Chapter 65
1797 Words
✨Distance✨
Elena Vale
Elena stood there for a moment, her back pressed lightly against the bathroom door, her suitcase still unopened near the entrance. The room was quiet—too quiet. Different from his place. Different from the soft hum of his presence, the way he filled space without trying.
It had only been eleven hours.
Frankfurt to here.
Eleven hours—and somehow it felt longer.
Her eyes moved slowly around the hotel room. Clean. Polished. Impersonal. Nothing out of place. Nothing that felt like him.
That was the problem.
She leaned her head back against the door and exhaled.
She missed him.
Not just in passing. Not just in a fleeting, “I’ll see him soon” kind of way.
It was deeper.
The way he looked at her—like he was always paying attention, even when she thought he wasn’t.The sound of his voice in the mornings—low, still rough from sleep.
The weight of his gaze, those dark eyes that always seemed to see more than she said out loud.
Her fingers lifted slowly, almost without thought.
They traced along her collarbone.
Her eyes closed.
Then higher—just beneath her ear… along her throat.
A soft breath left her.
Ari liked that.
The way he would linger there. The way his touch always felt intentional, like he knew exactly what he was doing to her.
And now—
There was nothing.
Just silence.
Just space.
She didn’t even realize she had moved until she felt the bed beneath her. Her body sank into it as she stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts running ahead of her.
Too fast.
Too far.
She turned suddenly, throwing an arm over her eyes with a quiet groan.
“What is wrong with me…” she muttered under her breath.
This wasn’t her.
She wasn’t the type to get distracted like this. To let someone occupy her mind to the point where she couldn’t even settle into a room without thinking about them.
She exhaled sharply, dragging her hand down her face.
“Pull yourself together, Elena.”
Work.
That’s why she was here.
Focus.
Discipline.
Control.
The things she knew.
The things that had always grounded her.
But even as she told herself that—
Her mind drifted again.
Back to him.
And that was the problem.
Because for the first time in a long time—
She didn’t know if she wanted to pull herself away.
Later that night, in her hotel room, Elena’s phone rang.
She answered immediately.
“Hello.”
“Did you eat?”
She kicked off her shoes and sat on the bed.
“Yes.”
“What did you eat?”
“Why are you interrogating me?”
“I’m making conversation.”
She lay back on the mattress, staring at the ceiling.
“You’re terrible at conversation.”
“I disagree.”
His voice was lower tonight.
Quieter.
“How was the flight?” he asked.
“Long.”
“Are you tired?”
“A little.”
Silence lingered for a moment.
Neither of them rushed to end it.
Finally Elena spoke again.
“I didn’t think I’d miss you this quickly.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
On the other end of the line Ari was quiet.
Then he said softly,
“I know.”
She rolled onto her side, holding the phone closer.
“What are you doing?”
“Working.”
“You should sleep.”
“You first.”
She smiled.
“Are we doing this all night?”
“Probably.”
Time passed slowly while they talked.
Small things.
Work.
The city she had just arrived in.
What he was doing at the office.
Neither of them noticed how late it became.
At one point Elena glanced at the clock.
“It's almost two.”
“Then sleep.”
“You hang up first.”
“No.”
She laughed softly.
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet you’re still on the phone.”
She pulled the blanket over herself.
“Goodnight, Ari.”
A pause.
Then his voice again.
“Goodnight, Elena.”
But neither of them hung up right away.
Just listening to the quiet breathing on the other end—
The way people do when distance suddenly feels much longer than it should.
---
The conference room smelled faintly of coffee and printer ink.
"I'm Paul." He then went on to introduce a few other of the men and women in the room.
Elena sat at the long table while the projector cast pale blue light across the wall. Several agents and analysts filled the room, papers scattered in front of them, laptops open, pens tapping occasionally against notepads.
A man at the front flipped to the next slide.
“We’re not starting from scratch,” Paul said, turning slightly toward the table. “We already have a partial financial trail.”
His gaze shifted to Elena.
“That’s why she’s here.”
A few heads turned her way.
He continued.
“They need someone who already understands the financial network. Someone who’s been following the paper trail from the start.”
Elena leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the table.
The slide showed a web of transactions branching across companies, shell accounts, and offshore transfers.
Familiar.
She had stared at this web for months.
One of the agents near the end of the table spoke.
“You’re the analyst from the Darven investigation, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve already mapped the secondary transfers?”
“Part of them.”
She reached for the remote and stood, moving toward the screen.
“If you follow the transfers through the Singapore shell accounts, they don’t actually stop there.”
Click.
A new slide appeared.
“They split.”
She pointed to the branching lines.
“Three directions. Two are legitimate cover investments. The third is where the money disappears.”
The room quieted.
“And you’ve tracked it?”
“Not completely,” Elena said.
“But far enough to know it isn’t random.”
She tapped the screen again.
“This is a laundering structure. A layered one. Whoever built it expected someone to eventually find the first trail.”
Another agent frowned slightly.
“So the first trail is bait?”
“Yes.”
A few people exchanged glances.
Agent Munroe the man running the briefing nodded slowly.
“Which means the real network is deeper.”
Elena turned back toward the table.
“Yes.”
Silence settled briefly.
Agent Munroe nodded again.
“Alright.”
He pointed to the screen.
“Then we follow her lead.”
---
The federal office was quieter by the time evening arrived.
Most of the team had already left, but Elena was still at her desk, files spread around her laptop.
Transaction numbers.
Account holders.
Dates.
Patterns.
Her eyes moved over the data quickly while she typed.
She didn’t notice how late it had gotten until the building lights shifted into their night setting.
She checked the time.
Almost ten.
Elena leaned back slightly and rubbed her eyes.
Then she reached for her phone.
Three unread messages from Ari.
She smiled faintly.
She opened the first.
Ari:
You alive?
The second.
Ari:
Or did they decide to keep you permanently?
The third.
Ari:
Answer before I assume the worst.
Her smile widened a little.
She typed back.
Elena:
Still alive.
A moment later his reply came.
Ari:
That’s a relief.
She gathered her things and walked out of the building, the cool night air greeting her as she stepped outside.
Another message came through as she reached the car service waiting for her.
Ari:
You sound tired.
She slid into the back seat.
Elena:
Long day.
Three dots appeared.
Then—
Ari:
Call me when you get to the hotel.
She hesitated.
She wanted to.
But she still had reports to finish before morning.
Elena:
I’ll try.
The car pulled away from the curb.
By the time she got back to the hotel it was already late.
Elena changed into a loose shirt and sat at the small desk by the window.
Her laptop glowed in the dim room.
More numbers.
More transfers.
More patterns slowly revealing themselves.
She sent Ari one more message.
Elena:
Still working.
A minute passed.
Ari:
You’re impossible.
She smiled softly.
Elena:
Goodnight.
---
Her phone ringing woke her the next morning.
Elena reached across the nightstand, still half asleep, and grabbed it.
She glanced at the screen.
Ari.
A slow smile spread across her face.
She answered.
“Good morning Ari.”
His voice came through immediately.
“You disappeared yesterday.”
She sat up slightly against the headboard.
“I told you I had work.”
“You sent three messages.”
“I sent four.”
“That doesn’t help your case.”
Elena laughed quietly.
“You’re keeping count?”
“Yes.”
“You’re dramatic.”
“You ignored me.”
“I did not ignore you.”
“You vanished.”
She pushed her hair back from her face, smiling into the phone.
“I was working.”
“You could have called.”
“It was late.”
“I stay up late.”
“Ari—”
“I was waiting.”
The quiet certainty in his voice made her pause.
She softened a little.
“I’m sorry.”
There was a brief silence on the line.
Then he exhaled.
“You could have warned me.”
She leaned back against the pillows.
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Possibly.”
She could hear movement on his side of the line.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“My office.”
“So early?”
“I’ve been here.”
Elena frowned slightly.
“How long?”
“Long enough to realize I don’t like you being several states away.”
Her smile returned.
“You’ll adjust.”
“No.”
“You will.”
“No.”
She laughed softly again.
“Ari…”
His voice lowered slightly.
“Come back soon.”
Something about the way he said it made her chest tighten a little.
“I just got here.”
“I noticed.”
She glanced toward the window where the early morning sun was beginning to rise over the city.
“I have to go,” she said quietly. “Briefing starts in an hour.”
Another small silence.
Then—
“Call me tonight.”
“I’ll try.”
“Not try.”
She smiled.
“I’ll call.”
He paused.
Then finally said,
“Good.”
But neither of them hung up right away.
- Writer
