Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
I swallowed hard. It was so easy to remember the times they fought and how hard things were after he left us. Maybe easier than remembering the softness in her eyes when we’d come home, ice cream all over my shirt and a canvas bag stuffed with books. She’d smile at him and rest her head on his shoulder. There had been love, too. So much love. And then he’d been gone, and everything had fallen apart.
Sterling’s hand closed around mine in a tight squeeze that was over almost before I registered her touch. “This has to be it, then,” she said, dropping to a crouch in front of the bench and studying it. Shaking her head, she stood and walked around to the other side. “Hey, there’s a plaque. Holy shit! Forrest!”
I joined her on the other side of the bench and saw it immediately. A small rectangular plaque.
This bench was donated by Alan Buckley in honor of his son, Buck.
Beneath those words was another code. This one read, KVOZAVREV.
My heart pounding against my ribs, I asked, “What does it say?”
Sterling already had the cipher wheel in her hands. “Give me a sec,” she muttered, squinting down at the small letters on the wooden discs, turning them one by one until she had them all, then scanning the cipher wheel for a line that was more than random letters and numbers.
With a gasp, she surged to her feet, holding the cipher wheel above her head. “Boathouse!” she shouted in triumph, throwing her arms around me.
Her mouth landed on mine, and all thoughts of the clue evaporated. I wound my arms around Sterling, pulling her in tight, the feel of her spiking joy through my heart. I forgot all about my father, the money, the code, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and just kissed her. Her mouth moved under mine, open and eager, as if she’d forgotten how much she hated me, as if we’d never been apart.
“You two done yet?” The man’s voice came from behind me, gruffly amused.
My head spinning, I pulled my mouth from Sterling’s. The second I caught sight of him, I shoved her behind me. He was a few inches shorter than me, with dark hair and steely gray eyes, wearing a well-tailored black suit that didn’t hide the muscled bulk of his frame. Another man stood beside him wearing an identical suit, his eyes just as hard.
I didn’t know either of them. Shielding Sterling had been instinct, but I knew I’d been right. The one who’d interrupted our kiss lifted his chin at Sterling and said, “You cracked it?”
Sterling stepped out from behind me, her eyes impenetrable. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just here to get some ice cream with my boyfriend, and we were looking at the bench.”
“Don’t bullshit me, girl.” The faint northeastern cadence of his voice hit me, and I had a sinking feeling in my gut that I knew exactly who we were dealing with.
“Don’t talk to her,” I said, mind racing, trying to figure out how to get Sterling out of here. We were in a public park in broad daylight, but if these men were who I thought they were, that didn’t make us safe.
His eyes never shifted to me, all his focus on Sterling. “You cracked the code on the statue,” he said. “You’re a smart one, aren’t you?”
Sterling didn’t respond.
“It wasn’t an account number, was it? It was a code. And you cracked it.”
Sterling’s eyes burned, but she kept her mouth shut.
The man didn’t seem bothered by her silence. He tipped his head to the side, studying her. “I have to ask myself, what are you doing with this guy?” His eyes landed on me for a long second before shifting back to Sterling. “He used you. He lied to you. What did he promise you to get your help? A cut of the money?”
Something must have shown in Sterling’s face because the man leaned in like a hound on the scent of his prey. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.
Sterling gave an abrupt shake of her head.
“Callum Leary.”
Fuck. That was all he needed to say. I’d been right. Being in the middle of the town square in broad daylight couldn’t keep us safe from these men.
Callum Leary finally acknowledged me with a point of his finger. “We’ve been waiting for this one to make a move. I was starting to think maybe the whole account number on the statue thing was bullshit. Especially since we heard about it from Elliott Hall.”
Elliott Hall was Scarlett Sawyer’s ex-husband, a low-grade fuckup of a criminal who’d stolen the statue from me after I bought it at auction. Before it made its way from Elliott to the Learys, Sterling’s cousin Bryce had stolen it from Elliott. The Learys knew about the money. Hawk had been keeping an eye on them, and since no one made a move to come for it, I’d forgotten about them. Apparently, the Learys hadn’t forgotten about the Vitellius.