“They’re twins.”
She looked up at me again like I was kidding. “Does she look like him?”
I didn’t pay ahelluvalot of attention to guys’ looks, but Sundance’s stopped women when he passed them on the street. His eyes were this weird blue-green color that was so unique that people always asked if theywere contacts. He had a perpetual tan, like a guy who surfed or was out on the water every day, and he was built like most of us were. “Why? You think he’s hot?”
Beacon studied his image. “Not really my type.”
I pulled out the chair, swung it around, and sat on it backwards. “So, what’s your type?”
The way she stared at me, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear her answer or regretted asking the question. She returned her gaze to the screen and ran her finger down Sundance’s cheek. “I prefer when I can see a man blush. With him, you’d never know.” She looked at me. “Like now.”
“I am not blushing,” I said, laughing.
“Yes, you are,” said Mercury, pulling up a chair on the opposite side of the table. “So, what are you talking about?”
Beacon turned her laptop around, and Mercury fanned her face. “Yes, well, he is quite handsome, isn’t he?” Her eyes scrunched when she looked from the screen to me.
I held up both hands. “Don’t ask me. He’s definitely not my type.”
“C’est un soulagement, n’est-ce pas?”she said to Beacon, who shrugged.
“Je suppose.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
Beacon cocked her head. “You don’t speak French?”
“Nope.”
“She said she thought you were gay.”
I snorted. “She did not.”
“She said it was a relief that the boy was not your type. Happy?”
Mercury smiled and shook her head at me, then rested her arm on Beacon’s. “I need to check in with Mama and Aunt Polina.”
“Tell them I’ll visit with them soon,” she responded, closing the window on Sundance’s dossier.
Doc camein ahead of Gunner and Razor. Razor dropped into the chair next to me.
“Walked it,” he said. “The charges went off exactly where you thought. Both hall bombs took out the support on the east side, and the foundation explosive was under it. Whoever did it, knew the building.”
I agreed andsaid so.
“There’s more,” said Gunner. “The explosive compound they used is military-grade, Eastern European manufacture. Same compound Romanov has been using.”
“Vasiliev?” Beacon said.
Gunner nodded.
“Tell me what you have on him.”
“We’ve been hunting Vasiliev for two years,” Doc said. “We’ve watched him reorganize his shell companies faster than we can map them. He dissolves a structure the moment we get inside it and rebuilds the same architecture under a different name within the month. Kremlin protection shields him at the top. The FSB supports the personnel he sends west of Warsaw, and the immunity carried by his embassy roster puts him beyond anything our level can touch. He moves people through that same diplomatic channel like a private courier service—operatives one week, trafficked sources the next, all of them passing through European capitals on identities he built in the nineties.” His mouth tightened. “We’ve come close to his money twice. We’ve never come close to the man himself.”
“I’m with you so far,” said Beacon.
“Which brings me to the part of this you’re not going to want to hear. As you know, whoever placed those charges had a read on that building nobody gets without inside access. The estate is an extension of that building, and the same access goes with it.” Doc looked at Mercury. “You can’t stay here. You, your family, and everyone else still connected to Minerva aren’t safe here. We have to get you out of Lausanne.”
