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"On the contrary, I don't mind the solitude." He took a sip of his tea, giving her a fatherly wink. "Though I would never pass up the opportunity to dine with a beautiful woman."

"I don't suppose that happens here very often," she said awkwardly, then added quickly, "I mean with only men working here."

"No, it doesn't." He chuckled. "Did you get the opportunity to say goodbye to Sin this morning?"

"No, he was gone before I woke up." She sliced a piece of bacon in half. It was leaner here than in America and she found she preferred it, savoring the salty meat on her taste buds.

"Aye, lassie. Don't fret, this will all be over soon enough," Alex said assuredly. "Sokolov will be dead."

"I'm not so sure." She set her knife and fork down, no longer hungry. The thought of Sin and his men walking into a trap was unsettling. "I think they might be on a wild goose chase."

"How so?" Alex asked, pouring more tea into each of their cups while listening intently.

"Sokolov. You shouldn't underestimate him," she said. "He wouldn't make the location so obvious. What if he left the clue intentionally?"

"You think he wanted us to go to the abbey?" Alex asked.

"Yes, but not to exchange the print. I've been thinking about it all night. I think he wants to draw them away from the real location," she explained slowly. She needed to convince Alex of her plan and get him on her side. "To ambush them."

"Ambush them?" Alex said, confused. "There were no other clues, Charlie. Dougie, Gabriel and I looked carefully."

"You need to look again. He chose Klimt for a reason," she said, leaning closer so he would understand the importance of what she said. "He was a symbolist painter. Symbolists used allegory in their paintings, hoping to convey complex ideas. Sokolov would have wanted to do the same. There will be more in the crest than meets the eye."

The colonel looked mildly startled. "Why didn't you say anything yesterday?"

"I didn't think of it until the middle of the night, and when I woke up, Sin was gone. But maybe you can look at it again, knowing what I told you. If you find another clue, you can send me to make the exchange."

Alex gave her a sharp look that reminded her for a moment of her father. "Absolutely not. You're not to step one foot off this compound, lass. I won't put your life at risk for that bastard. If you want to help, you should look at the crest. You have an eye for this sort of thing."

Her stomach turned, the bacon and eggs suddenly making her feel sick. He was her last hope. "I can't look at it."

"Why not?" he asked sternly.

"I can never look at it," she said softly, looking down. "Because if I do, he will live in me forever."

"Charlie, that isn't true, lassie." He reached out and put his hand over hers.

She shook her head, ridding herself of the thought. "Anyway. I don't know anything about the Black Watch. The message was for you."

"If it will make you feel better, I'll call Sin and warn him to be careful, but it is the right spot, sweetheart. There were no other symbols." His eyes darted away and for an instant, she could swear he was lying.

She let out a long sigh. Maybe she had been wrong, all along.

He stood up. "I'll walk you back to the mansion," he said. "I just need to get my coat."

She stood up herself, wandering into the living room while she waited for him. For someone who claimed to know nothing about art, his walls were lined with beautiful paintings. A bookshelf with framed photographs caught her eye. There were a few of him and a beautiful blonde woman when he was younger, along with several military photos. She picked one up, looking closely. It was of him and his regiment and standing next to him, was a very young Gabriel. She put it down and picked up the last one. It was of him and Jock in front of a mermaid sculpture. Are you selkie or rusalka?

"Ready," Alex said, causing her to jump. William growled at him. She placed the picture back where she got it, her hand shaking, and smiled. "Yes."

Are you selkie or rusalka? What if the message wasn't for The Watch? What if it had been for her all along? She thought of the fish scales on her stomach. Maybe it wasn't a fish at all, maybe it was the scales on a mermaid's tail. She suddenly knew what she had to do. She followed Alex out the door and down the stairs until they were outside. The sun had faded behind gray clouds, though it didn't look like it would rain any time soon.

"The picture of you and Sinclair's father by the sculpture. Where was that taken?" she asked.

"Cumbernauld," he said. "I was getting ready to ship out to Afghanistan, it was to be my last tour, and my brother came down to see me. He rarely leaves the Highlands, so I wanted to show him some things. I knew how he loved his selkie stories. I thought he would get a kick out of the sculpture." His eyes looked far off. "Oddly enough, it was then that he told me about Sin being his son. He said he thought I should know I had a nephew in case anything happened to me."

"How old was Sin?" They had paused near a rowan tree, its red berries just beginning to show in the early autumn season.

"He was a lad in university at that point. I went to see him in Glasgow, though I didn't say anything to him, as he still didn't know. I just wanted to lay my eyes on him," he said. "Bright lad."

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