Page 86 of Don't Look Back

“It’s been about ten days, I think. A few days before the shooting. I can check in now if I’m set up with a virtual private network. I have a secure VPN at home that marks me as being in Sitka, Alaska, which is where she thinks I live.”

“Do you let her see your face?”

“Not without a filter. I have a high-quality one that makes my face look thinner—younger—and changes my eye and hair color. It’s set up on a burner phone that’s in my car. Our conversations always start with texting, but if she insists on seeing me, I can use a backdrop so it looks like I’m a head on Mt. Rushmore or something. I do that most of the time anyway.”

“Okay,” the captain said. “Get your phone. Use my office. I’ll call tech and have them meet you there to set up the VPN.”

Teague rose from his seat. He faced the camera and addressed Fallon and Hanson directly. “What I can ask is limited, but is there anything you want me to try to find out?”

“Anything about Aleksandr’s relationship to Reuben,” Hanson said. “Given the age difference, I doubt they’re close, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”

He nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Kira watched Collins leave the room, then stood herself. “I’ll text Juliette. Make plans for tomorrow.”

She left and took several deep breaths. Instead of taking them to calm herself, she thought about the shocking news she’d received today. She needed to be the opposite of serene. Riled up. For Juliette, she needed to be the shell-shocked woman who’d just discovered her whole life was a lie.

She composed her message and hit Send.

A moment later, her phone rang. Juliette.

She answered with a laugh that was a decent facsimile of stressed-out cheer. “Well hello, I uh…guess you got my message.”

“Your timing was perfect, darling, as Grigory just told me we are to invite you over to see your mother’s painting.”

Her stomach dropped. She didn’t know if it was at the words or the fact that this was better than she could have hoped. “Grigory…has one of my mother’s paintings?” Her voice cracked onpainting, but only a little.

“Yes dear. I didn’t know it was by your mother until we met on Friday night. The resemblance is uncanny.”

“Why didn’t you say something then?”

“Reuben asked me not to. And…itishis gallery.”

Kira did understand that. Still, she could have saved Kira a lot of questions and even danger if the woman had spoken up. “Tell me, had you ever met my Cousin Andre before?”

“The German man with you that night? No. Should I have?”

“I don’t know. It’s all so confusing. So you knew about my mother?”

“I only knew what everyone else knew—you’re the spitting image of Reuben’s mom, who painted several self-portraits and some landscapes. Luka sold one of the portraits to Grigory.”

“Why would Luka sell it?”

“You’ll have to ask him, dear. But it is a lovely portrait. Your mother was an amazing artist. Do you paint?”

Kira did, but she wasn’t about to get into that discussion now. The apple had fallen far from the tree in her case, but she’d accepted that years ago.

“Is tomorrow good for you? I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be staying in Malta, but I want to see more of your work. That’s why I messaged you to begin with.”

“Tomorrow is perfect. We can start at the gallery, then go to Grigory’s villa for lunch.”

She closed her eyes, giving thanks for the invitation, even though she was well aware Reuben and Grigory were probably laying some sort of trap for her. Little did they know she had an undercover SEAL at her back, and behind him was the entire fucking US Navy.

ChapterForty-Two

Kira was disappointed Teague Collins was unable to speak to Nadia that afternoon or evening, but they had other logistics to work out. The Navy made arrangements to have equipment delivered to Rand, and a SEAL team was mobilized to Naval Air Station Sigonella on the island of Sicily—which was little more than a hundred miles away. If they found themselves in a bind, Rand would have backup.

Freya located a fifty-foot yacht for them to charter, so Rand would have a place to store his SEAL gear once it was delivered, plus they’d have transport to Gozo. It was early evening when they grabbed their bags and left the apartment for a marina outside Valletta to claim the yacht.

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