Through the Night

by Janelle Denison

  “Okay, that’s very cool,” Valerie said from somewhere behind him, and he had to agree.

  With a careful twist and a gentle tug, he was able to remove the face of the sun … and found himself staring at a small, very dusty gray pouch tucked in a tiny compartment behind the panel. Knowing time was ticking, he grabbed the bag and its bulky contents and jumped down from the counter. With hands that were shaking, he opened the drawstrings and let whatever was inside fall into his palm.

  Out tumbled a polished red jewel in the shape of a teardrop nearly as large as his palm. Stunned by the discovery, and unable to speak, Chase felt his mouth gape open. He’d never seen a stone so large, pristine, and so beautifully cut, and the sensation of finally holding the valuable gem in his hand was such a heady, overwhelming feeling.

  “Oh, my God,” Valerie said as she moved closer to get a better look. “You found the ruby!”

  Oh, yes, he had. The stone was making his palm tingle, which sometimes happened when he held an old object that came with some kind of strong history. Curious to know more about the jewel, he closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers over the ruby to absorb its warmth and pulsing energy. The force surrounding the stone was so powerful and intense, as were the accompanying images that flashed in his mind to provide details of where the stone originated, and how Capone had come to illegally acquire it. Which was, undoubtedly, why he’d taken such care in hiding it from the rest of the world.

  Shocked by what the ruby revealed, he sensed goose bumps rising on his skin. He blinked his eyes back open and looked at Valerie. “Holy crap.”

  “What did you see?” she asked anxiously.

  Good Lord, where did he start? “I know the origin of the ruby, and the name that it’s called. Madonna’s Tear, for the shape of the stone and what it signifies. That’s probably why Capone titled his song ‘Madonna Mia,’ as a reference to the stone and the clues he left in the lyrics.”

  Valerie’s eyes glimmered with curiosity. “Where did the gem originally come from?”

  He mentally sorted through the details that had just filled his head. “Going by the information that came to me, it’s been around for centuries, and it originally belonged to a small Roman Catholic church located in a small impoverished village in Sicily.” He rubbed his thumb over the smooth surface, certain the ruby had to be worth millions of dollars. “There’s a religious significance to the stone, and it’s believed to have healing powers and has been associated with miracles. People from all over the world would travel to this village to see and touch the stone, until it was stolen in the late 1800s.”

  She frowned. “Then Capone, born in 1899, couldn’t have originally stolen the ruby.”

  “Right.” He had already come to the same conclusion. “My guess is, someone else stole it, then filtered it through the black market for years, until Capone eventually got a hold of it. He probably believed that since it had been linked to previous miracles, it would heal his syphilis.”

  “So why didn’t he come back for it after he was released from Alcatraz?”

  “Most likely his mental state had deteriorated so badly, he didn’t remember having the stone,” he said, and shrugged, because they’d never know the reason why the gangster never recovered the valuable and rare ruby. “But he certainly went to great lengths to keep it hidden so no one else could find it.”

  “Now that you found the ruby, what are you going to do with it?” she asked.

  The answer came surprisingly easy, and without resistance. At one time, this quest had been all about the treasure’s monetary value, but now the stone’s background and its significance as a religious relic changed everything. “The only thing I can do: It needs to be returned to the church in Sicily that it originally belonged to. They’re the rightful owners, and hopefully they’ll share it with the rest of the world by putting it on exhibit, like the Hope Diamond.”

  Her smile lit up her face. “That’s a wonderful thought.”

  Chase wanted to lean down and kiss her so damn badly. After sharing this amazing discovery with her, he was dying to express his feelings, to tell Valerie he loved her and to convince her that the two of them were meant to be. But a quick glance at his watch told him they only had about five minutes to spare before the tour left without them.

  He gently dropped the ruby back into the pouch and tucked it into his front pocket, along with the ivory key. “We need to get out of here and back to the group,” he said, and grabbed Valerie’s hand to pull her along. “Come on.”

  They’d just cleared the length of the bar when a man abruptly stepped out from the shadows, startling Chase and drawing a surprised gasp from Valerie as they both came to a quick stop.

  “Not so fast,” the man drawled in a much too pleasant tone of voice. “The two of you aren’t going anywhere.”

  Chase recognized the guy as the one who’d dressed up as a gangster, in a long coat and fedora. The one who’d kept to himself during the tour, until now.

  He wasn’t sure what was going on, or why the guy was here now, but Chase’s instincts were screaming danger, and he wasn’t about to ignore his intuition. Slowly, cautiously, he moved so that his body was angled in a way that covered Valerie and kept her safely behind him.

  “That’s him,” Valerie said, her voice a strangled, panicked rasp of sound.

  Valerie knew the guy? “Him, who?” he asked, trying to make sense of her words.

  “Oh, God.” She lightly touched his back, her dread and fear nearly tangible. “I knew something didn’t feel right on the bus. I just couldn’t place the threat. It’s him. He’s the threat.”

  The man pushed back the fedora, giving Chase a clearer view of his face.

  He looked familiar, and then it hit Chase, sending chills up his spine: “Jesus, you’re the guy I saw in Tony’s office on Saturday. The two of you were arguing, and when I walked in, you wouldn’t even look at me.” And now here he was, in Chicago on the same city tour as Chase and Valerie. Clearly, this wasn’t a coincidence.

  The man smirked and strolled a bit closer. “All true. I believe you have something I want,” he said to Chase.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Yeah, he was bluffing, but he needed to figure out the guy’s angle.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” the man said, his gaze narrowing a bit more menacingly. “You finally tracked the Madonna’s Tear ruby, and I want it.”

  And Chase wasn’t giving it up without a fair fight. “What do you know of the ruby?”

  “Tony and I have been searching for it for years. We’ve been tracking your movements ever since you recovered the ivory cane top. Easy enough to do with Tony as Steven’s curator, which gave him access to everything.” The smile he gave Chase was ominous and intimidating. “You’re the one with the special psychometric abilities, and we knew it was just a matter of time and patience before you led us directly to the stone.”

  Chase recalled Tony’s odd behavior at times, and wondered if the other man was really a germaphobe, or if it had all been a ploy not to touch Chase or shake Valerie’s hand because Tony knew of their psychic abilities. Most likely, Valerie would have flashed on Tony’s intentions and motives, and that would have ended any chance of him and his friend stealing away the ruby.

  Chase could feel Valerie’s uneven breathing behind him and knew she was terrified of what might happen. Out of the corner of his eye, he surveyed his immediate surroundings. To his right was the way back to the underground tunnels, but he had to get past the man first, and to his left they were in line with the area behind the bar. He was between a rock and a hard place, with no easy escape.

  “What do you want with the stone?” he asked as he took a couple of steps toward the exit area, and the guy followed Chase’s lead in an attempt to block the way out.

  “Certainly not give it back to the Church,” the guy said in a mocking tone. “It’s worth at least six million on the black market, and we already have a very eager
and wealthy buyer lined up. Now, hand it over.”

  The man looked more slick than street smart, and Chase was certain he could take the other guy down if he had to. “I don’t think so.”

  The man sighed as if he were dealing with a small child. “I knew you were going to be difficult, but I came prepared.” He reached into his coat and withdrew a gun, capped off with a silencer.

  Whoa. That got Chase’s attention and forced him to reassess the situation.

  The sound that Valerie made was between a sob and a low cry of distress. Coming off the dream she’d had just that morning, she was undoubtedly certain her premonition was about to come true.

  Not if Chase could help it.

  “I don’t need witnesses complicating the issue,” he said, aiming the pistol straight at Chase’s chest. “So give me the ruby, or Valerie is going to watch you die a very painful death before I kill her, too.”

  Without warning, Valerie darted in front of him, and Chase couldn’t even begin to process what the fuck she thought she was doing—until he realized that she was trying to protect him from being shot. But she’d put herself in the direct line of fire, and a sick feeling churned in his stomach as her earlier words echoed in his head.… I can’t handle watching another person I care about die.

  Which meant she’d do whatever she had to in order to prevent his death. But Chase wasn’t about to let her sacrifice her life for his. No goddamn way.

  “Aww, isn’t this sweet,” the man said as he readjusted his weapon, aiming directly at Valerie’s head. “I guess I’ll just have to kill Valerie first.”

  “Wait!” Chase yelled. His heart was pounding so hard, he was surprised it didn’t slam out of his chest. “I’ll give you the stone.”

  “Now, that’s more like it,” the other man said.

  “It’s in my front pocket. Just don’t hurt Valerie.” Chase slid his left hand around Valerie’s stomach and hauled her as close and tight to his chest as he could. At first she squirmed, but as soon as she placed her hand over his and read his thoughts and intent, she calmed and her body yielded to his subtle movements.

  Good girl. Just follow my lead and don’t fight what I’m about to do. Neither one of us is dying today.

  Now he just had to make good on the promise.

  Chase knew the guy intended to kill them both once he had the ruby, but Valerie’s warning to him that morning hadn’t been in vain. He’d listened to her, and he meant what he said when he told her he was done risking his life. And if she needed proof, she was about to get it.

  Turning Valerie ever so slightly to conceal what he was about to do, Chase lifted the hem of his T-shirt with his free right hand, making it look as though he were going to retrieve the pouch from his pocket. Instead he inched his fingers higher, to the sheath strapped to the waistband of his jeans. He grabbed the handle of his favorite throwing knife with a razor-sharp five-inch blade, positioning the hilt in his hand in a way that felt comfortable and secure. The next move he made was going to be all about timing and precise aim, and muscle memory from hours of training.

  “Here’s the ruby,” Chase said. Knowing the man thought he’d be throwing him the pouch, he instead pulled the knife out of the sheath and propelled it in the guy’s direction. At the same time, he launched himself behind the bar, pulling Valerie along with him. A muffled shot went off, and Chase prayed that his blade hit its target or he and Valerie were going to be shit out of luck.

  They hit the wooden floor with an oomph, and Chase rolled with Valerie, taking the brunt of the fall. On the other side of the bar he heard a loud thump and a series of painful groans. Beneath him, Valerie panted hard and remained still.

  Chase cautiously peered over the bar counter and found the guy lying on the floor on his back, the knife buried all the way to the hilt just below his rib cage, blood staining the floor beneath him. He was still holding his gun, but Chase was confident that it wouldn’t be for long.

  “Toss your weapon out of reach,” Chase ordered, knowing he now had the upper hand. “If you don’t, then we’re getting locked down here for the rest of the night and you’ll most likely bleed out and die.”

  The man hesitated, then realizing he was beat, he cursed and pushed the gun a few feet away.

  With the danger over, Chase straightened to his full height behind the bar, and so did Valerie. With a worried frown, she ran her hands over his chest and down his abdomen, searching his body for the bullet hole she’d dreamt about.

  “Are you okay?” she asked in a rush of breath, on the verge of another panic attack. “You’re not shot, are you?”

  He grabbed her wrists, holding her restless hands in his as he soothed her fears. “Sweetheart, I’m absolutely perfect. And so are you.” He placed a kiss on her forehead, taking a very brief moment to appreciate that they were both truly fine. She’d been so incredibly brave, and he was so proud of her. Later he planned to give her a piece of his mind for putting herself in the line of fire.

  “I need to stay here and make sure this guy doesn’t go anywhere,” Chase said, not trusting the man even though he was incapacitated. “You go and get the tour guide before they leave. And call 911 and an ambulance. We’re going to need both.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  By the time they returned to Chase’s ranch house much later that night, Valerie was utterly exhausted and completely drained by everything that had happened that afternoon at the Garden Club and, later, at the Chicago Police Department, where she and Chase each had to give a statement of events to an officer for the investigation process.

  The guy, named Nicholas, had been arrested on a series of charges, the worst of which was attempted murder. Once Chase told the officer about Tony and his involvement, a call was placed to Las Vegas Metro to take the other man into custody on conspiracy charges.

  Chase hadn’t been happy about having to hand over the ruby for evidence, and he’d already contacted his own personal lawyer to make sure that once the trial was over, the stone was then returned to the church in Sicily where it belonged. Already, the local Chicago news had picked up on the murder attempt at the old, underground speakeasy, and word was quickly leaking out to the press that a rare and valuable gemstone had been discovered that once belonged to Al Capone.

  It was just a matter of time before the entire story hit every news wire, and Chase gained national exposure for finding the long-lost treasure.

  Valerie walked into the house and turned around to face Chase. Now that they were completely alone, he had a wary look in his eyes, as if he didn’t know what to expect from her after everything that had transpired with Nicholas. The two of them still had a lot to discuss—not about what happened at the Garden Club, but about them.

  But first, she needed to wash away the grime and layer of menace still lingering on her skin. “I desperately need a shower,” she said, wanting to be fresh and clean and clear-headed when they talked.

  He nodded in agreement, albeit reluctantly. “Yeah, me, too.”

  “I’ll take the guest bathroom, and you can have the one in the master bedroom,” she said.

  They parted ways, and minutes later, Valerie was standing naked beneath the hot shower spray, which felt incredibly good and helped her to relax and think straight for the first time since Nicholas had pulled a gun from his trench coat and pointed the barrel straight at Chase’s chest.

  Her entire body shivered at the awful memory, because she’d known in that moment that the dream she’d had that morning was about to come true. She hadn’t thought twice about stepping in front of Chase. She’d been driven by instinct and her love for him, and she knew she’d do the same thing all over again if it meant saving his life.

  But what happened after that was what completely shocked her. Chase had taken her warning about her dream seriously, and he’d come prepared to protect himself and her if necessary. The man who’d once lived life recklessly and without a care to his own mortality saved them both. And his forethought and action
s had changed the course of fate in a way she could never have imagined, and made her realize that life was way too short to waste for fear of losing the person she loved.

  As Valerie shampooed her hair, she continued to think. She knew it would be so much easier to do what she did best, to walk away from Chase in order to protect her emotions, rather than risking everything that was in her heart and soul. But that wasn’t how she wanted to live the rest of her life, too afraid to let people in, and being too scared of what might happen if she let herself feel.

  Chase had gradually, patiently, chipped away at her greatest fears, crumbling the walls she’d built around her heart. He’d taken care of her, had eased her worries, and shown her that he was the kind of man she could trust and believe in … if only she’d let herself.

  He’d proved all that, and so much more, today at the Garden Club.

  More than anything, she just wanted to free-fall into this relationship, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that Chase would be there to catch her. She’d never had that kind of relationship with a man. She was so used to being on her own, so used to being strong and independent. But with Chase, she knew it was okay to be vulnerable, to express her emotions and know that he’d handle them, and her, with such care. And it didn’t hurt that they shared a psychic ability, a connection that went so much deeper than just the surface.

  She sighed as she rinsed her hair, finally knowing what it felt like to be deeply, irrevocably in love, and it was a glorious, amazing sensation. Now she wanted a future full of hope and possibilities, not this half life of regrets, angst, and loneliness she’d carried around for much too long. The kind of hopes and desires that included Chase as the man of her dreams—literally and figuratively. A big smile curved her lips.