Competing with a wet, black and snuffling nose, Ben felt along the stone, noting that it was smoother than he would have expected.
Apparently impatient, Mario tried to help by scratching, and catching Ben’s fingers in the process.
“Hey, hey,” Ben said, wincing but laughing at the same time. “Ease up. I’ll look it over carefully, okay? But I don’t think you hid your treasure here.”
The nails on his right middle and ring finger slid into a crevice no wider than those nails themselves. He dug at it and mashed both nails for his efforts.
A small section of the stone dropped down and back, revealing a little black space behind. With his hands on his thighs, Ben regarded the tiny concealed space.
Mario wasn’t nearly as calm. He ran back and forth, stuffed his nose into the opening, looked at Ben with eyes that just about crossed.
“You managed to hide a goody in there?” Ben said. “I don’t think so. I also don’t like reaching into places that could have something nasty inside.” But he would do it.
Only one finger fitted. He felt around and thought at first there was nothing there. The pad of the finger came to rest on a small, smooth thing that felt metal. Several efforts later, Ben eased a tiny piece of amazingly shiny gold high enough up to grab it with his other hand. He checked the space again but it was definitely empty now.
In his palm rested a gold key no more than an inch long.
Chapter 24
Sykes answered Ben’s telepathic alert immediately…and emerged from his flat looking as sleekly saturnine as ever.
Ben went to meet him. Why hadn’t he assumed Sykes would sleep in the flat while his house was occupied? Then he smiled. He hadn’t done too much straight thinking the night before.
The two men faced each other. There wasn’t a lot of need to talk. Sykes held out his hand and Ben placed the key in his palm.
Sykes turned it over and over again. He looked at the shop and Ben nodded. They needed to get the thing under a microscope so that they could get a good look at it.
“Wait.”
Willow’s voice stopped Ben, and he turned to see her run down the steps with Marley. Red hair, in two extraordinary shades, and green eyes, also different one from the other, were the only real physical similarities between the sisters, other than their small stature. Marley was much paler than Willow.
“A visual premonition,” Willow said, puffing, but with anxiety not fatigue. “Marley explained what I saw.” She had changed into jeans and a T-shirt she must have borrowed from Marley.
Sykes’s flaring brows rose. “Premonition?”
Willow explained her vision at Sykes’s house the night before, while Marley stood by, shifting from foot to foot.
When Sykes didn’t answer, Ben dug him with an elbow.
Sykes started. “Yeah,” he said. “When you get into the act, you really get into it, Willow. Aren’t you the woman who’s
“No, dammit. And you don’t have to look so pleased about it.”
“I got a call from Nat,” Ben said. “Can we go inside the shop? I don’t think we should risk being overheard.”
“You’re afraid that monster bird’s going to show up,” Willow accused. “Who’s going to hear us out here?”
No one argued with her, but Marley quickly let them into the gloomy interior of J. Clive Millet.
Behind the counter, Pascal had an office visible through windows on three sides. The four of them hovered outside until they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and eventually Pascal appeared, swathed in one of his favorite green velvet robes.
“Good idea,” Pascal said, to no one in particular, obviously knowing exactly what was going on. “If we put the shop lights on we’ll have people at the door. Come on into the office.” He let them into the unlocked room and turned on a subdued, green glass-shaded lamp on the desk. It shed a narrow but surprisingly bright pool of light on gleaming wood.
Leather and mahogany suggested a smoking room. Pascal would never willingly put smoke in his body, but he liked the ambience.
“Where’s Gray?” he asked. “He’s part of this.”
“He knows,” Marley said. “He’s got a deadline on an article so he’s working here today. He’ll come down if we need him, otherwise I’ll fill him in later.”
Marley glanced surreptitiously at Willow, who pulled her eyebrows together.
Ben wondered what they were up to.
“Show me,” Pascal said, flipping a folded jewelry display pad open on top of the desk. He moved its white velvet side squarely under the light.
Sykes put the key there. Pascal took a loupe to his eye and bent over to look closely. He flipped the piece over and stared some more. “Take a look,” he said, passing the loupe to Sykes.
“Now we need to find my angel,” Willow said after taking her turn.
The only one who didn’t look bemused was Ben. He said, “Could be.”
“What’s the connection?” Sykes said.
“I don’t know for sure,” Willow said, knowing that wouldn’t satisfy her brother or the rest of them. “But there is one. See what it says here on one side of the key? Bella. And on the other, Angelus.
“So where the hell is she?” Ben said.
The shop doorbell buzzed. And buzzed.
Willow pursed her lips so Ben wouldn’t see her grin. She couldn’t help thinking,
She left Pascal’s office and let her grin stretch when she saw a Mean ’n Green van pulled partway onto the sidewalk. She had been expecting one of her employees to pick her up, but not quite so quickly.
By the time she opened the door of the van, she wasn’t so cheerful. “Rock U.? What are you doing here?”
“You’re welcome, girl. Do you think I close up shop and come runnin’ to help out any good-lookin’ female?”
She winced. “Sorry. I was surprised to see you is all.”
“We gotta go now,” Rock U. said. “Zinnia said that lady who called from the Brandts sounded like she was losing it.”
“Zinnia’s staying on top of this. She already spoke to me about it this morning.”
Rock U. looked away. “Could be she’s worried about business,” he said, and avoided Willow’s eyes. “She talks a tough line, but I don’t think she’s got anyone else to pick up the slack if her job goes south.”
Why hadn’t she thought of that? “I don’t want any of them worrying.” Willow looked over her shoulder, directly into Ben’s assessing eyes. “Okay, Rock. I want you to come in just for a second. Whatever I say, you say, yes, or something similar. No personal opinions or ideas. Got it?”
Even in poor light Rock’s tattoos were a shock to the eyes. He shrugged and stepped inside.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” Willow said. She had been in Marley’s flat when she got the call from Zinnia. Marley had heard everything and made it clear that either she went with Willow to do what she could to help at the Brandts, or Marley would join in with the protests that were bound to come when the family found out about the plan.
“Fabio said he’ll catch up with us later,” Rock said. He whirled his ever-present hunk of keys and tools on their chain. “Could be he’s not keen on going over to that house at all, but I said I’d lend a hand.”
