Viktor grins like a pleased papa. “No. That was his own initiative. He’s always had a deft touch with safes, and home safes are almost always a joke. My protégé is performing better than I anticipated this early into his training.”
I settle back in the chair. “Did he find anything interesting in the safe?”
Viktor shrugs a shoulder. “The papers are in the suitcase he took, along with all the files in Dominic’s desk. We’ll need to go through them to know that.”
“Everything Fedor did sets the story we decided on, which is he ran with money he owed to dangerous people? There are no loose ends that a smart detective of Karpov might find?”
Viktor sets down his tablet. “No. The body is being sent upstate to an…associate with a pig farm, and he’ll ensure no evidence remains. The narrative we’ve created is close enough to the truth that anyone who knew him will believe it.”
“Including Karpov?”
“He’ll have no reason not to believe it, but he’ll probably suspect you found out and took him out.”
I nod, agreeing with him.
“Karpov will know Dominic is dead within forty-eight hours. The question is whether the recordings he already has are enough, or if he comes looking for the rest. He won’t care about Dominic going missing, but he will care about losing his inside man.”
“He’ll come looking.” I stand up to make another cup of espresso, waiting by the machine while Viktor refills his swill from the thermos. I press the appropriate buttons and put my cup under the dispenser. “The hard drive and USB backups are with Grigor. Karpov has fragments. He’ll want the complete set.”
Viktor grimaces, which could be from the cheap coffee he just drank or his reaction to the situation. “That means he’ll want to talk to anyone who might know where the rest is stored.”
I glance down the hall as the machine dispenses my perfect espresso. “He’ll want Aurora. So will Eric Hayes.” I clench my fists at having to speak his name, because he wants her for more than just investigative reasons.
As though speaking her name summons her, the guest suite door opens at the end of the hall. Aurora walks out wearing a T-shirt and cotton shorts from the bag Viktor’s people packed, and her hair is loose around her shoulders. She looks smaller withoutthe Echelon dress and the professional composure she wears like armor. She obviously tried to sleep and couldn’t.
She gets a glass of water from the kitchen tap, drinks half of it, and sits at the far end of the dining table. She doesn’t acknowledge Viktor beyond a glance, and Viktor doesn’t acknowledge her beyond a nod. I take my espresso back to the table, and the three of us sit in the kitchen at four in the morning like this is a business meeting, which in some ways it is.
“I heard you say Eric’s name.” She sets down the glass. “He’s going to be the lead detective, isn’t he?”
“He volunteered.” I make my tone matter-of-fact. “His department approved it because of his familiarity with the venue.”
“His familiarity with me is what he’s after.” She turns the glass slowly on the counter. “You should know what you’re dealing with. Eric doesn’t operate through threats or violence. He operates through reasonableness. He makes himself useful. He offers to help, and the help always comes with access, which always comes with control, and by the time you realize what happened, you’re living inside his version of your life instead of your own.”
I clench my teeth but manage to sound calm when I ask, “How long were you together?”
“Two years. It took me eighteen months to understand what he was doing, and another six to leave.” She looks at me directly. “When someone is quiet about their control, it’s easier to doubt yourself than to doubt them. Eric never yelled. He never threatened. He just corrected me until I stopped trusting myown judgment, and then he became the only judgment I had left.”
I have to loosen my hold on the ceramic handle of my espresso cup or risk breaking it. “What does he do when he can’t reach you?”
“He escalates through channels. Last time I stopped answering his calls, he showed up at the club three nights in a row and told Dominic he was checking on a safety concern in the neighborhood. Dominic let him in every time.” She pauses and looks at the table. “Before that, he contacted my mother and told her he was worried about me. My mother called me crying and asked why I wouldn’t let a nice man help me. That’s how he works. He doesn’t come at you directly. He goes through the people you care about until the pressure comes from every direction and the easiest thing to do is just answer his call.”
“Who else will he approach?”
She hesitates. “I’m not close with anyone at work, so I think besides my mother, just my friend, Marisol Cruz, but probably not right away. She’s the only one who has repeatedly told him to fuck off and will continue joyfully telling him that as many times as she can.” She smiles briefly. “She hates the prick, like a good best friend.”
That’s useful. It tells me exactly how Hayes will escalate when he discovers Aurora is unreachable, and that Marisol Cruz and Denise Moore need to be briefed before Hayes reaches out to them. I make a mental note to have Viktor assess both contacts by morning.
“You’re sure he’ll contact your mother?”
Aurora’s expression tightens. “He already has her number. He called her three months ago and told her I was isolating myself. My mother believed him because Eric sounds reasonable, and she doesn’t understand that reasonable is his weapon.”
“We’ll brief her.”
“No.” Aurora says it firmly. “My mother can’t know where I am or who I’m with. She’s not equipped to lie to a detective, and she’ll panic if she knows I’m in danger. I’ll call her from the secure line and tell her I’m traveling for work. I’ll also tell her Eric is trying to get back together, and I’m not interested. She’ll believe that. She’ll think I’m letting a good man slip away and will probably lecture me about that.” She rolls her eyes and sips her water.
I nod. Managing Denise Moore directly would create more exposure than protection. Aurora knows her mother’s limits and has already built the cover story in her head. She’s thinking ahead even if she doesn’t call it that.
“He won’t get near you.” I say it with more certainty than I’ve said anything tonight. “Viktor and I will handle Hayes.”
