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I allow my eyes to travel from hers to her mouth. “Did you believe you were the only one affected last night?”

Her fingers tighten around the cup, and the pulse near her throat quickens. “I didn’t know what to believe.”

“Believe that.”

Reid clears his throat from across the lobby. “The conference room is ready whenever the research concludes.”

Cassie steps away, and color reaches the freckles across her nose while Birdie looks far too pleased. Murphy has curled up on the sofa beside the hearth, his eyes closed and one paw tucked beneath his chin.

“I don’t like leaving him here alone,” Cassie says, glancing back at him.

“He looks comfortable,” I tell her. “Harris will keep an eye on him while we’re meeting, and he can take Murphy to the guesthouse with your bags afterward.”

Cassie watches Murphy for another moment. He doesn’t open an eye.

“Take their bags to the east guesthouse when we’re finished,” I tell Harris. “Place a man there until Drew completes the overnight assignments.”

“I didn’t agree to a guard outside the guesthouse,” Cassie says.

“You agreed to stay until permanent security is assigned. Protection while you are here is part of that agreement.”

She considers another argument. “We’ll be returning to this conversation.”

“I expected nothing less.” I gesture toward the conference room. “Bring the planner, krasavitsa.”

Cassie glances at me as she picks it up. “I hope that means something good.”

“It does,” I tell her, stepping aside to let her pass. “I’ll tell you how good when we’re alone.”

Reid’s low laugh follows us into the corridor. Cassie walks ahead of me with Connor’s planner tucked against her chest, and I resist the urge to tell her what krasavitsa means before we reach the conference room.

Inside, she takes a seat and opens the planner in the center of the table, keeping one hand beside it as though she expects one of us to steal it. Rain streaks the windows overlooking the eastern vines, and pendant lamps glow against the walnut walls while I take the chair to her right.

“We are not spending the evening reviewing every invoice,” I say. “We need to know whether Connor marked the same companies we found in the loan files.”

“For once, we agree.” Cassie taps a row of abbreviations. “These marks appear beside VHL, Alder Crest, and two names I can’t read. Connor uses a triangle when numbers repeat across unrelated accounts.”

Reid rotates the laptop toward her. “VHL and Alder Crest share a Seattle mailing address, although the building directory lists neither company.”

Birdie leans closer to the screen, her shoulder touching his. “So, they rented mailboxes?”

“More likely they used false suite numbers to make one address appear to house several businesses,” Reid answers without moving away. “The telephone numbers also lead to the same answering service.”

“That seems careless,” Birdie says, but Reid points to four figures on the screen.

“Fraud often depends on volume, not perfection. Enough paperwork discourages people from comparing every page, but Connor compared them.”

Cassie studies the figures, then turns back three pages in the planner. “These are the same amounts, but they are listed beside loan numbers here.”

I move my chair closer and lean over the page. My chest brushes her shoulder, and she pauses with one finger beneath a line of Connor’s writing.

“The dates are within the same week,” I say. “The winery pays a false vendor, and a loan for the same amount appears through the bank.”

“Which means Connor was comparing the bank loans to your accounts.” Cassie looks up and finds my face closer to hers than she expected. “You’re too close again.”

“I moved so I could read his notes.” I ease my chair back, though her eyes remain on mine for another moment.

“Then help me find what he was looking for.” Cassie looks down at the planner. “All this tells us is that Connor found the same pattern. It doesn’t tell us where he is or what he hid.”