Page 17 of Lost Room Lawyer
“And if Juri Vinzens is looking for me, tell him to call me on my cell phone.”
“Okay.”
“It might be Tuesday or maybe Wednesday before we’re back in the office.”
We?I wondered.
“May I ask where you’re going?”
“To St. Moritz, but that’s nobody’s business.”
“Okay, boss. Have a good weekend! Bye, Nico.”
I waved goodbye to Linda and followed Hector to the elevator, which took us straight to the underground garage.
St. Moritz? We? What’s going on here?
Stay calm. He’ll fill you in.
So, I kept quiet and followed him to his car. I wasn’t surprised that he drove a super-cool black Jaguar. It was a nice car—sporty and elegant. Just right for Hector Lando.
“Do you have any plans for the weekend?” he asked as we drove out of the garage.
“Uh … no. Why?”
“I need you in St. Moritz. I’ll drive you home. Enjoy the evening, because this weekend we’ll be slogging through countless files and receipts. That damn Canonica… He suddenly remembered he also has stuff stored at his villa in St. Moritz. I can’t believe it. And since Gerry is still in Vevey and the hearing is in a week, we’ll have to handle it ourselves. Damn it… As if I had nothing better to do.”
I was taken aback. Okay, I was the intern and probably didn’t have much say in these matters, but my weekend… It was hard for me to get excited about spending it in St. Moritz.
With Hector.
Alone.
Shit …
Does he even know where I live?He continued driving straight instead of turning right at the intersection.
“We’ll pick up the keys from Canonica, then I’ll take you home.”
Hector was quiet as he drove toward Zürichberg, the affluent area of Zurich where the wealthy reside, and I was grateful for Linda’s advice. I did as she said, stayed silent, and watched the villas become increasingly larger.
This area was unfamiliar to me, and I marveled at the estates. Canonica’s villa was also an impressive house with a majestic driveway lined with giant boxwoods.
While Hector went to the entrance to collect the keys from a housekeeper, I got out and admired the intricate ironwork on the ground floor windows, the vibrant red leaves of the Japanese maple in the middle of the driveway, and the large gravel courtyard I was standing on. I lacked the imagination to picture what the inside of the house looked like, let alone the garden on the other side.
“Okay,” Hector said, holding a key.
The way he walked around the car made me feel like he was starting to calm down. I settled back into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt. But Hector didn’t drive off. Instead, he just sat there, staring at the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry that I… If you don’t want to come with me… I can’t force you…”
I frowned in surprise. I hadn’t expected that. And suddenly, I realized: Yes, I did want to go to St. Moritz with him. No matter if we spent the whole day sifting through files. Maybe this was the opportunity to break through the icy silence that had settled between us for the past two weeks.
As good as his suggestion sounded, the way he had distanced himself from me made it clear that he hadn’t managed to simply attribute our poker night to our alter egos, Corvo and Rossi. My silence even made him finally look at me.
“The fact is, I need your help,” he said, appearing contrite. “I can’t do this alone.”
He was so damned sweet. So genuine! And he didn’t look at all like he was forty-three.
