

'No drama, mate. No drama.'

I looked over at the broken plasterboard. 'One more question.'

His eyes still didn't leave the screen. 'What's that?'

I changed my mind. 'I'm going for a coffee. You coming?'

'Nah, mate, I'm gonna stay here. Things to do, know what I mean?'

I left him to it. I wanted to know why the lead was there, and maybe he could help, but why risk him stressing? The less he knew the better.

16

I walked into the living area after having no luck finding a phone jack in my bedroom. The light was still on, but the room was empty and the coffee things had been cleared away. There was only a thick paperback book on the glass table. I wandered around the room, checking for jacks, but didn't find any. There were none in the kitchen, either.

I couldn't see any gaps in the wall covering to check for lead, so I decided to go a different route. Walking over to the ceiling-to-floor blinds I gave one of them a poke. It didn't move, and was extremely hard and heavy.

There was a switch on the wall near by, and you didn't need to be a brain surgeon to work out what it did. When I flicked it, a motor whirred above me in the ceiling. I watched as they began to open from the center. It was dark outside, but the living-room lights exposed a long narrow balcony beyond triple-glazed sliding doors. Virgin snow lay three feet deep all along it, resting against the glass. A little further out, the tops of a few snow-covered pine trees were also visible, but beyond that was inky blackness.

I turned, hearing bare feet moving toward me. Liv was six or seven steps away, wearing a blue silk bathrobe which finished just above her knees, exposing each thigh in turn as she moved.

Two more steps and she reached past me and hit the switch. She smelled as if she'd just stepped out of the shower.

The motor whirred and the blinds began to close again. She took a step back. 'Nick, the blinds must remain closed at all times when Tom is working on the computer.' She waved a palm in the direction of the sofa. 'Shall we sit?'

As she crossed the room, I followed. She saw my eyes flick to the blinds and guessed what I was about to say. 'Yes, Nick, before you ask, they are lined with lead. The whole house is. Valentin doesn't like his competitors learning what he's doing. Millions of dollars are spent accessing information about rivals in this business. He ensures that it's money wasted as far as spying on him is concerned. Valentin knows the true value of information- not money, but power.'

'So that's why no phones?'

The blinds finished closing as we sat facing each other on the sofa. As she tucked her legs underneath her, the silk followed the contours of her body.

'Please, Nick, will you tell Tom? House rule.'

'No problem. But will you do me a favor in return? It would make things a lot easier for us if you didn't tell Tom anything about the Maliskia, or about the deal we have. He's a worrier and I want him to concentrate on the job.' The last thing I needed was her telling him how much money was really involved.

'Of course,' she smiled. 'I never have a problem with keeping information to a minimum. On the other hand, I also find it better to tell the truth about important matters. Maybe Tom would be better off knowing about the Maliskia, and the money, rather than possibly finding out at a later date? Lies can be so confusing and counterproductive; but then, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, do you?'

I wasn't too sure if it was a rhetorical question; whatever, I wasn't going to give her a full answer. I shrugged.

She leaned forward to pick up the book on the coffee table, and as she settled back, her silk bathrobe fell down on either side of her legs. I tried not to look, but couldn't help myself. Liv was one of the most beautiful, attractive, and intelligent women I'd ever seen. It was a pity I had champagne tastes and a lemonade budget. I would never have what it took to attract somebody like her, and, sadly, she didn't strike me as the sort to dispense charity shags to the poor.

She pulled the gown together as she caught my eye. 'Does this bother you? You English are so strange; you're so repressed.'

'What about you lot?' I grinned. 'You seem to be so reserved with strangers, yet think nothing of sitting naked with them in saunas, chatting about the weather. Then you charge out and roll naked in the snow, beating yourselves with birch twigs. So who's playing with a full deck?'

She smiled. 'We're all prisoners of our past, and maybe we Finns more than most.'

That one got me knitting my brow. It was a bit too deep for me.

'I don't expect you to understand this, Nick, but Nordic myth is more deeply ingrained in our psyche than in any of the other Scandinavian cultures. Probably a legacy of all those centuries of Swedish and Russian domination.' She tapped the book. 'A collection of Finnish folklore. See, we're captivated.'

'I'm more of a Harry Potter man myself,' I said. I didn't know what the fuck she was talking about.

It was her turn to look puzzled. She probably thought he wrote spy thrillers, or whatever crap I read.

'Nick, I need to finalize some drop off' she corrected herself 'dead letter box details with you for the information and money exchange. We shall all go to Helsinki in the morning, even if Tom hasn't got through the firewall by then. It's important that he isn't kept in the dark.'

I opened my mouth to speak, but she seemed to have accessed my own firewall. I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or alarmed by the fact that she seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

'Nick, I've already told you there is nothing to be concerned about. No one is looking for you there. Otherwise it would be pointless going, wouldn't it? We all want you to be successful, so why would we be taking such a risk?'

That made sense, but it was less than a week since Carpenter had turned Helsinki into Dodge City, and I didn't want to find myself next door to anyone who mistook me for one of his close personal friends.

'Once you and Tom have left tomorrow night, you must never return here, whatever happens. That way this place remains secure. In any event, no one will be here, as I am leaving soon after you. I will take anything you want to leave behind, and return it at the exchange. You are to make your way to the DLB on Wednesday morning and leave details for a meeting between just the two of us.