Chapter 5 - The Chicago Return
The peace of Lake Geneva shattered on a Tuesday morning.
Lev entered the library without knocking, his face grim. "Dmitry. We have a problem. The FBI has raided the offices of the real estate developer in Chicago. But they didn't just take files. They took Sofía’s apartment in Lincoln Park. They have her name, her photo, and they are framing her as a co-conspirator in the Ivanov laundering scheme."
Sofía stood up, her heart dropping. "What? No! I was the auditor! I was going to report them!"
"To whom?" Dmitry asked, turning from his desk. "To the FBI agent who is currently on the Ivanov payroll? The narrative is already set, Sofía. You are the 'rogue accountant' who helped the mafia launder fifty million dollars, and when the deal went bad, you ran."
"This is a setup," Sofía gasped, panic rising in her chest. "They want to discredit me so that if the files are leaked, my testimony is worthless."
"Precisely," Dmitry said, his eyes narrowing in calculation. "It is a highly effective legal strategy. If you are a fugitive mafia accountant, any evidence you provide is tainted. The Department of Justice will tie it up in pre-trial motions for years, giving my enemies time to restructure their assets."
"What do we do?" Sofía asked, realizing with horror that she was now fully relying on a mafia boss for her survival.
"We go to Chicago," Dmitry said. "We need to eliminate the source of the leak within the federal building, and we need to secure the original physical drive you hid in your apartment. The FBI is searching for it, but they haven't found it yet. Where is it?"
Sofía hesitated. This was her final insurance policy. If she gave him the location, she would lose her last bit of value.
"If I tell you, you'll kill me," she said.
Dmitry walked over to her, stopping inches away. He looked down at her, his expression surprisingly gentle, though his eyes remained intense.
"If I wanted you dead, Sofía, I would have left you in that slaughterhouse," he said. "I don't need to kill you to protect myself. I have enough money to buy an island and live in luxury forever. But I don't like to lose. And I don't like my partners being hunted by lesser men. Trust me."
Sofía looked into his eyes—the eyes of a monster, yes, but a monster who kept his word.
May you like
"It’s not in my apartment," she said quietly. "It’s in the safety deposit box at the Chase Bank on Michigan Avenue. Under my mother’s maiden name."
Dmitry nodded to Lev. "Prepare the cars. We are going back to the city."
