Desperate Alliance by Jannine Gallant

Author:Jannine Gallant [Gallant, Jannine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The museum was closed, and the sun had long since set when Annalise straightened from a stooped position over her work table and tried a few yoga moves to ease the pain in her back. Not that she could see daylight from her domain in the bowels of the building, even at high noon. Despite the fact her body ached from meticulously removing the top layer of paint from the canvas to get to the picture beneath, she’d worked steadily, well past quitting time. The excitement of what she might find under the mediocre portrait of a pompous looking gentleman in a tight suit drove her to keep going.

When the door to the basement creaked open, she glanced up in surprise as tall black boots and a maroon skirt appeared at the top of the steps. “Lydia?”

“Yes, it’s me.” Her friend continued down the stairs. “I couldn’t believe it when Oscar told me you were still here. It’s after seven.”

“So why are you hanging around? I thought you had a hot dinner date with your fiancé.”

“He’s working late, too. It seems to be an epidemic. Anyway, he’s meeting me at the restaurant. I forgot my iPad so I stopped by to get it on my way there.” She put her hands on her hips and scowled. “What’s your excuse?”

“Yesterday, my new buddy, Gladys, an octogenarian who’s as sharp as a Maizie’s claws, brought in a painting for me to look at.” She nodded toward the portrait on the worktable. “Apparently, her uncle fancied himself an artist and painted over a few old pictures her family had owned for several generations. She found this one when she was getting her house ready to sell and hoped I could uncover the original painting under her uncle’s self-portrait.”

Lydia’s brows shot up. “Can you?”

“I’m making progress, although it’s a slow, tedious process. Gladys said she’d donate the piece to the museum if it’s something we want. Curiosity is driving me crazy, even though the hidden painting might be nothing special.”

“But it could be a lost masterpiece.”

Annalise grinned. “Exactly.”

“Either way, it’ll still be here tomorrow. Go home. Didn’t you mention a friend from out of town is visiting? At least that was your excuse for not going out for drinks last night.”

“He left this morning.”

“He?” Her brown eyes brightened. “You didn’t tell me your mysterious guest was a he.”

“Because I knew you’d get the wrong idea. I thought you were meeting Sebastian.”

Lydia glanced at her watch. “Crap. Now I’m going to be late. Promise me you’ll go home.”

“Fine. I’m too tired to keep working, anyway. I’ll clean up and take off.”

“Good. See you tomorrow.” With a little wave, her friend headed up the stairs.

Annalise’s shoulders slumped. She hadn’t lied about being exhausted. All the frantic energy that had kept her going the past couple of weeks seemed to have drained through her fingertips into her work, leaving her a little shaky. Still, it took another fifteen minutes to clean up her area and put away the chemicals she’d been using.

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