Chapter 4 - THE SEVENTH INTERPRETER
The first explosion came from the eastern perimeter.
The second shattered the glass doors leading into the garden.
Archer grabbed Celia by the shoulder and pulled her behind a marble pillar.
"Down!"
Gunfire cracked through the night.
Celia's ears rang.
Across the entrance hall, Stellan stood beside two security men, issuing instructions in Russian.
His voice remained controlled.
Almost frighteningly controlled.
"North entrance secured. Get the medical team to the lower corridor. Nobody approaches the main gate without identification."
Archer pulled Celia toward a side passage.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere safe."
"My mother—"
"Mr. Varo is handling it."
"I don't want to be handled!"
Archer stopped.
For the first time, his composure cracked.
"Listen to me. If you want your mother alive, you need to stay alive long enough to help him."
Celia swallowed.
Then she followed.
They reached a reinforced room beneath the study.
It contained security monitors, communications equipment, and a long table covered in maps.
Stellan entered minutes later.
A cut ran along his left cheek.
"Any word?"
Archer shook his head.
"Nothing confirmed."
Stellan looked at Celia.
"Did the interpreter say anything else?"
"He said my father was a better negotiator than I am."
"Before that?"
"He asked me to ask you what happened to Nadia."
Stellan's jaw tightened.
"Did he mention her name?"
"No. He said it like he expected me to know."
Stellan walked to the monitors.
"Show me the northern cameras."
A guard brought up footage from the gate.
A black vehicle was speeding away from the property.
Another camera showed a second car entering through a service road.
Celia stepped closer.
"Stop."
The guard froze the image.
"Zoom in."
A passenger was visible in the back seat.
A woman with silver hair.
Celia's mother.
But the driver wasn't Grekov's man.
It was Archer.
Celia turned slowly.
The older man stood behind her.
His face was expressionless.
"Where is she?"
Archer didn't answer.
Stellan looked at him.
"Explain."
Archer reached inside his jacket.
Two guards immediately raised their weapons.
But he removed only a photograph.
It showed Nadia standing in the rose garden.
She looked older than in the previous photograph, exhausted and frightened.
"She was alive when I last saw her," Archer said.
Celia felt her anger return.
"You knew where she was?"
"I knew she had contacted your father before he died."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
Archer looked at Stellan.
"From the truth."
Stellan's voice dropped.
"Tell her."
Archer looked down at the photograph.
"Eleven years ago, Daniel Rowe discovered that someone had changed the original shipping agreement. He found evidence that Anton Varo's death had been arranged by a member of his own organization."
Stellan went completely still.
"Who?"
"I never learned the name."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No. I expect you to understand that I was there when Daniel brought me the evidence."
Celia stared at Archer.
"Why did my father trust you?"
"Because I was supposed to help him."
"Supposed to?"
Archer's face changed.
"Because I failed him."
The room fell silent.
Celia felt suddenly cold.
"What happened?"
Archer placed the photograph on the table.
"Daniel came to the compound eleven years ago. He had a second copy of the agreement and a recording of the man who ordered Anton's murder."
"Where is it?"
"Hidden."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Celia shook her head.
"You're lying."
Archer looked at her.
"Your father told me something before he left. He said if anything happened to him, I should find his daughter and keep her away from the Varo family."
Stellan's eyes narrowed.
"Then why bring her here?"
Archer didn't answer.
Celia looked between them.
"You knew who I was before I arrived."
"Yes," Archer admitted.
"And you let me walk into this house?"
"I needed to know whether you had inherited his ability."
"His ability to do what?"
"Recognize a lie hidden inside a sentence."
Celia stepped backward.
"You're both insane."
A guard entered.
"Mr. Varo. We have a secure line."
Stellan answered.
A man's voice came through.
Viktor Grekov.
"Your interpreter is very valuable, Stellan."
Stellan said nothing.
"I have something you want. A woman, a recording, and a very old debt."
Celia grabbed the receiver.
"Where is my mother?"
Grekov chuckled.
"Your mother is perfectly comfortable."
"Let me speak to her."
A brief pause.
Then her mother's tired voice came through.
"Celia?"
"I'm here, Mom."
"Don't come looking for me."
Celia's stomach dropped.
"What?"
Her mother was crying.
"Your father didn't die in an accident."
The call went dead.
Celia turned toward Stellan.
He was already reaching for his coat.
"Tell me where we're going."
"To Grekov."
"Then I'm coming."
"No."
Celia picked up her notebook.
"Mr. Varo, your enemy has my mother, my father's evidence, and eleven years of secrets. You can either bring the only person who can read that evidence, or you can continue making decisions based on information you don't have."
Stellan studied her.
Then he nodded once.
"Get in the car."
But before they reached the door, Archer spoke.
"There's something else."
Stellan turned.
Archer's voice was barely audible.
"The seventh interpreter didn't disappear."
Celia stared at him.
"Where is she?"
Archer looked at Stellan.
May you like
"She's inside this compound."
And from somewhere above them, a woman began screaming.
