“Okay, where are we on Leon?” I ask my team. Sara and Josh are on their laptops, Adam is talking on the phone, and Oliver is looking over some papers.
Sara addresses me. “I hacked into the financial records of the restaurant, and everything looks legit.” I sigh. Sara holds up her finger, indicating she is not done yet. “Everything is squeaky clean, but financial and legal documents need to be sent somewhere.” She turns the laptop to me, and I look at her screen.
“18 Via Scogli del Sud, Reggio Calabria, Italy. Wait.” I give the laptop back to Sara. “Leon has a home there?”
“It seems like it. His fake name is registered to that address. Once Lana wakes up, she can tell us if that place means anything to her.”
“Agree. Didn’t we have an employee in Italy, though?”
“We had one in Catanzaro. Adam called him about half an hour ago, but the guy is away on a job in Thailand. If it comes down to it, one of us will go there. We’ll go by car because it’s much faster than by plane,” Sara tells me matter-of-factly. It’s the efficiency and intelligence I admire the most in my team. I don’t have to tell them what to do, they draw up their own conclusions and go with it.
“M.” I hear Josh calling my name. I turn my attention toward him. “I cross-referenced Nole Cavicorm across different platforms, and I got one more hit.”
“Where?” I put out my cigarette and listen intently.
“12 Rue des Étoiles, Saint-Gingolph, Switzerland. The fucker is really bringing it home.”
“He is. And let me guess, we have nobody there as well?” I ask Josh, and he shakes his head. Adam has joined the conversation by sitting next to Sara.
“Guys,” Sara addresses us, and we all listen to her. “Isn’t it weird that we are the ones closest to all of these places?” Her question hangs in the air as we are all digesting it.
Oh, you clever motherfucker.
“What is it, M?” Adam asks me. The corners of my mouth lift in a micro-smile, almost imperceptible.
“It’s not a fucking coincidence that all of our employees are away on a job,” I tell him while I can barely contain my laughter. Oliver is the first to understand what Sara and I are thinking, and his mouth opens wide in shock.
“That fucking bastard! He probably knew our employees would be away on a job and purposefully planned the entire ambush around it.”
“Fuck me,” Josh answers in an exasperated tone.
“Later, maybe.” Oliver can’t help himself, and we all sigh while keeping a straight face. It’s essential to bring a bit of humor into these situations; we wouldn’t survive without it.
“Maybe we should figure out who is going to go where. But first, we need to ask Lana if any of those places mean something to her,” I tell them.
“Do we know what those addresses entail? Are they also restaurants or something else?” Adam asks, looking first at Sara and then at Josh. They answer at the same time.
“An office.”
“An office? How convenient,” Adam replies dryly, and I don’t blame him. Offices within my world mean it’s just a cover-up for something sinister.
“No, they really are offices. Small ones, like a house, but still an office. We checked pictures online,” Josh shares with us.
“What the actual fuck? I don’t believe that fucking shit.” Oliver’s frustration is something I feel as well. It’s complete bullshit.
“Why would Leon have two offices with employees there? Maybe it means something to Lana,” Josh counteracts Oliver.
“Listen, why would those places mean something to her? She has lived her entire life in that closed-off fucking town in Switzerland.”
“Guys, let’s just wait on Lana. Maybe it truly doesn’t mean anything—”
“They had their wedding in Calabria and honeymoon in Saint-Gingolph. Those places meant everything to him.”
Lana.
55
Lana
