AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But it’s not proof,” Nikolett said.
“You’re right…” Montana looked at Vadisk, eyes wide in question.
Too bad Vadisk had no idea what he was asking.
“You’re right…Admiral,” Montana finished, grimacing as if he was unsure of what he’d just said.
There was a beat of silence before Nikolett spoke again. “However, we have something that, while not exactly proof, is certainly damning. Mr. Kingston, did the blackmail payment amounts remain the same?”
“No, and honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t constantly go up. From what I could see, they increased once about twenty-five years ago.”
“And how were the blackmail payments made?”
“At first, they were traveler’s checks. He must have physically mailed them, which is insane. Later, it was a wire, and then finally, along with the demand increase, the payment method switched to a bank transfer.”
“What bank?”
“A…” Montana sat back, shaking his head. “A Swiss bank.”
“A lot of people use Swiss banks,” Vadisk countered. “It could be a coincidence that the mother is in Switzerland.”
“Here’s what I think happened,” Nikolett said. “Approximately thirty years ago, Antonia started showing symptoms of deteriorating mental state, to the point that it was reported in the local paper when she was found wandering in the forest, crying and saying she couldn’t remember her way home.
“Twenty-nine years ago, Antonia moved to Switzerland presumably for treatment, and when that was unsuccessful was transferred to the long-term care side of the treatment center. And, depending on exact dates, a year after that, the blackmail demand was raised.”
“He ran out of money, or was about to, and the only way to keep his mother there was to get more money from Montana’s family,” Dahlia said.
“Yes.” Vadisk heard the familiar squeak of Nikolett’s office chair as she moved.
“But the cost to keep her there must have gone up too,” Montana said. “So why weren’t there multiple increases over the years? I mean, at the end, each payment wasn’t actually all that much, thanks to inflation. Altogether, it was an obscene amount of money, but it could have been more.”
“I wondered about that,” a new voice said.
“Grigoris,” Vadisk said with a smile. “Nyx there too?”
“No,” Nyx said faintly, clearly somewhere in the room.
Vadisk looked at Dahlia and Montana. “Grigoris Violaris is the security minister of Hungary. Nyx Kata is the vice admiral.”
They both nodded, clearly having paid attention when he talked about the Masters’ Admiralty structure. Paid attention like it was important information they needed.
And Montana had used Nikolett’s title. He was probably just being polite and it didn’t mean anything, but it felt like proof that Montana was willing to become a member of his territory.
“Who’s your guard?” Vadisk asked, deviating from the main topic for a moment.
The people on the other end of the phone knew exactly what he was talking about—who had taken his place as the admiral’s main bodyguard. Their silence made him grimace, but he no longer felt angry and anxious at the idea of not being there. He had a trinity, and their safety and protection were now, and would be until the day he died, his primary focus.
Vadisk was surprised by his own thoughts, at the shift in his priorities. He’d thought it would take longer, since technically he’d only know his spouses five days.
“We’re still rotating,” Grigoris said. “Maxim was needed to execute his knight duties, so for now, I’m staying with the admiral.”
But Grigoris was married, and Nyx would always come first. If he had to save someone from a burning building, it would be his wife, not Nikolett. Nikolett needed someone who would put her first, especially with what had been going on recently.
Dahlia was giving him an odd look, so Vadisk shook his head and got back on track. “We were talking about money.”
“It looks like Sinaver made friends with some very wealthy people while he was at university. While we don’t know exactly what is or was happening with the money since Swiss banks are impossible to hack, we do know that the bank he chose has an investment arm, and several of Sinaver’s school friends invest heavily there.”
“So Sinaver learned how to use money to make money.” Dahlia had her thinking face on. “If I were him, suddenly faced with the reality that my mother wasn’t going to get better and needing a way to pay for her care, I’d have increased my blackmail demands. But what if that pushed the victim too far and they stopped paying?”
