The Topaz Brooch

by Katherine Lowry Logan

  Penny returned to the cooler to get Rick a bottle of water and handed it to him when he took a break. “Do you want me to dig?”

  “No. I’d rather have you rested. Sit over there with Kenzie and take a load off your feet.”

  “There are plenty of us here to share the work. You don’t have to do it all.”

  “If I can’t dig a hole, I need to hit the gym even more often than I’m doing these days while I wait for you to”—he leaned in and whispered—“spread your legs for me.”

  His warm breath near her ear and the words he whispered did dangerous things to her. She’d never reacted to a man physically the way she responded to him. It was like the gates to her heart and soul opened up and said, “Have at me, Marine. I’m all yours.”

  As she walked away, he asked, “Did ya bring any pogey bait?”

  “Apples, bananas, and energy bars.”

  “I’ll take an energy bar,” he said.

  She brought him the bar then went over and plopped down next to Kenzie, who was sitting in the shade of a tupelo tree surrounded by a dense growth of vegetation.

  “Did David bench you?” Penny asked.

  “Yep, and I’m not arguing about it. He can dig all he wants, then start over and dig another hole. He’s the energizer bunny and can run laps around me.”

  Penny gasped. “Not Kenzie Wallis-Manning. Say it ain’t so. You still hold the record for the fastest time on the Indoor Obstacle Course Test at the Academy.”

  “Sister, that was two decades ago. I’m not half the woman I used to be.”

  “I heard that, Kenz. And ye’re twice the woman ye used to be. Yer time is slower, but ye can still beat my ass.”

  “Yep, climbing a rope sixty seconds faster than you is a huge achievement, McBain. And I can only do that because Remy cracks a whip under my feet.”

  Remy gave Kenzie a double dose of side-eye. “I’d never do that. I threaten and yell. That’s all.”

  “Whatever,” Kenzie said.

  “Don’t scare Penny. She’ll have to compete this fall,” Rick said.

  Penny opened her bottle and took a long gulp. “That’s not going to happen. I did all that crap when I was a Ranger. If I wanted to keep doing it, I wouldn’t have left the service.”

  Elliott wiped the sweat off his forehead with a white monogrammed handkerchief Penny had seen him use before. “If ye want to go on another adventure, lass, ye have to complete the course in a timed test.”

  “How often do you do them? Once a year?” she asked.

  Rick put down his shovel and swiped the bottom of his shirt across his face. “Every three months. Between Remy and Trainer Ted, we’re all on a diet and exercise program. We’ve got to be ready to go on short notice.”

  “And we have a 5K coming up in a few months. MacCorp is a sponsor of the Race for the Cure in Lexington, and we’re all running.”

  “Okay, but I don’t see Soph surviving any obstacle course you could design, Remy.”

  “Think again, girlfriend,” Kenzie said. “Sophia might be the most physically fit in the family. She’s been doing Tai Chi for years, and she’s rock solid. And Meredith is in her sixties, and she competes on the same course we do.”

  “Jesus,” Penny said, turning up her water bottle, emptying it. “You guys are serious about this.”

  “Nobody would have agreed to let Sophia go if she hadn’t been physically fit,” Elliott said. “And ye don’t get a break for age or gender.”

  “You all are just plain nuts.”

  Rick stopped digging. “If you want to go to Vienna with Sophia and Pete, you have to complete the course.”

  “Great. Consider me signed up.” Did she want to go on another adventure? Yeah. She’d go to rescue someone, but God, she never wanted to be dropped into another situation blind. Knowing she’d never return home had been the most terrifying experience she’d ever had, and she’d had some whoppers. Being raped by Bowes was a god-awful experience, but not as bad as being stranded in the nineteenth century.

  Kenzie rubbed her chilled bottle across her forehead. “This weather sucks. I’m ready to go home.” She swatted a mosquito. “Damn bloodsuckers are killing me.” She dug into one of the duffel bags for mosquito, tick, and insect spray, and sprayed it on her arms. “Do you want some?”

  Penny held out her arms. “Shoot me.”

  Kenzie sprayed her. “If this place is so isolated now, I can’t imagine what it looked like when you were here with Lafitte.”

  “It doesn’t look anything like what I saw a few weeks ago. It was weird. I mean…I noticed the lack of power lines and houses, but it was the quiet that surprised me most. I kept expecting to hear the sounds of life. You know, boats, cars, kids playing…but nothing. I think I knew intuitively that something was wrong, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d traveled back in time. Call me stupid, but it never once occurred to me.”

  “I couldn’t deny it when I went back. I mean, shit, German planes were bombing London when I arrived.” Kenzie sprayed her neck, then gave Penny’s neck a spritz too. “So when did you finally figure it out?”

  “Jean knew Governor Claiborne had issued a warrant for his arrest. He told me if the militia caught us, they’d throw us in jail. Of course, I didn’t believe him. I thought he was playing a part, a reenactment. But when we reached New Orleans, and there were no lights, no cars, nothing, I freaked out.”

  “I would have too.” Kenzie tossed the spray back into the duffel. “I can’t imagine being told New Orleans was across the river and not being able to see a damn thing.”

  “I started screaming, I think. Anyway, Jean’s brother, Dominique, knocked me out. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a bedroom I didn’t recognize. Jean was there, and I couldn’t deny it any longer.”

  “What’d you do?”

  “I tried to beat the shit out of him. I punched him in the gut over and over and over. It was like hitting a damn wall, and I bruised my hands. I finally stopped and cried on his shoulder.”

  “What he’d do?”

  “He sat there and took it. Then he held me and promised he’d sail the world to find another brooch so I could go home.”

  Kenzie’s eyes glistened. “He sounds like one hell of a guy. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet him.”

  “Got it!” Rick yelled.

  Penny jumped to her feet and hustled over to watch Rick and David haul a chest out of the ground.

  “It looks like the chests we brought back with us,” Remy said. “Let’s open it.”

  “No! Not yet,” Elliott said. “Braham is setting up a clean room at the plantation. The chests have been buried for two hundred years. If the torc is in there, or other brooches, we need to be in a secure location when we open them.”

  Remy’s shock was on full display. “Why didn’t ya mention this before? I can’t believe you’re goin’ to make us wait.”

  “I didn’t want to jinx it,” Elliott said. “Let’s dig up the other one.” He glanced at Penny and Kenzie. “Why don’t ye two take pictures of the site from different angles to document where we dug them up?”

  “Penny, after you take pictures, will you pick up the flags?” Rick asked. “I’ll fill in the hole.”

  While everyone else went about their tasks, Elliott walked toward the swamp, out of hearing range, and talked on his phone.

  The second chest was identical to the first one, and they were both set aside while the guys filled in the holes and cleaned up the site. Kenzie and Penny picked up the flags, the stakes, and the twine, dismantled the equipment, and packed everything away.

  David and Remy carried the chests to the van, and Remy stayed there to guard the treasure chests while David returned with rakes. “We need to rake the ground to hide evidence of the grids and holes.”

  “You rake, Penny and I will pick up handfuls of brush and spread it around,” Kenzie said.

  When that was done, David and Rick walked around the site looking for anything they might have
missed. Satisfied, David announced, “Let’s go back to the house and pack up. We’ll fly home this afternoon.”

  Rick took off his gloves, held out his hand for Penny, and they strolled together toward the van. “Are you okay? This isn’t bringing back bad memories, is it?”

  “No,” she said. “It took me years before I was able to return to New Orleans, and I’ll be happy to leave, but I’m okay now. Thanks to you.”

  “I’ll do anything for you, babe. I think Oliver and I have proven that.”

  She snickered. “Yes, you have.”

  Rick opened the door, and she slid into the back seat with Kenzie and Remy. When Elliott concluded his call, he climbed into the front passenger’s seat.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Remy said. “Those chests give me the creeps. I feel like the ancient warriors are coming after us.”

  “Not yet, Remy, but soon.” The sandpaper edges of Elliott’s voice hooked everyone’s attention.

  Rick, David, Kenzie, and Penny shouted simultaneously, “When?”

  Penny thought they couldn’t fit any more tension inside the van, but crap, it was exploding.

  “I don’t know,” Elliott said. “But, the sensation is worse than it’s ever been.”

  “How long have you had it?” Rick asked.

  “It started as soon as we got here.”

  “To New Orleans?” Rick asked.

  “No, here—the tree park,” Elliott said. “That’s why I want to get on the plane as soon as possible. If the torc is in one of those chests, we’re in more danger than we were before. I want to get it into Braham’s safe. Until it’s locked up, everyone has to be extra vigilant.”

  Great. Just great. I survived the Battle of New Orleans only to fall into the hands of some unknown evil force.

  David drove out of the parking lot and headed back into the city.

  “So, what’s the plan, McBain?” Kenzie asked.

  “We’ll go back to the house, pack up, and fly to Richmond since the kids are already there. We’ll stay until we go to the Belmont,” he said.

  “What about the rental house here? Should we release it?” Rick asked.

  “Not yet,” Elliott said. “We’ll be back and forth while the movers relocate the Fontenots’ house. And Pete and Sophia are coming down after the race to supervise the company packing up the Fontenots’ artwork. So we might keep the house through the summer.”

  “Why don’t ye just buy the rental house?” David asked. “Philippe and Rhona might enjoy coming down incognito and wandering around the city.”

  “They probably would,” Kenzie said. “But visiting the city they love will only make resettling that much harder. They need to make a clean break and move on.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” Penny said. “It wasn’t easy moving to California and starting a business.”

  “I had to move too,” Remy said. “It wasn’t easy.”

  “But nothing’s stopping you from moving back. I mean, we don’t want you to go, but you could,” Kenzie said.

  “My future isn’t in NOLA,” Remy said. “If there’s a valuable treasure in those chests, my share will make me a full member of MacCorp.”

  “I don’t know what’s in those chests, but I don’t need gold doubloons and more jewelry,” Penny said. “Just the small diamonds on my dress are enough to fund my retirement. But I worry about Philippe and Rhona being happy in Richmond.”

  “They were reasonably happy in nineteenth-century New Orleans,” Rick said.

  “They’ll be happy once their house is moved to the plantation. Then they’ll have a semblance of their previous life,” Remy said.

  “I’ve been in that house. I don’t see how in the world it can be moved.” Penny said. “Are you sure about this company?”

  Elliott’s brows arched. “In 2008, the company I hired for the move relocated Alexander Hamilton’s house down the street to St. Nicholas Park in New York City.”

  “Okay,” Penny said. “If they can move the Hamilton home, they can move Philippe and Rhona’s. What’s the route they’ll take in New Orleans??”

  “They’ll move it down St. Charles Avenue to Louisiana Avenue, straight to the river, where they’ll place it on a barge. From there, they’ll tow the barge through the Gulf, around Florida, and up the east coast to the James River. The hardest part will be moving it along St. Charles.”

  “That’s right in Philippe’s wheelhouse,” Rick said. “You should tell him. He’d enjoy being involved in the project, even though he can’t oversee it in New Orleans.”

  “I’ll talk to him, and we’ll work it out,” Elliott said. “But I don’t want Rhona to know yet. She’s got too much on her mind to worry about moving a house.”

  As they crossed the bridge driving back into the city, Penny thought about the past few weeks—the danger, the fear, Jean, Rick, the MacKlenna Clan. Her life would never be the same again, and she was a bit surprised to realize it was perfectly okay with her.

  They returned to the rental house, and everyone hurried to shower. Rick and Penny walked upstairs together. “You want to shower with me?” he asked.

  She kissed him. “We don’t have enough time.”

  He sucked in a breath, hissing between his teeth. “Does that mean if we had plenty of time, you would?”

  She shook her head. “I was teasing. I don’t want our first time to be in the shower.”

  He folded his hands in prayer, eyes heavenward. “Dear Lord, whatever I’ve done to deserve this woman, thank you.”

  Penny laughed and walked away from him toward her bedroom. “You did good, O’Grady. You came after us.”

  She stripped, half expecting him to come into her bathroom, but she got in, washed off the sweat and dirt, and dressed in shorts and a tank top.

  “Penny,” Rick said, knocking on her door.

  “Come in.”

  He walked in and pulled her into his arms. “God, you smell good. I want to kiss you from toes to eyelashes.” He kissed her and then broke away to trail a line of rough kisses over her jaw. “You make me lose my fucking mind.”

  “Same here.” She forced the words past the greedy need building low in her belly.

  “Penny, Rick, we’re ready to go.” Kenzie hollered up the stairs.

  Rick rested his chin on top of her head. “Shit.”

  “Coming,” Penny yelled. She pulled out of his embrace. “I’ve got to pack, and I can’t do that if you stay in here.”

  “Are you sending me away?”

  “For now. Go.”

  He drooped his head, shuffled out of the room, then turned back. “Call me, and I’ll carry your suitcase down.” His rough voice raked over her, and his wicked grin made sending him away almost unbearable.

  She hurriedly packed her toiletries, straightened the bathroom, and spread out her towels over the shower curtain rod to dry, then grabbed her purse and computer bag and wheeled her suitcase down the hall. Rick was sitting on the top step.

  “Didn’t you trust me to call you?”

  “I did, but once we get to the plantation, there will be so many people and dozens of kids. We won’t have much time together, and I want to kiss you one last time.”

  She set her purse and computer bag on a small hall table, slid her fingers into his damp hair, and tightened them to hold him close. A shiver worked its way down her spine as he swept his tongue over the seam of her mouth, demanding entry, and she gave him what he wanted, parting her lips without further thought. She tasted the curve of his bottom lip before deepening the kiss. He pressed inside her mouth with greedy strokes and turned the spot between her legs molten.

  He squeezed her ass, pressing her against his erection. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?”

  She couldn’t speak. All she could do was nod and rub against him.

  Kenzie stood on the bottom step. “We’ll give you some privacy at the back of the plane, and you can make out from here to Virginia. But we do need to leave now, as
in immediately, if not sooner. Elliott is pacing, and it’s rare to see him this anxious. I’m worried.”

  “Where is he?” Rick asked.

  “Outside with David. They’re smoking cigars and drinking whisky. Remy’s going to drive them in the van, and we’ll go in the limo.”

  Penny grabbed her purse and computer bag. “We need to clean out the refrigerator.”

  “The limo will be here in ten minutes.”

  “All I need is five.” She hurried down the steps and into the kitchen.

  “Do you want me to help?” Rick asked.

  “No, go smoke with the guys. Kenzie and I can handle this. We’ll take the limo, so you guys can go ahead and leave. By the time you get the gear loaded onto the plane, we’ll be there.”

  Rick kissed her. “I’ll see you at the airport.”

  Penny opened the fridge and looked at all the items. “Let’s leave the cheese, freeze the bacon, toss the eggs and veggies, and pour out the milk.”

  Kenzie held the trash can while Penny dumped the leftovers and food that would rot before someone returned to eat it.

  “Looks like you and Rick are getting it all figured out.”

  “Yep, we are. I’m still not ready to do the dirty, but we’re getting closer.” She put the bacon and the leftover bread in the freezer. “In the meantime, I’ve got that procedure coming up in a few days, and I want to figure out how to ruin Bowes’s promotion.”

  “You’ll be lying low for a few weeks while you recover, and we’ll come up with a plan then. I promise.”

  Penny glanced out the window to see Elliott doing a pistol press check. “Does Elliott always carry?”

  “Never seen it before. Why?”

  “Look,” Penny said. “He’s making sure he has a round in the chamber.”

  “Shit.” Kenzie turned away and leaned back against the counter, rubbing her forehead. “What’s Remy doing? Can you see him?”

  “Watching the yard, the road, everything.”

  “Grab your stuff. We’ve got to get out of here. We’ll squeeze into the van again.” Kenzie opened the door. “Wait. We’re coming with you.”