“She’s a little beggar, but don’t feed her human food,” Katia said. Looking at Sonya, she wagged her finger. “Leo has plenty of nice cat food for you in your bowl.”
Sonya emitted a wailing meow before strutting off and diving into the cat food.
“She’s a regal little thing,” I said.
“She’s too much, but I love her and she’s glued to my hip, unfortunately for you.”
Laughing, I rose and picked up our plates. Heading to the sink, I rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher.
“She’s kind of growing on me, and it pisses me off because I hate cats,” I muttered.
Chuckling, Katia approached and lifted to her toes to give me a kiss. “I’m thrilled to hear it.”
My phone rang and I checked the number as my eyebrows drew together.
“I need to take this.”
Katia nodded, and I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hey, Jermaine.”
“We received an anonymous tip this morning that Michael Caruso received three fraudulent international deposits and that the bank didn’t report them properly.”
“Fuck!” I said, shaking my head.
“Gerald reported them, but suppressed the files so they wouldn’t get extra exposure,” Katia said, overhearing our conversation.
Putting the phone on speaker, I asked, “Did you hear that? Katia is Caruso’s accountant, and Gerald is the bank manager.”
“I heard, but Daniel wants this investigated. Want to partner with me on it?”
“Absolutely. I need to squash this immediately.”
Jermaine cleared his throat. “Should I ask why Caruso’s accountant is with you at nine in the morning?”
“Nope,” I uttered.
“Fair enough. Want to meet me at the bank at eleven?”
“See you there. Thanks, Jermaine.”
I clicked off the phone and sighed. “Sorry. I was looking forward to hanging with you today.”
“I’m glad you’re on it,” Katia said, gliding her arms around my neck. “If you keep me out of jail, I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
My lips curved, if only slightly. “I’ll take you up on that. Make yourself at home here today. My dad’s going to come over while I’m gone. He’ll have his gun on him, and him being here while I’m not is non-negotiable, so don’t argue.”
Katia’s lips pursed. “I don’t do well at taking orders—”
“Katia—”
“But,” she said, placing a finger over my lips, “I understand why you’re giving them, and I’ll comply. Maybe work on your delivery, though.”
Breathing a laugh, I leaned down to kiss her. “Katia, please let my dad protect you while I’m gone. He’s a really good guy, I promise.”
“Well, he raised you, so I believe it.” She nipped my lips and released me. “Get to work, Agent Stabler.”
I swatted her behind, loving her playful yelp, and headed upstairs to get dressed. I knew that Marco and Oskar would retaliate, and it was best to bury this before it became a problem.
And once I took care of this, I would take the next step of doing my best to eliminate their threat, once and for all.
