Page 47 of Exacting Vengeance

Kyle chuckled. “One day you will be.”

He shook his head. “Don’t count on it.”

Kyle’s phone pinged with a text from Jack. “The five Russians arrested by the state police aren’t talking.”

“No surprise there. Maybe the boss will give me a brand-new G-ride. I banged mine up pretty good.” He looked over his shoulder at the Explorer parked behind Kyle’s. The front bumper and hood were seriously dented. It was a wonder the thing still drove.

Kyle’s phone rang, and he put the call on speaker. “Gates,” he said.

“Yuri is in New York,” the CI said.

“I know.” He looked across the console at Deke, who rolled his eyes. “Woulda been nice to hear about that a week ago.” Before Yuri made a guest appearance at the courthouse. “Respectfully, I’ll remind you that you’re being paid extremely well for useful and timely information.”

Deke snorted.

“I’ve been away,” the man said. “Even I must take my family on vacation from time to time. A happy wife is a happy life, yes?”

Kyle tapped his fingers on the wheel. He’d let this lapse go. This time. “You asked for this conversation. Whatdya got?”

“The ledger.”

Kyle jerked his gaze to Deke’s. “You have it?” That had been one of the biggest components of his undercover investigation ten years ago that he’d failed to get information on. Nailing Yuri and Nikolai Lebedev for the kidnapping-murders and discovering where they’d stashed the ransom money still bugged him to this day.

“No.” The CI chuckled. “But the last thing Yuri said when he left for New York was that he had to get to his accountant and get his money.”

“He can’t access it on his own?”

“Guess not,” the CI said. “He needs the accountant.”

“Did you ever get the accountant’s name?” Kyle asked.

“No.”

He glanced at Deke, who shrugged and shook his head. Neither of them could think of any other questions. “If you hear anything, call me right away.”

“Of course.”

The call ended.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Deke shook his head. “Why can’t Yuri get to his own money? Why does he need the accountant?”

“He must be holding it for Yuri.” Kyle thought back to the conversation he’d had with the same CI ten years ago, the day of Semyon Novikov’s party. “Yuri once told this CI his money was hidden so well not even the FBI could find it. We subpoenaed every bank he was known to have an affiliation with. We only found a few thousand dollars.”

“What about an offshore account?” Deke asked.

“I suppose that’s a possibility.” He drummed his fingers on the wheel. “Countries with offshore accounts aren’t very cooperative. We inquired as much as we could but didn’t find any.”

“If it’s been sitting in a U.S. bank for ten years while Yuri’s been in prison, no matter whose name the account is in, eventually the account would be considered dormant.”

“Right,” he agreed. There was an escheatment process that would have been activated. “The account holder would be contacted, and if there’s no response, the bank would close the account and the funds would be transferred to the state as unclaimed property. Unless the accountant took Yuri’s money.”

“According to your CI, it sounds like the accountant still has the funds.”

“Then we wait for him to get us a name.”

“I gotta go home and get some shuteye.” Deke yawned. “Got another party tonight.”

“Of course you do.” He didn’t know how his brother partied all weekend and made it to work Monday morning. “Get outta here. And thanks.”