The Black Sheep and the English Rose (31 page)

Mac nodded, as did Rafe, satisfied.

Now it was Finn's turn. He looked to Julia. “I know you have a background of some kind in art, but this is jewelry, and—”

“My background is actually in ancient studies and archaeology.” She smiled. “With a second master's in art history.”

Even Reese looked surprised by that little tidbit. “New revelations,” was all he said, though.

Julia flushed a little. “You never asked,” she told him.

“You're so young to be so accomplished,” Felicity said, then quickly added, “I didn't mean to presume anything, but you've done a lot, especially considering a past that you've alluded wasn't perhaps a good one.”

She looked to the rest of the group, somewhat warily, then said, “My past was unique, and definitely threatening, but not in the manner you would ever assume. I was considered something of a prodigy as a child. I tend to pick things up rather quickly. Some people tried to use that skill for gains that weren't exactly legal.”

Finn had a feeling “some people” might have been her own family. “I'm sorry,” he said.

“It's in the past now,” she answered with a shrug, clearly ending that conversation. “So, I can help you with authenticating it, at least to some degree, and looking for signs of alteration. I did have a brief look at it while it was in my possession, but I had no tools to use, and I couldn't bring it in to work. Anything I had that would have helped me with that went up in the fire at my other studio.”

“Another reason, perhaps, for the fire,” Finn noted.

“I say we get inside and start things up,” Mac said. “Then, dinner.”

“Always food with this guy,” Finn said, smiling and trying to ease the tension and strain. At least they were all getting along with one another, and the source was situational and not temperament oriented. Still, it was exhausting. And, admittedly quite selfishly, he was getting impatient to be done with this, so he could focus his energies where his attentions were most interested at the moment: on Felicity Jane.

But first things first.

 

After dinner and another brainstorming session that didn't net any new possibilities, but did give them a chance to get to know one another a little better, they all headed over to where the Trinity offices were housed, and the temporary lab that Rafe and Mac had cobbled together during the latter part of Finn's expedition.

“Nothing else coming in?” Finn asked Felicity as they followed Rafe and Mac down the hall. During dinner MI-8 had attempted to make contact with all three of their errant agents on their individual PDA's.

No one had responded to the transmissions.

“Nothing new,” she said.

There had been some debate on whether they should even decode and read the messages, on the off chance there was any way, given they were MI-8 issued units, they could be tracked. They'd moved back to the East Coast leaving little to no trail behind them, and they wanted to keep it that way for as long as it took to get a break in the case.

She glanced up at him. “I'm still not sure about leaving the messages unscrambled.”

“I think I might be able to help with that,” Mac said, looking back at her. “I need to do a bit more tweaking to the programming, but we might be able to load them directly into our system, then put the code in to unscramble, so there can be no direct connection of any kind. I should have it functioning by morning.”

They all nodded, then paused as Rafe stopped in front of a set of double doors.

“It's pretty basic, haven't had time to do more than move stuff from other places all into one room, but it will make this a lot simpler if we can consolidate.” He opened the doors, and even Finn was impressed. “Nice.”

Felicity walked in, her mouth open in a silent “O.” Julia and Reese were a bit more reserved in reaction, but Finn thought they looked suitably impressed as well.

“You have the case?” Rafe asked. “I thought we'd start over here with a simple magnification.” He turned to Finn. “Close the door, will you? This is the only room with no windows, so we control the lighting. I also redirected the air, and we have our own system, which should keep the stone and setting as protected as possible while they are exposed.”

Mac turned to Finn with a “Look, Pa!” smile on his face. Finn nodded and gave him the thumbs-up. His family never let him down, but that didn't mean they didn't surprise him from time to time.

“Julia?” Rafe said, all business.

She brought the case over, and everyone crowded around. They'd decided to wait until they got it back to Virginia safely before opening the case again. She pushed it over to Reese, who dialed in the combination on the lock and opened the outer, airtight case that held the actual jewel case.

“This case is actually only a few centuries old,” he said, leaving the jewel case in the specially designed airtight casing. “The original has long since rotted away. This one is holding up okay.” Rafe handed him a pair of protective gloves, to keep any oil from his skin from getting onto the case or the necklace. A moment later, everyone was staring at one of the largest sapphires Finn had ever seen.

“The engraving and setting is typical of the time, and the workmanship is outstanding,” Julia said. “The stone isn't cut nearly to today's standards, but—”

“It's stunning,” Felicity said.

“On sheer size alone, it's impressive,” Finn agreed.

“Let's move it over here, to this table,” Rafe said. They kept the old case sitting in the airtight case, with the necklace still resting on the crushed satin backing. “For now, we'll leave it sit, as is. See what we can see.”

Everyone pulled stools and chairs over and clustered in front of a flat screen that Mac had mounted on the wall. “Julia, tell me if you want to see anything in more detail,” Rafe said, maneuvering the overhead scope. Mac seated himself at a computer keyboard and loaded a digital pointer and grid onto the flat screen.

They spent the next four hours straight going over every last-minute detail of both setting and stone. Julia was responsible for moving and turning the piece, but despite the broad-ranging capability of the equipment they had, nothing untoward came up.

“I can scan it for any technological elements,” Mac said, “but I wouldn't hold out too much hope.”

“Should we look at the case?” Reese suggested. “It's been around long enough that several Capellas generations have had contact with it.”

“Not a bad idea,” Finn said. “I wish there was a way to lift fingerprints without causing any potential damage to the surface. Who knows what we might find?”

Rafe smiled. “I can help you with that.” He went over and got a kit. “I had this sent out for a case I was on last year, never had a chance to use it.”

Another three hours elapsed as prints were excruciatingly carefully lifted and the case was examined as thoroughly as they dared. “I don't have X-ray capability, but that might be an option. As would dating it, but that takes time and materials I don't have.”

“But could get?”

“I'm not sure we're going to be given the luxury of an extended time to figure this out,” Reese said. He lifted a hand to stall Finn's rebuttal. “I realize the care we took to cover our tracks here, including blocking any signal that might be transmitting from our cell units, while still receiving incoming transmissions. You've been more than generous,” he said to Finn. “But I've worked with my agency long enough to know that they are very good at tracking something—or someone—down, when they want to. And they have three someones in this case. We won't have long. Mark my words. We need a break, and we need it soon.”

Yet, by three in the morning, they were forced to call a halt when nothing had come up on the fingerprint search, and, without more delicate technology, they couldn't continue without potentially harming the artifact.

“We're still digging on the Capellas,” Rafe said. “Maybe something will pop up there by morning.”

“You mean later in the morning,” Mac said on a yawn. “I'm heading down to the cabin. I'll be back in a few hours.” He looked to Finn. “I'd like to bring Kate.”

“I'm not sure it's a good idea to involve any more people than we have, just because it makes us more vulnerable—”

“Being here makes them all vulnerable. She'd like to be here, and I think maybe a fresh brain—a very sharp one, by the way—and a fresh pair of eyes might do us good.”

Finn nodded in agreement.

Rafe stood. “I'll introduce you all to Elena another time, but I'll be back up here in a few minutes.”

“You've been running nonstop since we left San Francisco,” Finn said. “If you want some down time—”

“I want to figure this out,” he said, then looked from him to Felicity, and back. “You'd be doing the same for me.”

“I wish I'd been here to do so. And you're right. See you in a few.”

Finn showed Reese and Julia to their suite and explained how to operate the security system that was independently wired for their set of rooms, as well as the one that ran the entire house.

“Very…layered,” Julia said, quite approving of the intricate system.

“We've had occasion to house clients that require certain levels of safety,” Finn responded. “I'm just glad we had this handy. Sleep well.”

He backed out of the room, then turned to a yawning Felicity. “Just one day,” he said.

“One day what?” she responded.

“One normal, not sleep-deprived day. That's what I want with you.”

She smiled sleepily.

“Of course,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I'll want a bunch more of them, probably all in a row, so perhaps we really need to get rid of some of our guests first.”

She nodded, then leaned her head against his shoulder as he put his arm around hers and steered her down the hall. “This isn't my usual set of rooms, and I'd really rather have you over there, but it's on the other side of the house, and I think it's best to keep us all in the same general vicinity.”

“Given the level of threat they've used already with the fire, I think that's a good idea.”

“Rafe has external security on. And we have good perimeter security around the entire farm, very recently updated from what I understand. But it never hurts to keep alert.”

She yawned again, then laughed at herself as he steered her through another set of double doors into a sitting room and, after setting their personal alarm, right through that room into a nicely appointed—he knew some would say rather grandiose—bedroom. “I'm not so sure alert is something I could aspire to at the moment. Or I'm certain I'd be making some kind of comment about this room.” She sank onto the edge of the bed and dropped straight onto her back and stared up at the fresco ceilings, each ornate section painted with a mural of angels. “Looks like something my family might have dreamed up. I wouldn't have ascribed it to you, however.”

“I've renovated all the areas we use. Haven't made it to this wing yet. This was my father's idea of good taste.”

“Glad to know it's not yours. A bit…opulent.”

“Yes, it's the Donald Trump school of decorating. The more gilt the better.”

She laughed at that and started fumbling with the buttons on her dress, still lying flat on her back.

Finn loomed over her, planting his hands on either side of her. “Scoot back,” he urged.

“I'd love to, but I don't think I'm able.” She raised her arms to him. “I don't think I'm capable of anything at the moment. I don't think I've ever been so bone weary.”

“So, shower in the morning?”

“Mmm hmm,” she said, yawning again.

Finn slipped off her shoes, then brushed her hands away and finished unbuttoning and unzipping and untucking.

“I feel like a sleepy child,” she said.

“Trust me, you don't look anything like one. And it's a testament to how tired I am that I can't do anything about it, either.”

He quickly undressed and turned down the bed, then scooped her up and tucked her in, climbing in on the other side of her. She was rolling toward him and curling into him before he could even reach for her. “It's not my bed,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her hair. “Which is where I want you. But it's—”

“Shh,” she said. “You're home, and that's all that matters.”

And then she slept.

And Finn didn't. He lay awake, contemplating what she'd just said. And where home was going to be if he wanted her to remain in it.

He was finally drifting off when the bedside phone buzzed.

Felicity roused first and rolled over to check it out before he could lean past her. “I think I'm still asleep,” she said, looking back at him over her shoulder. “Or does this say the pool house is calling?”