Twelve Shades of Midnight: by Liliana Hart & Darynda Jones & Shea Berkley & Dakota Cassidy & Claire Cavanaugh & Rachel Grant & Trish McCallan & Angi Morgan & Robin Perini & Robyn Peterman & Ann Voss Peterson & Jenn Stark

Author:Liliana Hart & Darynda Jones & Shea Berkley & Dakota Cassidy & Claire Cavanaugh & Rachel Grant & Trish McCallan & Angi Morgan & Robin Perini & Robyn Peterman & Ann Voss Peterson & Jenn Stark [Hart, Liliana & Jones, Darynda & Berkley, Shea & Cassidy, Dakota & Cavanaugh, Claire & Grant, Rachel & McCallan, Trish & Morgan, Angi & Perini, Robin & Peterman, Robyn & Peterson, Ann Voss & Stark, Jenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Anthologies, Paranormal, Vampires, Collections & Anthologies, Demons & Devils, Ghosts, Psychics, Werewolves & Shifters, Witches & Wizards
Amazon: B00KGNMO0U
Published: 2014-10-28T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

“Jana did work those last months.” Rhys tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling, remembering the pain in Chuck’s voice as he told Rhys about the thefts from his hospital bed. “To be clear, Chuck doesn’t believe she stole the artifacts. He thinks someone took advantage of her illness—and their distraction—and maybe got her code. In a few places, her signature was illegible, but she suffered from hand numbness, among other things, which sometimes made writing impossible.”

“How horrible,” Sienna said, her expression reflecting her outrage. “Someone took advantage of her illness to steal from the tribe. I assume Jana worked for the tribal CRM office?”

“Yes. She was the collections manager.” Rhys ran a hand over his face. His arousal had finally faded, leaving simple exhaustion in its wake. “I think I could use your help, actually. Later today—after we both get some sleep—could you go through the facility with me and look over the records? You might have some insight into what’s missing, see if there’s a pattern. This isn’t exactly my area of expertise.”

“Sure. That’s a good starting point. I’d like to find proof the mask belongs to the tribe, so I can cram it down Adam Helvig’s throat. It would be really nice to not have just tanked my career and company. Helvig will have a lot of uncomfortable questions to answer.”

“What’s your vibe on him? Do you think he bought stolen goods for the museum?”

She chewed on her bottom lip again. “I think so. I don’t understand why he’d do it, though. He’d never be able to display the mask without proper provenance, and museums have to adhere to higher standards than most. Plus, the museum is sometimes used as a neutral storage facility. Stolen goods would end that practice in a nanosecond.”

“What’s a neutral storage facility?”

“When there’s a dispute over the disposition of artifacts, sometimes opposing sides—government agencies and tribes, for example—will sign memoranda of agreement stating that the artifacts will be stored at a neutral facility until the dispute is resolved. The museum collects rent from government agencies for providing storage. Trafficking in stolen artifacts would end that income stream.”

“Were you examining disputed items in your NAGPRA evaluation?”

“No. My contract was to audit the museum’s own substantial holdings. When he freaked about me opening the storage box containing the mask, he said he feared I’d opened a box under dispute and there would be legal repercussions for him if I had.”

“Sounds like I need to have your curator investigated. I’ll make some calls later this morning.”

She nodded. “I suppose we should call the police now.”

He stood and went to the kitchen to make the call. The department dispatcher told him that if it wasn’t an emergency, they would have to wait until after nine for an officer to investigate the broken window, which was fine with Rhys.

He was dead on his feet by the time he faced Sienna again. “I’m wiped, and you look just as exhausted. We both need at least three hours of uninterrupted rack time.