A Bad Penny by Olivia Gaines

Author:Olivia Gaines [Gaines, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Davonshire House Publishing
Published: 2024-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

IT WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH. She returned to the home in Kearny, Missouri, ready for war with Fred and possibly a late-night rumble. He wasn’t there. As a matter of fact, the home was sealed. The shipping container was no more, and the vehicles parked under the porte-cochere were no longer present.

“Shit! What was the license plate? What state, what color..., damn it,” she said, sitting in the driveway, feeling like an all-time loser. “He played me, saying he was going to be here for three months; he lied. He lied to me and took what I was looking for.”

Penny stopped her personal ranting. “Or did he?”

She changed from the high heels she wore to a pair of traction bottom runners, and her shoulder-length hair went into a ponytail with a rubberized holder to keep it out of her way. A black windbreaker covered the soft teal blouse and the lock-picking kit sat loosely in her left hand.

Leaving her vehicle, she jogged around the back of the house, remembering the torn screen in the sunroom. She would enter there, come through the back door, and take the back stairs. Thus far, everything was going to plan. However, inside the home, she didn’t know where to start. Much of the inventory in the home had been removed and boxed up, leaving the shelves almost reorganized. Penny cocked her head to the side, and there was a pattern to the way the books were stacked.

“Where have I seen this before?”

She stared for a solid fifteen minutes and it hit her. In Philoneus’ office, she sat behind the desk. The pattern wasn’t random. The way the books were organized, and laid out in a particular order stood out to her.

“The last time I was in here, the books on the shelves were even; now, there are two pushed in,” she said and paused. “Hold the line.”

Penny began tapping the remaining book spines, going over each shelf until she reached a set of five books tightly pressed together. She tapped, finding a hollow sound. Using her index finger, she slid the digit along the top, pulling with a moderate tug, feeling the spines give way. After the spines lowered, she spotted the safe.

“Well, I’ll be, Dr. Quartermaine,” she said. “You left me a clue, but I would hazard a guess that you’ve removed the items from the safe.”

Penny required a moment to gather her thoughts on what to do next. She returned to the desk, taking a seat, and then she noticed the drawer. The items she took were in the right drawer. The left drawer, barely open, caught her eye as she pulled, and the same false bottom she’d discovered on the right, was also on the left. Inside the drawer was a key.

“What have you left for me, Frederick?”

She removed the key and inserted it into the safe. She turned it clockwise, and the door popped open. The cavern appeared empty sans one item. A single black stone. A black diamond all alone in the center of the safe.

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