Is this destiny?

In a spacious office on a 15th floor of a luxurious resort-style building, Mr. Patel is sitting behind his desk and reading through some documents. Door of his office opened abruptly and a man with a mask covering his face and wearing a dark blue cloak stormed inside.

Number of guards followed right after him, and few jumped out from behind Mr. Patel, blocking the path for the man. Man with number 71 on his left chest pocket was surrounded as soon as he stepped through the entrance to the office.

Mr. Patel raised his gaze from the documents lazily and looked at the man whose chest heaved in anger so much that it was visible even with a cloak on. "Mr. 71, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You better give me everything you have on a girl with number 30!", man roared right from the door while pointing his finger angrily and ignoring the guards.

Mr. Patel was unphased with his outburst. "Oh? Why would I do that?"

"Do you know who I am?", man advanced two steps, but was stopped by the guards who closed in on him. Few of them pulled their guns and pointed them to his head.

Mr. Patel waved his hand slightly, and guards took a step back, making way for 'Mr. 71' to face Mr. Patel.

Mr. Patel chuckled. "I know who you are, but did you forget who I am?" Mr. Patel leaned back in his chair. His eyes squinted as threatening vibe emanated from him. "This is not your territory. You should show respect if you want to leave this place in one piece."

'Mr. 71' straightened his back, glanced at the guards around him and adjusted his mood.

Mr. Patel smiled with an icy smile, "That is better. Now, how can I help you?"

"I want information related to the girl with number 30.", he repeated his request. His voice was much calmer, but it was obvious that he was highly displeased with the current situation.

"Mr. 71, you are aware of the policies here. If the young lady wishes to reveal her identity to you, that is her right. However, we don't disclose information on the participants. That is how we maintain our integrity and ensure that they want to come back next time." Mr. Patel paused while slowly leaning forward. "Even me addressing you as 'Mr. 71' and not by your name is part of those policies."

Man looked at Mr. Patel and murderous glint appeared in his eyes. "You will regret this.", he squeezed through his teeth.

Mr. Patel chuckled and stood up from his chair. He slowly walked around his desk and faced the man. "I don't believe in regrets. But if I did, right now I would regret the fact that I listened to my associate and let you in." He paused for few seconds, as if he is enjoying furious reaction of 'Mr. 71', before continuing, "If you would be so kind to remove your cloak and leave right now, we will avoid any further… incidents."

Man was dissatisfied by this treatment. He is the big boss. Everyone listens to him… but he can also judge the situation. There is quite a number of guards here, most of them are armed, and few of them are holding him at gunpoint. And his men were not allowed in. Even if he manages to get rid of the guards and Mr. Patel, that does not guarantee that he will get the information he wants. He will find another way… Man reluctantly gave a small nod, and removed his cloak, tossing it to the floor. He defiantly lifted his chin before leaving the office.

"Follow him, and make sure he leaves.", Mr. Patel gave instructions to the guards.

He watched as the elevator door closed with 'Mr. 71' and number of guards inside before returning back to sit at his desk.

Another man stepped from behind the screen on the side. "Saheb*, should we follow him?"

Mr. Patel glanced at the man. "Yes. Keep an eye on him, and make sure he does not come back."

"How long?"

"Until tomorrow night." Mr. Patel wants to ensure safety of participants during the event. Tomorrow night the event ends, and after that his responsibility ends.

Man nodded in understanding and left the office, closing the door behind him.

Mr. Patel was in his thoughts, not moving, for some time. He was trying to make sense of all this, why would 'Mr. 71' show interest in the girl who introduced herself as Mrs. Black? If he asked casually, Mr. Patel would probably not suspect anything… but he barged into his office and even showed hostility. "Interesting…" Mr. Patel mumbled. His curiosity about Sarah was increasing by the second.

After some time, he concluded that 'Mr. 71' will probably try to find information on participant number 30 in some other way. He is not a man who will give up.

Mr. Patel made a phone call. "Create backup of event related records locally and remove data from our network." That was all he said before hanging up and going back to his documents.

…

Sarah and Aiden got in their room.

Aiden wanted to know what is on her mind, but he was aware that they can't talk in front of the staff. Heck! Even their room is not safe, since it might be bugged, but it's the best they got. He closed the door behind them and removed his mask. Seeing that Sarah is not removing hers, he did it himself and observed her expression. After few painfully long seconds he could not wait any more, "Will you tell me what happened?"

"Man… the man from that evening which came from VVIP room with bodyguards. Do you remember? You said that he liked me, and I responded that it can't be the case, and that he looked like he knew who I am…" Aiden nodded, and Sarah continued. "He is here. Blue robe, number 71."

"Are you sure? Everyone's faces are covered."

Sarah nodded. "It was just for a moment, but I saw his face. I'm not wrong about this."

There were few seconds of silence before Aiden spoke with a playful expression, "71? How about we find out who that is…" Aiden's gaze fell on two laptops they got last night for the event.

Sarah followed his line of sight and her face lit up. "You are brilliant!" She leaped on the sofa and opened the laptop with number 30 while mumbling, mostly to herself, "Last night we had a connection, let's see if it's still on… and even if it's not, there must be something… these laptops will have logs with information about previous networks they connected to… I'm sure that those people in white can't afford to go offline for three days… they have something running, we just need to find it."

Aiden was next to her, opening laptop with number 31. He saw her lit up face full of excitement and pulled her in for a kiss. "Let's do this together."

She smiled and gave a small nod.

They found hidden network and used it to find files related to the event.

Sarah was going through records. "Here… I see 30 and my email, 31 and yours… now we know this is the correct place…" she scrolled down to find 71, and Aiden leaned in to see her screen. Both frowned. "Something is off here…" Records for participants 71, 72, 73, 74 and 75 had no email associated, they were blank, as if no one should have those numbers.

A second later, Aiden's laptop showed notification. He glanced at Sarah, "Get out! They are deleting them!"

With few swift keyboard strokes, she closed her connections and exhaled. "Do you think they found me?"

Aiden shook his head. "No. I was watching connections. You were the only one in… Notification showed that someone else is establishing a connection with copy and delete. I'm sure you got out before delete executed."

She smiled. "I'm lucky to have you watch over me, my dear hubby."

He grinned so much that his cheeks hurt.