up to him, but you managed to calm him down.’
She smiled slyly. ‘What can I say? I have a gift.’
‘What gift is that?’
‘The ability to soothe the savage beast.’
‘Well, I—’
She cut him off. ‘Choose your next words wisely. If you say
Payne laughed. ‘Although I’m flattered that you’re thinking about my pants, I was actually going to say your gift probably comes in handy at work.’
As hostess at one of the fanciest restaurants in Philadelphia, Megan was often forced to deal with angry clientele — everyone from the snobby
He shook his head. ‘Actually, I haven’t.’
She playfully slammed her fist on the desk. ‘That’s because I handled them.’
Payne grinned at her, trying to remember the last time he had felt so comfortable with a woman in such a short amount of time. ‘As much as I’d like to hear all the details, let’s focus on the text message for a moment.’
She nodded. ‘Whatever you need, just ask.’
‘Out of curiosity, what did you do when you received the message?’
‘I did what most people would do: I tried to figure out who sent it. Unfortunately, as you know, it came from a restricted number. And when I replied to it, my text got bounced back.’
‘Then what?’ Payne asked.
‘I tried to make sense of the riddle.’
Payne, who had written the poem in his notebook, read it aloud. ‘Your fortune waits for you. Protect it with your life. Death shall visit those untrue. Blood of his first wife.’
‘Strange, huh?’
‘In what way? Please tell me there’s a big cheque in that envelope.’
‘Actually,’ Payne explained, ‘I was talking about Ashley. She came to Pittsburgh, claiming the letter had been sent to her, and she was killed because of her deceit.’
Megan opened her mouth to argue how preposterous that was, then realized Payne was right: Death had visited Ashley for that very reason. Suddenly, a chill went down her spine. ‘Jon, that is
‘If you think that’s creepy, hand me your envelope. Since it was addressed to you, I think it’s time I told you what the letter said.’
Payne carefully removed the mysterious letter and laid it on the desk. As he did, she walked around to his side and stared at the ancient languages, trying to understand why it had been sent to her.
‘Is this my fortune?’ she asked.
Payne shook his head. ‘If the letter is as old as we think it is, it’s probably valuable, but I doubt it’s worth a fortune.’
‘Oh well, it’s probably for the best. Most rich people are assholes.’
She patted him on the back. ‘Relax, big guy. I said,
‘Anyway,’ he said as he flipped his notebook to the verse he had copied down during Petr Ulster’s lecture, ‘the main reason we came to Philly to investigate Ashley’s death was because of the cryptic message of the poem. She didn’t know it, but it talks about Philadelphia.’
He set the notebook on the desk and allowed Megan to read the modern translation.
From the city of brothers,
A lover from the lost line.
A filly with no mother,
Chosen for her place in time.
Payne focused on Megan’s face as she read the poem, hoping to see how she reacted to the letter that had been intended for her. Would she be surprised? Or confused? Or maybe some other emotion that would allow him to learn more about her?
He watched her lips as they moved silently, slowly sounding out the words as she tried to decipher their meaning. In the middle of the message, she paused, as if she’d noticed something that no
‘Who wrote this?’ she demanded, her voice filled with concern.
‘Why? What’s wrong?’
‘Who wrote the letter, Jon?’
Payne shrugged. ‘We don’t know who wrote it. Why? What’s bothering you?’
‘The letter,’ she said as she sank into Payne’s chair. ‘I know who it’s describing.’
He stared at her and noticed the blood had drained from her pale face. ‘Who?’
Megan glanced up at him. ‘The letter is about
45
‘Not to doubt you,’ he said, ‘but what makes you so sure?’
She didn’t speak. She simply pointed to the third line, tapping it repeatedly.
Payne put his hand on her shoulder. He could feel the tension building in her neck and back. ‘A filly with no mother? That’s what has you so shaken?’
He thought back to their late-night conversation at the hotel. They had talked about losing their parents at such an early age and how tough it had been on them. If he remembered correctly, a mugger had killed her mom when Megan was only ten.
‘Trust me when I tell you this,’ he said, ‘I know exactly what you’re going through. I do. Not a single day has passed since the death of my
Megan grabbed his hand and squeezed. Somehow she felt better knowing he cared enough about her to open up even though they had only just met. For an ex-soldier like Payne — someone who had been taught to bury his emotions in order to survive — she knew it was probably a difficult thing to do.
‘Come here,’ she said as she tugged on his arm and urged him to sit down on the corner of the desk. She wanted to look him in the face while she spoke to him. ‘I appreciate you telling me that. That had to be tough for you.’
Payne said nothing. He simply focused on her eyes, which were moist with tears.
‘Last night,’ Megan said, ‘when we talked about our parents, I didn’t tell you everything about my family history. We had just met and all, and there’s
‘What is it?’ he asked gently.
‘The parents I told you about were my
Payne studied her face, trying to figure out why this detail seemed so important to her — why it had knocked her off her feet and shaken her so deeply. But before he had a chance to ask, she wiped her eyes and continued her explanation.
‘When I was still a little girl, my mom decided it was time to tell me that I had been adopted. I’m not quite sure why she had chosen that particular moment — maybe she was afraid I was going to find out from someone else, and she wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. Whatever the reason, she came into my bedroom, sat down on my pink bed, and told me I was her precious little gift from heaven. Keep in mind I was only eight at the time, so I didn’t know much about adoption or childbirth, but she took her
