Page 71 of Resurrection

“Finn Donaghey?” she asks.

“The one and only.” I release our handshake and sink into my seat. “You heard of me?”

“CIA is offering a tidy sum for information on your whereabouts.”

“CIA can go fuck themselves. I’m not going to jail.” Is she threatening me or warning me? “And I’ll kill anyone who tries to get me there—reward or not.”

Ekaterina laughs and goes to the other side of the table, away from me and closer to Carys. “I wasn’t suggesting I’d be turning you in.”

She has almost no trace of an accent. If it wasn’t for her name, I might mistake her for American. Jay leaves a seat between us and slides into another, closer to Carys who sits at the head of the table with her various charts and graphs printed.

“Thanks for coming here.” Carys’s smile is strained.

“I’m hoping you can give me insight into what the hell happened with Valeriya,” Ekaterina says. “I go to Moscow for a meeting, and when I return she’s flown to Ireland and gotten herself killed.”

“We’re trying to put those pieces together.”

“She wasn’t always the most reliable employee, but she didn’t deserve that end.”

“She wasn’t reliable?” Carys frowns.

“Last four or five months, she was full of herself. Seemed to think she could do what she wanted. Followed her schedule, not mine.”

“Why didn’t you mention something to me?”

“Eric was around at least once a month to check on things at the warehouse and to speak to Valeriya about her attitude. I thought you arranged that. I thought you knew.”

Carys leans back in her seat, her frown deepening. “Once a month?”

“Like clockwork.” Ekaterina taps her nails on the table. “He said you were aware of the problems with Valeriya, and you’d asked him to step in.”

“I wouldn’t have undermined you like that. Not without talking to you first.” Carys checks her papers and then glances at Jay. “Did you realize Eric was going to Russia so much?”

He shakes his head. “I pulled the expense reports and phone records for those five or six people we thought might be in touch with Valeriya. Eric was one of them. Nothing logged.”

Carys appears puzzled for a moment. Does she realize Eric must have been paying his own flights, hotels, and meals while he took those trips? Whatever he was doing with Valeriya, he wasn’t reining her in.

“Until four or five months ago, Valeriya wasn’t a problem?” I lean my elbows on the table, tired of bearing silent witness.

Ekaterina cocks her head while she contemplates the question. “Maybe the last year or so she hasn’t been quite right—distracted, forgetful. But the last four or five months, she was unbearable.”

“And Eric?” I ask. “When did he start his visits?”

She takes her phone out of her purse and scrolls through it. “About six months ago. I had returned from a meeting in Moscow and found him at the warehouse with Valeriya. It was the first time I’d seen him in years.”

She and Carys exchange a glance loaded with meaning.

“And the last time you saw him before that was…?” I relax into my chair and cross my arms. Carys might give me the backstory later if I ask, but I like to have the puzzle pieces.

“She flew to Chicago three months before I was supposed to get married, to tell me Eric paid for his mistress to have an abortion.” Carys stares at the papers in front of her. Her voiceis brisk and businesslike, but Jay gives me the side-eye. I’ve stepped in shit. “What was that? Maybe five years ago?” She looks to Ekaterina for confirmation.

As if she doesn’t remember.

“Sounds about right.” Ekaterina flips her phone face down on the table. “Anyway, you two remained close despite his obvious flaws. Frankly I had a hard time believing you didn’t fire him, even if his actions had nothing to do with work.”

Carys shrugs. She hated disappointing her dad. Much easier if she’d get over seeking his approval. Fire Eric. Let me kill him. I’m easy as long as he’s gone. It’s not as though her father has her best interests at heart.

“So,” Ekaterina continues, “I didn’t question his involvement in my branch. Apologies. I should have talked to you. I know better than anyone he’s a master at deception.”

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