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A voice comes from the hallway. “Linda?”

Rick stands beside the boxes in the same navy suit he wore at the vineyard. His eyes move from Linda to Andrei, then rest on me.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, Cassie,” he says.

“I could say the same thing about these boxes.” I step out of Connor’s office. “You promised Andrei you would preserve everything.”

“We are preserving his records.” Rick gestures toward the room. “His workspace needs to be reassigned. Clearing a desk doesn’t mean destroying its contents.”

“Then why start while he’s missing?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

Rick’s attention goes to the facilities worker, who puts down the folders and leaves the office. “This is bank business. I’d rather discuss it somewhere private.”

“We can discuss it here,” Andrei says.

Rick straightens. “I understand your concern, but I won’t conduct an internal personnel review in a hallway.”

Andrei moves closer. I’ve watched him question employees and speak to security officers, and I know how calm he can sound while making people answer him. The man in front of Rick now has the same quiet voice, but his face shows no patience.

“You knew I wanted this room left alone,” Andrei says. “Who ordered it cleared?”

“Facilities received a routine request.” Rick looks past him toward the elevator.

“I asked who gave the order.” Andrei takes another step. Rick tilts his head to meet his eyes. “If one page is missing, I’ll come back to you, and we won’t have an audience for that conversation.”

Rick’s hand closes around his folder handle. For a moment he says nothing, and I see that he understands Andrei exactly as I do. The bank hallway and Linda’s presence are the only reasons this conversation is still polite.

“I approved the reassignment,” Rick says at last. “I also instructed staff to retain Connor’s materials.”

“When?” Andrei asks.

“This morning.”

“Before you came to my office and agreed to preserve them?”

Rick presses his lips together. “I didn’t expect you to interpret a request to keep the records as an instruction to leave his desk untouched.”

“Now you know,” Andrei says. He waits until Rick looks back at him. “Nothing else leaves Connor’s office.”

Rick steps away from him. “You can put your request through counsel.”

“I have.” Andrei’s voice drops, his accent stronger than I’ve heard it before. “Ne ispytivay moyo terpeniye, Rik.” Don’t test my patience, Rick.

Rick might not understand the words, but he understands the threat. His grip tightens around his folder as Andrei steps closer.

“Tell your staff to stop while we’re still having this conversation in front of witnesses.”

The color drains from Rick’s face. He turns to the facilities worker and gives the order. I watch the man place the lid on an empty box and carry it out without looking at any of us. Linda stays near Connor’s desk. She’s seen a part of Andrei I’m still learning to understand, and she’s trying not to show it.

Andrei calls Reid from the hallway. He tells him Rick has already ordered the office cleared and names the boxes and computer. I can hear Reid’s response through the phone.

“The request is going out now. I have the photographs from Rick’s investigator too.”

Andrei’s eyes meet mine. “Send them to Cassie and me.”

My phone receives them while Rick is still beside the office. The first photograph shows Connor’s car in a parking garage, its plate visible beneath a row of fluorescent lights. The next shows a bag on the rear seat. Clothes are visible through the partly open zipper, and an envelope with cash lies beside it.

The photograph is too clear. The bag is close enough that I can see the stitching on its handle. When I swipe to the next image, I can see the inside of the rear door.