Chapter Nine

 

 

Kim stepped out into the sunlight with a sigh and immediately caught sight of her uncle sitting on the patio sipping his midmorning tea.

“Good morning, dear girl. How are our patients?” Her uncle gave her a wave and gestured for her to join him.

It had been a rough couple of days. “Better, thanks to you. I think Roman could probably have gone to school today, but I would feel better if he had more rest.”

She moved down the steps and crossed to join her uncle. She set her bag down and took a seat as her uncle poured her a coffee.

“It was just a little bug,” he said, handing her the delicate cup. “I told you it would pass. I don’t expect that you will get it. You have what we physicians like to call Mommy immunity.”

She was glad for it because apparently Ezra didn’t have it. He’d been every bit as sick as Roman. She’d been pushing fluids and bringing down fevers for days. “Well, I’m happy for it. I talked to one of the teachers at the school and it’s going around. She said half the class is out with it. It’s almost certainly where Ezra picked it up, too.”

“He’s a baby.” Uncle Francis passed her the milk and sugar tray. “He needs to build up more fortitude. Are you going into the store?”

“Only if you don’t mind.” Her uncle had many things to do in a day, and he’d put a lot of them off so he could help her. “I need to go through the shipment we got in, and I promised Ezra earlier this week that I would go through some of the security feed.”

“I’m staying home for the rest of the week. I can certainly look in on our patients,” her uncle assured her. “I’ve got some research I would like to do. Is my book in the shipment?”

At least she had something to offer him. “I hope so. Anna told me we got some mail from Germany. If it’s here, I’ll bring it back for you.”

“Why does Ezra want you to go through the tapes? Are you having problems at the shop?”

She shook her head and picked up one of the croissants on the breakfast tray. She filled a small plate with cheese and fruit. “Someone asked about me a few days back. Not by name. I think it’s nothing more than a tourist looking for a date. Ezra’s being overly cautious, so I had Anna save the files from earlier in the week.”

Her uncle had gone all kinds of serious. “Kimberly, you can’t take these things lightly.”

“I’m not. I meant to go in the day after he asked me to, but then we were dealing with two sick boys.” Ezra wasn’t really a baby, but he had needed a bit of nursing to get through the stomach bug he and Roman had picked up. “However, I seriously doubt anyone’s found me after all these years. I’m almost certain they’ve stopped trying.”

He stared at her for a moment. “And that is when they will get you, my darling girl. Perhaps it’s time for you to reach out to Beckett.”

She sat back, her appetite fleeing in a second. “Have you been talking to Ezra?”

“You know I’ve always thought Ezra should face his brother. He’s done much good work in the years since he walked away from his old life. But he can’t fully embrace his new life without facing his brother. He’s merely putting off the inevitable, and you are, too.”

She intended to be entirely stubborn on this front. “There’s nothing inevitable about me seeing Beck again.”

“Are you truly willing to spend the rest of your life in danger? Beck is the one who might be able to help you clear your name. He’s connected to that group, right?”

“McKay-Taggart. He works for them. But if he hasn’t been able to find the information that will exonerate me by now, he likely won’t.” She took a sip of her coffee and put it back down. “He doesn’t owe me anything.”

“I beg to differ, and I suspect your son will, too, one day.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, and you know that,” her uncle replied with a frown. “If you are in danger, then Roman is, too. I don’t want you to have a false sense of security. It’s not easy to live with your guard up. It is inevitable that you will let it down because it’s impossible to live your life constantly in fear. But the way to quell those fears is to be proactive. If you won’t talk to Roman’s father, perhaps we can bring in a lawyer.”

She stood suddenly. “I don’t want to talk about this.” Her life was nice. She didn’t understand why her uncle and Ezra felt the need to try to rattle things now. “If we’re bothering you, Roman and I can move out.”

Her uncle seemed to deflate. “That’s not at all what I want. You and the boy have been the light of my life. I love you, niece. My Rosa and I were not blessed with children, but we were blessed with you. Sometimes when you love someone, you have to risk the relationship in order to save the loved one.”

She sighed and let go of her anger. This man had been everything she’d needed him to be. Even when she’d been a child her aunt and uncle had been the bright spots in her life. “I’m sorry. I’m happy here, and I don’t want to think about what could happen in the future.”

“The future always finds us.” He settled back in his seat. “It’s about more than merely your safety. It’s about your ex-husband. I don’t think you’ve gotten over him.”

She actually laughed at that thought. “I assure you I was over Beck the moment he threw my childhood in my face.” That had been the hardest thing to deal with. She’d talked to him about her fears because she’d trusted him, because he’d been her safe place. With all the fights they’d had, he’d never broken her trust in that way. “He’d always been angry, and I was used to dealing with it. But he turned cruel over the years. I don’t know what he would have done if I’d stayed.”

“Have you considered that he might have apologized? That if you had talked to him, he might have come to understand how much that hurt you?”

That felt like victim blaming. “It’s not my responsibility to make Beck see reason. He divorced me without a real talk. I figured I could take charge of my life without begging him to see my side of things. You don’t know Beck. Once he has a grudge, he never lets go. He always loved his outrage far more than me.”

“Well, you did hide his brother from him,” her uncle pointed out. “You lied to him.”

“I did that to protect Ezra. Maybe Beck and I were always doomed.”

Her uncle sighed. “All I know is I lost my Rosa far too early.”

She felt a soft spot in her heart when she thought about her aunt. “Beck and I were never you and Aunt Rosa.”

“Oh, your aunt and I fought a lot in the beginning. I think it was only our religion that kept us together for some of those early, volatile years. Even with our profound belief, we talked about separating more than once in the first six years of our marriage.”

She felt her eyes go wide. “What did you do?”

He chuckled. “Your aunt wasn’t a saint. She instigated many of our fights. You only knew us when we were solid. And your parents were a terrible example of a good marriage. I worry that you were caught between what seemed to be a perfect marriage and your parents web of lies and neglect. I wish I’d been able to advise you when you and Beckett were having trouble. Do you know what turned your aunt and I around?”

“What?” Kim asked.

Her uncle leaned closer. “We learned how to talk to each other. I know it sounds odd, but women and men speak different languages.”

She wished it was that simple. “It was more than that.”

“And I worry it still is. I worry you’ll spend the rest of your life alone because no one will ever move you the way he did.”

“You should talk,” she replied pointedly. “You took actual vows of celibacy, uncle.”

“I did that because I won’t ever love another woman. I’ll be true to my wife until I die, and the vows show both my love for her and my love for God,” he explained. “It’s the same for Ezra, though he didn’t have an earthly love. Some men and women don’t, and there’s nothing wrong with that if they’re fulfilled by something else.”

“I’m happy with my son. He’s the love of my life.”

“Then why do you dream of his father at night? Why do you call out for him?”

She felt her skin flush. “I do not.” Except she knew she dreamed about Beck. Almost every night. “I’m sorry. It’s a subconscious thing. It doesn’t mean I’m still hung up on Beck.”

“All right.”

She could practically feel the disappointment coming off her uncle, and she hated it. Had he and Ezra decided to push her? She stood again, grabbing the crossover bag and slinging it over her torso. “I should go. I’ll try to be back before dinner. There’s chicken salad in the fridge in case I’m late.”

She strode away because her uncle could be stubborn.

He wasn’t right any more than Ezra was right.

What was she going to tell Roman when he asked about his dad? She made quick work of the walk from the residence to the battlement, passing from the cool confines of the garden into the open sun and tourists who stopped and stared as though trying to figure out why she’d come out of the highly secured area. Most simply shrugged and figured she was some kind of curator, but she’d had a few pushy tourists question her and try to get a tour of the area.

She breezed past them, not even giving them a chance to ask. She didn’t want to pretend today.

Her uncle’s questions were making her restless. Seven years before she’d decided to live in the now, to let the future take care of itself.

How long could she do that? It had been easy when Roman was a baby. She’d spent the first few years of his life doing nothing more than taking care of him, hiding away from the tumult of the world outside. When the world had started to heal, she’d stayed here, playing with her son and making him the center of the world.

That was fine for her, but Roman would want more.

He would want to see more of the world than this tiny island, and she wasn’t sure how he would do it. She couldn’t go with him unless she truly believed they weren’t at risk. Was she safe now that Levi was marrying into a powerful family?

McKay-Taggart could help with that. They could talk about ways to neutralize her as a threat to Levi and maybe work out a deal where she could come out of hiding and give her son a more free life.

But then she would have to admit that her son existed, and she would finally know what Beck thought.

She moved past the unmarked guva that had served for years as Fort Saint Angelo’s prison. It looked like nothing more than an ancient manhole, and likely most tourists thought it was access to some kind of system, but she knew it for what it was. It was an oubliette. The prisoner would be thrown down the narrow entrance into the bulblike bottom of the prison. It was impossible to get out without help because the walls were curved and couldn’t be climbed.

That was where she was. Stuck. She could see the light, but she couldn’t reach it. She would never get out of that prison without someone throwing her a line and lifting her out. If she stayed, she would spend the rest of her life hoping someone threw her scraps.

And Roman would be there with her.

She practically jogged down the steep embankment, moving past the tourists on their way up to the battlement. She barely saw the boats in the marina or the happy visitors sitting outside and eating their brunch al fresco. It was a stunning day, but she didn’t feel the sun the way she normally did. Her uncle’s questions were ringing in her ears.

They were still there a few moments later when she got to the front of her shop. The door was open, along with the big windows that allowed the breeze from the bay in.

Anna was at the cash register, handing over a small bag that likely held something other than books from the shape of it. Most likely one of the snow globes featuring the knights.

Was this the life she wanted for her son? Selling cheap souvenirs to tourists? There wasn’t anything wrong with the life, but she didn’t want Roman limited by his mother’s mistakes.

“Hello.” Anna greeted her as she walked toward the backrooms. “I put the box from Germany on your desk.”

“Thanks.” She liked Anna, but she needed some alone time. The last few days had been hard with Roman and Ezra being sick. That was why she was so restless. It wasn’t thinking of Beck. It wasn’t the dreams she’d been having lately, the ones where he held her in his arms and took charge. Where he saved her, and she didn’t have to worry about the future because they would face it all together. “Let me know if you need anything.”

She was relieved when she closed the door to her office. It wasn’t much. She’d certainly had much bigger offices in her time, but this place had become a calm space for her. While the fort was large and the gardens plentiful, the actual residence wasn’t huge, and there were four of them living there. This was the place she could come to when she needed to be alone.

She really needed to be alone today.

There was a box of books on her desk. Work was good.

She carefully opened the box from Germany and settled in.

 

 

Hours later she was satisfied the small leather-bound tome was the real thing, and her uncle would be thrilled to add its knowledge to the order’s library. He would pay her handsomely for finding it and then she could buy more books.

It might be time to think about renovating one of the apartments above.

Or maybe it was time to talk to a lawyer the way her uncle had suggested. One who could be trusted.

She glanced up at the clock and realized it was far later than she’d imagined. She’d worked on authenticating her latest purchase and had only stopped to briefly eat a sandwich. She’d taken over the cash register so Anna could have lunch. The day had flown by and soon she had to make the walk back home to face her uncle and Ezra.

Maybe she would stop and grab some pizza. Ezra had texted her with updates on her son’s rapid recovery. They’d both been eating today, and perhaps if she fed them they wouldn’t have to talk too much.

She needed time to figure out what she wanted to do.

She wished she could call Ariel.

Why shouldn’t she? She could buy a burner phone, call up The Garden, and hope Ari was still living there. Or she could use a computer and bounce the signal around. There were programs that could mask her location.

Did Ariel ever think about her? Or was Ari glad she didn’t have to deal with all the crazy that came with being friends with her.

There was a knock on her office door and then Anna was standing there, a harried look on her face.

“I’m so sorry. I got a call from the school and Leni is sick,” Anna said. “She threw up in the middle of class.”

It really was going around. “No problem. Go on and I’ll close up when it’s time.”

“We only have a few customers.” Anna already had her purse in hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Roman is getting over it. It’s only bad for about twenty-four hours. Lots of fluids and she’ll be fine in a couple of days,” Kim advised.

“Thanks so much.” Anna started out the door. “A courier delivered a letter, but I think it was a mistake. I didn’t recognize the name. I’ll check into it tomorrow.”

Anna thanked her again and Kim walked out to the front register. The shop was quiet, but she could hear the murmurs of customers wandering through the back shelves. At least it wasn’t a cruise ship day where she would be bombarded with tourists. She glanced out and it looked like a storm was moving in. The afternoon had turned cloudy.

Did she have an umbrella?

She sold a couple some postcards and a book on the underground tunnels of Valletta and then opened her laptop. She could check the CCTV files from here.

A package caught her eye. It was in one of the courier services flat-rate envelopes and covered in plastic. The markings were in German and claimed it was an overnight guaranteed envelope.

She sighed. It was likely legal papers, and someone was going to be pissed. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d gotten someone else’s mail. She turned it over and then the room seemed to go cold.

K. Solomon

The reason Anna hadn’t recognized the name was because Kim had never told the woman her real name. She went by Kay Bruno.

No one outside of her family knew what her real name was.

Her heart started to race, and she had to force herself to breathe.

Seven years. She’d been all right for seven years. How had they found her?

She tore the letter open and inside was a single slip of paper.

Remember, remember the fifth of November. The People know Reva. Find her.

What the hell did that mean? It didn’t matter because someone knew her real name.

She shoved the letter and packaging in her bag and dragged it over her head, securing the crossbody against her hip. She couldn’t stay. “I’m sorry. I need to close the shop. My son is ill, and I have to pick him up.”

The few patrons in the front of the store walked out without an argument, though she heard a few curse as the rain started.

It didn’t matter. The CCTV tapes didn’t matter either. The letter was all that mattered. That and getting to her son. Her mind raced as she walked the store to make sure she wasn’t about to lock anyone in.

She would need two new passports, but she would take the ferry to Sicily tonight. She would pack up Roman and they could be in Rome by tomorrow. They would rent a room and figure out how to make their way to Australia. Yes. That would be a good start. She had a small flat in Sydney no one should know about.

But then no one was supposed to know she was here in Malta.

She turned down the last aisle and there was a man in a black trench coat, his back turned as he looked up at the books in her biography and memoir section. “Sir, I’m sorry. I’ve got to close the store. I have to pick up my son.”

It wasn’t a lie. She was probably going to pick up her son and take him to an entirely different continent.

God, she wanted Beck. It was right there. She wanted to call him and ask him to help her and not be in this all alone. She wanted him to care about Roman, to know Roman’s dad would do anything to save him.

“Your son?” That voice sent a chill down her spine. The man turned and he was staring at her, his gaze burning every bit as much as it had seven years before. “I hope you’re lying because there’s no room for a child in my plans. Hello, Solo. Long time no see.”

Levi Green started to walk down the aisle, and she knew her life was over.

 

* * * *

 

“The storm’s coming in,” Jax said over the headset. “I looked it up and it’s a doozy. We might want to pull up stakes and get back to base before it really hits.”

“She hasn’t come out of the store yet.” Beck sat in the building across the street from the bookstore Kim owned. “I want to follow her home to make sure she gets in all right.”

Three days. They’d been in Malta for three days, and this was the closest he’d gotten to her. She’d been holed up in her tower. He knew it was a fort, but he’d come to think of her as a princess in a tower, hiding away from the big bad wolf.

He’d torn her apart once. Did he have any right to ask her to risk it again?

“All right, boss. I’ll send Tucker out in a car to get you. I think the boat would be risky,” Jax replied. “I’ll let Rob know you’re coming in.”

Robert was on a boat in the marina. It was a small yacht that included a bedroom and everything a person needed to hang out for days peeping up at the princess in the tower. “I’ll let Rob go back to base. I’m going to stay here in Birgu. Now that she’s left the fort I want to track her movements. Hopefully she leaves more often than she has this week.”

“Seriously?” Theo Taggart was in the flat with him. They’d been taking shifts going between Birgu and an isolated farm on the south side of the island where no one would question six Americans coming in and out with tons of equipment. And a chopper. Robert had outdone himself. “You’re going to stay in town again? How much sleep have you gotten?”

Not nearly enough, but that didn’t matter. “I’ll sleep on the boat. I’ll be fine. I would rather stay close to her.”

Theo moved in beside him. “She looks good.”

She’d looked gorgeous when she’d walked down the narrow road and strode into her little bookshop. Her hair had shone in the sunlight, but she’d had a frown on her face. “She’s worried about something.”

Even after all these years he knew her tells. She walked fast when she was worried. When she was happy, she took in the sights around her, even when they were familiar. It had been a beautiful morning and she’d been focused. He’d followed her, waiting down at the marina until she’d come through the gates that led to the fort. He now knew this area of Malta better than he knew his own Dallas neighborhood. He’d spent days studying that fort of hers, walking along the battlements and hoping he caught sight of her.

“Well, she is in hiding,” Theo pointed out. “But she’s gotten sloppy. She wasn’t even wearing a hat, and that hair of hers is a giveaway. She should have dyed it and cut it.”

He couldn’t stand the thought of her doing that. Her hair was glorious, like the woman herself. “I can’t imagine keeping up that level of security for seven years. She probably needs something that feels familiar. Did you get the report on her employee?”

“Yes,” Theo replied. “Anna Rossi. Her husband’s, too. Hutch ran them both through all our databases and they came back clean. I would bet she knows nothing about Solo’s true identity. She’s been working for the bookstore since it opened a few years back. Before then, from what we can tell, Solo didn’t have a job. Now there is one record of a Kay Bruno spending two nights in a local hospital six years ago.”

“What happened?” Even though it was years before and he knew she was safe now, his stomach still clenched at the thought of her being in a hospital.

“I don’t know. Jax is looking into it. It could also be another Kay Bruno. It’s not an uncommon name here.” Theo leaned against the wall, staring down at Beck. “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to her?”

He’d gone over and over it in his head. It kept him up at night. Even before he’d known where she was, that he might have a chance to say anything to her at all, he’d envisioned what he would say.

I’m sorry.

I love you.

“I don’t know that I’m going to say anything at all,” he replied.

Theo huffed, a disbelieving sound. “Sure. You brought us all halfway around the world so you could look in on her.”

The impulse to tell him that if he didn’t want to be here, he could leave, was right there. But he knew now that his defensiveness had everything to do with his own insecurity and likely nothing with Theo’s willingness to help. “I worry I could do more harm than good if I approach her.”

Honesty. That was what he was going for now. If honesty made him vulnerable, then he had to deal with it because being dishonest with himself had led to hurting the people he loved the most.

“Do you think she would run again?” Theo asked.

“Yes.”

“Have you considered the fact that if we figured out where she is, Levi Green might be able to as well? It might be time for her to move.”

If that was the case, then he would have to be the bad guy again. “What if she’s happy here? She’s got a shop. She’s got some family. Telling her she has to drop everything again because I haven’t been able to exonerate her feels like another blow.”

“Ian can be over here in a day and a half. Or I can be the one to talk to her,” Theo offered. “If you feel like she wouldn’t take it well from you, we can find someone she won’t mind talking to. Ariel would do it. She would have to call since she’s got a baby now.”

“We do not need to bring a baby into this.” He didn’t like to think about babies. Or kids. Even though he was surrounded by them. It wasn’t that he desperately wanted them. It was that he’d kind of always thought Kim would drag him into the whole family thing. He’d heard it was something a guy got used to. “But I understand that this place might be dangerous for her now. I worry she’ll blame me for that.”

He stared at the front of the shop and watched a man in a dark trench coat enter. He had a hat on his head and didn’t look like the normal tourists who walked in and out of the shops along the street. He touched his earpiece. “Rob, did you catch the guy in the trench coat?”

Rob was watching the CCTVs coming from the marina toward the shop.

“I don’t have anyone like that. I’ve got a ton of people in shorts,” Rob replied. “Sounds like your guy actually watched the weather report.”

A light drizzle had started, and the wind was beginning to pick up. He should have checked the weather. The few days they’d been here had been sunny and calm. He’d wondered if his sun-loving wife was sitting at the top of her tower soaking it all up. He liked to think about her wearing a bikini, drinking a fruity drink, and reading some romance novel. He liked to think she’d been enjoying as much of her life as she could.

There was a buzzing sound and Theo walked off to answer his cell.

“Yeah, Ian, I’m with him. Go on,” Theo said.

He didn’t like Trench Coat. Even the locals tended to wear light colors given the climate. Someone in all black stood out here. He brought up the cameras around the shop and tried to catch a glimpse of the guy’s face.

The man kept his head down. All he gave to the camera was the top of his covered head.

Damn it. He did not like that. “Rob, I want you to call Owen and tell him to be on standby.”

“Shit. You think someone’s going for her?” Rob asked, but then he could hear Rob contact their base in the background.

“I want to be ready if we need to extract her.”

“Tucker’s on his way,” Rob relayed. “I’ll keep an eye on the fort and anyone coming this way.”

“I want you to look at any single men or men in groups. You know what to look for.” Agency guys. If they were smart they would send in women, but Levi didn’t work with a lot of women. He didn’t have a single one on his team with the exception of admins.

“Will do,” Rob replied. “Tucker’s approximately two minutes away. Are you confirming we’re going to make contact?”

“No.” He might be completely paranoid. “I want to monitor the situation. I’ve got eyes on both ways out of the building.” There was a small CCTV camera on the back entrance. He moved to pull it up.

The screen was dark.

“Hey,” Theo said, “Ian’s got some intel that puts Levi Green leaving Germany on time, but the plane didn’t return to the States.”

Beck got to his feet. “He’s here. He came for her. We need to move in and extract her now. Contact Owen.”

Theo frowned. “Uhm, there’s not a lot of places for a chopper to land here.”

He wasn’t thinking. “We don’t need to land. That chopper is fully equipped for a rescue, and we’ve got a good, solid high place to extract from. We get her to the top of the fort and go from there. But I don’t know how many men Levi has with him.”

“I don’t think the local government is working with the Agency.” Theo checked his SIG. “I’ll call the cops and get them out here. If they show, we know they haven’t been given instructions to let Levi take her.”

“The top of that fort belongs to the Order. The residence she’s been staying in is its own tiny principality.” It wasn’t exactly free from Malta’s government, but he would use any loops he could get through. Levi wouldn’t be able to storm that particular castle easily. “I’ll try to get her to Rob and get away by boat but if we can’t, the fort is our last extraction point. Do you see another way?”

Theo huffed. “No. Let’s hope we’re about to scare the fuck out of her and all this is for nothing.”

It wouldn’t be. He was going to have to completely upend her life because even if that wasn’t Levi in her store right now, he would be there soon. He was coming for Kim. “You take the back. I’ll go in the front.”

He picked up his own gun and slid it into the holster at the small of his back, covering it with his T-shirt. He had to hope they could make it to the wharf without gunfire. He was counting on the fact that Levi didn’t want a scene either. Otherwise he would have brought the police with him.

He was still trying to do this under the radar. He didn’t want anyone to know he had her. Beck could use that to his advantage. Levi would come in with a smaller team than usual.

Theo followed him down the stairs. He got to the ground level in time to see Anna jogging down the street toward where her car was parked.

Good. Now they needed to hope Levi was in there alone.

Theo motioned to the back of the building and then made his way around to the alley that would lead to the rear entrance.

“I’m here.” Tucker ran up the narrow, cobblestone street and leaned over, taking a deep breath. “Sorry. I don’t run as much anymore. Rob’s right. I’m soft.”

He was glad to have Tucker around. He might not be the fastest runner, but if anyone got hurt, he wouldn’t want anyone except Tucker to put his men back together.

Except Ezra.

He shook off the thought of his brother. It was only the week that was making him think of the brother he’d lost. That and the fact that he was surrounded by men who’d treated him like a brother. He prayed if any of these men ever got in trouble, they could come to him because he would not let them down.

“Theo’s taking the back,” he said quietly as they approached the front door of the small shop. The glass door was propped open and a man and a woman stepped out holding hands and talking about where they could get coffee. They ran down the street as the rain started in earnest. “I don’t know how many we’re dealing with.”

“Unless someone else came in after that couple left, it’s the worker, a couple, two young women, Trench Coat, who might be the evil overlord of our lives, and one other man.”

Tucker was also incredibly observant. Beck touched the device in his ear. “Anna left while you were on your way. There goes the couple and the two women. So it’s two men. Theo, do you copy?”

“I do.” Theo’s voice was steady over the line. “There’s a van parked here, and I’ve taken out the driver. It’s obvious to me they intended to smuggle her out the back. I believe this was a three-man job. I’ll see you inside.”

He trusted Theo’s instincts. His gut knotted but he needed to go cold. Kim didn’t need him to run in screaming her name.

And there was a reason they called her Solo. She was a deadly operative in her own right. Kim wouldn’t panic. She would go to that place where there was nothing but the fight.

The rain had started to come down pretty hard and he moved under the awning.

There was no one in the front of the store. A laptop lay next to the cash register, but there was no gorgeous blonde standing there.

He stepped inside and pulled his gun, Tucker moving in beside him.

He gestured for Tucker to take the left and he would take the right.

As silently as he could, he started to move across the floor. It was a nightmare, a freaking labyrinth of bookshelves. He couldn’t get a clean line of sight to save his life, but at least he was certain Theo would be making his way from the back.

“Hello, Solo. Long time no see.”

He stopped at the sound of those words. Levi. He would know that fucking voice anywhere. Where was she? He could barely hear Levi talking, and the sound seemed to bounce around off the shelves.

He waited for the sound of Kim laughing and spitting some serious bile. She didn’t get afraid. She might save them all the trouble and kill the fucker right here. Then he would help her clean up the body and beg her to let him stay with her. He could help run a bookshop.

“Please.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Please don’t do this, Levi. If you ever cared about me for even a second, you won’t do this.”

What the hell? Had she gotten caught without a gun? He moved along the shelf, trying to catch sight of her.

“You weren’t joking,” came Levi’s reply. He sounded a bit shocked. “I’ll have to punish you for that.”

The shelf beside him shook slightly.

“How did you find me?” It shook again and he realized she was backing up, her hand on the shelf for support.

Why the hell wasn’t she fighting? Did Levi have a gun on her already? Had he caught her unaware, and she needed to play innocent to try to get him off his game?

He heard a pinging sound, and then Tucker was cursing loudly and he proved his gun didn’t have a silencer.

“Fuck. I should have known that little shit would hold out on me,” Levi said. “Who’s out there?”

He heard the sound of a fist meeting flesh.

“Solo, don’t make me hurt you,” Levi growled.

Beck ran down the narrow aisle, praying he hadn’t gotten Tucker killed.

“I was wrong,” Theo said in his ear. “Apparently the driver wasn’t the only one. I’m pinned down in the alley. I’ve got at least three on me. All well armed and trained.”

Now he was the one cursing.

“I’m on it,” Tucker replied. “I took down the one on me. Beck?”

“Go.” He couldn’t let Theo Taggart die again.

“I’m on my way in,” Robert said. “And your extraction is five minutes out. You need to be there, Beck.”

Because the chopper couldn’t simply hover over the giant fort. He rounded the corner and slammed into another body. Blonde hair went everywhere, and she was slapping at him.

“Kim? Kim, it’s me,” he whispered urgently.

Her eyes were wild, panic clear when she should be calm. He’d never seen her lose her cool during a dangerous encounter. What had the last seven years done to her?

“Hello, Beck. I should have known you would show up earlier than planned.” Levi had a gun on him, or rather on her since she was in front of him.

“I’m not alone. Kim, get behind me.” He took her by the elbow and moved her so if there was a bullet coming, it would hit him first. He had to give her a chance. “Run if I go down.”

But she was already running. He could feel the wood floor move as she pounded against it in her haste to get away.

Levi had a huge grin on his face. “Looks like she doesn’t want to see you any more than she does me.”

Beck wasn’t about to have a conversation with the fucker. He fired and Levi’s shoulder flew back. He turned and ran because he wasn’t sure how many more men Levi had. Kim could be running into a crowd of them for all she knew. She wasn’t thinking.

He felt something ping by his right arm. Levi. He’d likely been wearing a vest. It’s what Beck would have done had he known he was going into a freaking firefight. He should have expected it. What he really hadn’t expected was that Kim would turn and flee.

She couldn’t believe he was working with Levi. Did she think he was here to turn her over?

Rain pounded on him as he made it to the street. Which way had she gone?

Robert raced up to him, his clothes soaked. “My comm’s out. Was that Kim I saw?”

He heard the sound of screeching tires and then Robert was hauling him out of the way as a black van nearly ran them down.

He hit the cobblestone road hard, his body banging against it in a way that made every bone ache. The van screeched to a halt, fishtailing slightly.

“Move,” a voice shouted. “Get to the fort. That’s where she’ll run.”

Levi got into the van and it started to take off. Beck got to his feet and aimed, shooting for the tires. He heard a squeal as he made contact, but the van managed to make the turn.

Theo and Tucker came out of the store.

It was a clusterfuck, but at least he hadn’t gotten anyone killed.

Rob pointed back to the wharf. “She went that way. Did she not see you?”

Oh, she’d seen him and she’d still run. She’d left him to deal with Levi. She hadn’t even stayed to back him up.

They were going to have a long fucking talk when he finally chased her down.

He took off because Levi wasn’t going to give up and the van—even down a tire—could still go faster than they could. Luckily they would have to turn around to get to the fort, and there were no vehicles allowed past the entrance to the marina. The waterfront was pedestrian only. He had a shot to get there before Levi did.

He ran, the wind whipping against him. Tucker and Rob took a place on either side, and Theo took their six. Up ahead, he could see Kim running past the point where Levi could get her easily in the van. They would have to drag her down. He sprinted toward her, gaining ground he shouldn’t have been able to. Kim had always been fast, but it looked like she hadn’t kept up her training.

Why had she run? The question was there even as he gained ground on her. He heard the van slam into the parking lot behind them.

But he heard another sound. Sirens. Theo had called the police, and that meant Levi would either have to show his hand or slink away.

Or he could try to talk them into handing over the American who didn’t have real papers.

He couldn’t stop. He kept running, even as he made the turn that would take him to the fort. It was a steep grade to run up, but he simply kept following her. He couldn’t let her get away because if he did, he might never see her again.

His lungs ached as he kept up the pace. He ignored the glances of the tourists trying to make their way down to the ground. He lost sight of her as she made another turn and then he was at the top. The battlement.

“To your left,” Theo shouted over the rain.

Kim was moving onto a narrow path that led up to a gate.

He managed to catch her as the gate came open.

Her eyes went wide as he pulled her back.

“He’s still coming,” he shouted to her.

She tried to pull away from. “Let me go, Beck. I’ll be safe inside. They can’t come inside.”

She thought Levi would let her hide away?

The gate ahead of them had come open, and an elderly man in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt stood there, his eyes narrowed and what was left of his hair plastered to his forehead. “Kimberly?”

“Stay back, uncle.” She turned to Beck. “Please let me go.”

He hated that she was begging him the way she’d begged Levi. He wasn’t the bad guy here. He tugged her under the cover of the trees that lined the path to the private part of the fort. “He’s on his way. He’s not going to let you go.”

“I’ll be safe inside.”

Theo stepped in. “He’s talking to the cops. I think he’s trying to make a case for them arresting her and letting the government sort things out.”

She shook her head. “No. They can’t come in here. Past that gate isn’t their jurisdiction.”

“We’re not completely sovereign,” her uncle yelled over the storm. “It might take some time, but they will get in. I can stall them, but I have no way to get you all out of here.”

Maybe he was dealing with the wrong person. He turned to her uncle, certain the rest of his crew wouldn’t let Kim get away. “I do. I have a chopper coming. I can get her out and we’ll be off the island by tonight. I have a jet waiting.”

He shook his head. “No jet. They’ll go to the airport first. Tell me where you’re heading and I’ll send a boat to pick you up and take you to Sicily. From there you can fly. I’m not without my own resources. Kim, it’s time.”

She closed her eyes and when she opened them there was a deep desperation there. “Levi knows. I have to get Roman out of here, uncle.”

Who the fuck was Roman? What did Levi know that he didn’t?

“Hey, Levi’s coming up the hill and he’s got the cops with him,” Tucker shouted. “Owen’s almost here.”

Her uncle stepped back and allowed them in.

Kim took off again even as he heard the thud of the chopper. It would be coming from the south, hooking around to approach by sea.

He started to walk in. It looked like he would have to drag her away from whoever this Roman person was. He couldn’t assure the safety of some random man. Maybe it was a dog. He would be the bad guy if he made her leave her dog behind.

Her uncle stopped him, and for a moment he worried it was all a trick to keep them on the outside.

“You will take care of them, Mr. Kent?” Francis Bruno asked.

Shit. He was going to have to take them all. “Yes.”

The brother nodded and allowed them all to enter. “You must hurry. Despite what many believe, Maltese law is in force here. I can keep the police at bay for an hour at most, but they will and can come in.”

“I’ll have her out of here in five minutes,” he promised. “We’ll be in Sicily tonight.”

“Ezra will know where to go,” he said.

“What?” Did her uncle think he still went by Ezra’s name? He’d never met the man, but he was sure Kim had talked about him.

Theo pressed through before he could ask another question. “He needs to get that gate closed. We need to go.”

Tucker shook his head. “Rob and I are going to stay. We’ll see what he has to say. They won’t find anything on us. If we get taken in, Tag’ll send someone to get us out.”

Theo pulled his gun and pressed it into Rob’s hand. “He’s right. We’ll deal with the authorities. You get her out of here. Call Ian when you get wherever you’re going.”

He stepped back out and Francis closed the gate.

“Hurry,” Francis said. “I’ll slow them down, but you must leave. And Beckett, remember that forgiveness is next to godliness.”

He didn’t stop to ask what the brother meant by that. He had to get Kim and apparently all her friends out of here and find a way to get to Sicily in the middle of a storm. He stepped out from under the stone roof of the tunnel and onto the large plaza. It was big, and he didn’t know where Kim had gone. Fuck. Was she trying to get away again?

The chopper started a descent, and he could barely see Owen in the pilot’s seat. The ladder unrolled and he hoped whoever was coming with them had a steady stomach.

“Kim!” He shouted her name because they were running out of time.

She ran from behind another set of gates, and she wasn’t alone. He almost felt his heart stop. She had a child in her arms. Not a baby or a toddler. He had to be five.

Or six. Yes, that kid could be six. Six years and some change.

He felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. Then he knew it had been because a man came running behind her, carrying a bag and a backpack.

The rain didn’t matter. It couldn’t change his vision, couldn’t make him think that he was seeing a ghost. He knew that face, knew the set of those shoulders and the grim look in the man’s eyes.

His brother was running toward him. His brother. Her uncle hadn’t been mistaken when he’d spoken before. Her uncle had been talking about Ezra Fain, who was alive.

Forgiveness. This was what he’d been talking about.

Kim stopped a mere foot away and the child in her arms stared back at him, his arms around his mother’s neck. “I need to know you’ll protect him. I’ll explain everything, but I need you to take him. If you can’t stand to look at me, take him with you. Even if you can’t forgive me, please save our son. Roman, this is your dad and he’s going to make sure you’re safe.”

This is your dad.

Kim was talking about him. She hadn’t run because she was afraid of him. She’d run because she’d been desperate to get to her son. Their son.

“It’s true.” Ezra came to stand beside Kim. He was standing there as the rain shifted from pouring to a drizzle. “He’s your son, Beck. I know you’re angry with me. I promise I’ll explain everything, but I need to go with you. I can get us off the island. Hate me later. Save your wife and son now.”

He forced himself to move but his limbs felt numb. He didn’t have time to think. Owen couldn’t stay in that position for long, even though the storm seemed to be abating. They would have to move very quickly if he didn’t want to get taken in. What would Levi do to this boy? “Give him to me. I’ll take him up.”

The child—Roman—clung to his mother, but she whispered something to him and he let himself go into his father’s arms.

His son. He wrapped an arm around his son. “Hold on tight, son. I won’t let you go. I promise.”

Roman clung so tightly he nearly cut off Beck’s breath, but he climbed that ladder.

When the chopper took off, he was still holding his son.