The manager looks immensely relieved. “Of course. Please make an appointment at the desk and we can reconvene at a later date.” He still tries to hand me the coffee, but I refuse and walk away with Faina in tow. She breaks away in the foyer and hurries over to the desk to make the follow-up appointment, then returns to my side with a smile.
“What’s the point in that?”
Faina rolls her eyes. “We’re in character and trying to be inconspicuous. If we were a real couple with a real desire to open an account, we’d want that appointment.”
“True.”
“Don’t you ever think ahead?” She snorts as we make it outside.
“I was the tactical brain,” I reply softly. “Saoirse was the one good at this kind of stuff.”
“Shit.” She stops and turns toward me. “I’m sorry. First your dad and now your sister. I’m two for two.”
“It’s… it’s not you,” I say as the urge to reassure her swiftly rises. “They’re constantly on my mind, y’know? Sometimes, I think I hear my phone buzz and look at it expecting to see a message from Cormac. Every time someone calls, I think it’s Saoirse because she hates…hatedtexting. Every time I smell baking or think about horses, I think of Ma. They’re around constantly. Every little thing reminds me of them and I can’t stop it. I know they’re gone, I do, but ever since the hospital, I’ve had this sliver of hope that somehow, they’re still out there.”
Sympathy warms Faina’s face. “Would they do that? Would they hide from you?”
“If the disaster was big enough, then maybe, but for six months?” I shake my head. “It’s stupid to hope, but I can’t let it go. Not yet.”
“Losing so many people… I don’t blame you.” She signs softly. “You can talk about them, y’know. If you want to.”
I squeeze her hand. “Thanks. Anyway, did you get what you were after?”
“Yup.” She slips a pen drive from her pocket and wiggles it. “Wanna go ask a real asshole some questions?”
The ownerof the bank account is a man called Evri who turns as pale as a ghost when we turn up at his door. There’s no chance to ask questions as Faina attacks him immediately and ties him up in his own kitchen. The man panics and plays dumb for a good ten minutes until Faina punches him so hard that a tooth clatters across his tiled floor.
“I’m not here for your bullshit!” she yells. “This isn’t me trying to get the answers out of you, asshole. This is me already with the answers and I want to know the next step!”
Blood drools from Evri’s fat lower lip and his head lolls to the side until Faina grabs a fistful of his hair and forces him upright. “You received payment from an account I’ve been tracking for a while. That money was for the sale of a Russian woman and the money hit your account once you shipped her to whoever bought her, didn’t you?”
“You’re crazy,” Evri slurs around another mouthful of blood. “I’m just a postman!”
“Liar!” She releases him and snatches up a knife from the counter where Evri had been in the process of carving some meat for his lunch when we interrupted him. The moment she plunges the blade into his thigh, I have to step out.
I used to have a stronger stomach than this, but the sight of the blade piercing flesh and Evri’s scream make my stomach turn and my left leg ache like I’m on the receiving end. I step outinto Evri’s garden and wander between his potted plants and tall trees that block out the sun.
Saoirse would be ashamed. As the hours tick by, I end up perched on a curved stone bench that rests at the door of the garden. Faina slides open the patio door and steps outside, breathing deeply. She’s drying her hands on a towel as she walks toward me, and while she looks rather presentable, there’s blood splattered on her jeans and shirt.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“You okay?” She sits next to me and runs her eyes up and down me. “Was it too much?”
“A little. Sorry.”
“Nah.” Faina shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. After everything, I don’t blame you.”
“Did you get anything out of him?”
“Had to break a few fingers and fuck up his ankle, remove a few more teeth, but yeah, I got a name.”
Our gazes meet. “Within Hexagon?”
“Yes. Hawk.”
“Hawk? What is he, some American douchebag?”
