Secrets of the Rose by Lois Richer

Author:Lois Richer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2006-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Early the next morning Shelby had it all laid out in front of her—the file with the handwritten notes, the Greek and translation, everything that she wanted to discuss with Daniel. He was in the office, she’d seen him earlier on the surveillance camera, talking with Russ in the warehouse.

Igor had been in. Her computer was a brand-new model. She called him in and he explained what he’d done to safeguard it.

“I haven’t got the whole place secure yet, but I will,” he promised. “Get your new security codes on that machine right away.”

“I will. Thanks for doing this so quickly.”

“Matter of honor, Shelby. Nobody breaches my system without me tracking him down.” He left, his jaw jutting out angrily.

Shelby’s hand hovered over the intercom, intending to call Daniel, until a knock sounded at her door.

“There’s a deliveryman here. He will not hand over whatever he has to me,” Joanie explained, her eyes flashing with anger. “He insists that only you can sign for this.”

“Send him in.” Another mystery.

“Mrs. Shelby Kincaid?” A man she didn’t know walked forward and handed her a very small box. “I was told to give this to you personally.” He turned and walked away.

“Wait a minute! Who are you? Who is this from?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “A woman gave me a hundred bucks to deliver it to you. I should have charged her more. This place is like Fort Knox.”

“A woman. Can you describe her?”

“Medium build, brown hair, middle age. Jeans and a T-shirt. Sneakers.”

She questioned him for several minutes but could gain little more information.

“Lady, I didn’t pay that much attention to her. She wasn’t much to look at but when somebody offers me that much money to carry a little box three blocks, I don’t ask questions.”

“Three blocks. Thank you, sir. Get his name and number with some ID to confirm it,” she told Joanie quietly, then watched them both leave.

Shelby knew it would be smart to have the box go through an X-ray before opening it, but she made no move to call the police department. There was something very small inside, it rattled just a little.

Tossing away her inhibitions, she used her fingernail to slit open the tape then lifted the lid. She stared at the small microcassette lying inside. A strange woman had sent her a tape recording.

Using a tissue she lifted out the cassette and put it into the small Dictaphone she sometimes used. Taking a deep breath, she hit the play button.

Daniel’s voice, whisper soft, emerged.

“I have to do this. You know that. There have been enough questions, enough problems with customs. I don’t want to alert them that anything funny’s going on with this shipment. Just act as if it’s the usual Finders, Inc. merchandise and we should be okay.”

Nothing more.

Shelby replayed the tape several times and each time the knife plunged a little deeper into her heart. So Daniel had taken the items? It had to be him. But had he also taken Aimee?

She grabbed the phone and found herself dialing Tim’s number.

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