Page 11 of Sanctuary

“He’s a cop,” Declan said, watching me.

I feigned a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness,” I said with a smile. “I think I’ll go find Wren, get her to show me where I’ll be sleeping.”

As I walked away, I could feel two sets of eyes boring into my back, while in a low voice I could hear Connor say, “What did I miss?”

Chapter 6

Connor

I looked between Declan and Rory and wondered why both were scowling. “Well? What’s going on?”

“Rory, you checked her out, didn’t you?” Declan asked, with an edge to his voice.

“Yeah,” he nodded, turning back towards the monitor, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “She’s a librarian… I can’t find the file on her now.” He looked up at me, “Connor, you searched her background. Where’s the file?”

I pulled up a chair beside him and took the keyboard. In no time, I had the file open in front of me, and I felt like I was betraying her trust. Which didn’t make a lick of sense considering the circumstances.

I stared at the screen, my eyes scanning the details of Mia’s life. On the surface, everything seemed normal - a quiet librarian from a small town, no criminal record, a sparse social media presence. But as I delved deeper, inconsistencies began to emerge.

Her employment history showed gaps, periods where she seemed to vanish off the grid entirely. Her educational background was impressive, but oddly varied - degrees in literature, computer science, and forensic accounting.

Rory pointed at the screen, “Why would a librarian have so many different degrees?”

I shrugged, as I reviewed her travel records. “Maybe she was undecided as to what she wanted in life?”

“Wait, add sharpshooter to the list. She did kill Cookie without batting an eye,” Rory mentioned.

“Maybe she hated him,” I looked up at them. And both men were looking at me with a fierce look on their faces.

“What?! It’s possible,” I said, turning my attention back to the monitor.

Mia had an impressive number of international trips. Beijing, Brussels, Dubai - she was never gone more than a few days.

The more I clicked, the more I regretted it. Hidden beneath layers, I found evidence of large sums of money moving through offshore accounts. The transactions were expertly concealed, but the pattern was clear to someone who knew what to look for.

“Holy shit,” I muttered, leaning back in my chair.

Declan leaned in, his eyes narrowing as he took in the information sprawled across the screen. After a long moment, he grunted, “Something’s not right with her.”

I nodded slowly, my mind racing. “She’s not just a librarian. This level of smoke screening, the hidden accounts, the tech knowledge - she’s got to be some kind of hacker or cyber security expert.”

Rory whistled low. “No wonder those guys are after her. Question is, who’s she working for? And what the hell did she get mixed up in?”

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling a mix of fascination and dread. The woman I’d just proposed to - even if it was a fake engagement - was clearly not who she claimed to be. And now, I realized with a sinking feeling, I’d dragged the entire clan into whatever mess she was involved in.

“What do we do now?” I asked, looking to Declan for guidance.

My brother’s face was grim as he straightened up. “We need to have a little chat with her. And this time, we’re going to get the whole truth out of her - one way or another.”

As we moved to leave the room, a thought struck me. I turned back to the computer and quickly began typing, searching for one last piece of information. When I found it, my blood ran cold.

“Ah guys,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “Isn’t bigamy a crime in Canada?”

I asked because on the screen was a photo of her standing at a church altar, kissing a man.

“Holy shit!” Rory said, staring at the screen. “In answer to your question, yes it’s a crime.”

I looked at them. “Now what? What do we do?” I knew it was a long shot, but I had to add, “I need to get married unless you want to stay on as captain, Declan.”

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