Chapter Sixteen Seraphina #2
A few more bitter gulps of coffee later, I returned the cup to the table.
“I’ll get you a new one,” Alex offered.
I smiled my thanks, and he went into the kitchen. “I decided to do a deep dive into Andrej’s files. Looked over all my father’s records on him. Everything seemed normal at first glance, but the deeper I dug, the more anomalies I found. Numbers don’t lie, and there was too much that didn’t add up.”
“Right, you also specialize in forensic accounting,” Reed noted.
I was skilled in tracing funds, identifying hidden assets, and so on. I just never thought I’d have to use it to help solve the murders of my parents and brother.
“Andrej received regular monthly payments from his sister and Ezra for legal consulting services, as well as from four other investors that have a relationship with the Sokolovs. Two on the West Coast and two in Miami. But I also found payments from an unknown source that, after a lot of research, Martín tied back to the cartel. All the dates of payments were recorded on the same day, and something felt off. I couldn’t prove it, but I was sure someone planted a trail they wanted found. ”
“So, they wanted it to look like the cartel was responsible, which matched what the Mexican authorities claimed happened,” Reed said, and I nodded. “You think Ezra or his wife set him up? Made it look like the cartel, but they hired the hit team?”
“That’s where my head went, which is why I targeted Ezra as my mark to go undercover with,” I explained. “But while working with him, it didn’t take me long to realize someone above him is actually calling the shots. In fact, I think he’s the right hand to the right hand who works for the devil.”
“And who’s the real right hand?” Alex asked when he returned with a new cup of coffee.
“Possibly Ezra’s wife.” Also the reason Ezra never touched me. I kept that part to myself as I accepted the coffee. “But I don’t know who the Sokolovs answer to. There’s got to be a devil, though. And either the Sokolovs are responsible for my family being killed, or whoever they answer to is.”
Alex offered up an idea I’d floated in the past. “It’s possible Nina’s brother pissed her off, or Ezra, and they didn’t want his death on their hands. Hence the frame job.”
“Since I could never find out that answer while I worked for him, I guess now we have no choice but to ask Ezra ourselves.”
Ryder’s whole body seemed to frown right along with his downturned mouth. “And that’s why you’re here?”
“Ezra will come for me himself, I’m sure of it. I know how he thinks and operates.”
“ Or ángel calls Ezra up after realizing you worked for him and offers you up on a silver platter instead of whatever you proposed to him,” Alex suggested. “He could cut a deal with Ezra.”
“That’d be a risk if I thought ángel was a bad guy, but he’s not.
” I had to believe that, at least. I also wanted to redirect the conversation away from why I was here for now.
“I’m assuming Ezra told his wife he sent me somewhere for work to explain my absence.
Wouldn’t be the first time I’d been on a trip for him.
He wouldn’t want her to know the truth.”
“Which is why there’s been no hits placed on your head.” Alex took my cue for a redirect and ran with it. “He wouldn’t want anyone—especially her—to know you tricked him.”
“Yeah.” Bad for his ego, and for keeping his head attached to his body.
“How’d you manage to go undercover as Ezra’s accountant and fool him in the first place?” Ryder asked. “Wouldn’t he know who you are since your family was mistakenly killed?”
I’d been waiting for that question, and they were about to get the biggest whiplash from me since I’d started sharing my story.
“Why weren’t their deaths on the national news?” Alex asked, temporarily stalling me from having to answer.
“I think someone with power had it swept under the rug. Someone with enough influence who could make a call to every major network and demand the story never wind up as part of any major news cycle,” I shared before finally taking a drink.
“The head of this criminal operation the Sokolovs work for must have major power and influence in the US, then,” Alex said, pointing out what I believed to be true but had yet to prove.
“Back to my question, though,” Ryder prompted, and I cleared my throat, not ready for this part of the conversation, like diving back into memories of confronting Ezra for the first time. I also knew what my answer would do to this man: give him a heart attack.
Past is past, though. I can’t let my past be my prologue.
“I canceled my lease in San Diego. Put all my things in storage. Left my life behind as Seraphina.” Kept my parents’ house, though.
I couldn’t part with that. Not the time to get choked up.
“I became Anna in Miami, both online and in real life. I did my best to show up at bars and clubs Ezra was known to frequent. I tried to get on his radar, get him to notice me.”
Ryder palmed his jawline, eyes shooting to the floor, probably hating hearing these details.
“I knew Ezra was married, but the few times he noticed me at the club he hung out at it was obvious that he, um ...” I paused, not for dramatic effect, but because Ryder had abruptly jerked his focus back to me at that, like he was ready to go scorched earth on the world and throttle the life from Ezra if he ever found out he touched me without consent.
“One night, when his wife wasn’t out with him, he cornered me.
It was just the two of us, outside of the view of security cameras.
The man was careful. My first clue that he really didn’t want to get in trouble with her. ”
“‘Cornered’ you, how?” The deep grit to Ryder’s tone slipped right under my skin and heated me up far more than the first taste of the fresh cup of coffee had.
“He asked for my name and what I wanted. Asked if I was following him. I realized in that moment, even if my background check cleared his scrutiny, he’d see right through me. The plan would never work. He’d never believe I was Anna, a woman looking for a job as an accountant.”
“What are you trying to tell me?” Ryder came over, took the cup from me, and set it down, waiting for my answer.
“I told him the truth,” I confessed. “I told him who I really am and that my family had been murdered.”