Night and Day (16 page)

Helmberg was evidently a collector of a number of objects besides antique coins, Caleb thought after he had disposed of the guard patrolling the grounds. He moved across the patio toward the French doors that led to the library, where a light was burning.

The door was unlocked. Why not, when the grounds were so well protected? Caleb could see Helmberg sitting in a leather easy chair before the fire with a brandy in his hand. His gray hair was perfectly barbered, as was his Van Dyke beard, and he wore a black designer smoking jacket. He was relaxed, comfortable, a king enjoying his kingdom.

Time to invade the kingdom.

He silently opened the door, but there must have been a gust of wind because Helmberg started to turn his head.

Caleb went into top speed, across the room in seconds.

“Who the hell—” Helmberg didn't get the rest of sentence out before Caleb reached his chair.

Caleb's hands were around his throat. “We can do this easy or hard, Helmberg. Your choice.”

“I'll kill—” He gasped as Caleb's grip tightened. “You won't get away with this.”

“But I will. You'll see that I do.” He looked down into his eyes. “You'll do everything I want you to do, or you won't live through the night. I'm tempted to just end it now, but there are reasons why I don't want a stir to ripple out from our little meeting.”

“Someone will come. You won't get off the property.”

“Then I'd better get down to business, hadn't I? Your coin collection. Go to the safe and get it for me.”

He stiffened. “The hell I will.”

“You're going to experience pain in your left temple. It won't be excruciating, just a demonstration to show you what could be on the horizon.”

Helmberg screamed!

“Should I do it again?”

“What—is—this?” Helmberg gasped. “Are you some CIA interrogator or something?”

“Oh, no, just a common thief. But I do want what I want. Get me the coins.”

He moistened his lips. “I don't keep the collection here. It's at my safe-deposit box.”

“Wrong answer.”

Helmberg screamed again. His face contorted with pain.

“You wouldn't have that collection anywhere you couldn't see it, touch it. Collectors have a passion, and they have to have it satisfied. It's probably tucked behind that Rembrandt painting. Now go to the safe and get me the coins.”

“Very well. Let me go.”

Caleb released him and stepped back.

Helmberg got up and moved toward the wall behind the desk. As he reached the desk, he dove for the carved ivory box on the corner. He knocked it off the desk and a Luger fell out of it. He followed the gun to the floor and grabbed it.

“At last, something interesting,” Caleb said. “I was getting really bored.”

“Sit down.” Helmberg got to his knees and pointed the pistol at him. “We're going to have a little talk.”

“I don't believe I have the time. But I applaud your initiative.” He shook his head regretfully. “No, you really have to drop that weapon. I need those coins.”

“You fool. I'm going to kill you. But first I want to know who you are and who sent you. I won't—” He threw back his head and groaned. “What—” He looked down at his hand holding the gun. It was swollen twice the normal size, and his finger on the trigger was bleeding, gushing blood, around the nail.

“I think you'd better drop the gun,” Caleb said. “If you don't, your hand is going to explode. I judge in about two minutes.”

Helmberg almost threw the gun away from him.

“Good. Now go to the safe and get me what I want.”

“I can't use my hand.”

“You can use it. Very clumsily, but you can use it. But it's still swelling and will continue to do so until you open the safe.”

Helmberg staggered to the picture and swung it back to reveal the safe. He stood looking at it. “I could pay you a lot of money. Don't take the coins.”

“Open it. You won't be able to do it in another minute. It would be difficult without a right hand.”

Helmberg hurriedly spun the combination and opened the safe.

“Now take out the containers and put them on the desk, so I can examine them.”

Helmberg took out the two velvet boxes and placed them on the desk. “Do you even know what you're looking for?”

“Am I an expert?” He shook his head. “But I have a description of a few of the coins in your collection that are very valuable. I just have to make sure that they're all here.” He looked through the first box, then opened the second. He gave a low whistle. “This one wasn't on my list and by the way you have it displayed, I'd wager that it's the star of your collection.”

“Don't take it,” Helmberg said hoarsely. “I'll give you anything.”

Caleb shook his head. “I'm afraid that you'll have to give up coin collecting. Your car collection with have to suffice.”

“I'll come after you. You won't get away with this. Who the hell are you?”

“You won't come after me. You won't mention anything to do with this night to anyone. As far as anyone knows, your collection is still intact.” He moved toward Helmberg until he was only inches away. He stared into his eyes. “Do you know how much it hurts when your organs explode? First, I'd do the lungs before I went for the heart. Pressure. Excruciating pressure. The blood controls everything, you know. Let's have a little preview. Are you starting to feel it?”

Helmberg's hands were clutching his chest, his face scarlet as he struggled to breathe. “Don't—” he gasped. “Hurts.”

“Just a little more. I want you to remember.”

“No.” Tears were running down Helmberg's cheeks. “Please…”

“I'll lessen it, but the pain won't go away until an hour after I leave here. You'll stay there on the floor and won't call for help. If you try to move, the pain will increase, and it may affect your heart.”

His eyes were bulging. “I … won't move.”

Caleb knelt beside him on the floor and took out his phone and tossed it across the room. “And you'll pretend I never paid you a visit. If I hear that you've said one word, then I'll come back. And you'll find out how much it hurts to die very slowly. I can stretch it out a long, long time, Helmberg. I would kill you now, but I don't want any suspicion surrounding anyone who is a known collector.”

“I don't know … what you mean.”

“You don't have to know. You just have to do what I tell you.”

Helmberg screamed and clutched his chest.

“Oops.” Caleb got to his feet. “Sometimes my feelings get away from me. You might remember that.”

“Who—are—you.”

“Names aren't important.” He shrugged. “But at the moment, I'm one of the good guys.”

“No.” Helmberg was still cradling his chest. “You're … a monster.”

“I've been called that, too.” Caleb gathered up the two boxes and headed for the door. “But then I'm sure so have you, Helmberg.”

Then he was outside the door and drawing a deep breath of the cool night air. Not a bad evening. Not as satisfactory as it might have been. He really didn't like Helmberg. Maybe he'd have a reason to pay him another visit.

Oh, well, forget Helmberg. Even if being one of the good guys was a bit boring, Jane would be pleased, and that was always paramount. He moved quickly across the manicured grass toward the gates and his rental car parked beyond them. He should be at Gaelkar within the next three hours …

*   *   *

“You got it?” Eve was looking down at the two boxes Caleb had just placed on MacDuff's desk. “Any trouble?”

“No, he was surprisingly obliging.” Caleb said. “He agreed to everything I asked of him.”

“And is he still alive?” Joe asked dryly.

“Of course. We wouldn't want any rumors circulating around that a well-known coin collector had been killed. He agreed that coin collecting was no longer for him. He's looking at other hobbies.”

“And he won't come after you?” Jane asked.

“I doubt it. Though I've been wrong before.” He glanced at MacDuff, who was going through the coins. “I checked before I left his library, and all the coins you mentioned were there. And one more coin in that second box. He was really hurting when I took that one.”

MacDuff opened the box. “Good God.” He carefully took out the coin and examined it. “If I didn't know where that Greek drachma was at this minute, I'd think this was it.”

“Drachma?” Eve asked.

“It's a silver coin minted in Sicily during the fifth century
B.C
. So far only twelve have been found, and they're either in private collections or museums. One was auctioned off fairly recently. But this one might be even more valuable. It was minted two years earlier.”

“What was the auction value on that drachma?” Eve asked.

“Two million pounds.”

“What?” Joe gave a low whistle. “No wonder Helmberg was in agony about losing it.”

“Well, actually it was kind of a combined effect,” Caleb murmured.

“I imagine it was,” Jane said as she stepped closer to the table to look at the chariot with four horses on one side of the coin. “It's beautiful, true artistry. It doesn't look that ancient.”

“We can be sure it was if Helmberg had it in his possession. He wouldn't have bothered with it otherwise,” Joe said. He looked at MacDuff. “So do these coins look like the real thing?”

“They
are
the real thing,” MacDuff said. “And they look like what they are. They were all minted in the years before the eruption of the volcano at Herculaneum in 79
A.D
. So the time factor is correct. They came from the nations that were in existence then and whose money could have ended up in Cira's treasure chest.”

Jane picked up the drachma from the box. “I wonder if there is one of these in her chest…”

“What do you think?” Caleb asked.

“I believe there's a good chance. Cira was very canny about money.” She put the coin down again. “We'll have to wait and see.”

“In the meantime, we have Natalie's proof,” Eve said. She could feel the excitement begin to build within her. She had been afraid to let herself think about it while Caleb was gone. “What should we send her? Three coins? Four?”

“As little as possible,” Joe said. “It pisses me off to give her anything.”

“Four,” Eve said. She picked up the drachma. “And this has to be one of them.”

“Ouch,” Jane said. “Are you sure?”

“I'm sure,” Eve said. “Because of the date, it's a coin that's never been found as far as anyone knows. That's important. And we want to stun her. Dazzle her with the thought that there might be more of those coins in the chest. We won't even display it as if it was of any importance. We'll put that coin and the three others we choose together in a leather pouch. Then we'll deliver it to Natalie and let her discover it herself. She might even think that we just tossed it in there and didn't realize the value. It would encourage the vision of a treasure just waiting to be found by her.”

“I see what you mean,” Jane said. Then she wrinkled her nose. “I just hate giving her anything that valuable.”

“We can always take it back,” Caleb said. “Just say the word. I've been growing attached to it.”

“Later,” Eve said. “Right now, I just want to get it into her hands and have her set up an exchange.” She sat down at the stool in front of the desk. “And pick out the other three coins…”

 

CHAPTER

7

“Done.” Eve sat back on her stool and looked down at the three coins she'd chosen an hour later. Two were gold and minted in Macedonia. The other was a silver denarius and minted in Rome. “I think they're all plausible choices. Rome during that period was conquering the entire world and bringing back treasure and tribute. Any of these coins could have ended up in Cira's stash.” She dropped the coins in the leather pouch before she stood up and arched her back to ease it. “Now I've just got to call Natalie and set up a way to get them to her.”

“Give it another hour.” Joe took her hand. “Come on. Get some air and a cup of coffee before you get stressed out again by talking to Natalie.”

She wasn't going to argue with him. It had been a day of strain and nervous exhaustion while they had waited word from Caleb. She needed a little time to unwind. She grabbed the pouch with the coins and let Joe lead her from the tent.

Five minutes later, she was sitting in front of the fire and staring into the flames. “I drink a lot of coffee. I wonder if that's bad for the baby? Maybe I should look it up on the Web.”

“Later. You need it right now.” He grinned. “Besides, wouldn't the baby tell you?”

“Stop being a smart-ass. It's possible, but maybe it's supposed to be in my domain.”

“Then I'll Google it and tell both of you.” He looked at her across the fire. “You shouldn't even be here. You should be at home, going to classes, and visiting the doctor.”

“Joe, during Cira's time, she probably rode her horse until the day she had the baby and squatted in one of those horrible medieval chairs to give birth.” She smiled. “I'm doing fine if all I have to do is worry about how much coffee to drink.”

“I'll Google it,” he repeated. He moved around the fire and dropped down beside her. “And you're not sleeping well, either.” He drew her close. “That can't be good.”

“Cara.” She leaned against him. “But we're getting through it. The coins will help. At least, we're on our way.”

“Yeah.” His lips brushed her temple. “I should have gone with Caleb.”

“He appeared to do fine without you. I'm glad you didn't. I didn't have to worry about you.” She looked at him. “Is that bothering you? You didn't go with Jock. You didn't go with Caleb. You've been stuck here with me instead of doing what you do best?”