Behold the Thief by Laura Landon

Author:Laura Landon [Landon, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-15T23:00:00+00:00

BEHOLD THE THIEF by Laura Landon

Chapter Thirteen

LILY STEPPED THROUGH the front door of Broadmoore’s Treasures and allowed the familiar opulence to soothe her troubled heart. She couldn’t explain the feeling that came over her. It was the same emotion she felt when she entered a museum, or an art gallery, or any place that displayed works of art, but with an extra bit of joy that came in the form of Jack Broadmoore.

Lily made her way through the showroom, down a wide hallway, then to the large double doors that opened to the elegant display area that held all the items that people had brought in for bids. But when Lily turned the knob on the double doors, they didn’t open. They were locked.

Lily stared at the locked doors, then knocked several times. She heard footsteps coming toward the door, then it opened and Lily stood facing Jack.

“Come in,” he said, in his way that triggered her pulse.

Lily entered the room and Jack closed the door behind her and locked it.

“The items people have put up for bid have all arrived. I locked the door because I don’t intend to let people in until a half hour before the auction starts. That is when my staff will be in place. Until then I’m the only one to watch this room. And now you.”

“Ready to serve, captain. No harm shall come to your treasures,” she joked, attempting to erase the worry from Jack’s face.

“Well, it’s been done before, hasn’t it.”

Clearly her humor had missed its mark.

“Now then, there are forty items up for sale and I have ten volunteers coming tonight to make sure nothing happens.”

“You really do anticipate that your fool of a cousin will try another switch, then.”

“If he finds out I paid him a call this afternoon, he’s cunning enough to guess why. I may likely have stoked his fire so that if anything, he’ll be more determined than ever to let me get caught selling forgeries.”

“Then I’d best get busy so I’m finished before you open the door.”

“Thank you, Lily,” Jack said.

“Have you seen anything that causes you concern?”

“One. I want to see if you agree.”

Lily focused her mind on his statement and away from the frustration she was feeling at having him near. Her eyes flicked to his clenched hands and she wondered if he might be feeling the same.

“Which item?”

One corner of Jack’s mouth ticked upward. “You tell me.”

Lily answered his challenge with her own smile and turned to examine the first auction article. It was a wonderful piece, of even greater value than the treasures on the previous sale. Word of Jack’s auctions was spreading. And the higher his visibility became, the harder the fall he might take.

She redoubled her focus. He would not fall. Not on her watch.

Meticulously, she worked her way down the row. It wasn’t until she’d nearly reached the final object that she recognized what she thought might be a stolen object. An article in the Times detailing the theft of a priceless figurine from the Earl of Manchester’s country estate came to mind.

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