That put a smile on Maria’s face, her whole demeanor changing to one of happiness.
“You miss him, don’t you?” she asked, wiggling a little closer to Talia on the couch. “You’re worried about Lennox like I am.”
Talia opened her mouth to deny it but then decided that would be silly. “I guess I do. Though I have to say, I never thought I’d admit it.”
“Why not?” Maria asked curiously, resting her head on Talia’s arm and gazing up at her in confusion. “Don’t you want to have a nice boyfriend, get married, move into a big mansion, and have a family?”
Talia laughed. “You realize you’re only six-years-old, right? What could you possibly know about marriage, mansions, or starting a family?”
“I hear Mommy and her friends talking about stuff like that a lot,” Maria said. “I don’t understand everything, but I’ve heard them say that it’s very important to find the right boy first. Someone you can trust, who respects you, and who has a good job. He’s supposed to be good in the bedroom too, but that doesn’t make any sense. Why would Mommy care that Daddy goes right to bed when he’s supposed to without asking for a glass of water or a second bedtime story first?”
Talia had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing again, nodded her head and tried her best to keep a straight face. “Well, all of that will make more sense when you’re older. And before you try to complain about being old enough to talk about any subject you please,” she added as Maria opened her mouth toprobably say that very thing, “how about we talk about your bad habit of listening in on people’s conversations?”
“I don’t listen in on purpose,” Maria said, trying to sound innocent but failing completely. “I just stand outside different rooms when people are talking. It’s not my fault they talk loud.”
Talia wanted to point out that Maria had given her the exact definition of eavesdropping, but there was something the little girl said that caught her attention.
“You stand outside differentrooms when people are talking,” Talia repeated. “Does that mean you’ve been listening in on people other than your mommy and her friends?”
Maria’s expression shifted quickly through guilt, chagrin, and defiance before finally settling on resignation, making Talia once again wonder how she’d gotten so mature.
“Sometimes, I get bored when Beverly can’t stay over and you’ve already left to go to your cottage so one of my dolls and I go around listening to what everyone is saying,” Maria admitted.
“Who else have you been listening to?”
“Sofia and her friend, Tiffany.” Maria let out a dramatic sigh. “But they never say anything fun. All they talk about is TikTok and kissing boys all the time.” She made a face. “Gross!”
Talia laughed at that. She was glad that in this one area, at least, Maria was still a little girl and not the old soul she so often seemed to be. “That’s something else that will make a lot more sense when you’re older. Do you ever listen in on any of your dad’s conversations?”
If so, had Maria heard anything that might help figure out what happened to Anna?
The embarrassed look Maria gave her effectively answered that question.
“Sometimes,” Maria admitted. “When I sit on the floor behind the couch in the library and play with my dolls. There’sa vent in the wall that connects to Daddy’s office, and I can hear everything he says.”
Talia gaped. Maria wasn’t an eavesdropper. She was a little spy.
“You have to stop doing that,” Talia said in exasperation. “If your daddy found out, he would ground you until you’re thirty. Absolutely no more Legoland for you!”
Maria chewed on her lip, obviously concerned about that possibility. “But he has the coolest stuff to listen to. There are these people who want Daddy to work for them. They want to give him a lot of money too.”
Talia felt her heart beat a little faster. She shouldn’t be talking to Maria about this—especially since she just told her not to eavesdrop anymore—but whatever she’d heard could be important.
“What did your daddy say?”
She shrugged. “Daddy told them he wants to think about it. I don’t know why. They kept saying they only wanted to see some of the contacts in Daddy’s phone.”
Talia’s head spun, realizing that Maria’s concept of contacts was likely off. Before leaving Belarus, Bogdan had been known for his powerful political and intelligence connections throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If the men Maria had eavesdropped on were the same ones who’d visited the other families then they were almost certainly after those contacts, not the ones on Bogdan’s phone.
“Did you see the men?” she asked casually.
She truly hoped not. She prayed Maria had done the smart thing and stayed hidden behind that couch in the library instead of putting herself at risk.
But Maria nodded. “Uh-huh. When I heard them leaving, I peeked out the door of the library to see what they looked like. One of the men hand dark hair and he was so tall he had to duckto keep from hitting his head on the door when he walked out of Daddy’s office.”
Talia’s stomach clenched. What were the odds of two super tall men with dark hair being in San Diego, both of them connected to this situation at the same time?
Absolutely zero.
