Draco could practically see the wheels turning in her head like they were in his.
The money was the way to get Sterling to show his true colors. Tracing who owned it through shell companies would lead them on wild goose chases and take time they didn’t have.
Cate’s brow furrowed. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I learned the hard way what that money means to me. I kept copies of all those documents. I did all the dirty work, took the risks, sacrificed my life, my family and my career. I told him I wanted half.” He snorted.
“He said no.”
“The man wants the money, the job, his pension and reputation. The way to keep it all is to eliminate me.” He looked up at Cate. “He would’ve taken Dana as well. She’s safer in jail than out where he can get to her. The man wants me dead and wouldn’t hesitate to use anyone else to get to me.”
Cate stared at the man for a long silent moment, broken only by her cell phone’s chirp.
Draco’s sounded at the same time. He glanced down at the message.
Dmytro: I’m in the account
Cate glanced up at the same time as Draco, her eyes wide.
She turned to Marcus, her lips pressing into a straight line. “You’re about to be worth a lot more to him,” she said. “Alive.”
Chapter 12
Cate paced the length of the conference room back at the Brotherhood Protectors International headquarters.
Silence reigned while Dmytro sat at his desk, his bank of monitors glowing. Lucie had pulled her chair close and leaned over his shoulder, her purple hair tucked loosely behind her ears.
As Cate passed them, she noted the largest monitor, with a bank account balance displayed in euros, which converted to approximately nine million US dollars.
Dmytro sat back in his chair. “It’s there. I can access it. What do we do with it?”
Cate stopped directly behind him and stared at the balance. “We don’t take it. That would be stealing, and we’d be labeled thieves, no better than Calloway and Sterling. No court is going to listen to us or trust us.”
“You’re right,” Brandt said. “You can’t do anything.” Her lips curled at the corners. But I can freeze it. If we suspect an account is being used for money laundering, under Swiss law, we can freeze the assets. With my name and signature, it would be legal.” Her smile spread across her face. “Herr Dmytro will ensure the freeze holds while we catch up with the paperwork.”
“Brilliant,” Hammer said. “And when Sterling loses access?—”
“He’ll come out of the woodwork, looking for the source of the disruption.”
Brandt made the call. Dmytro’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Moments later, the account went from AKTIVES KONTO to GEFROREN.
Active to Frozen.
How long would it take for Sterling to notice?
Nothing happened.
Fifteen minutes later, at 3:43 in the afternoon, a login attempt was made and failed.
Another attempt was made and failed at 3:56.
Still another at 4:07.
Dmytro tapped his fingers on the keyboard, frowned and kept tapping. Finally, he sat back, shaking his head. “That login attempt went through an array of servers. I followed it around the globe until it disappeared.” He turned to Cate. “Calloway was correct. Whoever is trying to access that account has to be getting angry.”
“Or desperate,” Draco said.
Cate’s cell phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket. The call was from her father. She answered, “Hey, Dad.”
