Page 50 of Don't Look Back

“No,” she and Rand said simultaneously.

“Kira there are things about your father you don’t wanthimto know.”

“Then you should have told me this morning, when we were alone.”

“This morning, you hadn’t gone to Birgu.”

“How do you know I was in Birgu?”

Andre’s nostrils flared. “Everyoneknows you went to Birgu.”

“Who is everyone?”

“You have no idea who you are dealing with.”

“Then enlighten me.”

“You’ve endangered everyone.”

“Again,CousinAndre. Who. Is.Everyone?”

His words were a low whisper. “They’ll kill me. You should have told me about the letters.”

“What makes you think I owe you anything?” Why did everyone seem to think this trip of hers was their business?

“We’re family.”

“Are we really?”

All at once, Andre lunged at her. Before she knew what was happening, he grasped at her neck. She expected to feel the grip of his hand around her throat, but instead, she felt the scrape of fingers and the bite of a breaking chain on the skin at her nape, and then Andre was running toward the exit with her mother’s pendant in his grasp.

Rand was after Andre like a bullet as Kira watched in stunned dismay.

The man never stood a chance against the SEAL, who tackled him and pinned him to the ground. “Who are you?” Rand asked.

Her cousin stared up at Rand in shock and fear. “An-an-andre Stoltz. Kira’s cousin.”

“Bullshit. No one has seen the real Andre Stoltz since January.” Rand’s voice turned soft and menacing. Kira had to strain to hear him. “Eenie meenie, miny, moe, catch a liar by the throat.” His hands tightened on Andre’s neck. “You. Are. Not. Stoltz.”

The scene was surreal, watching the fake author but very real SEAL torment the one person who had been her lifeline in the months after her father’s death.

And yet, the man’s behavior since he’d arrived in Malta backed Rand’s words. She touched her neck. He’d taken her mother’s locket.

A crowd was forming around them—albeit at a distance—and a different kind of fear sank into Kira’s churning belly. She tapped Rand on the shoulder. “We need to go. Now.”

Rand hesitated a moment, then released Andre’s neck. He remained on the ground, straddling the gasping man.

“Who are you?” Rand asked again.

“Andre Stoltz.” He twisted his head to cast a frantic glance at Kira. “She’ll tell you. She knows.”

Anger surged. The liar thought she was so fooled she hadn’t noticed the inconsistencies in his stories. “I knowwhat, Andre? Tell me one thing about my father that only you and I could know.”

“He loved your mother beyond all else.”

“That’s true, but hardly a secret. Try again.”

“Your mother…she could have been a master. Her paintings were magnificent.”

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