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James jumped to the side and made a dramatic gesture to the food sitting on the counter. “A feast of the gods,” he said with a smile. She smiled back and walked over to look at the spread. Sandwiches, chips, and a large salad lined the counter, along with an assortment of canned drinks. Thankfully, there was a vegetarian option. Picking up a plate, she grabbed an avocado, cheese, and veggie sandwich before snagging a bag of chips. She finished off her selections by sliding a can of seltzer water into her quilted vest along with some napkins.
“We were about to break,” Ingrid said. “Care to join us?”
Nora’s gaze flickered to Lucian, who hadn’t moved since she’d arrived. Ingrid’s question had been polite, and Nora didn’t doubt she was sincere. But she also heard the strain of uncertainty in the woman’s voice, as if she’d like her to stay, but wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
Nora wasn’t sure either. She’d intended to stay and ask a few questions about the planned training. But with Lucian still glaring at her, perhaps not. She also didn’t want to make Ingrid and James uncomfortable. “Thank you, but I’ll leave you three to your session,” she said. “I’ll head over to the clinic, but if there’s time afterward, I’d appreciate an overview of your plans. I’d also be grateful for any insight into the dogs and their handlers.” She directed her statement to Ingrid, but James was the one who replied.
“We’d be happy to. Meet back here at four? The others are scheduled to arrive between five and six,” he said. Nora glanced at Ingrid, who nodded. She didn’t bother to look at Lucian.
“That sounds great. I’ll stop by then,” she said, moving toward the door. James took three strides across the room and opened it for her.
“What happened to Dr. Kline?” he asked as she passed by. Rebecca Kline was the vet who’d worked with them during the three prior sessions.
Nora paused in the hallway. Shaking her head and shrugging, she answered. “I don’t know. Family emergency, I think. I didn’t ask.”
James gave a little nod. He seemed to want to say something more, so she waited. But then he took a sharp breath and smiled. “See you at four.”
She smiled back. “Yes, see you at four.”
CHAPTERTHREE
Back in her room,Nora opted to go over the robust set of files Franklin had sent as she picked at her lunch. The three handlers she didn’t need to investigate were Cencio, Willa, and Jonah. Cencio, a gentleman from Italy, had been either in his room or at a confirmed location for each of the murders. Willa, a young woman from the UK, had been in her room every night of every session, not just the nights of the murders. Apparently, she was rather introverted and didn’t join in many, if any, of the social aspects of the program. Jonah, from the US, had been either in a bar, out with other members of the team, or, for five of the nine murders, in bed with a woman. Nora smiled and made a note to herself that he was likely the playboy of the group. There was always at least one.
Scrolling through the dossiers on each of the handlers, she made a mental list of who was who. Willa and Collin were from the UK, Anne and Marie were from Belgium, and Cencio and Angelo, from Italy. Jonah and Craig would travel the least and hailed from the US. Gerhard and Jurgen were German, and Jean and Sophie, French. She smiled at herself. She’d forget their names the minute she turned her computer off. It wouldn’t be until she met the dogs that she’d remember the people.
There were three people she would remember, though. And as she started into the second half of her sandwich, she pulled up the file on James Topham, Ingrid Morven, and Lucian Salvitto.
Starting with James, she clicked open the file. Aged thirty-six, he hailed from Oxford and had been raised in a family that revolved around animals. His father was a world-class equestrian, and his mother was a vet. They were also well-respected dog breeders with several champions, both field and show, to their name. He’d gone to university, then into the British Army, where he naturally ended up assigned to a K9 unit. An IED in Afghanistan had damaged his hearing, and he’d been honorably discharged. After returning home, he started a training program that now produced some of the best working K9s in Europe. Nora was used to being around overachievers, but even she was impressed with his CV and accomplishments. And based on her short interaction with him, he appeared relatively humble as well. All in all, a very interesting package.
Ingrid was a different story, though no less impressive. She’d enlisted in the Swedish Army to escape a violent home life. Five years in and a confirmed alcoholic, she ran into trouble. The army gave her the option of jail or working at the kennels that trained and rehabilitated military and police working dogs. She chose the latter and spent six years cleaning, maintaining facilities, and basically being a grunt. The stint had sobered her up, but she’d also learned. She’d read, watched, and taken every opportunity that had presented itself to experience more. Fifteen years after first setting foot in the kennels, she was hired on as a junior trainer and had been working in the field ever since. She had a reputation for being a tough, no-nonsense, and call-it-like-it-is person. Handlers seemed to take a while to warm up to her. But in the end, most recognized her skill, and often cited her as being one of the most influential trainers they worked with. At least according to the files Nora had.
Nora smiled, thinking of the woman. She seemed warm enough, but then again, Nora wasn’t one of her trainees. It would be fun to watch those interactions tomorrow when the training started.
Closing out Ingrid’s file, her cursor hovered over Lucian’s. She already knew his story, roughly anyway. He’d started his career as an agent for AISE, the Italian intelligence agency. He’d married at twenty-five and his wife had bred, raised, and trained working dogs. When he was thirty-two, Alessandra Salvitto had been brutally murdered. The crime remained unsolved. Four months after his wife’s death, Lucian left AISE and took up her business. To some, the shift from spy to dog trainer might seem odd. But he, like James, had grown up in a family surrounded by animals. And despite his erratic travel schedule, he’d been more involved in his wife’s business than most people knew.
Her gaze lingered on his file. Did she need to know more? Somehow, intruding into the lives of people she didn’t know felt different from digging into that of a man she’d once slept with. It was years ago, of course. But her history with Lucian, coupled with the fact that he was Six’s cousin, made it, well, awkward. And then there was Six to think of. Would she feel betrayed by Nora poking around in his life? Most likely, but probably only for a few minutes.
Nora sighed and clicked on the file. She had a job to do, and it wasn’t in her to not do it well. The document popped open, and she scanned his early life story. Much of it she knew, and her review was swift. But her perusal slowed when she reached the murder. The point in time when everything seemed to change for Lucian.
He’d been on an op when Alessandra was attacked and killed on the couple’s property in Umbria. That much, Nora had known. What she hadn’t known was that the op he’d been on had gone bad. Someone had outed Lucian, and he’d nearly lost his own life. Her report included the case file of the AISE investigation into the incident. The findings were—and remained—inconclusive. To this day, no one knew who had leaked the information on Lucian’s identity.
Interesting.
Nora’s stomach turned at the thought of a leak at AISE, the agency Six worked for. It also seeded another thought. On top of his wife’s murder, Lucian’s own agency might have been responsible for the end of his career—and life. No wonder he’d left. Spies didn’t trust often or easily, but one thing they did rely on was the discretion of their agencies. Not so much because they felt the agencies cared about them, personally, but because intelligence work couldn’t happen without it. Spies needed their identities to be kept secret in order to gather intelligence, and agencies needed the intelligence to protect their interests. Secrecy was self-serving on the part of the government, but it ensured the safety of those involved. For the most part.
The botched op gave weight to Lucian’s decision to leave. It also gave credence to Franklin’s theory that he might hold a grudge. If Lucian believed the agency that he’d pledged his fidelity to had betrayed him, well, Nora could see how that might fester. Especially if that betrayal occurred simultaneously with the death of his wife.
Nora gave a moment’s thought to how dark those days must have been for Lucian. She couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through. Yet somehow, he’d managed to crawl out and make the business his wife had started a success.
Wanting to read about those intervening years, she started scrolling to the next page, but startled when someone knocked at the door. Nora frowned. She hadn’t heard anyone’s footsteps in the hall. Even so, chances were it was only one of three people. She called out, “Come in,” and set her computer to sleep mode.
To her surprise, Lucian stepped into the room. His gaze swept over the space, taking in the large bed, her two bags, and her computer before meeting hers. She remained at the desk but turned to face him.
“Can I help you?” she asked, unsure what to do or say to him. Despite their history, he wasn’t quite a friend. But because of it, he was more than an acquaintance. Although with the way he’d treated her in the conference room, she wondered if he considered her either of those.
“I know why you’re here,” he said, his voice taut with anger.
Her brow furrowed. She was quite certain he didn’t know why she was there. She had no idea what he might mean, though, so she played at being obtuse. “I should hope so. I am a vet, after all.”
