The lockers, thankfully, were in another area. I had the key in my hand, and the one we were looking for was a half-size, square fronted locker, right in the far corner. I knew it was the one Sutherland would have picked as soon as I saw it. I think Maxim must have known too, because he let out a low grumble.
I couldn’t resist looking back at him once I felt the key start to turn in the lock, triumph flaring in my eyes. Maxim didn’t say a word.
I swung the door open, and there in the middle of the metal floor, was a small note book, the kind that came with wide lines or squared paper on the inside, made for making notes in school. It was very slim. Maxim probably wouldn’t have noticed him leaving it here if he was coming and going with lots of other things. It was slim enough, that when it was lying flat, you had to be really close to see it there.
I snatched it up, feeling the thud of my heart against the inside of my chest. This could be exactly what Maxim needed.
Flicking open the cover, I saw a list of phone numbers, and a list of names.
Maxim leaned in over my shoulder as I stood up, and he snapped the exercise book closed in my grasp.
“Is that them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would he have phone numbers?
“I don’t know, Elizabeth. Here is not the place to try and figure it out.”
I frowned at him. Here was exactly the place to figure it out. We had every resource at our fingertips that Sutherland had used to get what he had found.
“Maxim, what’s going on?”
“You look at them, I have to kill you. This isn’t your job. You don’t work for my people. Right now, you’re on the other side.”
His face was serious enough that I knew he wasn’t joking.
“But I want to help you.”
“I know that. Valentin knows that. But it’s better you don’t get too involved while it’s still so close to home. We can’t prove your loyalty yet.”
“So you’re not even going to give me a chance?” I kept my voice low, and I followed him as we started to walk back out of the building.
“I think I don’t know what I’d do if someone on my side decided you knew too much.”
I gritted my teeth. “It’s not going to happen. You can’t think like that. Valentin likes me.”
“Valentin isn’t in charge. The Kremlin’s muddled up in this. It’s bigger than just us.”
“Well, then you’ve got to let me help get rid of the threat.”
“It’s not your job, Elizabeth.”
“Right now, I don’t have a job, because if I show up and my step father doesn’t people are going to start to asking questions about where he is, and we both know I can’t answer those without getting arrested.”
He glared at me. “I told you, I’m going to get you out. Keep you safe.”
I nodded. “I know. So in the meantime, I can help you, can’t I? Where’s the harm in that?”
Maxim growled low and I ignored him. “Where do you think he got those numbers from? Is your guy even on that list?”
Maxim flipped the front cover open, shielding the page from my view and he scanned down the list. “No. None of these people are Russian.”
“What? Are they all Saudi Princes or something?”
“Not unless they changed their names.” The breath he let out sounded irritated. “This isn’t the list.” He flipped a few pages frown drawing in, and I tried to look at what he was reading, but he held the pages well out of my view.
“It must be important. He wouldn’t have gone to so many lengths to hide it if it wasn’t important.”
Maxim’s frown had set in, and it didn’t come close to getting any lighter. “Agreed.”
“Contacts?” I asked as we exited through the automatic doors. Maxim had a tightness about his stride that hadn’t been there on the way in, and as he walked I could tell he was looking far ahead of where we were, scoping out the possible threats in the group of tourists ahead of us, the students loitering with coffee cups in the middle of the quadrangle.
We walked over to the bronze sculpture.
“I think so, yes. The rest of the book is financial transactions. Account numbers. Sutherland must have been meeting someone here.”
“Account numbers? You mean someone was feeding him information about who was shifting money around?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“But who could know that?”
Maxim’s jaw rippled. “We’re looking for a fund manager who handles offshore accounts. Or rather, four of them. I’m pretty sure that’s where those phone numbers will lead us.”
I swallowed, suddenly feeling the need to look over my shoulder to check out the groups loitering near the entrance myself. Maxim was saying Sutherland had found people willing to whistle blow. Someone had helped him