and buy a Prius.
Which reminded me that I started my new position at the Steel Corporation in the morning.
Once we were dressed, we headed to the bedroom. “Don’t touch the guns,” I warned Marjorie. “Use a tissue or something. In fact, don’t touch them at all. I’ll take care of them.”
She nodded, grabbed the manila folders, and pointed to the metal box. “I wonder what’s in there.”
“It’s a gun case. Probably more guns.”
“Okay to touch the box?”
“No one’s going to arrest you because your prints are on a box,” I said.
She smiled and grabbed the handle— “Oh!” The box fell open, and its contents spilled to the floor. “I’m sorry.”
“No worries. Let’s have a look.”
No more guns. I gaped at the contents spread on the area rug that had hidden the floorboards.
“Jewelry?” Marjorie gasped.
Jewelry. A lot of it. Pearls and rubies and diamonds. I had no idea what the quality was or what any of it was worth.
My father had hidden fine jewelry in a gun case.
Only Tom Simpson.
“I thought you said it was locked,” she said.
“I thought it was.” I inspected the metal. “It’s rusted out here. It just gave way.”
“Whose is this?”
“It must have belonged to my father.”
“Which means it now belongs to your mother. And you.”
“Not necessarily. Not if it was bought with dirty money. Then it belongs to the Feds.”
“How can we possibly know?”
“Hell if I know.” Several velvet pouches sat among the necklaces and rings. I picked one up and poured the contents into my hand. “Diamonds?”
Marj grabbed her phone and turned on the flashlight. “No. They’re not clear. They’re yellow. Could be citrine, a semiprecious stone.”
“Why would he keep a semiprecious stone locked up?”
“The color’s not right either. They’re too light. Maybe they are— I mean, if they are…”
“What?”
“They could be fancy yellow canary diamonds. Those are rarer than clear diamonds.”
“How do you know— Never mind.” She was a Steel heiress. Of course she knew about jewels.
“Some of these are three carats at least. Maybe four or five.”
The gems sparkled in the light from her phone. She picked up what appeared to be a large pendant with a pink stone.
“This is gorgeous! I’ve never seen a pink sapphire so big.”
“Shouldn’t it be on a chain?” I asked.
Marjorie laughed. “It’s a brooch, silly. A pin to wear on your collar or lapel.”
“Sorry. I’m not a jewelry expert.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be.” She smiled.
“There are several other pouches,” I said, quickly putting the yellow gems back in their pouch. “What am I going to do with all this?”
“I guess first we need to figure out if they’re stolen or if they were bought with dirty money,” she said.
“And how are we going to do that?”
“We go home, and we go through these files,” she said. “Maybe there’s something in there.”
I placed my finger over my lips, signaling her to be quiet. We’d both forgotten that we shouldn’t be talking in here.
“Let’s just get this out to the car,” I said quietly.
She nodded.
Once everything was safely ensconced in my trunk, I led Marjorie away from the cabin and the car. The moon shone above in the clear night sky. I pressed my lips to hers in a soft kiss and then pulled away. “I hope I didn’t just make a terrible mistake.”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “You said you love me.”
I laughed. “Not about that. I broke Joe’s confidence. In over thirty years, I’ve never done that.”
“I won’t tell a soul, Bryce. I promise.”
“I made that same promise to Joe.”
“You really don’t think he told Mel?”
“He swore he hasn’t.”
“But he might have. They’re really close, and they’ve both been through a lot of crap. Melanie was left tied up in a garage with a running car. Remember?”
I nodded. I remembered everything. “But Joe—”
“Joe will do what he has to do,” she said. “I doubt he’s keeping this from the most important person in his life, but even if he is, I won’t say a thing to him. I swear it, Bryce. You can trust me. Love isn’t anything without trust.”
I smiled. She was wonderful. Truly wonderful. I kissed her again, this time harder and with tongue. When my cock reacted, I broke the kiss. “We need to get out of here. Somewhere with a bed, or I’ll be doing you right here in the moonlight.”
“Anything wrong with that?” she teased.
“Only that it’s winter.”
“It’s a beautiful night. We’ll keep each other warm.”
“Hold that thought for when it warms up,” I said. “I have to get home,