Page 40 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

Mason, Rome, Italy, 2020

When Millie switched back to English, I knew she wanted me to hear something important. I’m already sending a text to Raine when she glances over.

Amina means peace in Arabic. Mir could be Amina.

Millie’s not showing her cards yet, but it seems like that’s where she’s headed.

Raine texts back quickly to say she’s starting to pull records on Amina. I tune back into Millie’s conversation.

“So you have no idea where Amar is?” Millie settles back into her chair comfortably. Amina sits up straighter. The friendlier and more relaxed Millie gets, the more uncomfortable she gets. I’m guessing that’s what Millie wants.

“I don’t,” Amina says, looking down. “He didn’t give me any indication he was leaving, but it might have had something to do with a fight we had.”

“What was the fight about?” Millie says. Her face looks almost uninterested. She’s so good at this.

“You.”

“Me?” Millie puts her hand over her chest. “I can’t imagine why you and Amar would be talking about me, much less fighting about me.”

“We’ve talked about you many times over the years. He was always much too concerned about you. He told me he was just worried about an old friend’s daughter, but I always suspected there was more.”

“What more could there be?” Millie frowns and tilts her head. She’s playing innocent almost too well, but Amina seems to be buying it. “I met Amar for the first time when I questioned him in Sarajevo. What’s it been now? Almost a year ago?”

“Yes, I remember when the men came to our house to get him,” she says, gesturing over to Butch and me. I’m sure she doesn’t remember my face, but I guess we do all kind of look alike. “My youngest daughter was still living with us at that time. She was scared out of her mind, but Amar couldn’t wait to go with them, so he would get to see you again. Somehow he knew you would be there. It’s almost like you were in touch.”

“I assure you, we were not. I didn’t even know Amar knew my mother. Frankly, at that point, I didn’t even know for certain who my mother was.” Millie shifts a bit in her seat. I can’t tell if she’s getting uncomfortable or if she’s doing it for effect. I’m guessing the latter.

Amina looks at her coldly. I guess the small talk is over. “And have you been in touch with him since?”

“No, but I’m curious as to why you would think we would be in touch.”

“Well,” Amina says, pausing dramatically. “I guess when you find out who your real father is, you might want to talk to him.”

Millie smiles slightly. “Amina, Amar is not my father. I’m not sure what you think you know, but if you’d take one look at my real father, you’d know I belong to him.”

“You look very much like your mother. Her hair was darker, but you have her green eyes. Yours are a little bit lighter, but they certainly have the same wide-eyed, innocent expression.” Amina crosses her arms. “But genetics can be tricky. I find finances to be less so.”

“Finances?”

“Yes, dear. My husband left you a quarter of our wealth in his will—his new will. I found it last week. In the original will, he left everything to me. In the new will, he’s split it evenly between his four children—his three legitimate children with me and then his illegitimate child with Nejra.”

Millie laughs and shakes her head. “Amina, I’m not Amar’s child. I have no idea why he would leave me money. No offense, but I can’t believe it’s that much anyway. He was a dentist, not a baron of industry.”

“Oh dear, please tell me you’re not that lightly informed. I would expect better of a CIA agent. My family is very wealthy. That’s why Amar married me after your uncle left. Amar’s family was poor. I guess if he couldn’t have your mother for love, he settled for me and the money. And in our world, all my money becomes the property of my husband. That never bothered me until I realized that my children would have to split their inheritance with you.”

Millie sighs. “They won’t have to share anything with me. I have no interest in your money. Even if he leaves me money—for whatever bizarre reason—I won’t accept it. Your kids can split my portion—”

“Perhaps, we can get that in writing,” Amina says quickly.

“I’m more than happy to sign away any claims to your husband’s inheritance,” Millie says. “But do you really think that’s why he disappeared? Because he didn’t want to deal with your objections to the will?”

“We did get into a rather large fight about it,” she says, eyeing Millie suspiciously. “What other reason could there be? The police tell me that a cab driver left him at the port. Do you have any more information as to where he went after that?”

“I don’t. We just arrived right before we headed over here. Frankly, if his disappearance is for personal reasons, I have no reason to be here at all. The agency thought Amar might have had more to do with Sayid’s network, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case.”

“What do you mean by that?” Amina’s eyes widen. My very untrained eye can see she’s getting wildly nervous. I’m sure Millie’s picking up on it.

“The agency has volumes and volumes of Sayid’s old journals. He recorded everything. Apparently, he had a contact on the ground somewhere in Europe. They thought it might be Amar, but I’ve never believed that. He was just a dentist.” Millie stands up suddenly. “Well, if you don’t have anything more to add, we’ll leave you in peace. The agency will pass Amar’s missing-person case back to the local police. Good luck. I hope you find him soon and that you can work out your differences.”

Amina stands up, forgetting about the tea she has balanced in her lap. The cup and saucer fall to the floor, spraying tea all over her white dress. She looks up at Millie. All her cool, confidence is gone. “How clumsy of me! I was surprised by how quickly you’re leaving.”

Millie bends over and collects a few of the larger chunks of the shattered china and puts them on the table. “Yes, I’m afraid our work is done. If Amar wasn’t Sayid’s contact, it could be anyone. Who knows? Back to the drawing board, I guess. Thank you for hosting us. It was so lovely talking to you.”

Millie walks cooly over to us as Amina struggles to follow her through the broken china. “Perhaps we can meet again. I’m happy to have my attorney draw up papers for you to reject Amar’s will.”

Millie stops and turns around slowly. “You know, you’re right. Genetics can be tricky. Maybe I should get a blood test just to make sure. We’ll be in Rome for a few days. I think you’re in touch with my colleague Brad Simmons. Let him know when Amar gets back and we can get that out of the way.”

Millie smiles as she floats through the elevator door that Butch is holding open for her. Amina’s glaring at her. She takes a step toward Millie. I block her as I back into the elevator. She sputters as she looks from us to the tea stain on her dress. As the door closes, her eyes harden into a glare. She took the bait. She’s definitely coming back after Millie.

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