me. So I left a message for Shannon. Told her to get out of the apartment and wait to hear from me. By the time I got hold of Marty hours later to ask him what I should do, someone had already found Sawil’s body. They killed him in that tomb. Because I’d dragged him into the whole mess.”
Pete’s jaw tightened, but otherwise he showed no emotion.
Refusing to be hurt by that, she went back to her story. And this time had to close her eyes because the pain she felt at just saying the words was as awful as it had been the day she’d heard the news. “Shannon never got my message. She’d been out with friends that night. When she got home, they were waiting for her.”
Silence settled between them. A silence Kat couldn’t read and didn’t want to. Marty had told her he’d make sure Shannon was safe. Ultimately, he’d been too late. They both had.
She pushed the emotions aside as best she could and finally said, “I mailed you the pendant with the camera card hidden inside because I knew it would be safe with you. I never looked at it, so I don’t even know if there’s anything useable on it, but I figured if I ever needed to get it, I could.”
“Why didn’t you just turn it in then? Why the theatrics?”
What could she tell him that wouldn’t sound insane? “After they killed Shannon, I knew I was screwed. Two dead bodies, linked to each other and me. My involvement with you. People knew there was tension between me and Sawil. All the evidence was pointing my way, and I had no solid alibi. Then I heard from them. They’d gotten a hold of my cell phone. They threatened my…family, and I didn’t know who or how many were involved. I was scared. I thought disappearing was the safest thing I could do. Marty agreed. After the car bomb, though, and after everything died down,” she shrugged, “there really wasn’t any reason to go after it again.”
“Until I put it up for auction.”
“Yes.” She finally looked up. “I couldn’t let it fall into the wrong hands, and I couldn’t afford to lose track of it.”
He studied her with stormy eyes she just couldn’t read. And she waited for the inevitable questions: Why did you send it to me instead of Marty? And why didn’t you come for it sooner? But he never asked.
Instead, he said, “Well, go ahead. Open it. Show me this precious card you risked my life for.”
Here? She stared at him in utter shock, then finally realized he was serious. He wasn’t moving until she did just that. She glanced nervously up and down the road again. While there was no one around that she could see, it wouldn’t be long before some nosy neighbor took notice of two strangers arguing on the corner of a quiet residential area.
She perched the backpack on her knee, leaned over and pawed through the bag until she found the pendant. Light from the streetlamp above highlighted the crouching pharaoh. She turned the statue over and looked at the flat bottom.
It was just as she remembered. With just enough pressure the false bottom would slide forward to reveal the hidden compartment inside. Only when she pushed, nothing happened.
A chill slid down her spine as she lifted the pendant for a closer look. No, not a false bottom. This thing was solid.
Dread started at the top of her head and rushed down her body like a tidal wave.
“Nice going, Kit-Kat,” Pete purred in a mocking tone. “You stole the wrong necklace.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
He was being a complete jackass, and he knew it. But as soon as he’d seen her step off that city bus, all those rational thoughts about playing it cool went sailing out the window.
“I…” Kat’s wide eyes darted up to his. “Where is it?”
“I gave it away.”
“What?” Disbelief pushed her voice higher.
“To a friend,” he said casually. “A thanks, if you will, for convincing me to finally auction off all that Egyptian crap I’d been collecting over the years that was eating up room in my storage facility.”
“You…you gave it to someone? Just like that?”
Was she upset because he’d given away her precious evidence or because she thought the necklace held some kind of sentimental value for him since it had come from her?
He couldn’t quite tell. And he wasn’t about to admit the reason he’d given that particular piece away was because