Page 39 of Centurion

She shook her head. “But I have it on good authority there’s an asset in country who can.” Her father had told her Val and Smith or Malice would be assigned as backup.

“You should get them on the hook. We can take this to them.” He handed her the file. “I could run a program, but it would take forever to scan them in and then translate them.”

She smiled at the way he suggested they take the documents to the asset and not have the asset come there. She picked up her phone and dialed Val’s number.

“Hey. Long time, girl.”

“I need your Russian language skills. Can you come over?”

She watched as Con’s eyes narrowed as he went through the other items in the bag. He didn’t say a word, which gave him A-plus marks in her book.

“I’d love to, but we didn’t get the call. I think Malice and Anya are in London.”

“No problem, I’ll contact him. How’s that husband of yours? I heard he was shot.”

“Stubborn as a mule,” Val drawled, and she heard Smith laugh in the background.

“I’ll see you later. Keep him in line.” She hung up and used a contact number she’d never used before. It was programmed into her phone, and she hit the button.

“Yes,” a deep voice rumbled.

“I don’t know if you remember me or not. We met when you were coming to an island, and I was leaving.”

“I do. What can I do for you?”

“I need help with some Russian text.”

“I can arrange that. My wife will be with me, but she has a clearance now. She’s a native Russian speaker as well. Fury can vouch for her.”

“I’ll call him while you’re on your way. I’ll text you the address.”

“We’ll leave immediately.”

Ronnie hit her earpiece. “Fury, are you online?”

“Unfortunately,” the man drawled.

“Malice is needed here. Is his plus one authorized?”

“She’s been cleared and is authorized up to a point. He’s well aware of what she can and can’t be exposed to.”

“Thanks. We’ll get back to you as soon as we figure out what’s going on with these documents.”

“Make it sooner rather than later. I’m clear.”

“Grump,” she huffed, then moved to see what Con was studying. “What’s that?”

He shook his head. “It looks like a step-by-step plan to do away with all things digital.” He flipped the page. “This …” He looked up from the book. “This has very specific actions. Give me a couple of minutes. Would you go through the other bag while I try to understand this thing?”

“Sure.” She grabbed the other bag and started unloading the undeveloped film. Fifteen in total. A thick binder was next. She thumbed through the pages and pages of negatives. She pulled one out and held it up to the sunshine coming through the window. “Documents of some kind.” She put the binder down and pulled out a key. Definitely a safe deposit box. She put that to the side and withdrew several notebooks. Sitting down, she started to thumb through the first one. “Well, this is interesting.”

Conner’s head popped up. “What?”

“This is his day planner of sorts,” she said, flipping through the pages. “Or maybe a journal. Where he goes, what he does.”

Con left his book and scooted over to her in the wheeled chair. “How far do the dates go on that? Perhaps we can find something about the embassy or why he was meeting with Trueman.”

“This one goes … No, this goes to December of last year. Hold on, there’s another one.” She grabbed the other notebook and flipped to the last page with writing. “It goes to the day before he left London for Australia. I’ll read backward and see if it has anything.”

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