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He needed to comfort Dani, to tell her he’d make all of this go away, but he didn’t have the ability to speak. Right now, all that mattered was getting them somewhere safe. He eased his foot off the gas. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get in an accident.

Dani broke the silence. “He messaged me only a half hour ago. That means they got there just before we did, killed him, and left. How did they know where he was?”

“He must have been followed. The important thing is they didn’t know he was meeting you. They probably hadn’t looked through his other phone until after they left the scene. If they had, they would have waited for you. You communicated with him through an encrypted phone, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. Did you notice anything different about Sven?” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I know it must be difficult to think about it. But I got a good look at a tattoo on his neck and I was wondering if you knew what the symbol meant.”

She frowned, and he wished he could smooth the puckered skin between her eyes with his finger. He curled his hand into a fist.

“I noticed the tattoo.” She shook her head as if to release the image. “I didn’t get a good look at it, and I don’t remember seeing it on him before or him mentioning getting one.”

People got new tattoos all the time, but the curled tips of the pentagon with animal horns in the center had sent chills down his spine. “It’s probably nothing. Try not to think about it.”

She nodded. Her teeth punctured her bottom lip. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t want to go back to the hotel until we know it’s safe. It’s probably best if we stay in a public place for a while.”

“I agree. There’s a coffee shop downtown that has a lot of foot traffic. We can park in the parkade a few blocks away and walk. That way if someone spots us, they won’t know what vehicle we’re driving.”

He switched off the GPS and followed Dani’s instructions to the parkade. They got out, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close to his side. This time, she didn’t resist. He led her down the street and into the coffee shop. After ordering, they found a table away from the windows. He pulled out her chair and she sat with her back toward the entrance. He sat across from her and placed her coffee, which had a decorative leaf carved into the foam, in front of her.

“We need a plan.” She plunged the wooden stir stick into the liquid.

He folded his hands around his paper cup of black coffee. “We need to look at the flash drive. There’s no other option.”

She made a face. “What if I don’t want to know what’s on it?”

“It’s a little late for that.”

She lifted her cup to her lips and sipped. “I suppose you’re right. We need to take it to the authorities, but who do we trust? I feel like no matter where we go, they’re going to get Interpol involved.”

“Looking at what we’re involved in is the best way to start.” He scanned the wooden tables and mismatched chairs of the eclectic space. “Where can we use a public computer?”

Dani tapped her fingernail on the side of her cup. “The public library is a few blocks away. We won’t need a card since we don’t have to access the Internet to read the drive.”

Brock gave a brisk nod. “Good. We’ll go there when we’re done. For now, let’s check his phone.”

She reached into the pocket of her sweater and slid the iPhone across the tabletop, her hand covering it as if it were a bomb detonator. He took it and scrolled through the text messages first. “Did you communicate using this phone number at all?”

She closed her eyes on another sip. Her shoulders rolled forward and some of the tension left her face. Even without a hint of makeup and her hair frizzy at the ends she was gorgeous.

“We mostly communicated through phone calls. It wasn’t until he told me he had an encrypted number that we started texting.”

He scrolled through the numbers and the tissue behind his eyes ached. Given the mega-long foreign numbers, his brain worked even harder to force pieces together, which did absolutely no good as he wasn’t familiar with European area codes. He clicked on each message. Most were obviously from friends or family judging by the exchange. Then:

Send me your contact’s photo and passport number.

Brock straightened in his seat and brought the screen closer to his face.

“What is it?” Dani stretched across the table. Her scent—hotel shampoo and peppermint—invaded his nostrils.

He tilted the screen so she could read. She inhaled sharply. Her body jerked and her outstretched finger shook as the image of her passport photo filled the screen.

“Shit.” He curled his free hand into a fist and pressed his knuckles into the table to stop himself from punching the wall next to him.

“Oh my god.” She hovered her hand over her mouth. “How did Sven get that?”