Riley (2 page)

“I didn’t bring it with me. It’s in a safe place. And I’m not sure who else knows. That’s part of the problem.”

Riley took a moment to think. This was a find that could make a career or get someone killed. Most likely the latter. They’d have to be very smart how they played this out.

“This is a dangerous game you’ve decided to play. If this is the real deal and not an imitation then you need to be very, very careful.”

She let out a long breath he hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Looking at her a little closer, Riley realized he’d been mistaken about the nervousness he thought he’d seen. She wasn’t nervous at all. She was terrified. And she had every reason to be.

“Believe me when I say that I didn’t know the rules of the game when I was thrown into it. Please,” she said softly. “Tell me what it is. And then tell me what to do with it. This is way out of my area of expertise. My field of study is the Renaissance.”

Riley looked at her steadily, trying to decide if he was the one being taken for a ride by a clever seductress. If he made the wrong decision, the good reputation she’d talked about earlier would be gone in a heartbeat. He’d be a laughingstock in the academic world.

“If the item in the photograph is the genuine article, then you have in your possession
The Tear of Nefertari
. It’s a pearl of the highest quality, more than 254 millimeters in size. It’s supposedly flawless. And the reason you weren’t able to find any information on it is because there’s less than a dozen documented descriptions of the pearl.”

“Oh, no,” she said, her eyes big and round as comprehension dawned.

“I’m glad you understand the mess you’re in. Ramesses the Great gave it to his consort, Nefertari after the birth of their first son. The same son who died in childhood as a result of the plagues of Egypt during Moses time. After their son’s death, Ramses and Nefertari hid the pearl, afraid it was the true cause of their gods’ anger.

“The last person to see it and claim he’d held it in his hands was a grave robber who looted several of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings in 1817. He wasn’t exactly a reliable source, but there was a newspaper article written about it that described the pearl in great detail. The grave robber was found dead with his throat slit barely a month later and the pearl hasn’t been seen since.
The Tear of Nefertari
is considered a curse for all who touch it. Its name is synonymous with death. So I’ll ask you again. Where did you get it?”

She didn’t hesitate to answer this time. “Jonathon sent it to me in the mail with a letter to contact you if I didn’t hear from him within three days.”

Riley narrowed his eyes at the way she’d said his friend’s name. There was a familiarity in the way she used it that told him they’d been close.

“You and Jon were lovers?” he asked.

She blushed slightly at his bluntness. “We
were
lovers. But we are still colleagues. As you know, our world is small. I couldn’t very well disassociate with him completely without hurting my own career.”

Riley knew exactly what she was talking about. It was the reason he made it a point to never start an affair with someone he worked with on a frequent basis. He hated awkward entanglements.

“Jon said you and you alone could be trusted, and not to even mention that I’d gotten a package from him to anyone else. He said things were tangled and that there were countries and collectors alike who always kept their ears to the ground about rare finds like this one.”

“So what you’re telling me is that Jon got in some hot water, and to draw the heat away from himself, he sent you a priceless artifact that dozens of people would kill for. You two must have had a hell of a break up.”

She lowered her eyes in embarrassment. “It wasn’t exactly amicable.”

Riley would have liked to hear the details, but he had bigger problems to think of. “So where did my good buddy Jon go, and why hasn’t he come back?”

“I don’t know. I started searching for him as soon as I got the package. I called his phones and stopped by his office. I checked my messaging service at the library and even called his mother to see if she’d heard from him. He just vanished.

“I knew the pearl was something dangerous as soon as I took it out of the box. But no matter how badly I wanted to be rid of it, I couldn’t just turn a piece of the world’s history over to anyone who wanted it. Though it would have served Jon right if I had. I started seeing shadows around every corner, and I was jumping at every sound.

“I waited for his call on that third day, sure he’d come by to pick it up a laugh about the entire incident as if it were some kind of joke. But he didn’t call. So I got in the car around ten o’clock that night and drove back to his apartment. The police were there, and when I went to see what had happened one of the neighbors said there’d been a burglary.

So I sent you an email from my phone, drove back home and packed a bag. I think someone followed me from Jon’s apartment. I saw the same black car before I got home and then again on the highway after I left. I think I lost him when I crossed the state line. I’ve been living out of a suitcase in different motels for the past couple of days. Until you could meet with me.”

“Shit.” Riley took his glasses off and rubbed his fingers over his eyes. This was a hell of a mess, and he could only assume that Jon was dead because of his carelessness. And Maggie Lawrence was liable to be next if they didn’t do something quick.

“You’re right,” she said, gathering her bag and sliding the photo back inside. “I shouldn’t have contacted you even though Jon told me too. It’s wrong to get anyone else involved in this mess.”

She slid out of the booth before he could stop her.

“Maggie, wait. I’m not going to let you do this alone. There’s a way to get around this, we just have to be smart. It’s a miracle you’ve made it this long without someone finding you.”

Tyler came out to the counter with a bowl of stew in his hand. He looked at Maggie and then back at Riley with admiration shining in his eyes. “Completely understandable. You guys have a nice night.”

“I need you to do me a favor, Tyler? If anyone comes in looking for my friend here, tell them you’ve never seen her.”

Tyler’s expression sobered and he nodded. “I was just thinking it might be a good idea to close up early and head home before the storm hits.”

“Good idea,” Riley said, ushering Maggie to the door and into her coat.

He threw his own gear on and took a long look through the glass door and into the night. Nothing looked suspicious, but his neck was tingling.

“Wait, what about my car?” Maggie asked as he ushered her into the front seat of his Jeep. “Where are we going?”

“Your car will be fine. The police will just think it got stranded with the storm. But you need to ditch it because whoever was following you will recognize it.”

“I told you I lost them.”

“Honey, men who keep their ears to the ground about rare artifacts almost always have enough money to find what they’re looking for. They’ll find you. If they don’t have your phone traced they will. They’ve probably already checked your email, which means they’ll be able to find me. Now give me your keys. I’ll get your bag.”

She handed over the keys without a word.

A sense of urgency was ticking away in the back of his mind like a timer on a bomb counting down to zero. He grabbed her bag from the trunk and threw it in his backseat. He hopped in the Jeep, and for once it started without a fuss. Riley didn’t let out a breath until he was a couple of miles away from the coffee shop with no sign that anyone had followed.

“I’m going to have to break my promise to you,” he said, looking her in the eye as they stopped at a light.

“What do you mean?”

“Discretion is not going to help us in this case. The quieter we keep this, the more danger we’re going to be in. The tabloids and media need to become our best friend. The only problem is we’ve got a bitch of a snowstorm moving in on us, and we won’t be able to call a press conference until its run its course. We’ll have to be on our guard and lay low until then.”

“Where are you taking me? I’ve got family who’s going to be worried. And I’m not just going to shack up in a hotel with a man I’ve just met.”

Chapter Two

Taking Maggie to the MacKenzie house was out of the question. He had no intention of endangering the rest of the family. In fact, he’d feel a hell of a lot better if no one was staying in the MacKenzie house at all until this was over. It would be the first place anyone searching for him would look.

He kept his eyes on the road as the first snow flakes started to fall and dug in his pocket for his phone. He hit speed dial and waited for someone to answer.

“What’s up, Riley?” his brother, Cooper, asked on the other end of the line.

“Just listen for a second, Coop. I don’t have time for questions right now.” He could feel the tension across the line as Cooper did what he asked. “I need you to have the family move in with Dane and Charlie for a few days. They’ve got the room, and it would be best if everyone stays together. I don’t want anyone in the house until I clear it.”

“I need to borrow your apartment for a couple of days. I want to be close enough to call out for help if we need it.” Cooper was the Sheriff of Surrender and the city provided him with a two bedroom apartment just above the station. Riley knew there was always someone on duty, so it was the most logical place for them to stay until the storm was over.

“Who’s we?” Cooper asked.

“I told you I’d explain later. I want you to have your deputies looking for any strangers in town. Hell, they could already be there. Don’t count anyone out. This is life or death, Coop. I mean it.”

“I’ll take care of it all. And you’d damn well better believe I’ll be wanting an explanation as soon as you drive into town.”

“I’ll give you one. Just get the family taken care of.”

Riley disconnected and checked his rearview mirror. They’d reach the outskirts of town in another hour. Surrender was the best chance they had at survival.

***

Maggie watched Riley out of the corner of her eye while they drove down the long, deserted stretch of highway. Snow already covered the ground, and the windshield wipers were going at full speed.

She was fascinated with his hands. They were long fingered and bronzed, and there was a white jagged scar across the top of his knuckles on his right hand. He handled the car and weather with ease of long practice. The picture she’d found of him online hadn’t done him justice.

She hadn’t known his eyes were the color of the deepest part of the ocean with silver flecks that caught the light like starlight. His skin was swarthy, a testament to the time he spent outdoors, and his face was lean and beautiful. It would have almost been perfect if not for the slight offset of his nose. It had obviously been broken at some point.

His hair was dark blond and cut neatly over the ears and neck. The start of a five o’clock shadow stubbled his face and the glasses, God, she loved the glasses. The only thing that could have made them better was if they were horn-rimmed. He was every fantasy she’d ever had and then some.

Maggie admitted she probably hadn’t given him the best first impression. She’d been scared and tired. She’d barely slept at all the last two nights for fear of someone slipping into her room. She hated to rely on anyone to solve her problems for her, but Jon hadn’t really given her a choice.

She closed her eyes with embarrassment, remembering the look on Riley’s face when he’d asked if she and Jon were lovers. She’d never felt so ashamed in her life. Jon had been her biggest mistake. A young woman’s crush over a handsome man who was leading the life of excitement her parents would never let her have. The Lawrences were
not
thrill seekers. And they certainly didn’t marry them. She could hear the voice of her mother even now.

She shuddered to think what her mother would have said about Jon. They’d had a single night of drunken passion after she’d finished her doctorate and gotten the coveted position at the library. She’d been a virgin. And he’d gladly taken advantage. Just as he was doing now by expecting her to keep that damned pearl safe.

Jon knew she’d spent most of her life at boarding schools with her head buried in her studies. But he’d seduced her anyway, and though she was an adult, she was naïve enough to think that seduction meant love. Boy had she been wrong.

And now here she was with Riley, and she could see the adventure practically vibrating off his body. It was an aphrodisiac that was hard for her to resist. But she’d learned her lesson. As long as she kept her distance from Riley things would be okay. The next few days were going to be pure torture.

Maggie held her breath as the 4x4 crept slowly over what seemed like a mountainous sized hill. She couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of the car, and her nails bit into her thighs the harder the snow fell.