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50

STEFI

V alentina and I set up the exit plan back in Venice the day before Joao and I flew out to Varna. As soon as we decided I would go along to provide operational support, I called the hacker. “I need your help,” I told her. “This hit looks easy, but something is making me uneasy, and I’ve learned to listen to my instincts.”

“I’ll be able to track you,” she responded. “And I know Antonio wants to stay out of this, but we both know that he’s going to have people ready to respond if you run into trouble.”

“How will you track us? Through our phones?”

“Yes.”

I frowned. “But that’s not foolproof, not at all. After all, in Poland, both Joao and I were able to evade detection just by throwing away our phones. Do you have anything better?”

She gave me a long, thoughtful look. Valentina might not like me, but she wanted to keep Joao safe as much as I did. “I’ve been working on something,” she said, handing me a pair of gold earrings. “There’s a tracker embedded in the metal.”

“Won’t it show up in a scan?”

“No, that’s the clever part. The tracker doesn’t broadcast until an hour after you activate it.” She gave me a very serious look. “Even though I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to test them in the field, I hope you don’t have to activate it.”

But I had needed it. And because I swallowed my pride and asked her for help, Joao’s going to make it.

Daniel winches Joao to safety. While he does that, I push aside my panic about his wound and move next to Christopher. He’s still standing by the railing, staring at the spot where Bach went down, as if making sure there’s no hint of him resurfacing.

My heart hurts for him, and I ache to take him into my arms. He thinks he’s alone and he’s scared, and I can remember feeling the exact same way.

But I always had Joao.

“Thank you for the paper clip,” I tell him quietly. “Without you, we would have died out here.”

He nods and gives the chopper an uneasy look. “I should get out of here.”

“Where will you go?”

He shrugs, his expression stoic. But I’ve been him, and I know how he feels. I know the fear and the loneliness, the sinking realization that nobody cares whether you live or die.

I want to tell him he’s not alone. That we’re his parents, that we’re sorry—so sorry—that we let him suffer all these years, but things are going to change. That we’re going to love him for the rest of our lives.

But Joao needs to be part of that conversation, too. This time around, I’m not going to act without talking to him first.

I settle for squeezing Christopher’s shoulder, trying not to cry when he flinches away from my touch. “The authorities will want to put you in the system,” I say quietly. “But the system doesn’t understand people like us. If you’d like, you could live with Joao and me.”

He stares at me with a strange look on his face. “Why?” he blurts out. “I tried to kill you.”

I don’t know how to answer this. Even if he wasn’t our son, I’d make him this offer. He’s just a child. He needs love, not anger and recrimination. “You did what he made you do, and if you hadn’t obeyed, you would have been punished even more harshly.” I’m never going to forget the cigarette burns on his skin. “I worked for Bach for six years, and in that time, I killed a lot of people. Who am I to judge you for what you did? My hands aren’t clean.” I smile tentatively. “Think about it, okay?”

He nods shortly. I want to say more, but there’s no more time to discuss anything else. Daniel is back down, this time with a basket that will fit all three of us. When we reach the chopper, I see a familiar face. Matteo is bent over Joao’s injured leg, and he’s already got him hooked up to an IV.

My husband is pale but conscious. His gaze darts over at Christopher, and what he sees there must reassure him because he reaches out and squeezes my hand. “Hello, little fox,” he murmurs. “Nice exit plan.”

I squeeze him back and lean on his shoulder. My quest is over. I didn’t think I’d survive it, but here we are. Together.

And then we’re flying out of there, back to safety.