Page 6 of Blood Mosaic

“Thank you for your patience while we sorted things out.” She reached back for the briefcase her companion was carrying. “Why don’t we speak in my conference room?”

“Of course.” Tatyana glanced out the window as she followed the executive down a wood-paneled hallway. She’d been waiting so long the sun was already setting. “What time do you think?—”

“This shouldn’t take much longer, but to go over all the paperwork to settle your back pay, you might need to come back tomorrow morning. Again, I am so sorry for the wait. I had to travel unexpectedly last night. You’re staying in town, yes?”

Tatyana nodded. “At a hotel.” A run-down tourist trap, but it was cheap and clean.

“I hope you realize we will be compensating you for all your travel expenses as well.”

Elene Beridze ushered her into a conference room dominated by a wooden table carved with a rose detail. There was a crystal chandelier overhead, and a gilt-framed mirror dominated the longest wall.

Tatyana tried not to stare. A gold flower from the edge of that mirror could probably pay her mother’s expenses for a month.

“You never should have had to track us down as you did,” Elene continued, “so the expenses related to that will be reimbursed. We have a standing agreement at the Admiral Hotel for employees who need to work in town. Can we put you in a room there on our account?”

Tatyana blinked. “That’s all right. I only want to settle this as quickly as possible so I can return to my mother.”

“Of course.” Elene motioned for her assistant to pull out a chair for Tatyana before she dismissed the man. “Please join me. I’ve seen the copies of the paperwork you’ve already submitted, but I have a few questions.”

“Of course.” Tatyana took a deep breath. “Are those questions related to all the money Zara stole from you?”

Elene froze, and her only movement for a few moments was a long blink. “You’re direct, Miss Vorona. I appreciate that.”

Tatyana looked around the office and decided that she currently had nothing to lose. “I’m not interested in dishonesty, Miss Beridze. I approached SMO because I need to be paid but also because I knew that Zara was probably running two sets of books.” She placed her hand on her messenger bag. “I have the real accounts. I would like to be paid the salary that I am owed, but I want to make things right. If you would like, I can make myself available to help you find the money that Zara stole.”

There was a flicker of amusement in Elene’s eyes. “As I said before, I appreciate directness.”

“Then you should also appreciate that whatever money I recover for you, I would expect a percentage of it.” It was a huge gamble, but day after day in SMO’s offices made Tatyana bold. “A finder’s fee.”

And desperate.

Elene smiled a little bit. “You want a finder’s fee for telling us you helped Zara embezzle money from our corporation?”

“I’m only a bookkeeper, Ms. Beridze. I embezzled nothing. In fact, I worked for six months without pay.”

Elene lifted her chin. “This is true.”

Tatyana kept her hand on her messenger bag. “I compiled accounts and organized money, which I believe I can help you recover. It is not illegal to receive a consulting fee in this situation, but itisillegal to file false tax reports as Zara must have done under your corporate aegis.”

Elene cocked her head. “An interesting choice of words,” she murmured. “So you are saying that if we cannot come to an agreement, you will be reporting SMO to regulators in Sevastopol?”

“As an employee who could also be held responsible for any trespass of the law, I would feel a responsibility to come forward if I knew illegality had been committed by my employer.”

“Are you attempting to blackmail us?”

Tatyana didn’t flinch. “Not at all. I am very sure that all of Zara’s actions were taken without your consent, and” —she chose her words carefully— “Itrustthat a firm with the reputation that SMO International carries would correct all those reports once the theft has been reported and the money is recovered.”

Fat chance that they would, but that wasn’t Tatyana’s responsibility.

“Of course,” Elene said. “If a violation was proven to us, we would report it to the proper authorities.”

“But to prove SMO is not involved, the company would have to recover the money first.”

Elene leaned forward. “And you can do that for us?”

Tatyana fixed a confident and cool expression on her face. “I can.”

The corner of Elene’s mouth flicked up. “I hope you don’t mind late nights, Miss Vorona.” She glanced at the darkening sky out the window. “Because if you want more than your back pay, there’s one more person you will need to meet.”

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