the fuck was Roman? What did Levi know that he didn’t?
“Hey, Levi’s coming up the hill and he’s got the cops with him,” Tucker shouted. “Owen’s almost here.”
Her uncle stepped back and allowed them in.
Kim took off again even as he heard the thud of the chopper. It would be coming from the south, hooking around to approach by sea.
He started to walk in. It looked like he would have to drag her away from whoever this Roman person was. He couldn’t assure the safety of some random man. Maybe it was a dog. He would be the bad guy if he made her leave her dog behind.
Her uncle stopped him, and for a moment he worried it was all a trick to keep them on the outside.
“You will take care of them, Mr. Kent?” Francis Bruno asked.
Shit. He was going to have to take them all. “Yes.”
The brother nodded and allowed them all to enter. “You must hurry. Despite what many believe, Maltese law is in force here. I can keep the police at bay for an hour at most, but they will and can come in.”
“I’ll have her out of here in five minutes,” he promised. “We’ll be in Sicily tonight.”
“Ezra will know where to go,” he said.
“What?” Did her uncle think he still went by Ezra’s name? He’d never met the man, but he was sure Kim had talked about him.
Theo pressed through before he could ask another question. “He needs to get that gate closed. We need to go.”
Tucker shook his head. “Rob and I are going to stay. We’ll see what he has to say. They won’t find anything on us. If we get taken in, Tag’ll send someone to get us out.”
Theo pulled his gun and pressed it into Rob’s hand. “He’s right. We’ll deal with the authorities. You get her out of here. Call Ian when you get wherever you’re going.”
He stepped back out and Francis closed the gate.
“Hurry,” Francis said. “I’ll slow them down, but you must leave. And Beckett, remember that forgiveness is next to godliness.”
He didn’t stop to ask what the brother meant by that. He had to get Kim and apparently all her friends out of here and find a way to get to Sicily in the middle of a storm. He stepped out from under the stone roof of the tunnel and onto the large plaza. It was big, and he didn’t know where Kim had gone. Fuck. Was she trying to get away again?
The chopper started a descent, and he could barely see Owen in the pilot’s seat. The ladder unrolled and he hoped whoever was coming with them had a steady stomach.
“Kim!” He shouted her name because they were running out of time.
She ran from behind another set of gates, and she wasn’t alone. He almost felt his heart stop. She had a child in her arms. Not a baby or a toddler. He had to be five.
Or six. Yes, that kid could be six. Six years and some change.
He felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. Then he knew it had been because a man came running behind her, carrying a bag and a backpack.
The rain didn’t matter. It couldn’t change his vision, couldn’t make him think that he was seeing a ghost. He knew that face, knew the set of those shoulders and the grim look in the man’s eyes.
His brother was running toward him. His brother. Her uncle hadn’t been mistaken when he’d spoken before. Her uncle had been talking about Ezra Fain, who was alive.
Forgiveness. This was what he’d been talking about.
Kim stopped a mere foot away and the child in her arms stared back at him, his arms around his mother’s neck. “I need to know you’ll protect him. I’ll explain everything, but I need you to take him. If you can’t stand to look at me, take him with you. Even if you can’t forgive me, please save our son. Roman, this is your dad and he’s going to make sure you’re safe.”
This is your dad.
Kim was talking about him. She hadn’t run because she was afraid of him. She’d run because she’d been desperate to get to her son. Their son.
“It’s true.” Ezra came to stand beside Kim. He was standing there as the rain shifted from pouring to a drizzle. “He’s your son, Beck. I know you’re angry with me. I promise I’ll explain everything, but I need to go with you. I can get