Page 86 of Fixed Asset

“Would be his half sister,” Shep corrected. “The timing matches. And if Sphynx thinks she heard an emotional connection, half sister would explain it.”

Sphynx?

Catarina’s torso swung back, and her gaze remained glued to the phone.

Apparently, no one else in the room caught the slip, nor did they catch Catarina’s reaction. Not to Shep’s voice when she’d first heard him, and not to the use of a nickname no one had heard.

Catarina pulled herself together and asked, “Was Charles married to Tom’s mother?”

“Yes, until he died two years ago.”

“Deathbed confession?” Mason muttered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Pete cut in. “We’ll ask Berta what she knows about Maria’s family. If she knows that Tom is her half brother, that’ll tip her off that we figured it out, and she can confirm. But if she doesn’t know, for Maria and the kids’ safety, I think we should keep that to ourselves.”

Before anyone could give their opinion on the matter, Aiden strangely blurted, “Isla Natividad.”

“What?” Ryan got in there before I could.

“Isla Natividad, six kilometers off the mainland. It’s a small fishing town, mostly uninhabited, with a dirt airstrip. Twenty-three nautical miles from Tortuga Bay. If I had a pretty Russian for sale and I didn’t want the cartel getting their hands on her, I’d take her to family to hide, then a small island with a few fishermen living there. If payoffs needed to be made, it’d come cheap.”

“Shep can track—”

He cut Pete off. “Already on it. Give me twenty minutes to see if I can get a lock on Carlos and what I can pull up on the cousin.”

“Thanks, we’ll be waiting.” With that, Pete disconnected.

I wove around the furniture to get to Catarina.

“Are we pretending that Cat didn’t have a weird reaction to Shep?” Mason asked. “And Sphynx, what the hell is that?”

Fuck.

“Mase—”

“What? You were across the room, and I know you didn’t miss it. So me standing next to her, I sure as shit didn’t.”

I wasn’t a fan of Catarina being put on the spot. Though after she blew out a breath, she didn’t seem to mind.

“His voice . . . he sounded familiar. I thought I was wrong, then he called me Sphynx . . .” She didn’t finish her thought.

Ryan looked up from his tablet to ask, “Do you know him? Like in real life?”

Cat rolled her eyes.

I knew she refrained from a snappy comeback when all she said was “Yes.”

Mason looked around the room. “Does anyone know Shep in real life?”

There were head shakes and noes all around.

Pete added, “Never met him, and I don’t know anyone who has.”

“Where’s Shep get the money to bankroll the ops?” Cat asked.

“He steals it. And before you ask, that same money pays our salary.” He looked at Catarina. “And now yours. It pays all of our bills. Not a single person we rescue pays—not for the exfil and not for the safe house. Their captors do. Shep drains all their accounts. If he’s bored, he finds other criminals doing jacked-up shit and takes their money too.”

I knew Shep paid my salary. I didn’t give two shits it came from stolen funds for criminals.