I stare at her, unsure of if she’s being serious. The video is blurry and difficult to make out, but if she’s right, there are some major pieces to the puzzle missing here.
“Are you sure?” Jackson asks.
She slowly nods, leaning in closer. “I mean, I could be wrong. I don’t get why he would be in your office at three a.m., but it looks like him.”
“What’s her boyfriend’s name?” Jackson asks, pulling up another program on the computer.
“Nikolai . . . I don’t know his last name. He goes by Nik.”
My blood turns to ice at the Russian name. It immediately puts me on high alert, and I look around the apartment on instinct. The shadows are only a product of the dim lighting coming from the kitchen. Kate watches as Jackson does a search.
“She met him at the same bar that we did—Divine Taste.”
The scene at the bar from the night I met Kate immediately flashes in my mind. Her short pink dress and intoxicating smile are most of what I noticed, but I force myself to laser in on the faces in the background.
Derek was there, being a usual prick, bragging about the new deal he made by screwing a politician’s daughter. His antics give me a headache, but unfortunately, our world intersects with business quite often.
I close my eyes, my memory of the night from before Kate entered unfolding. There was a redhead at the bar, giving me a look, but I wasn’t interested. A man to her left kept complaining that his drink wasn’t strong enough, insisting the bartender remake it.
“The bartender.”
I open my eyes to see Kate nodding.
“Mel went home with him that night.”
So, Nikolai—no doubt a fake name—was planted there to spy on me.
“Did they leave after we did?”
“Yes. I think she had to wait for his shift to end.”
So, he was with her roommate that entire night, presumably. Does this make Georginne innocent? Was Nikolai somehow responsible for Kate becoming my assistant? My head is spinning as I try to determine what Garrison could have to do with all of this.
“Did you talk to him at all?”
She shrugs. “I ordered a drink—no, wait. Mel ordered for me. Something pink and really strong.”
Did he drug her?
Kate didn’t seem drugged, but she certainly was bold in approaching me. I’m not approachable according to Fallon.
“What do you remember about Mel’s conversation with him? Or maybe what you two were talking about that he could’ve overheard?” I ask.
Her face turns pensive as she tries to recall. It was over a month ago, so the details are no doubt unclear.
“I remember her flirting with him. She’d been there before, and she was hoping to see him. She wanted me to find a guy to...help me forget my shitty day. I’m really not usually like that, but I had been with Stephen for eight years, so...anyway.” She breaks off, looking away. Her cheeks are turning pink.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed, Kate. I don’t typically act that way either.”
Jackson interrupts, “Found him. Thirty-two years old. Real name is Edik Lebedev. Doesn’t have any kind of visa, so his US records are spotty. He’s registered on several porn sites, and he seems to be working for cash only. Although the bartender job is probably just a cover to keep an eye on you for Tycos.”
“Any obvious link to him?”
“Nothing yet, but I’ll find it.”
“The long hair is consistent with who broke into the apartment.”
I turn to Kate, whose eyes have widened again. She stands up.
