My nose had started to run. I dried it on the back of my hand and tried to pull myself together. “There’s more. I think you’ll want to hear it. It’s about your brother’s computer.”

At first, Drazen went completely still, which made us a couple of statues, because I couldn’t move, either. Everything rode on his next response. He flattened both hands on the table and canted forward, and I was encouraged. “What do you know of Vladi’s computer?”

“I know that Roger took it. I know he was carrying it on the flight. I know if the files are intact, it’s worth a lot of money, and I know it wasn’t destroyed.”

If a rattlesnake had eyelids, it would look the way Drazen did as he slowly blinked at me. “Where is it?”

When I didn’t answer fast enough, he cocked his fist and reached over to grab my shirt. I pulled away and stood up, stumbling as I knocked my chair backward. At least I knew I was holding some cards, which made me feel surprisingly relieved and foolishly emboldened. “Don’t touch me again.”

I didn’t have to turn around to know that one of his men was right behind me, probably the one who was holding my gun. Drazen had called him Anton, and he seemed to be his right-hand goon. I reevaluated.

“I can get the computer back for you, but I’m asking you, please, not to hit me again, so we can get through this conversation.”

Drazen held his right hand in front of him and lined it up with his view of my throat, then he squeezed until his hand shook, as he must have imagined wringing the life from me. “The next time I touch you, it will not be to hit you.”

“Give me your word,” I said, “that if I sit down, you won’t hurt me again.”

I couldn’t tell if his barely perceptible nod was for Anton or for me, but Anton set my chair upright and held it. I sat down again but kept my neck well out of Drazen’s immediate radius.

“The plane was hijacked four years ago.” I pointed to the printouts, still between us. “During the incident, the hijackers collected anything from the passengers they thought might be worth something. This included all the personal computers. Most of this stuff was found recently in Afghanistan by the U.S. military.”

“The American army has my money?”

“No. The CIA was called, but the laptops were all pulled out before it got there. A private citizen has them.”

“Who?”

Here was an interesting moment. I could give him Max Kraft’s name, which meant he would have no reason to keep me alive. Or I could lie.

“The U.S. government is also looking for this man. If they find him first, your money is gone.”

“The U.S. government does not scare me.”

“They might not scare you, but they can take your money. At the moment, no one knows those files are there. If we do this right, no one ever needs to know.”

He gave no indication either way, but I had to be right about this. I had to. There was no way he wanted the feds rooting around in his affairs.

I stiffened a little when he called Anton back to the table, but it was only to bring a pen. Drazen took it. Writing with his left hand, he scribbled something across the back of a Wendy’s napkin. “This is the model and the serial number for Vladi’s laptop computer.” He pushed it toward me. When I took it, he didn’t let go. “You find it, and you bring it to me and to no one else.”

“I got that part.”

I took the napkin and looked over the series of numbers and letters he had printed there. It was interesting that he had the long serial number memorized. “I can’t guarantee the files will be on the unit.”

“The files will be there.”

“How can you be sure?”

“They cannot be moved.” He pointed the pen at me. “Straight to me. No one else. Do you understand?”

“I understand. But if I do, I want-” My voice failed me. Even though I knew what I wanted to say, I couldn’t get it out. He was such a remorseless creature. “I want something in return.”

His gash of a mouth tightened. “You believe you are in a position to set terms with me?”

I made myself lean toward him, trying to pretend I wasn’t scared. “A billion dollars is a lot of money. If Roger’s been dead since he lost it, then he hasn’t been around to spend any. It will be substantially more than it was when last you saw it. You lost it once. I can get it back for you, but I want to know that if I do, our deal will be finished. I want my partner and me to be released from all obligations to you.” I was careful not to include Rachel. He would wonder about that.

I sat back and waited and hoped again that I had gambled right and he wanted the money more than he wanted revenge. Of course, there was nothing to say he wouldn’t decide he was entitled to both. But he did have that whole thing about honoring commitments. I wanted to hear him say it.

He didn’t say it. He didn’t do anything. Maybe he was calculating. Maybe he was trying to restrain himself. It was hard to know with him. All I could do was wait and see if I had gone one demand too far.

He pushed the empty chili cup aside. “Let me tell you a sad story. When my brother and I lived in the Ukraine, we were successful businessmen. We had many people working for us all over the country. We had money. Our mother lived in a big house on a hill overlooking our town. We ate and drank and lived like kings. We had women, we had drugs, we had cars. Whatever we wanted. Then, one day, a man came to my door with seven other men, all with guns. Do you know what he wanted?”

“No.”

“He wanted to take my life.”

“To kill you?”

“No, to steal my life. He said he would kill my mother if I did not leave the country and let him move into my house. He wanted me to give him my cars and my businesses and all my money.”

“Just like that?”

“It was wild times in the Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union. Worse than that happened. Much worse. This man thought that with a gun, he could take away everything I spent my life building. I have no doubt he would have killed my mother if I had not.”

“If you had not killed him?”

He crossed his arms, which served to highlight the lovely tattoo that stretched the length of his right forearm. It was a feral-looking cat, wrapped in barbed wire and still on the prowl. He tipped his head and stared at me as if to say, “Try again.”

I fought hard against the next, most logical conclusion, but I knew it was the truth. “You killed your mother.”

“And then I killed him, but first I took him to his house, and I killed his wife and his mother in front of him.” He leaned in. I could smell the chili on his breath. “No one takes my money.”

I had to think that one through, but eventually I got to what I thought was the parable’s message. He didn’t give a shit about who killed Vladi. Someone had taken his money.

“All right, Sashen’ka. I will play your game. You bring me Vladi’s computer with the files on it, and it will be done.”

I felt the tiniest bit of tension bleed off.

“But there is another part. If you do not find it or you find it and do not bring it to me, we will have a settling of accounts, you and I, and I will kill your partner while you watch. Then I will kill you, too.”