“She called out of the blue a little over a month ago. I went through the interview process as usual, assuming she was someone I had scouted, but when I had her submit her photo I figured there must have been a mistake. She didn’t fit the profile at all.” Another pause. “So, when I reported the issue to Raife, he instructed me to shred her information, as expected. But then he stopped me and said to hire her anyway.”
I lean a shoulder against the wall and cross one ankle over the other. “What gave him this sudden change of heart?”
“He didn’t say. He simply looked at her picture and decided—”
“The photo she submitted?”
“Yes, he looked at her picture and decided he wanted to give her a chance. So I booked her flight. But, Mr. Matthews, I’m sure my master would be happy to discuss the case with you personally. Honestly I’m a little uncomfortable answering anything further without—”
“Send Aubrey to the camera room.” I hang up and straighten my cuffs.
It’s no question why Raife changed his mind after seeing Emmy’s photo. I’ll bet a single look at Katerina’s mini-me filled his mind with all kinds of fantasies on how he could finally quench his thirst for Katerina’s rightful revenge. The kind of revenge she deserved and escaped from even in death.
Probably explains all the extra pictures in her file, too. He wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from digging up whatever he could on Katerina’s doppelganger. And judging from her file, he wound up at the same dead end I’m at now.
Nothing on her ties to Katerina or Sofia. Nothing on how she got our number in the first place. What she’sreallydoing here.
Aubrey enters the room, and I stride past her, leaving the files behind.
Raife’s manipulations are nothing new. Shit, it’s the only reason he’s alive. Growing up the way we did taught us to put ourselves first. But where I had a mom to look after me for my first eight years, even if we were homeless, Raife never had anyone. There’s no question he would’ve wound up dead long ago if it weren’t for his cleverness, his ability to manipulate. But frankly, it’s beginning to bore me.
Emmy Highland, however, just got a helluva lot more interesting.
