I move up behind him; lifting myself up on my tiptoes I manage to rest my chin on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I say lightly, “but what you’re asking of me? It’s not a request inspired by brotherly love.”

Lander chuckles. It’s the soft sound of acknowledgment. “Why are you doing this? I told you I could get you another job . . .”

“But you don’t really want me to take you up on that now.” I gently turn him around and lay my hand on his cheek. “Do you?”

Again he doesn’t answer.

I move in a little closer. “He’s hiding something from you.”

“Oh?”

“I got a glimpse of an email he was sending to his father—”

“Our father.”

“Of course,” I say with a placating smile. “Like I said, I only got a glimpse, but it was something about some HGVB client. And your father had written that he agreed it was ‘unwise to bring Lander into the loop.’ ”

Lander gives me a skeptical look.

I shrug and pretend to think about what I read. “Does the name Talebi mean anything to you?”

It’s a name I found in the sketchbook Lander uses as a diary. It could be nothing . . . but it’s worth testing.

“Talebi,” Lander repeats slowly.

Again I shrug. “I could have gotten that wrong . . . but the client’s name . . . it was something like that. I really didn’t get anything else.”

“That’s useful,” Lander says, his eyes moving past me as new thoughts and ideas flicker through his mind.

“Just promise me you won’t let Travis know I gave you that information,” I say, taking his hand. “Protect me, Lander.”

Lander laughs lightly. “It’s like being asked to protect a great white shark.”

I give him a wry smile. “Well, we are listed as a vulnerable species.”

“Yes, vulnerable.” Lander glances toward the door as we hear the passing voices of people walking through the hall. “Vulnerable and so misunderstood.” His eyes move back to me. “I compared you to Mata Hari.”

“Yes, you did.”

“But that’s not who you are, is it?”

I shake my head, bite my lip. “What finally clued you in?”

“Mata Hari was working for the Germans. But that’s not you. You’re much more like me.”

“Mmm, how so?”

“You’re like me in that you’re only working for yourself. I don’t know why you’re spying on Travis for me, but I have a feeling it has more to do with your anger than it does with some desire to please me.”

I feel my heart sink into my stomach as I release him and take two steps back.