“He’s got her,” Con whispered when Esther followed Ryder into one of the buildings.
Kinsey didn’t know one red-roofed building from the other, but wherever Ryder was taking Henry’s sister, it was someplace that was secluded.
She, Con, and Henry walked in through a second door, pausing when they heard Ryder’s voice over the huge copper stills.
A moment later they walked through another glass door. It wasn’t until Kinsey neared it that she realized it was a small room next to an office. Inside the room was an old iron fireplace that Ryder was feeding wood.
Esther sat on a chair huddled in front of the growing fire as if she were frozen from the inside out. She was so intent on the fire that she never heard the door open or the three of them walk inside.
Con pulled Kinsey with him as they moved behind Esther. Henry remained by the door. Then he slammed it shut. Esther’s head jerked up, her gaze meeting her brother’s.
“Hello, Esther,” Henry said. “Fancy seeing you here, sis.”
Kinsey had to give Esther credit, she remained in character while putting her hands near the fire. “I don’t know an Esther.”
“Give it up,” Henry said, his voice dripping with anger and agitation. “I know it’s you. You’re good. I’ll give you that, but you forgot to make sure to cover the small scar near your temple. The one I gave you years ago when we played cricket.”
There was a drawn-out pause before Esther sighed and gave a shake of her head. “What the bloody hell are you doing here, Henry?” she asked in the same refined British accent as her brother.
“I asked first. When were you going to tell me you joined MI5?”
She lifted her chin. “Eventually. How did you find out?”
“Me,” Ryder said. “I check everyone who walks onto Dreagan.”
Esther shrugged, as if she didn’t care that her cover was blown. “I like MI5. It suits me as it always suited you.”
“Do our parents know?”
She looked at him as if he’d just asked her to strip naked. “Of course not. What kind of daughter do you think I am?”
“I’m wondering what kind of sister you are,” Henry said as he clasped his hands behind his back. “You lied to me. Repeatedly.”
“And how many times have you lied to me and our parents?” she retorted. “Too many to count, that’s for sure.”
Henry scrubbed a hand down his face. “So MI5 is working out great for you, aye?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why they decommissioned you?”
She got to her feet and glared. “How do you know that?”
“That doesn’t concern you.”
“It does if you’re looking into me,” she said and moved a step closer to him.
Henry looked down his nose at her. “Which side are you on, Esther? Are you on the side of MI5 that I’ve been working to eliminate? The ones who focus on people like those here at Dreagan, concocting all kinds of lies to keep them under surveillance?”
“No. Never,” she said, appalled.
Henry gazed at her a long time before he said, “Prove it.”
“Stuart, your boss and friend, took a liking to me. He didn’t approve of the group training me and took me under his wing. He said if I was going to be an agent, he was going to make sure I was trained right. That’s how I learned what the two of you were doing. I offered to help out.”
“And?” Henry urged when she stopped.
She threw up her hands in aggravation. “What do you think? I was relieved of duty.”
Kinsey saw the subtle way Henry shifted his feet. Ryder also positioned himself closer to the door. Whatever answers Esther was giving, they weren’t the ones they were looking for.
Henry bowed his head. He stood with his hands on his hips as the silence of the room was broken only by the pop of the fire.
“It’s time to stop with the lies,” Henry said without lifting his head. “It’s easy to become so engrossed in them that even when we need to tell the truth, we can’t. I’ve been there many times. You have to force yourself to let go of the shroud of lies.”
“I’m not lying.”
At this, Henry’s head lifted. His eyes were now as hard as iron. His entire demeanor changed. Gone was the concerned brother. In his place was a man intent on getting answers—no matter who stood across from him.
“Stuart never mentioned you. He would’ve, Esther. He, more than most, knows how important family is since his brother was an MI5 agent killed in the line of duty. He would’ve alerted me the moment he discovered you.”
Esther shrugged, as if she didn’t care that he’d caught that lie.
“As for the rest, I was there when most of the bad seeds were terminated. You weren’t one of them. You have one more chance to tell me the truth.”
She resumed her seat and looked back into the flames of the fire. “Not going to happen.”
Kinsey didn’t so much as move a muscle. She couldn’t believe a brother and sister who seemed as close as Henry and Esther could grow apart so drastically. The idea that it could happen to her and her sister made Kinsey’s stomach roll with dread.