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“But maybe we could if we tried.” She smiled at him. “I think I want to try, Caleb.”
He suddenly laughed out loud. “I know that glint in your eye. You’re not going to take no for an answer.”
She leaned down and gave him a kiss before she tossed the blanket aside. “I’m glad you realize that. It’ll save us both a lot of time and aggravation.”
***
Reiver Car
“It looks different, doesn’t it?” Jane walked slowly down the aisle toward the painting, her gaze intent. “Earlier I thought it gave off an aura of eternal power, but that’s not what I see now.”
“What are you doing?” Caleb asked as Jane bent over to get a closer look at the mural. “May I help?”
“No.” Jane crouched in front of the mural. “It’s strange…”
“What’s strange?” Caleb asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s the same mural we saw yesterday.”
“Yes, but the light’s different now. It’s amazing the difference it makes. In my exhibitions, I always specify the type and color temperature of the lightbulbs they use. Yesterday this looked warm and welcoming. Now it looks a little…menacing.”
Caleb studied the mural and then nodded. “I think I see it. Or could it be just a warning?”
“Either way, it’s a powerful piece of work.” Jane set her tripod on the floor and rooted through her bag for the camera. She pulled it out and inspected it.
“How did the modification go?”
“Well, I think. It may not be as effective as a museum infrared camera, but it may show us what’s on the layer beneath this one.”
“You’re certain there’s another painting underneath this one?”
“I won’t be certain until I can verify. But I’d swear I’m right about this, Caleb.” Her eyes were glittering with eagerness and excitement as she stared at him. “And why would anyone want to do that unless they had a very good reason? Don’t you want to know if MacClaren had one?”
He chuckled. “Oh, yes. And if you’re ready to swear, that’s certainly enough for me.” Caleb checked his phone. “Okay, but I’m afraid you’ll need to work fast. The last time Rodland texted he said there are some signs that Bohdan’s already on our trail. But we should be safe here until the MI6 strike team can take them into custody.”
“Good.” Jane turned her attention back to the camera. There was no guarantee this would work, however effective she thought her camera’s infrared capabilities might be. Lead-based paints could reflect the IR radiation, obliterating any opportunity to see the layers beneath. Alternatively, certain paints and materials absorbed IR, making them visible with astonishing clarity. It could go either way.
She set up her camera and adjusted the lens. She had already programmed dozens of focus points since any of them could be the one to best reveal the painting underneath. There were no shortcuts, at least not with her makeshift rig. She just needed to keep trying different focus points until one would hopefully reveal this mural’s secrets.
Focus point one…
***
Mulberry Access Road
Rodland didn’t like this development at all.
He crouched in the shrubbery half a mile from the rail yard, his gaze on the dense brush in front of him. He should be able to hear someone, something, in that wall of trees and shrubs that bordered the tall wire fence enclosing the yard.
He wasn’t hearing anything, dammit. Which could be a silent threat. The MI6 strike team commander had lost contact with his outer-perimeter sentries shortly after they reported that Bohdan’s men were on the move.
Those sentries were twenty highly trained agents on the roads surrounding the rail yard, surely more than enough to rout the small but lethal team that Chiswick had sent to capture Caleb and Jane.
Unless the report of the size of that unit was false. It was entirely possible. Bohdan was known to be a crafty snake in the grass, and he might have brought in an extra-strong unit to guarantee that he’d be able to take Caleb down at last.
He looked down at the one-word text from Caleb:STATUS?
He wished he had an answer. Caleb and Jane had agreed to use themselves as bait, and now—
RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT!
