But there was nothing I could do — all of the markings on the ledger covers were in Cyrillic. She twisted her hair into a bun as she took a seat next to me. “I can’t read any of these, Annika,” I said with a frown, wondering how I was going to be of any use. She smiled and reached into her bag for a little notepad and pen. “Don’t worry. It’s not too hard.” My brow dropped, very much doubting that. But she jotted out a series of lines and squiggles, noting each one with the Western numbers they represented before ripping off the page and lying it between us. “Here’s your decoder.” I found myself frowning. “This is going to take forever if I have to translate the numbers.” “Only at first. You’ll get the hang of it, I promise. Plus, that’s why I’m here.” I sighed. “Okay. Let’s start by getting these in order by year.” She reached for the first stack, and I tried not to look down her loose tank as it hung down, exposing her through the draping.
