It was a world away from my London living, where it was impossible not to come across other people the moment you opened the door, and where there was a constant background noise of traffic and sirens and alarms and people, no matter what the time of day or night. Here, the only noise was that of the wind moving in the treetops and the occasional buzz of an insect around my head.
A yellow glow effused from the cabin windows. Kaspar was home then; he hadn’t run.
I stopped the car and climbed out. Before I’d even straightened, the cabin door opened, and the man I assumed was Kaspar Valk stepped out. He looked just like his brother, only slightly fairer.
“I know why you’re here,” he called. “I don’t know what happened to that money.”
I took several steps towards him, away from the car. “Why should we believe you?”
“Because I have a good thing going, and I wouldn’t do anything to screw it up.”
Sly gestured to the log cabin. “Is your brother even paying you? The money we give him should buy you a better place than this.”
“I have plenty of money, but I don’t need for much. This suits me fine.”
Maybe he had the right idea, out here with no one else around. No one to bother him. Life would be simpler.
“I need to know the names of your crew. Who are your contacts at the port?”
“I am the contact. I work there. There’s no one else.”
I didn’t believe him for a second. He was protecting someone. “You don’t do this alone.”
His mouth was set in a resolute line. “No one had access to that container without my supervision.”
“Then you must be the one responsible for switching the money.”
He shook his head. “No, everything was how it should be when I left the containers to be shipped.”
“You’re saying someone on the ship switched the notes?”
“I don’t know what happened, I swear.”
I sensed I was going to need to apply a little more pressure than I had with Rasmus. I reached behind me and pulled out my gun. Beside me, Sly and Leo did the same.
“I want names and contact details of everyone who came into contact with that money,” I demanded.
Kaspar reached behind—
A gunshot shattered through the forest, sending roosting birds bursting into the night sky. Kaspar staggered sideways and then fell, his head hitting the ground with an audible crack.
What the fuck?
I looked over at my brother and cousin. From the way Leo was staring at Sly, it was clear Sly had been the one to pull the trigger.
I exhaled a breath. “Well, we’re not going to get shit from him now, are we?”
“He was going for his gun,” Sly said.
I approached the body and rolled him over. I patted down the back of his jeans for a weapon but didn’t find one. What I did find was a slim mobile phone in his back pocket.
“No, he wasn’t.” I held up the phone. “He was going for this.”
“Maybe we can use it,” Leo suggested. “He might have messages or contacts that’ll give us an idea about who he’d been working with.”
I grabbed the man’s hand and tried to use his thumb to open the phone. Nothing happened. “Shit. We’re going to need someone to hack into it.”
Sly put out his hand for the phone. “I know people who can do that when we get back to London.”