The temperature hasn't dropped by midnight. Sweat lingered on Iris's skin, yet it turned cold. She walked to the hotel numbly, her limbs dragging one after the other.

The red banners of Istria Liberation Alliance stood still on the flagpoles. There wasn't even a dash of wind in the air. Opatija was asleep, drowning in heat and sweat.

Iris felt asleep, as well. Her mind wasn't working properly. Images of her mother, her deceased fiancé and her former self switched in front of her eyes.

All the things she was running away from.

She made her way to her hotel room and entered, only to find Lora bent over her laptop, focus lingering in her expression. Iris closed the door, attracting the blonde's attention.

"Did you get railed?"

Iris chuckled, "I wish. Instead, he broke a man's hand in front of my eyes."

Lora raised her eyebrow, "Your night was more interesting than mine."

Iris slumped into the not-so-comfortable vintage sofa and took a deep breath, "I think I need some wine."

"You and me both, sister." Lora spread out her hand towards the small mini fridge on the floor and pulled out a closed bottle of red wine.

"How is it still so fucking hot?" Iris complained, staring at the unmoving curtains dragged over an open terrace door.

Lora poured some wine and handed the glass to Iris, "Found anything out tonight?"

"Only that we have to track a guy called Siniša and hope a broken arm might be enough for him to spill his guts." Iris sighed. "That is, unless he's too afraid of a broken neck."

"That nasty, ha?" Lora pursed her lips and turned back to her laptop. "Well, I found a bunch of business ventures Igor has. Or had had. This is all the information about the money flow I could dig out."

"Really?" Iris's brows furrowed, she grabbed her glass and pushed herself off the sofa. "Anything interesting?"

"He has a lot of real estate, rents a bunch. This dude doesn't even have to work, money just keeps pouring his way." Lora scrolled through the houses and flats all over the world. Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, a couple of countries in Western Europe and even some offshore real estate, Central America and Southern Asia.

"A construction company?" Iris noticed a working company amongst the closed ones.

Lora nodded, "I guess at some point he decided he wanted to control the materials used for all the real estate he has. It's called Kamenica. Kamen means rock." She let out a chuckle.

Iris frowned at the name.

"But kamenica doesn't translate to rock." Just to be sure, she googled the meaning. She let out a scattered laugh. "It means oyster."

Lora turned her confused eyes to Iris, "Why would you call a construction company Oyster?"

Iris dropped on the stool next to Lora, a dumbfounded smile resting o her lips, "Because it's a type of shell. And this is a shell company."

Lora burst into laughter, "That's brilliant."

"Good to know criminals can have a sense of humour." Iris searched the company on her phone and as she suspected, there was no viable address and no sign of a phone number. Yet, the company seemed to be doing just fine.

Lora was still chuckling when Iris continued, "So, Jovan Petrović serves as the CEO of a very real import-export company which probably operates pretty legally when it isn't smuggling something over the borders."

"And Igor imports and exports the construction material he needs for all the real estate." Lora turned to her partner, realisation and a bit of awe lingering on her face.

"The real estate that is scattered all over the world. Different laws, different jurisdiction and probably a lot of loopholes." Iris pursed her lips. "And the money gets cleaned through Kamenica company."

A wrinkle appeared between Lora's brows, "But what is he smuggling?"

Iris went over everything Igor had told her. Poor mother, dead father, a kid left to take care of his family.

"He was born poor." She mentioned. "His father died when he was twelve. And he desperately needed a quick buck. What does a kid do when he needs a quick buck?"

Lora's face lit up with understanding, "He deals drugs."

"Igor is smuggling drugs over the borders." Iris nodded.

"Even if Balkan Express is smuggling drugs, why would this concern Interpol?" Lora asked a legitimate question.

Iris leaned her elbows against her knees, "There's gotta be a connection between Igor and ILA. Interpol got involved because they suspected financing coming from Balkan Express."

"Balkan Express doesn't mention Igor anywhere." Lora inhaled a sharp breath.

"That's why he has Jovan Petrović." Iris leaned back, suddenly restless.

"Although," Lora murmured, "Bane mentioned something during his post-coital chattering."

Iris lifted her head, "What?"

Lora chuckled, "You'd be surprised how much people share when they think you're too dumb to understand them."

"Spill."

"They told me how they met." Lora's gaze drifted across the keyboard, as if trying to make sense of the information. "Well, how their fathers met. It was during war, somebody tossed somebody a piece of paper to, you know, wipe his ass after number two."

Iris hummed, "That's decent."

"It turned out Bane's dad and Igor's dad had something in common. Their fathers were Yugoslavian partisans. They were antifascists during World War II."

Iris's eyes widened with understanding, "They had same ideals. Dangerously liberal ideals, one might say. And the current rule in Croatia is extremely right, almost... fascist."

"And Istria is a liberal area, the last liberal area in Croatia." Lora concluded.

Iris felt a thug in her heart, a sort of awe awakening with a quiet yawn, "So, by supporting Istria Liberation Alliance, despite the morally questionable tactics, these men might be doing the right thing."

Lora let out a sigh, "I wouldn't be so quick to draw conclusions, though."

"You're right." Iris shook off the sudden burst of positive emotions. "We need to dig through this more."

Lora turned to Iris, "What's our plan?"

"Well, we don't have any evidence..." Iris's voice trailed off as her phone lit up with a new text message from an unknown number.

I dug out your number. How would you like to accompany me to Dubrovnik?

Iris stared at the message, mixed emotions dancing in her heart. A part of her wanted to stay and get to the bottom of the mission. Istria could be the best place to start, especially if Igor had connections in high places.

Still, there was her own, selfish mission, which very much included being by Igor's side. There was a possibility he knew the man that could help Iris disappear. She could only dig that out if she spent every waking minute as close to Igor as possible.

Lora leaned over Iris's phone, "He's texting you, isn't he?"

Iris hid her phone on instinct, "He wants me to accompany him to Dubrovnik."

And then she remembered she stole Igor's phone from the trash back when they were in Rovinj. A jolt of excitement burst through her and she leaped off the chair without explanation. The phone was patiently waiting in her bag.

Lora shouted after her, "What now?"

Iris smiled triumphantly, "I stole his phone."

Lora let out a happy squeal. Yet when Iris tried to turn it on, it wasn't possible.

"It was working when I picked it up," Iris sighed, "he can't possibly have a tech guy whose sole purpose is to shut down his phones once he throws them in the trash."

"Wanna try charging it?" Lora chuckled.

"I somehow doubt it's that easy." Iris slumped back into that uncomfortable sofa.

"Roger probably has someone who can retrieve the information." Lora said and looked over Iris. "You want to go to Dubrovnik, don't you?"

"I think I should." Iris said, immediately trying to come up with a reason why. "He likes me. And he wants to show me the world. I say, why not?"

Lora's brows furrowed, "Yes, but what's to gain?"

"Trust." Iris stated. "Loyalty. Information. Probably some good dick."

"Always trying to get the best of everything, aren't you?" Lora let out a familiar sigh, she was suspecting Iris might hijack the mission at some point.

Iris smiled faintly, "Shoot for the moon, Doll."

"Just so you know, I don't think this a good idea." Lora shook her head and her shoulders slumped. She was well aware the fact she didn't like it wouldn't stop Iris from doing it.

"I think it's a great idea." Iris said. "He's opening up to me. I could easily dig out anything we might need."

Lora chuckled, "You're not doing this because of the mission. For all you care, the mission can completely and utterly fail as long as you get what you want."

Iris kept her eyes firmly locked on her partner, "Just like you said, trying to get the best out of everything."

Suddenly, her partner's demeanour changed, she was not amused anymore, "It's easy for you, Iris, you have a degree to get back to. You know what's waiting for me? A strip pole. Hell, the only reason I have this job is because I'm so fucking good at fucking."

Iris's forehead wrinkled, "That's not all you're good at. And even if I screw up, you'll get your money."

Confusion coloured Lora's eyes, "What do you mean?"

Iris leaned forward, "I'll send everything I find out to you. All you need to do to get the bonus is present our superiors with a proven connection between Igor and ILA. No matter how vague that connection is."

"What about your bonus?"

Iris took a moment to prepare herself for the outburst of honesty, "You know how you always think I have an agenda? How my plans are never entirely aligned with the mission?"

Lora said nothing, her gaze hardened and her lips thinned.

"Well, you're right this time." Iris swallowed the spit collecting in her mouth. "I'm going to follow Igor because he can lead me to a man who can help me disappear forever."

***
Thank you for reading! Please remember to vote and comment if you liked this chapter!
Btw, the political scene in the story is made up and a bit dystopian. Croatia is fine (kind of) 😂