Almost as one, she and Finn stepped close to glance down at the signature. Chloe inhaled sharply. There in the middle of the logbook was the sloppily written name of Owen Larson.
* * * *
“You never mentioned that you worked for Cambridge University,” Finn said, knowing it was fabricated for Esme’s benefit.
“Technically, at one time I did,” Chloe admitted as they made their way back to the SUV. “Elliston Curator Foundation supplies museums with unique pieces. I catalogued a collection for Cambridge. So…”
How on earth did he ever think her a just a sophisticate? She was a chameleon, changing into whatever was needed to get a job done. It was amazing to watch her in action. “I’m beginning to believe you’ll say anything to gain your objective. Should I be worried?”
She glanced at him sideways, eyes wide. “I didn’t lie, if that’s what you mean. It was an indirect truth.”
“Lots of gray area for you, isn’t there?”
“Life is hardly black and white.”
He ignored that for the one hard fact they knew for certain. “Your cousin is in Weymouth. So are we. Coincidence?”
Chloe shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s no secret this used to be Desmond’s land. Could be he’s fishing, but the timing is odd.”
They climbed inside the Ford Explorer and sat there, staring at the manicured grounds of the main building.
“Know what else is odd?” She shifted in her seat to look straight at him. “I’ve been searching and digging for years. Progress has been a snail’s pace. Since I’ve met you, it’s coming together like an avalanche.”
“What can I say? Sometimes a puzzle needs two keys to unlock.”
She frowned and stared back at Newbridge. “If Owen is here, we can’t wait. We need to reach the folly today.”
“No time to waste.” Finn clicked on the iPad, pulled up Google Earth, and zeroed in on the gardens. “Eighty acres is a long hike. There has to be a service road, bike path, something we can take to shorten the distance.”
Chloe leaned over the center console, and they both scanned for telltale signs.
“Right here,” Finn said as his finger traced a fuzzy line. “Up the east side property line is a gravel road. See this? About halfway back…looks like an old access path.” He increased the size of the image. “It’s broken up, but it goes in a quarter mile or so.”
Chloe pointed to a suspicious glint in the trees. “What do you make of that? A reflection off polished granite?”
Finn tried to enlarge the image for a better focus, but it only got blurrier. “It’s the right area.” He scrolled some more, scrutinizing every square inch. “Another spot here.” He pointed. “It’s a tiny clearing with an odd distortion that doesn’t match the surroundings.”
“That’s two. Anything else?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Not that stands out. But the two are strong prospects. They aren’t far from each other either.”
Chloe glanced at her watch. “We need a few supplies. And something quick to eat. Exploring makes me hungry.”
Finn handed her the iPad and started the engine.
“We’re doing it again, aren’t we?” she asked him. “Going all commando, raiding the wilderness for something that was lost?”
She sounded much too eager for his peace of mind. And her sense of adventure wouldn’t quit.
“It’s time for a check-in. Call your uncle and let him know what we’ve learned.” He aimed toward town as Chloe punched in the number and put the cell phone on speaker.
She gave Jonathan a quick rundown on what they’d discovered.
“Owen being there is a bad sign,” her uncle said. “How long ago was it?”
“Only a couple hours,” she replied. “He wanted to see land deeds, property lines.”
“He doesn’t know about the folly, right?”
“I didn’t know about it. I doubt he did either. Maybe he’s figured something out or stumbled across new information, but I doubt it. Better odds are Owen and Lisa are desperate and on the move. Though why they’d come here is just another mystery in a long line.”
“You should know I talked to Sam Brady this morning. He said Lisa came by his office yesterday. She was crying. Said she’d been getting threatening phone calls from someone in the Caribbean. They told her I was alive and causing trouble. That I’d stolen the Fire from them and they were demanding money from her. Lots of it.”
Chloe glanced at Finn in alarm.
“She could be lying,” Finn said. “Trying the next tactic.” But something told him that wasn’t the case. Hosea had made the connection.
“Lisa wants to borrow against the life insurance policy to pay them off,” Jonathan said. “Sam is stalling her, but she’ll soon learn that she’s out of options. I’ve cut off her credit cards and locked bank accounts. Things in Weymouth need to play out because we are all out of time.”
Finn’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. They were so close. Just a few more hours. Chloe would have the proof she’d searched years to find and NorthStar would survive. “Hang in there, Jonathan. We’ve located the folly site and are headed to a supply store right now. It won’t be much longer.”
“Work fast,” Jonathan said, “because this is all about to blow sky high.”
“We’ll be home later tonight,” Chloe said. “And tomorrow we can call out the National Guard on Lisa and Owen.”
“Check in with us again soon,” Ronan shouted from the background.
Chloe disconnected the call and stared down at the phone in her hand. “What if Lisa gets away with this? What if she’s packing for Bora Bora or Timbuktu right now? How can I live with everything Uncle Jon has lost?”
He didn’t want to point out he was in the same batch of quicksand. He had a lot riding on their success tonight as well.
“She won’t run,” he replied. “Not yet. Lisa wants money and will brazen out her play to borrow on the life insurance.” It was a logical conclusion. There were never any guarantees, but the kind of money Lisa and Owen were after was like an aphrodisiac. It was a powerful motivation to take risks.
Chloe sighed heavily. “Everything about my life, my entire career, has been focused on finding proof that Emily Desmond was the daughter of a queen. I willingly paid whatever price that search demanded. But I never dreamed this obsession would cost Uncle Jon like it has, or so much would be at stake here at the end.”
“The price has already been paid,” Finn said. “By you, Jonathan, and me. It’s up to us to make it worth the cost. Right here, right now.”
Her expression hardened. Whatever strength she needed to finish this, she just found. “You’re right. We carry this out to its conclusion. For everyone, including William Desmond and Emily Mecklenburg.” She emphasized the different last name as though it were already fact. He hoped like hell they succeeded. Because when this was over, he needed a vacation.
Chapter 24
It was after four o’clock by the time they headed back to Newbridge. A bit late to be starting out on a reconnaissance mission, even in the height of summer when the days were long. As Finn drove past the garden’s elaborate entrance and slowed his speed, Chloe scanned the sidelines for the service road.
A short distance later, she spotted it. Nothing more than gravel and dirt, it divided the Newbridge property from a state recreational area. It wasn’t well marked or often used, based on the sorry condition. Maintenance workers and state employees were the only ones with a reason to be out here. Technically, she and Finn were trespassing on private property.
They were moving slowly, and Chloe hated it. Impatience ate at her. She was so close to finding solid evidence of a truth few people knew, to finishing what her mother had started.
Trees lined both sides of the roadway, some stretching their branches overhead and blocking out the light. “Once that sun drops over the horizon,” Finn said, “it’s going to get dark fa
st in these woods.”
He was right. Clambering around in a forest after dark was asking for trouble. Hazards were everywhere. It didn’t matter. The window of opportunity was open, and they were going for it. She glanced down at the iPad in her lap, at the satellite imagery they were trying to follow and wondered how much longer they’d be in data range.
“It’s hard to tell where the other road comes in at.” She glanced out the windshield in an attempt to get her bearings with the image on the screen.
“It’s not much more than a wheel path for utility vehicles,” Finn said as he crept along at a snail’s pace.
A solid path appeared on the right, but they needed left to get closer to the water’s edge. When they rounded a curve, the iPad’s imagery began pixelating, so she switched it off and grabbed the screenshots Finn printed when they were in town.
Several potholes later, Chloe pointed out the windshield. “There!”
Finn rolled to a stop and contemplated the two-wheel track that led into the woods. He took the screenshot from her and studied the image for a minute, then glanced back to the path out the window. “Maybe, but it seems too soon. Let’s go up a little bit more, see if anything else appears.” He handed the picture back to her.
Chloe chafed at the delay. A false start was the last thing they needed so she bit back a complaint and trusted his instinct. But nervous energy consumed her. She unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted forward to the edge of her seat, hugging the dash in order to get a clearer view. About a hundred yards down the road, they rounded another curve, and she spotted a second path.
“How about that one?” It looked slightly more used than the previous one, the odds definitely in its favor.
Finn braked to a stop.
“Well?” she asked.
Thankfully he didn’t deliberate long. “We take it.”
He steered the SUV onto the track. The going was even slower, the path a twisting obstacle course full of deep potholes, jutting rocks, and fallen branches. Several times Chloe had to jump out and clear the path of debris. But the end of the line came when an uprooted tree, impossible to move, lay across their path.
“Looks like we’re on foot from here,” Finn said.
Their roadway was narrow, trees closing in on both sides. It was a tight squeeze, but Finn maneuvered the SUV around and parked facing out, smack in the middle of the path.
They climbed out, and she was immediately struck by the quiet. They were far away from any highway noise or human interaction. All she could hear was a soft breeze rustling the leaves and birds as they sang out to their mates. At any other time, she’d enjoy the play of Mother Nature. But right now she turned her back on it and started prepping for the hike.
It didn’t take long. She’d already stuffed both backpacks with their gear as they drove from Weymouth back to Newbridge.
“Ready?” she asked him.
“Almost.” He reached to adjust one of the straps on her backpack, and her heart skipped a beat, a troubling new reaction to his nearness. “Whatever we find out there, Chloe, know that we are in this together. Good or bad.”
His words stirred an unfamiliar sense of belonging. Something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Late afternoon shadows settled around them as she stared up at his face. Finn had been by her side since the moment they’d met on that St. Lucian dock. He’d taken on pirates, saved their lives, and rocked her world.
“I don’t understand how Desmond knew,” she said in wonder. “But you are the reason we are standing here right now.”
He shook his head. “Not true, it’s taken both of us.”
She’d frequently imagined finding the queen’s emeralds, but not once had that included sharing the search with anyone. With the exception of Uncle Jon, it had been a solitary task. Fate had a way twisting things around. The funny thing was, she couldn’t imagine Finn not being a part of this. The man from NorthStar had become an inseparable part of her quest.
“Together,” she agreed. “Good, bad, or in between.”
Before she could think herself out of it, she grabbed the straps of his backpack, stretched up on tiptoe, and kissed him square on the mouth. “For luck,” she whispered.
He looked surprised, but only for a moment. “We need a lot more luck than that, sweetheart. Kiss me like you mean it.”
He said it like a challenge, but she didn’t waste time arguing about it. Instead, she took a deep breath, leaned in, and gave him what he asked for. A kiss worth the destiny they were about to bust wide open.
He responded with an enthusiasm that threatened to sideline their mission. For a minute or two, she didn’t care. She just enjoyed the heady sensation of driving a man as sexy as Finnegan Kane to the edge of reason. His arms tightened around her, and he backed her up against the side of the SUV, pushing against her with enough pressure that she could feel in splendid detail exactly how affected he was by her kiss. Yet despite an instant and near overwhelming urge to act on the invitation his body promised, she forced herself to crash-land back on earth.
He felt the change and broke their kiss, his forehead resting against hers as he fought to get his breathing under control. Finn wasn’t the only one struggling. His impact on her was dangerous, distracting in a “lose your mind” kind of way.
“We’ve got to go,” she whispered.
Finn stepped back, and emptiness took his place. She tried to shake it off, to turn her focus back to where it needed to be. But it was nigh impossible. There was no dismissing a man like him. He went to work doing ordinary things, digging a crowbar out from the back hatch, testing his flashlight and zipping them all up inside his pack before locking up the vehicle and pocketing the keys. He moved deliberately, going through the motions of preparation. One minute lost in a kiss, the next all business.
She still quivered from his lips on hers, and he’d already taken charge in that commanding way of his, her effect on him gone. She didn’t know whether to be impressed or determined to try harder next time.
“We stay on this path until we reach this clearing here.” He was studying the printout and pointed to a spot on the page. “Should take about half an hour, then we turn north, aiming straight for that glint in the trees.”
She nodded absently, barely hearing a word. Even as they set off, climbing over the fallen tree and keeping to the path, she was seeing the Finn from last night. Sudsy water sluicing over a broad chest, his maritime tattoo, and a heated expression that spiked her pulse.
The vivid memory made her stumble despite a fairly easy hike, and he stretched a hand back toward her. “You okay?”
“Fine, fine.” She waved off his offer of help.
She had to get a hold of herself. This wasn’t the time for a runaway imagination. No matter how tempting the subject might be. She had to focus on what was important. Like the fact that Finn’s past was so deeply intertwined with hers that she could no longer think of this as her quest alone. It belonged to them both and, for the first time, she wondered about the future. So much rode on tonight’s discovery. Too much. The reality of that gave her a ripple of anxiety.
The sun had dropped below the tree line, and the clock was ticking. They passed more than one clearing but Finn didn’t stop. She didn’t question his instincts. She excelled at research, libraries, and dusty museums. She could charm border patrols, outsmart shady collectors, and keep one step ahead of customs. But stomping around in a jungle wasn’t a skill she had. Unlike Finn. He seemed to have a list of talents a mile long.
They reached a long and narrow gash in the land where Finn finally stopped. He stepped out from under the shadow of the trees and stared at the printout again, glancing back and forth from the page to the land.
“That animal trail across this gulley is next,” he said. “The going will be rougher from here.”
They made their way around the cut to pick up a narrow single-file trail. There were more shadows here, and Finn took the lead again
. Something scurried across their path, and she glanced into the shadows, but nothing attacked. Besides the trees, there were deer, skunks, a mountain of creepy crawlies, and if local folklore was true, the Jersey Devil probably hung out nearby. Scary, but she’d faced worse.
They continued on the path for another half hour, stumbling over roots, batting at mosquitos, and stopping occasionally for Finn to get a reading on his pocket compass. Then the terrain started to change, flattening out as they drew closer to the inlet. They came to another clearing and stopped. She pulled a bottle of water from her pack and took a long drink before handing it to Finn. While he drank, she tried to pick out the continuation of the animal trail.
“That way?” she guessed.
Finn’s compass snapped closed. “Aye. Let’s go.”
They were getting close. She could feel it. Their steps quickened despite a line of sight that was shrinking in the early evening light. Anticipation spiked. She was adjusting a strap at her waist when Finn stopped short, and Chloe plowed face first into his backpack. “Oof.”
“Chloe,” Finn said sharply, “look.”
She straightened, stepped around him, and gasped. What used to be a clearing lay in front of them, and in the center, completely choked in vegetation and crumbling stone, sat a folly.
Chapter 25
“Dear heavens.” Chloe couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They’d found it. The polished granite had grayed over time, and it looked ghostly pale in the darkening forest that surrounded it. She ripped off her backpack and dug out the high-powered spotlight she carried and flipped it on. “Perfect, let’s go.”
She jogged the remaining distance and circled the structure, her light weaving up and down as she took in the shape and size on her first pass. Six columns, dome roof, two steps up to a circular platform floor fifteen to twenty feet across and covered in moss, dead leaves, twigs, and intrepid weeds searching for a foothold.
Emerald Fire Page 23
