Under lock and key, p.7
Under Lock and Key, page 7
“No one is saying you did anything wrong.”
“Great.” She flashed a smile at him that she was pretty sure looked more feral than friendly by the way he took three quick steps backward. “Good. Then I’ll head back to my office. Mr. Rycroft should be here any minute, and I’m sure we both want to be prepared for that meeting. I’ll see you soon.”
She stepped out of the room and marched back to her office. Inside, she rested her back against the closed door, shaking from a combination of anger and adrenaline. It had felt good standing up for herself, but she knew if Robert really wanted her out, there wasn’t much she could do to stop him. He had far more sway with the board members than she had, and they’d likely do whatever he suggested if it meant a chance at saving the Larimer’s reputation. Even if it ruined hers.
She pulled herself together moments before the security guard on duty buzzed to say that Colin Rycroft had arrived. She let Robert know then picked Rycroft up from the reception desk.
The Brit was not happy.
She and Robert spent the next two hours walking Rycroft through the exhibit and explaining how the Viperé ruby’s theft couldn’t have been foreseen. Rycroft made them walk through the security measures they’d had in place three times, and he read them the riot act for the failure of the cameras. It would have been nice to have Tess or Kevin there to explain the security system in more detail, but neither she nor Robert had thought of it in time. And given Tess’s disgust at the museum’s decision not to go with her original plan for securing the ruby, they might have been better off without a representative from West Investigations. Rycroft insisted that they set up a meeting with the insurance company and West Security and Investigations to go over the steps that were being taken to recover the ruby. Of course, the Larimer had obtained an insurance policy on the Viperé, but Rycroft wasn’t incorrect that money was poor consolation for a piece as rare as the Viperé.
Maggie promised to set up a meeting between the parties in the coming days and hoped that Kevin’s and Tess’s obvious experience and expertise might work to mollify the Brit at least a little.
By the time Rycroft finally left the museum and headed back to his hotel—he planned to be in town for the next several days—she was wiped. It wasn’t quite five thirty, officially quitting time, so she headed back to her office with every intention of going home. All she wanted was a big glass of wine.
She knew the moment she entered her office that someone had been there. The air felt different. There was a slight chill to it. Maybe that was why she’d shivered as she’d stepped over the threshold.
Or maybe it was the blood-red envelope that lay, center stage, on her desk.
A get-well card probably. She was overreacting to a colleague’s caring gesture.
She grabbed the envelope and slipped the piece of paper from it.
Her heart stuttered to a stop as she read then reread the words on the card.
Beware the Viperé curse. You are next to die.
Chapter Nine
Kevin stepped into his apartment, dropping his keys on the table next to the door. He still had a lot of work to do, but luckily West Investigations equipped each of their employees with a fully secure laptop so they were able to work from practically anywhere in the world.
But it didn’t seem likely that he was going to get a lot of work done at the moment. The television in his living room blared.
“Tanya,” he called from the doorway. He couldn’t see his sister from the entrance, but this wasn’t the first time he’d come home to find her camped out on his sofa, the television loud enough to wake the dead.
He slipped out of his shoes and padded into the living room. “Tanya,” he yelled at the back of his sister’s head.
Tanya turned and grinned at him over the back of the sofa. “Hey, bro.”
People were always surprised when they found out he and Tanya were brother and sister and outright shocked when they found out they were twins. He was tall, six two and dark—dark brown hair, eyes and skin. Tanya, in contrast, was petite at five foot one, with skin the color of café latte, piercing hazel eyes and light brown hair streaked with blond. Two sides of the same coin their mother liked to call them, pointing out that where it really mattered they were very much alike. They were both driven, bossy, stubborn and thought they knew best. Kevin couldn’t really dispute their mother’s assessment. He and Tanya were very much alike, which tended to both draw them close and lead to a fair amount of arguing. But there was no one more loyal than Tanya, and he would do anything to protect his younger-by-seven-minutes sister.
Kevin dropped down on the sofa next to his sister. He didn’t bother asking her what she was doing there. The red beans and rice she was shoveling into her mouth was all the answer he needed.
Tanya was an emergency room doctor at the nearby hospital, and given that she was still in her scrubs, her crocs lined up neatly by his front door, he inferred she’d come over directly at the end of her shift. When he’d announced he was leaving the Idyllwild Police Department and accepting a job with West Security and Investigations that would put him in Los Angeles and closer to her, Tanya had conveniently found him the perfect rental just minutes away from the hospital. Since the place had two bedrooms, he’d offered to let her move in with him, but she’d declined, saying that they needed their space. That hadn’t stopped her from accepting the spare key he’d offered her and stopping in whenever she wanted, most often to bum leftovers off of him. He chided her about her visits, but the truth was he loved spending time with her. She was more than just his sister, she was his best friend.
“You look tired,” she said, peeling her gaze away from the rerun of The Office playing on the television screen.
He put a hand to his ear and leaned toward her. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. What did you say?” he yelled over the sound of the television.
She rolled her eyes but reached for the remote tucked under her legs and turned the volume down to something reasonable. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you. You know turning the sound up that loud isn’t good for you.”
“I wanted to hear the show while I was in the kitchen heating up dinner. You really outdid yourself, by the way. This is good.” She shoveled more beans and rice into her mouth.
“You know, I seem to recall giving you the recipe for this dish. And showing you how to make it. And a few others. I know you are far more skilled in the emergency room than the kitchen, but for a smarty-pants doctor like you, red beans and rice can’t be that hard to master,” he teased.
“It’s not hard to master,” she said around a bite of food. “But you know what is easier? Coming over here and eating your food.” She grinned at him again. “Anyway, you cook enough for a small army.”
“I wonder why.” He pulled the throw pillow from behind his back and tossed it at her before slouching down until his head rested against the back of the sofa.
Tanya shifted, crossing her legs on the sofa and facing him. “New job putting you through your paces?”
“I caught a particularly thorny case.”
Tanya had gone to CalSci University with him and Maggie. Although they’d tried to give each other space to explore who they were outside of being Kevin’s twin sister and Tanya’s twin brother, Tanya had been there throughout his relationship with Maggie and had been there for him when he’d decided to end things with her. She’d even tried to talk him out of ending things, arguing that she could take out loans and work her way through medical school. But he hadn’t wanted her to be burdened with the kind of debt that most medical students graduated with. He’d spent three years playing college football, making who knew how much money for the university, and he figured it was time that some of those big bucks benefited his mother and sister. Professional athletes were always on borrowed time, and he didn’t want to waste any of his. So he’d left school after his junior year and directed his entire focus toward his NFL career. A career that, unbeknownst to him at the time, would only last for two years.
“Can you tell me about it?” Tanya asked.
“Some things. Have you heard about the theft at the Larimer Museum?”
Tanya squinted, the sign that she was thinking. “Yeah, I think I saw a post about it while I was scrolling through social media during my break.”
“Well, that’s my case. West Investigations provided the security for the exhibit.”
Tanya sucked her teeth. “Not good.”
“Definitely not good.” He hesitated for a moment, but knew it was better that she heard it from him than stumble on the information somewhere else. “Maggie Scott is one of the curators at the Larimer. She’s actually the curator responsible for the exhibit. She was hurt during the commission of the theft, not badly, but the police are also very suspicious of her at the moment.”
“Kevin.” Tanya closed her eyes and let her head fall to her chest.
“I know what you are going to say.”
She opened one eye. “Do you?”
“Okay, what are you going to say?”
She lifted her head, both eyes open and pinned on him now. “I’m going to say that you should recuse yourself from this case. You and Maggie have a fraught history, and that is putting it mildly. I saw how torn up you were after you broke up with her. It took you years to get over her. This can come to no good for either of you.”
“I wasn’t torn up. I broke up with her.”
Tanya snorted. “That may be, but you were brokenhearted.” She held her hand up in a stop motion. “Save it. You threw yourself into football, but I know you. Heart. Broken.”
“Whatever. That was a long time ago. We’re both different people now.”
“Yeah, that’s why you haven’t had a serious relationship since that relationship ended,” his sister said pointedly.
“I’ve had relationships.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I said a serious relationship. One where you bring the woman home to meet Ma.”
“This is a pointless conversation. This is my job. The other assistant curator, Maggie’s friend, was found having apparently accidentally overdosed the same night as the theft, and Maggie insists on being involved in the investigation. There’s nothing I can do.”
Tanya set her now empty bowl aside. “Kevin, there’s something you don’t know.”
He watched something flicker behind his sister’s eyes. “What?”
She studied him for a long moment. He knew her well enough to see she was struggling with whatever it was she wanted to tell him.
He took her hands in his. “Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right? I’m your big bro. There are no secrets between us.”
Tanya gave him a faint smile, slipping her hands from his. “I know. I was just going to say that Maggie was really hurt when you left her.”
His twin instinct told him that she was holding something back, but she spoke again before he could press her on what it was.
“I don’t say that to make you feel bad or guilty. It is just a fact. I saw her a few times after you left, and she was devastated. Just be careful. Be sure. I know you don’t want to hurt her again.”
She unfolded from the sofa and carried her bowl into the kitchen.
Be careful. Be sure.
He wasn’t sure about anything at the moment except that Maggie wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially not someone she considered a friend. And she wouldn’t be involved in theft.
The Office’s distinctive theme song began playing, the credits rolling on the television screen, just as his cell phone rang. He groaned when he saw Tess’s name.
“What’s up, Tess?”
“You need to get to the Larimer right away. We have a problem.”
* * *
IT FELT LIKE the situation had just taken a darker, more sinister turn. Stealing a priceless ruby was one thing, and they couldn’t be sure yet if Kim’s death was in any way connected. But coming after Maggie now? When the thief should be concerned about getting away with the gem without getting caught, that meant they weren’t dealing with a run-of-the-mill criminal.
“Do you know anything about the curse that’s mentioned in the note?” Francois had directed the question to Maggie.
She looked shell-shocked, which made Kevin ache to wrap his arms around her. Tess eyed him. He kept his hands down by his sides.
The four of them stood in Maggie’s office. After finding the letter, Maggie called Tess and the detective. She’d explained that Robert Gustev had held a staff meeting and kept her after for a brief discussion. He got the feeling that it hadn’t been a positive discussion, but Francois didn’t ask what it was about and Kevin hadn’t wanted to step on the detective’s toes. She’d found the envelope when she’d returned to her office.
Kevin assessed the space. It was neat and orderly. A handful of files were stacked on the corner of the desk, pens, a stapler and tape dispenser lined up in a row across the top edge. The books on the bookshelf behind the desk had been organized alphabetically by the author’s last name. A printer sat on a credenza to the right of the door. There were no personal items at all. No photos of Maggie or a pet. No artwork on the wall, which he found surprising. But according to Maggie there was also nothing out of place or missing. Whoever had left the note had come in, dropped it on her desk and walked out. Their mystery person had likely touched nothing and spent less than twenty seconds inside the office.
Which meant there wouldn’t be much to go on.
Maggie’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “I have no idea what it means. I told you about the legend associated with the ruby, but I don’t know anything about a curse.”
Francois rubbed his chin. “Maybe the note writer meant the legend.”
“The legend doesn’t mention anything about people dying,” Kevin pointed out.
“Yes, well...” Francois shrugged and slid the note into a plastic evidence bag.
Kevin could tell that Francois didn’t think much of the threat, but it put him on edge. Even more on edge. Someone had come into Maggie’s private space and lobbed a direct threat of violence. He couldn’t just dismiss it as idle. The fact that there were no cameras in the areas only accessible by staff meant that any one of a number of people could have left the note, including someone who worked with Maggie.
Kevin had spent the last hour shadowing Francois while he’d questioned the staff members, but no one had admitted to seeing a stranger or anyone enter Maggie’s office. He wasn’t surprised by that. One thing he and Francois would probably agree on was that it seemed more and more likely that the person behind the theft, and now the threat against Maggie, was someone well known by Maggie and the employees of the Larimer. Someone who was pretty confident their presence in the areas of the museum restricted to employees wouldn’t be notable if they were seen.
“I’ll take the note in to be fingerprinted,” Francois said.
“That’s it?” Maggie shot back.
“There’s not much more we can do, Ms. Scott. I’d urge the museum to increase its security measures. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to install cameras in the employee work areas, at least the hallways here.”
“Francois, this is a direct threat aimed at Maggie,” Kevin said.
Francois darted a look between Kevin and Maggie, assessing.
Okay, so maybe he’d come on a bit too strong, but he didn’t think the detective was taking this situation seriously enough. “And the LAPD is doing what it can to address the threat, but you know how these things go. Without more, my hands are tied.” Francois looked at Maggie again. “Ms. Scott, you should remain vigilant about your surroundings. If you see or are approached by anyone suspicious, call me immediately.” He handed Maggie his business card and shot a glance at Kevin. “Or I’m sure you can also call Mr. Lombard if you’re feeling unsafe.”
Kevin fought back the urge to punch the man.
“Kevin, a word please.” Francois stepped out of Maggie’s office and moved away down the hall where they wouldn’t be overheard.
“Don’t you think you might be getting too emotionally involved with this case?” Francois said, shooting a pointed glance at the door to Maggie’s office.
“No, I don’t.” The lie hung between them. “Have you considered that your suspicion of Mag—Ms. Scott,” Kevin corrected himself but not before Francois’s brow cocked, “might be leading you to dismiss the danger she could be in?”
Francois scowled. “I’m not dismissing anything, including the possibility that Ms. Scott left this threatening letter for herself.”
“Oh, come on.” Francois was exasperating. “Why would she do that?”
“To take suspicion off herself.” Francois held up a hand. “Look, I’ll keep an open mind if you will. I think we can agree that whatever we’re dealing, with Ms. Scott is at the center of it whether she wants to be or not.”
“At the center, how?”
“Well, just look at the situation.” Francois began ticking off his points using his fingers. “Ms. Scott advocated for bringing the ruby to the Larimer. She designed the exhibit and knew all about the security measures.”
“She was one of several people who knew about the security measures for the Viperé.”
“I’ll give you that. She was at the museum the night the ruby was stolen.”
“She was also attacked that night.”
“True. She lives on the property where another museum employee was found dead, possibly murdered.” Francois continued his list. “She was married to a man charged with embezzlement, who subsequently died, and no one can find the money. And now she has received a mysterious threat citing a curse no one seems to have heard of.”
