Double Black Diamond (Mercy Watts Mysteries) (45 page)

“Oh, shit.” He turned to me, his blue eyes fixed on my face. “That’s leverage.”
 

“And who’s to say which pieces. They could claim it all. Say the Bleds peeled the labels off. That the pieces that haven’t been claimed should be available to the public.” My voice caught in my throat. I felt proprietary about my furniture. It was one thing if the family came for their belongings and quite another if some anonymous group did.
 

“Maybe they should be in a museum,” said Chuck. “It’s been a long time. The families aren’t coming back. There’s no one left to come back.”
 

“And what if you’re wrong. What if there is a descendent of the Wahle family out there and they don’t know where their things are. Should we just give them away?” I slashed at the air. “We got tired of waiting. Here you go. If they went into the museum, they could never get them back again. Look at the Altman case. They litigated for years.”
 

“So the Bleds should just keep everything forever?”
 

“Yes. What if it was you in Vienna 1938? The Nazis are taking over. You’re trying to escape. You trust Stella to keep your things until you can get there. How long would you expect them to keep your possessions, everything you have, everything your children have? A month. A year? Ten years.”
 

“Forever,” said Chuck.
 

“Forever is right. Someone may have survived and they just don’t know where their things are. Hans Wahle was eleven in 1939. Maybe he lived and he has a clue. Maybe Stella’s file will get declassified and his grandson will figure out who that pretty young American girl was that took their things. We can’t let the museum have their things. They only care about the money. The Bleds don’t care about that. Stella promised. Those people were counting on her. Now they’re counting on us.”
 

“I like the us.”
 

“Don’t get excited,” I said, rolling my eyes.
 

“You always get me excited.”
 

“You’re disgusting.”
 

“You like it.”
 

“I like very little about you.”
 

“You are a liar,” Chuck said, smiling the smile that melted hearts across the tri-state region. “What do you plan on doing about the Klinefeld Group?”
 

“I don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out,” I said.
 

“We’ll figure it out. It’s you and me, baby,” he said.
 

“Don’t call me baby.”
 

“Honey.”

“No.”
 

“Sexy.”
 

I punched his shoulder. “Shut up, you perv.”
 

He put his arm around my shoulders. “Again you like it.”
 

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Odetta. I peeled off his arm and jumped up. “Gotta go.”
 

“Go?” Chuck asked. “You just got back. Who was that?”
 

“Odetta. My boss on the floor I’ve been working. One of my patients is getting his kidney transplant. Mr. O’Quinn.”
 

“So what? You’re not working today,” he said.
 

“I promised I’d be there. He’s asking for me,” I said.
 

“And a promise is forever.” Chuck smiled and I fear my frosty heart warmed a little toward him.
 

“It is,” I said.
 

For me and the Bleds forever was a powerful thing. I wasn’t so sure about Chuck.

He stood slowly, unfolding his lanky limbs. Wallace looked him over, found him pleasing, and leapt from the bed into his arms. I should’ve known the stink dog would like him. It was the rare female that didn’t. They both smiled at me, equally winning. One more so than the other.
 

“Are you going?” asked Chuck.

“I am,” I said.
 

“I’ll be right behind you.”

I knew he would. For better or worse and whether I liked it or not. We were in it together.
Us against them.
 

Bark.

The End

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About the Author

A.W. Hartoin is the author of the Mercy Watts mystery series and the Away From Whipplethorn fantasy series. She lives in Colorado with her husband, two children, and six bad chickens.