Grim Shadows
Page 86
“Good morning, Mr. Goldberg,” she said crisply.
“Hadley—”
Stella glanced up from her drawing and blinked. A grin spread over her plump face. She dropped her crayon and started toward Hadley, but stopped halfway, unsure, and backtracked to the safety of her father’s legs.
Adam glanced over her shoulder. “Is Lowe here, too?”
“When we parted last night, Lowe was on his way to jail,” Hadley said.
“Good grief, what’s happened?”
Hadley reached inside her coat pocket and placed the golden crocodile on the glass top of the counter, beneath which laid rows of gold and silver pocket watches on a burgundy strip of velvet. “This has happened. We ran into Monk Morales last night. I’m assuming you’re intimately familiar with this statue.”
Adam swore softly in Yiddish.
She turned the crocodile to face her. “Extraordinary work, I must say. It fooled me, and that’s saying a lot. But it appears that the buyer, Mr. Samuel Levin, is quite angry that Lowe deceived him, so he had him arrested.”
Adam put a protective hand on Stella’s head and drew her closer. “Does he know I made the forgery?”
“No, I figured that out myself.” She pulled out the small golden crossbar. “I should’ve known it was strange that you were merely hiding the pieces for Lowe, especially after he told me that Velma Toussaint had warded the safe where you kept valuables. If the safe was protected by magic, why didn’t Lowe just keep it himself at his own house?”
Adam’s shoulders dropped. “Why, indeed.” After settling Stella back down at her tiny table, he locked the shop door, pulled down the window shade, and disappeared through a door. A minute later, he returned with a box shaped like a miniature trunk, whose painted black surface was covered in red symbols. “Can you lay that down over the glass, please?” he asked, arms straining.
Hadley unfolded a scrap of soft brown leather and spread it upon the glass countertop. She soon understood why: the box was rough enough to scratch the glass. “Cast iron,” he explained. “Keeps things hidden, according to Velma. Seems to work, so no reason to doubt her, I suppose.”
The moment he unlocked the box and swung open the lid, Hadley grimaced and turned her head away. Dark energy rose from the box, so strong, it was nearly palpable.
Adam made a low noise in the back of his throat. “You can feel it, too? Lowe says he does. Stella and I can’t, thank goodness.” He lifted two items from the box and laid them down side by side on the leather. “This is the original, and this one’s mine.”
Bracing herself against the bad energy, Hadley leaned over the counter. Her mouth dropped open. Two identical amulets, each assembled with the Osiris base and two crossbars. “Good lord,” she murmured. “You’ve been copying it as we’ve found the pieces?”
He nodded. “Lowe wanted to replicate it so he could . . .” Brown eyes shifted and lowered as he cleared his throat.
“Yes, he told me,” she said. “He’d planned to cheat my father out of a hundred thousand dollars and sell the original to someone else.”
“Not sell—it was to pay off Monk for the crocodile forgery. Monk’s got no qualms about putting a bullet in your head.”
“Yes, he nearly did just that last night.” She picked up the copy of the amulet and tested its weight in her palm against the real thing. Aside from the intense energy emanating from the artifact, she could detect no difference between the two. Even the reddish hue to the gold was right. And Lowe intended to use the real amulet to pay off his debt to Monk? A fair chunk of cash, she had no doubt, but surely Lowe could’ve asked his bootlegger brother for it. Hell, if he would’ve just been honest and asked her, she would’ve gladly given it.
“Oh, boy.” Adam sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “I wonder if he’s called his brother to bail him out?”
“As of an hour ago, no,” she said. “I called the precinct and they said he hasn’t made a telephone call.”
“Probably because Winter will skin him alive if he finds out. And Lowe’s pride is bigger than the Golden Gate, in case you haven’t noticed.”
How a liar and a fraud had any pride at all, Hadley couldn’t comprehend. She wished she had brawn enough to punch him repeatedly and knock some sense into his stupid male brain. To make him see how ridiculous all of this was. How boneheaded he was to lose what they had over something as meaningless as money and as useless as pride.
“This is beautiful,” she said softly, placing it back on the leather. “I don’t know how you did it, but it’s an exact match. All my expertise, and I can’t tell it’s a fake. Your work is exquisite.”
He shrugged and waved a dismissive hand. A few quiet seconds ticked by before he said softly, “He’s in love with you, you know.”
Fresh grief made her sore, tear-weary eyes well up again. “People in love don’t lie to each other.”
“You’re wrong. They lie the most.”
She couldn’t stop her gaze from flicking to Stella. He noticed. Whether or not he guessed that Lowe had told her about their past, she didn’t know. But the sadness behind his eyes was too much for her to endure.
“If the museum finds out what Lowe’s been up to, and that I’ve been seeing him, my career is ruined. And he knows how important that is to me. It’s everything. My life’s blood is wrapped up in the antiquities wing, and . . .” No use in explaining further. It didn’t change the reality of the matter. “I guess I underestimated his carelessness.”
“Hadley—”
Stella glanced up from her drawing and blinked. A grin spread over her plump face. She dropped her crayon and started toward Hadley, but stopped halfway, unsure, and backtracked to the safety of her father’s legs.
Adam glanced over her shoulder. “Is Lowe here, too?”
“When we parted last night, Lowe was on his way to jail,” Hadley said.
“Good grief, what’s happened?”
Hadley reached inside her coat pocket and placed the golden crocodile on the glass top of the counter, beneath which laid rows of gold and silver pocket watches on a burgundy strip of velvet. “This has happened. We ran into Monk Morales last night. I’m assuming you’re intimately familiar with this statue.”
Adam swore softly in Yiddish.
She turned the crocodile to face her. “Extraordinary work, I must say. It fooled me, and that’s saying a lot. But it appears that the buyer, Mr. Samuel Levin, is quite angry that Lowe deceived him, so he had him arrested.”
Adam put a protective hand on Stella’s head and drew her closer. “Does he know I made the forgery?”
“No, I figured that out myself.” She pulled out the small golden crossbar. “I should’ve known it was strange that you were merely hiding the pieces for Lowe, especially after he told me that Velma Toussaint had warded the safe where you kept valuables. If the safe was protected by magic, why didn’t Lowe just keep it himself at his own house?”
Adam’s shoulders dropped. “Why, indeed.” After settling Stella back down at her tiny table, he locked the shop door, pulled down the window shade, and disappeared through a door. A minute later, he returned with a box shaped like a miniature trunk, whose painted black surface was covered in red symbols. “Can you lay that down over the glass, please?” he asked, arms straining.
Hadley unfolded a scrap of soft brown leather and spread it upon the glass countertop. She soon understood why: the box was rough enough to scratch the glass. “Cast iron,” he explained. “Keeps things hidden, according to Velma. Seems to work, so no reason to doubt her, I suppose.”
The moment he unlocked the box and swung open the lid, Hadley grimaced and turned her head away. Dark energy rose from the box, so strong, it was nearly palpable.
Adam made a low noise in the back of his throat. “You can feel it, too? Lowe says he does. Stella and I can’t, thank goodness.” He lifted two items from the box and laid them down side by side on the leather. “This is the original, and this one’s mine.”
Bracing herself against the bad energy, Hadley leaned over the counter. Her mouth dropped open. Two identical amulets, each assembled with the Osiris base and two crossbars. “Good lord,” she murmured. “You’ve been copying it as we’ve found the pieces?”
He nodded. “Lowe wanted to replicate it so he could . . .” Brown eyes shifted and lowered as he cleared his throat.
“Yes, he told me,” she said. “He’d planned to cheat my father out of a hundred thousand dollars and sell the original to someone else.”
“Not sell—it was to pay off Monk for the crocodile forgery. Monk’s got no qualms about putting a bullet in your head.”
“Yes, he nearly did just that last night.” She picked up the copy of the amulet and tested its weight in her palm against the real thing. Aside from the intense energy emanating from the artifact, she could detect no difference between the two. Even the reddish hue to the gold was right. And Lowe intended to use the real amulet to pay off his debt to Monk? A fair chunk of cash, she had no doubt, but surely Lowe could’ve asked his bootlegger brother for it. Hell, if he would’ve just been honest and asked her, she would’ve gladly given it.
“Oh, boy.” Adam sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “I wonder if he’s called his brother to bail him out?”
“As of an hour ago, no,” she said. “I called the precinct and they said he hasn’t made a telephone call.”
“Probably because Winter will skin him alive if he finds out. And Lowe’s pride is bigger than the Golden Gate, in case you haven’t noticed.”
How a liar and a fraud had any pride at all, Hadley couldn’t comprehend. She wished she had brawn enough to punch him repeatedly and knock some sense into his stupid male brain. To make him see how ridiculous all of this was. How boneheaded he was to lose what they had over something as meaningless as money and as useless as pride.
“This is beautiful,” she said softly, placing it back on the leather. “I don’t know how you did it, but it’s an exact match. All my expertise, and I can’t tell it’s a fake. Your work is exquisite.”
He shrugged and waved a dismissive hand. A few quiet seconds ticked by before he said softly, “He’s in love with you, you know.”
Fresh grief made her sore, tear-weary eyes well up again. “People in love don’t lie to each other.”
“You’re wrong. They lie the most.”
She couldn’t stop her gaze from flicking to Stella. He noticed. Whether or not he guessed that Lowe had told her about their past, she didn’t know. But the sadness behind his eyes was too much for her to endure.
“If the museum finds out what Lowe’s been up to, and that I’ve been seeing him, my career is ruined. And he knows how important that is to me. It’s everything. My life’s blood is wrapped up in the antiquities wing, and . . .” No use in explaining further. It didn’t change the reality of the matter. “I guess I underestimated his carelessness.”
