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
