Friedrich’s expression shifted. His lips pressed together in a thin line. “Leave him alone.”
“I’m not threatening your father,” Olivia told him. Her eyes looked at Neil, who offered a nod. Their tracking had found Louis Schmidt in Bali, where he was enjoying the life of a king . . . all bankrolled by his thankful son who loved him unconditionally. “This is your exit, Friedrich. Take it.”
“If Mykonos learns that Marie is alive, the bounty is put on me.”
Olivia looked around the room. “The bounty is on you now.”
Friedrich attempted to look smug. “You want me to believe that everyone in this room is willing to shoot an unarmed man?”
Leo leaned close to Friedrich’s head and spoke for all of them. “It’s Texas, and you’re breaking and entering with a gun that has your prints all over it. There doesn’t need to be a bigger reason than that in this part of the country.”
For the first time since Leo had put Friedrich in handcuffs, the man looked less than confident.
Olivia approached, the phone in her hand.
Neil turned away from the scene and walked out the back door.
“Time to call this in.”
“And if Mykonos wants proof?”
“We’re professionals. We don’t take trophies.” Did he think she was new?
Olivia held the phone up, her finger over the call button. Burner phones were one-time use with one number on the other end and were destroyed once the message was relayed.
Friedrich gave a single nod, and Olivia pressed the button.
It rang twice before it was picked up.
Mykonos Sobol’s voice answered. “Tell me,” he said in Russian.
“It is done,” Friedrich answered in the same language.
Leo looked at Olivia.
She kept her expression neutral.
Olivia rolled her finger, telling Friedrich to continue.
“I expect our agreement to be fulfilled within the hour. You’ll never hear from me again. I expect the same from you.”
“A pleasure” were Mykonos’s final words before Olivia disconnected the call.
The color in Friedrich’s face had turned ashen. “What now?”
“We return to your hotel, wait for the funds to hit your bank, and then get you on a flight.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Leo kept one hand on Friedrich and one hand on his weapon as the team divided in two.
Half traced back to the hotel with Friedrich, and the others stayed to clean the scene.
With the Jeep left behind, Sasha drove with Neil, Olivia, and Leo in the back of the van keeping watch.
“You’re just going to let me go?” Friedrich asked for the third time.
Olivia nodded.
Leo watched the man’s movements and the growing uncertainty displayed by his constant questions.
“How much was Marie worth?” Leo asked, dragging every bit of information from the man that he could while he was still in their presence.
“Half a million euros. Double if she was taken before the trial.”
Leo glanced at Neil. Everyone in the van knew that Mykonos was hammering the final nail into his jailhouse coffin at that very moment. The second that half a million landed in Friedrich’s account would seal Mykonos’s fate to spend a lifetime in prison.
“That money would go a long way in Bali,” Leo told him.
They arrived at the motel as the Texas sun was setting.
Neil and Leo flanked Friedrich as they escorted him to his room to retrieve his belongings. Just as Olivia had predicted, Friedrich had stashed passports and cash in the vent space of the room. A tablet served as his computer, and an extra weapon was quickly given to Neil once it was retrieved.
With the hotel key left behind, they returned to the van and headed toward the airport.
“Log in to your bank,” Leo instructed.
“Why?”
“We need to make sure Mykonos believed you. If the money is there, you get on the plane.”
Friedrich opened his tablet and logged in to his bank. He swiped back and forth until he found what he wanted before showing the screen to Leo.
Leo saw the transfer and gave the tablet to Neil.
With a flip to the communication link in his ear, Neil gave the report. “The transaction is complete.” He rattled off the account information to whoever was listening on the other end.
“I’m never going to see that money, am I?” Friedrich asked.
Leo shook his head. “It’s in the hands of the feds. Abandoned by an assassin who hunted down a twenty-year-old girl. Maybe you felt the heat.”
Olivia smiled. “Maybe you developed a conscience.”
“Either way, Mykonos goes down with the evidence. No testimony from you is needed.”
“What stops the Sobol family from coming after me?”
“Nothing,” Olivia announced. “We will circulate that you’re dead. Leave notice at A Róka