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Kira bounced Violet’s words around in her head. She could still help, add value to the mission, even if it wasn’t the way she envisioned it. She pulled out her phone and examined the photos of Bryce’s grandfather’s journals again while Violet drove. Grandpa Lambert’s hand-drawn maps needed a legend. There were X’s all over the place, as if he’d searched them and came up empty-handed.

But didn’t X usually mark the spot?

“I can’t tell if Bryce’s grandfather searched these spots and ruled them out or what. And if he did search, if he found the treasure, which one marks that? Of course, he may not have found it, but . . . ugh. I asked Bryce, but he didn’t know either.” She thought he’d found something, though. Why go to all the trouble to conceal what he knew if there was nothing to hide?

She flipped through the four photos that formed a complete map, looking at each one by one. Theo had them lined up on the wall, but with the photos, it broke the map into four pieces. There were mountains in the background, circles that might be rocks or boulders, trees, water—like a river or stream. “This place could be anywhere,” she muttered. “And we’re out of time. If the Society gets all three statues and they have the journals, they’ll figure the location out before we do.”

The ride to their designated spot took about forty-five minutes, and Kira memorized the pictures. She studied them from every angle, upside down, and sideways until they were firmly planted in her memory. If she saw the place in person, she’d recognize it.

Violet turned down a dirt road and found a place to pull off and park the car, out of sight from the main road. They’d hike through the woods from there, until they reached a place where they could observe the house with high-powered binoculars.

Kira zoomed in on the X marks while Violet checked her service weapon. Within the four pages, there were twelve X’s. She rotated her phone, checking the various positions of the hand-drawn X’s. Some were near water, near rocks, and a few by crudely sketched trees.

She enlarged the photo to the highest magnification and then she saw it. Each X had a tiny dot in the center. She flipped through the other pictures. All X’s had one pin-prick dot next to the cross mark in the X.

All except one. That X had three minuscule dots.

Violet got out of the car and grabbed a backpack from the back seat. “I’m going to walk over to that clearing so I can test our comms and check in with the team. I don’t want the trees to disrupt the signal. I’ll check yours too.”

Kira noted where Violet pointed. “Sounds good. I’ll join you in a second. I just want to finish reviewing these maps.”

She stared at the image on her phone. Had Bryce’s grandfather found something at this location? What if he put a dot each time he went to the site? Bryce said he kept handwritten notes of every site he visited. So, had he visited this particular location three times? Maybe? Or had he found three things there? Was she onto something?

She never would have noticed the dots without the ability to enlarge the images.

Violet was right. The drive had given her time to think and study the map. She couldn’t wait to tell Bryce. They had to find and search this location.

She jumped out of the car to look for Violet.

A crack hissed through the air, and Kira dove for the ground.

Before she could grab her gun, a hand yanked her up and a damp rag covered her mouth.

The look of disappointment in Kira’s eyes haunted him. They were supposed to be partners, and Bryce had cut her from the team. A move that he knew would hurt her. He hoped in time she’d come to realize it was the best decision for the plan, not because he thought she couldn’t handle herself. She could. She’d proven it over and over.

He sat in the passenger seat next to Bailey, watching the West Virginia mountain scenery fly by.

He’d miss having Kira at his side, but he’d done what he thought would keep her safe. The fact that it was the best thing for the mission was just a bonus. The Society saw her as a threat. He couldn’t save his father. He couldn’t even stop his ex-wife from leaving. But he’d die trying to protect Kira. No doubt in his mind.

“Comm check,” Bailey said. “We’re here.”

Here wasn’t a very descriptive term for the place. More like middle of nowhere. Forest surrounded the area on all sides of the expansive field. They’d taken a dirt pathway to get to the house. At least he knew Bureau snipers hid in the trees—along with the gun-toting bad guys, he could only assume.

Bryce said a quick prayer for the operation and for Kira’s safety as they sat in the car, staring at the dilapidated wood building. It looked like a one-room house, long abandoned and in massive need of repair.

“Who do the Dominiks work for?” Bailey asked. “We know Alex worked for Steadman with the illegal auctions. He helped the man launder money. But is he also taking orders from the Amber Crown Society? We still don’t know who is in charge of the organization, other than it might be a woman.”

“Anything is possible. But I don’t think Alex knows everything. He seems to take orders from someone else. And I don’t like the fact that we’re sitting ducks out here. Where is Ivan and everyone else?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than two cars pulled in next to theirs. Ivan jumped out of one car, and Sophia and Alex emerged from the second one. Bryce noticed that Alex didn’t have his security team with him. Why wouldn’t he bring his hired gun Peter?

Bryce and Bailey stepped out of the sedan. The cool air sent a chill down his spine, but it might be the thought of stepping foot into the abandoned building that had his nerves working overtime.

Three men with guns walked out of the house and approached. Bryce didn’t recognize any of them. The burly bearded man with a tattoo running up his thick neck patted down Bryce. The other guy—younger, taller, and skinnier than the first, but just as rough looking—gave Ivan and Bailey a thorough search. Interesting that they didn’t pat down Alex and Sophia. More confirmation that they were in way too deep. The third man stood at the door, with a rifle in his hands. The man had weight-lifter muscles, a buzz cut, and a scar above his right eye.

Alex glared at Bryce. “Let’s get this over with. I can’t believe you betrayed me and took the statue. After I took a risk and got you that invitation to the auction.”

Sophia matched Alex’s hard stare. “And I just want to get Natalia back.”