Lucie snorted. “I’m a better hacker, by a long shot.”
“I concede to that truth,” Dmytro said with a reverent nod. “But I can still teach her a lot about the technical and moral aspects of our work.”
Again, Lucie snorted.
Cate glanced around the room, searching for the envelopes.
“You have come for the documents you retrieved from the safe deposit box.” Dmytro strode to a copier machine, lifted the stack of envelopes from a tray beside it, and pointed to another stack of fresh copies. “I copied all of them.”
“Good,” Cate said. “I’d like to take the originals with us to the hotel.”
“Lucie and I are monitoring CCTV footage, looking for the dead husband who is not dead.”
“He sounds like a zombie,” Lucie said without turning. “Dead but not dead?” She shook her head. “I guess it’s a great way to disappear. The problem for him is that there are eyes everywhere, if you know how to use them. Since the money is in a bank in Zurich, if he’s alive, he’ll eventually try to access it.”
“We have set up an alert if anyone attempts to withdraw the nine million dollars,” Dmytro said, “and we are running facial recognition software against the footage from those CCTV cameras positioned throughout the city.”
“Great. Hopefully, you’ll get a hit soon. He’s the reason I’m here. I know he’s out there somewhere.” Cate frowned. “I’ll be damned if he pins his murder on my friend.”
“You’re the kind of friend I want on my side,” Lucie said. “We’ll let you know when we get a hit.”
“Thanks.” Cate started to gather the envelopes.
“Wait,” Dmytro said. He darted into a supply room and emerged with a leather satchel just the right size to hold all the envelopes and the ledger. Instead of handing it to Cate, he packed the envelopes and ledger into the satchel and held it out to Cate.
She took it and smiled at the Ukrainian. “Thank you, Dmytro. You’re a true gentleman.”
His face flushed a blotchy red. “You are welcome, myla divchyna.”
“You’ve made a friend in Dmytro,” Lucie called out. “And though he has a super sweet wife and daughter, he loves to adopt the ladies. He calls us his bonus daughters.”
“How does his wife feel about that?”
Lucie chuckled. “She enjoys cooking for all of us.”
Dmytro grinned. “She comes from a large family. The more people in her kitchen and at her table, the happier she is.”
“I would like to meet your wife, Dmytro,” Cate said and hefted the satchel in one hand. “Call if you find anything. I don’t care how late.”
“We will.” Lucie waved her black-tipped fingers without looking over her shoulder again. “Nice to meet you both.”
They left the building and had the driver take them to a restaurant close to Hotel Bieri. When he dropped them at the curb, Draco thanked him and informed him they wouldn’t need him for the rest of the day.
The sun had dipped below the tops of the high-rises on its trajectory toward a horizon, hidden by city sprawl. Long shadows spread out over the streets as restaurants turned on lights and lit candles.
Draco took the satchel from Cate and followed her into the Italian restaurant.
Scents of tomato sauce and onion filled her senses and made Cate’s stomach rumble. “Wow, that smells amazing,” she said as she slid into a chair.
“Yes, it does,” Draco said, taking the seat facing the door.
“After two weeks of substandard food, I can’t seem to get enough of all my favorites,” Cate said. “Italian being one of them. Give me a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, and I’m yours for life.”
“Is that all it takes?” Draco cocked an eyebrow. A moment later, he waved for the waiter and immediately ordered spaghetti bolognese for both of them, a beer for him and white wine for her.
“Uh,” Cate frowned. “I might have liked to look at the menu.”
“My apologies. I got excited about a bowl of spaghetti and forgot myself.” He reached over to the empty table beside them and snagged a menu. “You order what you want. I’ll enjoy two bowls of spaghetti.”
