Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Jorge
“Hola.”
I hope Joaquin has good news because I know things are about to get contentious for Liesel.
I hate leaving her alone because all three women will find their shock wearing off soon.
Then it’ll be fear and anger along with uncertainty and grief.
I don’t want it to devolve into an argument or any of them acting impulsively.
“Hola, manito.” Hello, little brother.
He’s been using hermanito and its diminutive, manito, since Javier and I were old enough to be insulted when he called us babies. Mamá scolded him enough that he switched to little brother, and it’s stuck for the past thirty years.
“What did you find?”
“Clyde’s in Munich. I hacked the airport and the train lines to see if he had any reservations or any last-minute ticket purchases to come to Frankfurt.
There are none. He might drive, but it looks like there was no pre-planned trip to Frankfurt, and he hasn’t set off on an emergency one either.
His car was last picked up on CCTV in Munich. ”
“Do you think he hasn’t heard yet?”
“It looks like it.”
“Can you get into his email or his phone records?”
“The email I can hack easily. The phone records would be faster if I called in a couple favors.”
“No. Not yet. We keep this among ourselves as long as we can.”
“You could call Sean.”
“I know. It’s not like the idea hasn’t crossed my mind a few times, but I don’t want to ask that fucker for shit. He’ll think I owe him something.”
“But if it helps.”
“I know.”
“This woman—Anneliese, right—must be special. Would you cut off your nose to spite your face?”
Fucking hell that no one can have a private thought in the family.
We know each other too well. The occupational hazards of mixing family with business and pleasure.
Normally, I appreciate being nearly inseparable from my family—especially my brothers—but right now, I’d like to keep some things to myself.
“I won’t. But I’m nervous to let anyone else in this in case we underestimate who’s involved.
It could be the O’Rourkes getting back at us for potentially hiring Gunter.
Maybe they warned him away from us since they’ve done business with Clyde.
If that’s the case, I don’t want to give them any information. Period.”
“Just keep it in the back of your mind. The Schlossbergs have some other interesting clients.”
“Such as?”
“A couple Eastern European oligarchs.”
“With ties to any particular governments?”
“No. Mostly private industries and corporate monopolies. But it wouldn’t surprise me if I found some dubious connections as I dig deeper.”
“Are these current or past clients?”
“Both.”
I consider what else to ask. “Does any CCTV show Gunter’s activities today?”
“Yes. His car appears on the highway near his home. I watched it arrive in the city center, where he parked in the office building’s underground lot.
I got into the building’s security system, and I can see where it logged his keycard swipes.
Their internal cameras showed him arriving at his office suite a little after nine.
It’s the floor above Anneliese’s. He went to the restroom at eleven-o-seven.
He left the building on foot ten minutes later after briefly returning to his office.
The street CCTV showed him turning right and going three blocks down.
There’s a gap in the coverage. He never passed the next camera.
He disappeared somewhere in that dead zone. ”
“Do you think his abductors knew that would be the spot to grab him?”
“Grab him if he doesn’t know them. He might have gone willingly if he knew them.”
“True. Any bank or credit card transactions?”
“No. Once I get the phone records, I’ll know if there were any inbound or outbound calls or texts. Are you sure you want me to hold off on those?”
I scrub my hand over my face as I stare at the door. I can hear the women. Their voices are raised, but they aren’t yelling. They’re definitely not chatting. I need to get back out there.
“Get them. What did the office cameras show when the delivery person dropped off the box?”
“Anneliese left for lunch before Gunter. She went to—”
“Skip that part. I already know.”
“Because you’ve been parked outside her office building every day since you returned to Frankfurt.”
“How about you pass judgement on me after I find who dropped off a hand?”
“They were in a hooded sweatshirt. They had it up, covering their hair. It looked like a woman, but I can’t be sure.
Whoever they are, they knew where the cameras are in that building.
I saw them arrive on the footage. They stood out because of their casual clothes along with the box.
Anneliese’s assistant came back after the delivery but before Anneliese. ”
“Is there anything else?”
I don’t like it when anyone in my family pauses before answering a question. It’s not that they’re thinking of an answer. They’re deciding how best to present it.
“I haven’t found specifics yet, but you need to speak to Anneliese. She’s got questionable connections too.”
“You can’t drop that bomb without more specifics. What does that mean?”
“I told you I have none. Not yet, at least. I just hack the accounts. I don’t interpret the data. I’m going to send you several financial statements. After you review them, if you need me to get you into anything, let me know.”
“Fucking hell.”
“Pretty much.”
“When can you get them to me?”
“I’ll send them now.”
“Fuck.” I release an aggrieved huff. I close my eyes before exhaling deeply.
“What now?”
“My laptop is not only out there with the women, it’s also next to the box that has Gunter’s hand in it.
I can’t walk over to get the computer without drawing attention to the package.
I haven’t heard any screaming, so I don’t think Anneliese’s mother or sister have seen it yet.
Once I’m out there, it’ll only lead to a ton of questions about why I only came out to get the computer before heading back into the bedroom. ”
“Do either of the women know about our family?”
“I didn’t get the impression they do. The mother is aware that at least some of Gunter’s business wasn’t entirely aboveboard. But I doubt she knows details.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think Anneliese knows what her father’s been up to. But that may be because she has her own secrets to keep.”
“Can’t you give me a hint?”
I’m fighting my impatience. I’m certain my brother’s doing the best he can, but it doesn’t quell my growing irritability.
“She has a separate encrypted email account that isn’t for work, but it’s about work.
I haven’t backtracked far enough to see who’s sending her emails, but there are plenty.
They use no names, and there’s nothing definitive enough to raise legal red flags.
But you and I know what language we’re looking for. ”
“Is it someone intimidating her?”
I’ll kill a motherfucker.
“Not now. Maybe it started that way.”
“She’s a willing participant?”
Was I wrong to trust her after all? I’ll still help her, but I won’t forgive her.
“I wouldn’t say that either. They’re too vague to tell.
I checked her digital calendar for some dates and times mentioned, but there’s nothing showing meetings or travel that match.
You and I know we’re both far less suspicious than Javier is about everything, but we also know when to listen to our intuition. Something is off, Jorge.”
“All right. Thank you. I’ll figure this out. Once I’ve had a chance to review the documents and speak to Anneliese, I’ll get back to you.”
“Morning, noon, or night, manito. Te quiero.” We’ve pledged that since our dad died.
“Te quiero también.”
I hang up and lock my phone before shoving it back into my pocket. When I return to the suite’s living room, I find Liesel sitting on the edge of the coffee table as she tries to reason with her mother and sister. All three are crying, not that I can blame them.
I’ve been calling her Anneliese instead of Liesel, and it feels odd. I’m worried Liesel will slip out one of these times. My family might understand, but hers definitely wouldn’t. I don’t need an irate boyfriend to deal with right now.
I focus on the box and my computer. They’re on the desk behind where the women sit on the sofa.
It appears untouched from when I put it there.
There’s no way I can get the laptop without them guessing what’s in the box.
Liesel rises when her mother and sister’s attention shifts to me.
She hurries to me as I approach the three women.
“Anything?”
“My brother’s going to send me some documents to review.”
I keep my voice low, but I dart my gaze to the desk then back to Liesel. Her eyes widen, and thankfully, only I see her reaction. She understands what I meant.
“I don’t know what to do.”
She mouths the words, and she looks more fearful than she has since I arrived in her office. I offer her a half smile before looking at the other two Schlossbergs.
“It’s approaching dinnertime. If you get hungry, you can order whatever you’d like. I know you didn’t plan to be here overnight, so if there is anything you need, we can order those too.”
“Overnight?! We aren’t staying here. We only waited because Anne said you might have information.” Mrs. Schlossberg stands and reaches for her purse.
“Mutti, you need to stay here. We don’t know if any of us are targets too. We don’t know what else they might do. None of us are going back to unguarded homes. Jorge doesn’t have that many men to spare.”
I do, but I’m not confessing that. I’ll have to fly them in from Brussels or Amsterdam. I may need those men to retrieve Gunter or whoever did this. I might need them here to protect the women if someone decides they’re the next targets.
“Mrs. Schlossberg, I understand how you—”
“No, you don’t. You could never understand.”
Her anger is reasonable, but it won’t get us anywhere.