ruby pendant and matching earrings. Several diamond rings. Pouches of loose stones. Maybe some emeralds. Oh! There was this gorgeous brooch with a large pink stone. I never knew what it was, but it was going to be my first pick when Vicky and I divided it.”
Big pink stone. In a brooch.
A pink sapphire, according to Marjorie.
Unbelievable, as my mother had said.
My father had robbed my mother. Perhaps he’d used some of the stones to finance his other life, though I doubted it. From all accounts, he’d been very well paid for his work. Still…he had the safe house where Joe had found him and Colin, the place where Melanie had nearly been killed, and who knew what other properties? Whether he’d used the jewelry or not, much of it clearly remained.
It belonged to my mother and Aunt Vicky.
This was good news for them. Good news for all of us. This wasn’t dirty money. It was stolen property that belonged to our family.
“Looks like you and Aunt Vicky can still go through your inheritance,” I said. “I’ll get it into a safe-deposit box as soon as I can.”
The only problem was…I was being watched.
Someone was watching me.
No one else could know about the jewels, or they’d have leverage to extort from me. My father had left us with next to nothing, and he’d left my aunt childless. I was going to make sure my mother and aunt got their inheritance, even if it was thirty years late.
“I have to go, Mom. First day of work and all. Give Henry a kiss, and I’ll call him this evening to say good night.”
“Okay. Remember that we’re two hours later here, so don’t call too late.”
“I won’t.”
I had to get the stuff appraised and insured as soon as I could. But how could I do that without anyone knowing? Everything was still in the trunk of my father’s Mustang, which was parked outside the building.
Was it safer there than in the guesthouse? Here in the office building? How could I get it to a safe-deposit box?
I rose and went to the next office to see Joe. The door was open. “Hey.”
He looked up from his computer screen. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you.” I cocked my head to indicate outside.
He nodded and rose.
“Do you guys have a safe or something?” I asked after telling him about my find.
“We have many, but no safe is foolproof.”
“Have you checked them lately?”
“Are you kidding? I don’t have time to go around checking every safe on this property. But I’ve checked the ones here in the office building and in my home. Also the ones at the main house. Everything’s good.”
“What about the guesthouse?”
“I haven’t checked it, but there’s one in the master bedroom behind the Monet copy.”
“What do you keep at the guesthouse?”
“Ryan used to use it for personal stuff. I assume he moved all his stuff to the new house. I’m not sure what’s in there now. Probably nothing.”
“Would the jewels be safe there?”
“Depends. If there’s nothing in there now, we can’t know if it’s been tampered with. And no one’s lived there for a few months. Someone could have easily broken in.”
“Do you know the combination?”
“I have access to all of them, yeah.”
“All right. Come over after we’re done for the day, and we’ll check the guesthouse safe.”
He nodded. “Where’s the stuff now?”
“In the trunk of my car.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Where else was I going to put it? Leave it in the cabin? Along with the guns?”
“You didn’t—”
“No. We used tissues. Neither Marj nor I got our prints on the guns.”
“Crazy.” He shook his head. “We need to read the files.”
“I meant to look at them last night, but I got a little spooked. I didn’t want disgusting stuff on my mind right before my first day of work here.”
“I’m not looking forward to it either, but armed with information is better than not.”
I nodded. He was right.
I just hated the idea of discovering more horrendous secrets about my father.
“Did you hear back from the Spider?”
He shook his head. “He disappeared.”
My stomach flopped. “What?”
“I got in touch with my friend who recommended him. Said he’d tried to reach him earlier today and couldn’t.”
“He disappeared right after he sent you an email saying he had information?”
“Looks that way,” he said gruffly.
An invisible black cloud surrounded me. Something was coming.
Something big.
And something bad.
Joe pulled his phone out of his pocket. It must have buzzed. I was too freaked to hear it.
“Hey, Sis,” he said into it.
Chapter