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“How may I help you?” the man asked.
“Can you hack into the police records in Bruges?”
“Of course.”
“We are looking for material, video on a car bomb attack.” I looked over at Giulio. “The date of the car bomb?”
The Russian began typing as Giulio provided the date. I translated, and told him some other basic details. “I assume, because you were able to learn our identities, that you have facial recognition software.”
“Da.”
That was good. Glancing over my shoulder, I asked, “Have you used facial recognition on the CCTV footage?”
“No. The Belgian police said there weren't enough features to bother. Why? You think he can pull something?”
The technology on facial recognition has improved dramatically in the last few years. “I won’t know until we try. But knowing we are looking for a Sicilian could help narrow the field.”
“So fucking smart.” He bent and kissed the back of my head.
My chest pulled tight, like someone was tugging on a string there. I was probably blushing. “You don’t need to stay.”
“Are you sure?”
“This could take a while.” No doubt he was anxious to reassure Theo. And I no longer needed to worry about Nikolai chopping Giulio up and throwing him overboard. “I don’t mind.”
Giulio squeezed my shoulder then strode from the room like he owned it. I watched his muscles shift beneath all those tattoos, mesmerized. Fuck me. I never got tired of looking at him.
But I was coming to see he was much more than a beautiful face.
It took some time, but Nikolai’s man was talented. I had watched Sasha do this from time to time, when we needed sensitive information not available through the normal channels. But she didn’t work as quickly as this man did.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Andrei.”
“I am Alessio,” I said, even though he hadn’t asked. He didn’t react, just continued to type on his keyboard. I didn’t bother him again. I wasn’t good at small talk, and I sensed he didn’t want it, either.
Once he was in the police files, we found the car bombing. There were notes about Paolo, even a passport photo. I stared at his face, this man that Giulio had loved. He was handsome in a bodybuilder sort of way, thick neck and blunt features. A nose that had been broken at some point. Brown hair and brown eyes. He looked kind.
As I expected, the police reports were worthless. They suspected organized crime and didn’t bother investigating further. Giulio’s name wasn’t mentioned, but there were references to ties to an Italian criminal organization.
Andrei pulled up the CCTV archival footage. We went through it slowly. Enhanced, zoomed in. Pulled footage from nearby cameras. Andrei took stills of every face we thought might be related to the explosion.
Other members of Nikolai’s crew came in at various points. I suspected they were checking on us at Nikolai’s instruction, but they gave Andrei shit, laughing and joking with the security man. Andrei cracked a smile every now and again.
When I checked my phone, I was surprised to see that four hours had gone by.
“Would you like food?” Andrei asked, standing to roll his shoulders. “These images will load into the software. It should take two or three hours to get a hit.”
“No, thank you. I will go on deck. You will let me know if you get a hit, yes?”
“Of course.”
I shook his hand. “Thank you, Andrei.”
Leaving the tiny room, I went toward the deck. I could hear music and laughter. Giulio. My mood lifted, like the mere thought of him filled me with joy. Dio, I was in so much trouble when it came to this man.
I am in love with him.
