Read The Florentine Cypher: Kate Benedict Paranormal Mystery #3 (The Kate Benedict Series) for Free Online

it if he didn’t think I could unravel it. I stood up and carried the remains of my feast into the kitchen, tucking my phone under my chin as I rinsed the glass and plate. Leo continued typing and giving me more place names.
    As I reached up on tiptoes to put my glass away in a cabinet, I realized what LS meant. Little Sister. Ethan’s younger sister Claire was three inches taller than he was, so he always called her Little Sister just to annoy her. But Claire lived in Florence, where she did something in art restoration at the Uffizi art museum.
    Seconds later, Leo also worked out the LS reference. “He wants you to go to Florence? What the hell is he playing at?”
    “I have no idea,” I said. “But I wouldn’t mind a trip out there. I could see Dad for a while. He’d like that.”
    My father lived in Tuscany, in a small village just outside Florence. He and my Mum had bought an old villa years ago, using it for family holidays until retiring there three years earlier. Since my mum’s accident I went over as often as my work allowed to keep Dad company. We enjoyed indulging our love of Italian art, architecture, and food together.
    “It seems unreasonable for Ethan to expect you to go all that way,” Leo said. “I think you should wait until you hear from him again.”
    “I don’t know if he’ll contact me again. I’m really worried…” My voice caught in my throat.
    “Is there something you’re not telling me?” Leo asked.
    “He had an aura.”
    “Damn,” Leo said, which was quite benign for him.
    “I’m sorry.” I don’t know why I always felt compelled to apologize for seeing auras, but I did.
    “Kate, we need to talk about this. You can’t go running around putting yourself in danger every time an aura appears.”
    “I don’t,” I argued. “I see them all the time and I rarely intervene.” I thought back to the boy with spiky hair on the train. “But this is different. This is our friend. I can’t just ignore it.”
    “I know. But I… well, you know I’d be mad as hell if you let anything happen to you.”
    That was as close to soppy as Leo ever got, and a little wave of warmth flooded my chest. I enjoyed the sensation while I opened a new box of chamomile tea and put a teabag in my cup.
    After a pause, Leo spoke again. “Why does Ethan want you to take this book to Claire?”
    “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe she’ll be able to cast some light when I see her.”
    “I don’t think you should go, not until we find out where Ethan is and why this book was important enough to be locked in his safe.”
    “I really don’t mind going to Florence. Josh is away so, honestly, I have nothing better to do this weekend. And I have some air miles I need to use before they expire.”
    “Why don’t you take the book with you when you visit Dad at Easter?” he asked. “We’re all going then anyway.” He sounded tired, which wasn’t surprising at this late hour.
    “We can’t wait until Easter. That’s a fortnight away. We have to assume that Ethan’s on his way to Claire’s now. To be honest, the sooner I hand this over to him, the better.” I glanced my watch. “I should go in the morning.”
    “I don’t think—” Leo began.
    “Professor Benedict, it’ll be fine. If I had to go somewhere like Transylvania or something, you could be justifiably concerned. But it’s Florence. It’s home. And Dad’s there. Nothing will happen.”
    Leo was quiet for a long time. “You know what? I’ll come with you. I want to see Ethan. Olivia will understand.”
    She probably would. She was the most pragmatic, unruffled person I’d ever met, the polar opposite of Leo’s mercurial first wife.
    “All right,” I said. “We can meet at the airport.”
    I picked up my laptop and started searching for flights. “Gatwick to Pisa?” I asked. “Leaving at nine in the morning, returning Sunday at four. We can go by Claire’s place and talk with Ethan. Then we spend one night with