“What do you want?” He said it calmly, but his eyes darted toward the exit. In Vee’s eyes I saw horror. She was calculating fast, looking for the words that would defuse the situation.

“Vee,” I said. “Go and wait outside.”

She wanted to say something. She stopped herself. She stood up. I stepped out of her way. From the corner of the bar the woman watched. Vee began to pass me. She made to say something. I shook my head.

“Stand outside,” I said. “Do not speak to anyone.”

I slid into the booth opposite Pavel.

“I’m going to go,” he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He began to get up.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “There’s a camera, Pavel.”

Pavel looked up at the security camera in the corner. “And?”

“And I told that woman not to call the police.” Pavel looked over toward the bar. The dark-haired woman was watching our exchange, concerned. “But we both know what she and the camera saw.”

He looked at the drinks in front of him. He looked at the camera. He slumped down into his seat.

I watched as Vee made her way through the bar, saw her tapping gently on people’s shoulders, making herself as small as possible, slipping through gaps between bodies. The dark-haired woman moved out of the way, put a hand on Vee’s shoulder, guided her past her friends at the bar.

I said, “What did Vee want?”

“Proof that her sister is alive. Which you know I don’t have.”

“And you arranged to meet her here?”

“And then you come, and you threaten me that I will lose my pilot’s license. That’s what you’re implying, isn’t it?”

“Pavel, she is fifteen. You knew that.”

He stared sullenly at me. He had the look of a man who had been drinking steadily for hours. Matte shadows were forming around the armpits and the neck of his neatly pressed shirt.

“No,” he said, “I do not think I can allow you to threaten me like this.”

“No one is threatening you.” I took out my phone, opened the video still of the boat. He sat forward, instantly alert.

“Where did you get this?”

“Anonymous source.”

“You mean police.” A statement, not a question.

“What happened to that boat?”

He exhaled heavily. “I can’t help you.”

“You can,” I said. “You won’t.”

“Cal,” he said. “You do not wish to put your children’s lives in danger. Do not pursue this material.”