Alex crossed into the great clock tower: now it was already the stroke of midnight. The building stood proud in the night, silvery against the blackened stones.
Francesca was waiting for him in the inside. A dark coat clothed her; her eyes were of fierce intensity.
""Alex, quite happy that you are here, almost whispered those words-about to say what was showing, almost showing something never to be spoken of."
They walked together deeper into the bowels of the tower within a maze of narrow corridors and dimly lit rooms.
After arriving finally at a huge elaborately carved door, Francesca unlocked it to reveal an assembly of computer servers and surveillance equipment.
"What is this?" he asked, wrestling with all kinds of explanations and questions in his mind.
Francesca smiled. "This is the nerve center of our operation," she explained. "From here, we monitor and control everything happening in this city."
At that moment, Alex began to understand the full extent of Francesca's power. She was not merely a pretty face and, instead, a dangerous operator—one who was cool and calculating.
While observing the surroundings, Alex spotted something else that sent chills through him: a photograph of him taken at a moment of vulnerability.
Francesca had caught him staring and smiled even more. "Yes, Alex. I know all about you. And I will use that knowledge to get what I want."
By now, his thoughts raced with a multiplicity of what-would-have-been scenarios. So what did she want? And how far would she go to get it?
In those eyes was shimmering darkness: energy. It could sweep his heart away.
He knew staring right back into those eyes would get him in trouble. He was hopelessly caught in a game of cat-and-mouse in which the stakes had risen beyond anything hecould have ever imagined.
And the one calling the shots? Francesca.