Love Inspired Suspense December 2015, Box Set 2 of 2

by Margaret Daley

  Mac exhaled a deep breath and closed his notebook. “I guess that’s all we need for now. If I have any questions, I know where to find you.” He reached out and shook Lucas’s hand. “Tell your folks and Adam and Claire hello for me.” Then he smiled and turned to Mia. “And it was good meeting you, Mrs. Lockhart. Maybe we’ll meet again soon.”

  “I hope so.” She glanced from him to Ryan. “Good luck with the investigation.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a smile and then turned to Lucas and slapped him on the back. “Seems like you’ve had your share of bad luck over the past few days. Try not to get yourself killed before Christmas. I’m looking forward to my first Christmas in the Knight family, and I’d hate to see you mess it up.”

  Lucas grinned and punched Ryan on the arm. “I knew I did the wrong thing when I told my sister to take a chance on you. Better watch your step. I still have a lot of influence over my twin.”

  Ryan and Mac both laughed as they walked up the steps to the house. When they stepped inside, Mia turned to him, and he sucked in his breath at the sadness flickering in her eyes. “You’re so lucky, Lucas, to have a family that loves each other and enjoys being together.”

  He swallowed and reached for her hand. “You’ll have that, too, someday.”

  “Maybe,” she said and then turned and climbed back in the car.

  He closed the door for her and headed to the driver’s side. As he rounded the back of the vehicle, he stopped and clenched his fists at his side. The longer he was around Mia, the more his old feelings for her were emerging, but he’d seen no indication that she felt the same way. She’d gone so far as to tell him they couldn’t be friends.

  He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. This day had been filled with a lot of excitement. They’d been shot at from a speeding car and found a woman’s body in her home. Maybe the best thing would be to call it a day, go home and get some rest.

  With that decision made, he climbed back in the car and drove toward his parents’ place. “I didn’t sleep well last night,” he said. “I’m going to take you by my parents’ home and see if my mother’s there. If she is, you can stay with her, and I’ll go on to my house to get some rest.”

  She glanced at him and nodded. “Okay, if that’s what you want to do.”

  Lucas concentrated on the traffic as he drove but glanced at Mia from time to time. She had her head turned and stared out the window. She didn’t speak on the entire ride. When they pulled into the driveway, she swiveled in her seat.

  “Are you coming in?”

  “Yes, I’ll check…” The ringing of his cell phone interrupted him, and he pulled it from his pocket. “Hello.”

  “Mr. Knight, this is Janet Williams at Shackleford’s Imports. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

  “No, Ms. Williams. It’s fine.”

  “I got an email from my friend in London and thought you would be interested in what he told me.”

  “It’s Janet Williams,” he whispered to Mia.

  Her mouth formed a small O, and her eyes grew wide. He turned his attention back to the phone. “And what did he say?”

  “As you know, I had described the pieces of jewelry I saw. He said it sounded very much to him like a collection of artifacts that were unearthed in England a year or so ago. They were digging to put in a foundation for a building and discovered the remains of a house with some earthenware containers filled with coins and gold jewelry buried underneath it. This was in an area where a Roman settlement had been destroyed by the locals about AD 61, and the theory is that the owners of the house had buried the jewelry and coins for safekeeping. The treasure was taken to a local museum, but the museum was broken into about six months ago, and the pieces were stolen.”

  “So, does he think the pieces you saw could be the missing Roman treasure from England?”

  “He didn’t know, but he sent me a picture that had been circulated on the internet in an attempt to get the word out about the theft. I’ve looked at it, and I’m certain that the jewelry and coins I saw are the same as the ones in the picture.”

  Lucas exhaled a deep breath. “Then how do you think those pieces made it into the possession of Kyle Lockhart?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but remember how I said that I thought Mr. Lockhart traveled for work more than was necessary? If I’m remembering right, I think he was on a trip in England six months ago.”

  Lucas raked his hand through his hair and bit down on his lip. “Janet, where are you now?”

  “I’m at work.”

  “Listen carefully to me. Forward a copy of that email to me, print off a copy for yourself, and take it to the police station now. You need—”

  “I can’t go right now, Mr. Knight. I’m the only one here at the showroom.”

  “Then close the showroom and get to the police station right away. I’ve just come from Christine Abbott’s home, and she’s been murdered. If the killer knows you’ve gotten this information, you are in danger. Now do as I say and get out of there as soon as you can.”

  “Okay, I just forwarded the email to your address, and I’m making the copy right now. Then I’m on my way.”

  “Good. Call me as soon as you get to the police station.” He disconnected and stared at Mia. “It looks like Kyle was an international thief and smuggler. Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

  She started to open the door but turned back to Lucas. “You sounded worried when you told Janet to get to the police as soon as possible. Do you think she’s in danger, too?”

  Lucas gave a curt nod. “These people killed Kyle, Clyde Harper and Christine Abbott and have tried to kill you several times. I think at this point that anybody who’s connected to this case is in serious danger. I just hope these killers can be stopped before somebody else dies.”

  *

  Mia could hardly believe what she was hearing as Lucas relayed what Janet Williams had told him on the phone. Her mouth gaped open as she listened and glanced across the kitchen table at Lucas’s mother, who seemed just as stunned as she was. When he’d finished, no one spoke for a moment, and then she cleared her throat.

  “So Janet thinks the jewelry and coins are the ten-million-dollar treasure that was stolen from a museum in England?”

  Lucas nodded. “She does. Remember, Clyde was about to tell me something about smuggling when he was shot. Maybe Kyle and Chapman worked together. And…”

  “Kyle and Christine got greedy and tried to keep the coins and jewelry for themselves,” Mia added.

  “And when Chapman found out, he killed Kyle,” Lucas finished for her.

  “But,” Mia held up a finger to interrupt him, “Kyle had already hidden the treasure.”

  “And Chapman thought you might know where it was,” Lucas said.

  “So that’s why he came after me.” Mia crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.

  Mrs. Knight got up and grabbed the coffeepot. As she poured more coffee in their cups, she glanced at Lucas. “Do you really think that’s what this case is all about? A falling-out among thieves over some smuggled antiquities?”

  He shrugged. “It makes sense. But right now it’s just a theory. We won’t be able to prove anything unless we can find where Kyle hid that treasure.” He clasped his hands in front of him on the table and leaned closer. “Mia, can you think of any place he might have put it?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve racked my brain for days trying to think. Evidently it wasn’t at the house, or Clyde would have unearthed it. Maybe Tony found it at Christine’s house.”

  “Maybe so, but I doubt it,” Lucas said. “From the conversation Janet overheard, it seemed like Kyle was the one who came up with the hiding place—a place even Christine didn’t know about.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, and a frown wrinkled his forehead as he stared at it. “Janet has had time to get to the police station. I told her to call me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Mia said. “She may be ta
lking with the police. Why don’t you call her?”

  Lucas started to punch in her number but hesitated and then shook his head. “No, I don’t want to disturb her if she’s talking with the police. I’ll just wait.”

  Thirty minutes later they were still sitting at the table waiting for Janet’s call. Mia pushed back from the table, picked up her coffee cup and walked to the sink. As she set the cup down, her gaze drifted down to the jeans she’d been wearing all day. For the first time she spotted a rip right below her knee.

  She bent over and examined the tear better. “Would you look at that? I’ve torn my jeans, and they’re new.”

  Lucas stared at it over the rim of his cup and then set it in the saucer. “Probably happened when we skidded across that pavement. Did you hurt your knee when you fell?”

  She shook her head. “No. Just my jeans. I think I’ll go upstairs and change. It won’t take but a minute. I want to find out what the police said about Janet’s information.”

  Hurrying upstairs, she quickly changed clothes and folded the torn pair of pants in her suitcase. She turned to leave the room, but she stopped as her gaze fell on the one-eyed Teddy sitting on the bedside table.

  The toy that had brought her so much comfort in her childhood stared back at her, his one eye seeming to bore a hole through her. She sat down on the edge of the bed, reached out and picked him up. Cuddling him in her lap, she felt herself tearing up.

  Since coming to the Knights’ home, she’d been immersed in Christmas decorations and talk of presents, family, memories and the promise of a celebration on Christmas morning. She wondered what it would have been like to grow up where people loved each other and made Christmas a special time for friends and family. Or to have had a husband who wanted to establish new family traditions and make happy memories with his wife and children.

  Teddy represented the one happy Christmas memory that she had, the last one she’d spent with her mother. She would never have what the Knights had. She could have been a part of their family, but she’d lost that chance. And it never would come again.

  Tears poured down her cheeks, and she buried her face in Teddy’s stubby fur. As she pulled him closer, something tickled her nose, and she drew back to get a closer look. A white thread stuck out from under his left arm. She stared at the thread for a moment before she raised his arm to get a better look.

  The seam where his arm was attached to his body had a small gap in it where the stitching had come loose. She hadn’t noticed the tear before.

  The closer she looked, the more puzzled she became. She lifted the other arm, but the stitching there appeared intact. Frowning, she moved the bear’s left arm again and realized as she moved it about, the arm became looser from the body. Had the bear’s arm been damaged when Clyde had ransacked her house?

  She shook her head. That didn’t make sense. The seam looked as if it had been hastily sewn back together with a thread that didn’t match the color of the bear. She had no idea what had happened to the toy, but she needed to fix it. Maybe Mrs. Knight had some thread and a needle she could use to do the repair.

  Carefully, she pulled the white thread, and it began to unravel around the bear’s arm. With a slight tug, the bear’s arm detached from the body. As she tugged the arm free, some of the stuffing also came loose and rolled out. Mia picked it up and, with the tip of her index finger, pushed it back inside the bear’s body. As she did, her finger touched something cold, and she realized it was metal.

  She frowned and wiggled her finger around, trying to touch the metallic piece inside the bear’s body. Her fingernail hooked on a groove of some kind, and she pulled her finger out of the bear’s armhole. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of a key sticking out.

  Within seconds she’d pulled the key out and was holding it in her hand. She’d seen this object before. The last time was right before Kyle was killed. It had been where it hung every day–on a wall hook next to the back door of the kitchen. What was it doing inside Teddy now? The answer came to her in a flash, and she gasped.

  She closed her fingers around the key, jumped up from the bed and ran to the stairs. As she burst into the kitchen, she stopped short at the sight of Lucas grasping the edge of the counter with one hand while the other held his cell phone to his ear. A horrified expression covered his face.

  “Thank you for calling,” he said. “Tell her husband we’re so sorry and to call me when she’s out of surgery.”

  He ended the call and lifted tortured eyes to Mia. Her breath hitched in her throat as she inched forward. “Who was that?”

  Lucas swallowed. “The police. They wanted me to know that Janet Williams was found shot and left for dead in the parking lot behind Shackleford’s. She must have been attacked when she was leaving to go to the police.”

  “But she’s not dead?”

  He shook his head. “No, she’s in critical condition but was conscious enough to ask the police to call me. They’ve called her husband, and he’s on his way to the hospital.” He took one step toward Mia, and she almost gasped at the anguish on his face. “I thought when I left the navy I was through seeing people die violently, but I’m not, Mia. Janet was only trying to help me get to the bottom of this case, and now I’ve caused her to be hurt. I don’t want to be the reason she dies.” He closed his eyes and turned away from her.

  Without saying anything she walked over and stopped next to him. When she put her hand on his arm, she felt his muscles contract at her touch. “This wasn’t your fault, Lucas. It’s Tony’s. And Kyle’s, for bringing this trouble into Shackleford’s in the first place. He brought pain and trouble to everybody he encountered. He’s hurt me enough in the past, but I don’t want to see you beating yourself up over what he’s done. You can’t take on the responsibility for someone else’s actions, and you can’t let it bring you down. You’re too good to let him have any effect on your life.”

  A sad smile pulled at his lips as he turned and faced her. Reaching up, he trailed his fingertips down her cheek. “You’re beginning to sound more like that Sugar Plum Fairy I knew in college, not the scared woman who showed up on my porch a few days ago.”

  Mia took a big breath. “If I am, it’s because you’ve helped me remember who I was then, and I can never thank you enough for that. But right now we have something else to do. We need to see if our theory about Kyle and Tony smuggling the stolen artifacts into this country is true. And I think I know how we can prove it.”

  Lucas arched an eyebrow and stared at her. “And how is that?”

  She held up the key she had clasped in her hand. “I think I know where Kyle hid the treasure.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lucas frowned as he concentrated on the key Mia held in her hand. Then he glanced up, and the frown quickly disappeared as he saw that she was practically bouncing from foot to foot. “A key? Where did you get it?”

  “I noticed Teddy’s arm was loose, and when I examined him, I found that it had been detached and clumsily sewn back on. Then I found this key stuffed in his chest.”

  Lucas looked back down at the key. “And you recognize it?”

  “I do,” she practically squealed. “It’s the key to Kyle’s locker at the gym where he worked out every morning. He kept it on a key ring next to the back door. When he’d leave the house going to the gym, he’d grab it off the hook and then replace it when he came back to shower before going to work.”

  She handed the key to him, and he turned it over in his hand as he examined it. “When did you last see it?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve been trying to think, but I don’t remember seeing it on the hook after he was killed.”

  “And you think he may have hidden the key inside your bear for safekeeping?”

  She crossed her arms and nodded. “The morning of the day he was murdered, he was coming in from working out when I got up at about 6:00 a.m. He didn’t usually go that early, but the gym is one of those places where VIP members have their own keys
and can access the facility at any time. The strange thing was, though, he didn’t look like he’d been working out. No sweat. His hair was not tousled like it always was when he got home. When I asked him why he’d gone so early, he growled that he didn’t have to answer to me, and he drew back his hand like he was going to slap me. I cringed, and he just laughed and walked out of the room. I was so terrified that I would make him angry that I didn’t move from the kitchen until I saw him walk out that back door.”

  Lucas’s chest tightened at the pain flickering in Mia’s eyes. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that he would never let anything like that happen to her again, but he didn’t think she’d welcome that. Instead he balled his hands into fists and cleared his throat. “And you never saw him hang the key up?”

  “No. Not when he came in and not when he left. And I was in the kitchen the whole time.” A frown flashed across her face. “But come to think of it, he didn’t have his gym bag when he came in. He always had it and gave me the same strict instructions about how he wanted his workout clothes laundered every time. But not that morning. He didn’t mention it, and I was so eager for him to leave for work that I didn’t bring up the subject.”

  Lucas stared down at the key again. “Have you heard from the gym since he died?”

  She nodded. “I received a short condolence message from them, and they told me I could come by and clean out his locker any time I wanted to. His dues were paid up until the end of the year. I thought I could care less about what was inside that locker, but now I think it’s something we need to look at.”

  Lucas took a deep breath. “Me, too. Let’s go.”

  They turned to leave, but Lucas’s mother appeared in the door, blocking their path. “Where are you two off to now?”

  Lucas held up the key and quickly explained to his mother where they were going. “We shouldn’t be long. Then we may run by the hospital to check on Janet.”

  His mother looked at her watch. “Try not to be late for dinner. I’m cooking for the whole family tonight, and I expect you both to be here.”