As you know, many of these big buildings have cameras only to reduce their insurance premiums. They don’t maintain them nearly well enough.”

“The security guard saw the perp as well, but I guess you don’t want to send him to Europe on your dime, do you?”

Montaine smiled. “No, this is a job for a professional.”

“I work alone.”

“Not on this job you don’t, and if you’re acting coy just to raise your rates, have no fear. You’ll get twice your usual rate—four hundred dollars a day plus expenses. Biniam will get the same if you need his help.”

Biniam was a hacker Heinrich had used on many cases. The guy was a techie genius and covered his tracks well.

“Don’t tell me your computer guys have been able to hack Biniam because I don’t believe it.”

“No, we got his name from your phone.”

Heinrich glowered at the man. “I don’t like people hacking my phone.”

Montaine bowed his head slightly. “My apologies. We needed to know whom we were working with. Everyone knows of your reputation, but it doesn’t fit with your success rate. You’re quite the interesting person, Mr. Muller—boxer, hyperpolyglot, world traveler, and volunteer stepfather.”

Heinrich’s coffee cup stopped halfway to his mouth. “Don’t bring Jan into this.”

“Why not? It says good things about you that you’re helping that teen street thug get back on his feet. And we’d like to help you help him. We need someone based in Europe to facilitate our expansion into the region. That could be you. We’d let you operate as independently as our corporate structure would allow. You’d get a generous pay and benefits package, and you could live anywhere you like. Warsaw, for example.”

That got Heinrich’s attention. After his last case, his client had given him a bonus that had allowed him to stay in Warsaw for two months and see Jan almost every day. The change in the kid had been profound. His grades had gone from Ds to Bs, and he’d gotten in a lot less trouble at the halfway house. The number of times he’d talked back to the staff hit new lows and he hadn’t gotten in a fight during the last month at all.

But that had all collapsed when Heinrich had to return to the States. Jan had gotten used to Heinrich being there, and hadn’t understood why he had to go back to New York City. He had moaned and sulked all that last week. The day Heinrich left, Jan had sworn at one of the monitors and gotten a demerit. The next day he’d punched some kid who teased him.

“How are you going to deal with the work visa?” Heinrich asked.

“We can arrange that. But of course you must know you’re eligible for German citizenship thanks to your grandfather. That gets you into the European Union.”

“That’s enough about that,” Heinrich snarled. Yes, his grandfather had been a German citizen.