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Movement at the nurses’ station drew her eye. Bryce was speaking with a man in blue scrubs and looked up. Then his gaze landed on Ivan and his eyes narrowed. Ivan saw Bryce and stood. He grasped Kira’s hand as if he were giving a goodbye handshake, then leaned in, close to her ear.

“I wasn’t following you. I was following the person following you.”

Bryce had already signed the little iPad that would give him his freedom, so he marched toward Kira and her companion.

A little too late. Ivan moved to the exit with the speed of a cheetah and disappeared.

Bryce reached Kira and gripped her arm with a gentle hold. “What’s he doing here? Are you okay?”

She ignored the first question. “I could ask the same of you.” She lightly touched the bandage gracing his forehead.

“Five stitches.”

“And no concussion? You were out cold.”

“All the scans were clear. The doctor thinks I passed out from the loss of blood.”

“We should head back to DC.” She shot him a look that communicated they’d talk once they left the hospital.

Bryce lifted a brow. “In what car? Ours can’t be drivable.”

As if on cue, Violet Bancroft glided into the waiting area and stopped at the reception desk. Kira grinned with relief.

Violet turned when the receptionist pointed in their direction, and she caught Kira’s eye. She walked over to them. “Part of me wants to be a respectable agent, but the other part wants to give you a big ole hug.” The woman’s Southern accent floated gently over his ears. He still had a hard time believing she was a Special Agent, but despite her sweet demeanor, the woman had proven to be a formidable agent, especially with her marksmanship skills on the shooting range.

Kira grimaced. “You know I’m not a hugger.”

“Well, I guess that makes me the Special Agent that hugs.” Violet wrapped her friend in an embrace, while Kira mouthed, Help me, over her roommate’s shoulder.

Bryce snickered, but Violet glared at him. “You’d better watch your tone or I’ll hug you next.”

He held up his hands in surrender.

“What are you doing here, Violet?” Kira asked.

“Turner sent me to help the local agents with interviews. I’ve been assigned to assist with your investigation since I just closed a case. I was going to spend the night in the area, and now I’m here to pick you up.” Violet ushered them outside to a black sedan waiting in the parking lot. “I booked a hotel room about twenty minutes from here and they had plenty of availability. If we stay tonight, I can drive you back tomorrow after I finish up a few interviews in the morning.”

Bryce climbed into the passenger seat, while Kira slid into the back seat behind him. The second Violet started the engine, Bryce pulled down the mirror so he could see Kira’s face in the back. “What did Ivan Sokolov want?”

“What?” Violet swiveled her head to scan the garage. “Ivan Sokolov was at the hospital?”

“He was. Someone is watching us. I just don’t know who.” Kira continued her debrief as Violet navigated out of the hospital parking garage. “Sokolov said that he was following the person watching us. But he never gave me a name.”

Kira checked her phone, and Bryce powered up the burner phone Violet had brought him.

Kira said, “I need to text Everly to see if she found out anything about our friendly neighborhood treasure hunter Theo Durham.”

“Sounds like a unique occupation.” Violet adjusted her rearview mirror. “I’ve never met a professional artifact seeker.”

“Definitely an interesting character,” Kira said. “I think it’s going to be a race to see who gets the rabbit statues first. But I get the feeling Sokolov thinks the treasure is much bigger. If the rumors of the Collector are true, we may have a mess on our hands with all the people who want to claim it first.”

A memory sparked for Bryce. “I saw someone at the crash site. The guy wore all black and had a ski mask on. He smashed the back window and took my grandfather’s journals. That’s the last thing I remember before blacking out.”

Kira sank back into her seat. “So, someone followed us and didn’t like that we picked up the journals. Your father said a man named Victor showed up and asked about them. Ivan made reference to the Collector and his hopes of finding the treasure before anyone else. Maybe the key really is in one of those journals.”

Bryce rolled his shoulders to release the knots from his overtaxed muscles. “My grandfather loved to track his hunts. He had maps and notes. But he never told me he was hunting for anything of significance. There were always rumors of buried treasure, of course, but he didn’t put a lot of stock in those. I wish I could remember, but I’ve tried so hard to block out most of my childhood memories. I don’t know whether he had useful info or if it was just a log of arrowheads and Civil War coins.” He kind of surprised himself by admitting that in front of Violet, but whatever. Maybe he was coming to terms with his past.

If only Bryce had initiated more conversations with his grandfather back in the day. What he wouldn’t give to spend five more minutes talking with Grandpa. He shoved off the sadness and tried to focus on what they needed to do next.