Page 157 of Smoke Screen
At the sink, the one she’d requested be installed and utilized prior to touching any artifacts, she gave her hands a good scrub
Grabbing one of the bags, she ran back to Phin and his brothers, all of whom gathered around the open safe, hands in pockets.
“Do you wash your hands each time?” Rohan asked.
“Without question. Skin has natural salts, moisture, and oils that can damage artifacts.” She pulled a fresh set of gloves from the bag. “Gloves too. For jewelry, I use cotton. Other items, I can use nitrile.”
She lifted the velvet bag, reached in, and gently wrapped her fingers around the necklace, carefully withdrawing it, making sure it didn’t snag and wind up somehow tumbling to the floor.
“Wow,” Phin said, his voice breathy and full of the wonder Maddy felt each time she’d touched one of the pieces. “Stunning.”
“It is.” She held it up for them all to see. “Gentlemen, this is the triple-strand diamond necklace.”
“One down,” Rohan said. “What else is in there?”
Maddy placed the necklace back in the bag and gently set it on top of the safe. “I’ll need to wrap these better before we take them. Something with cushioning. I’ll look through the supplies we have here. I may have jewelry cases.”
Next, she pulled a blue velvet pouch—at least the thieves had taken care to store them individually—from the safe, repeating the same routine.
“Tiara,” she said, her heart skipping.
She wouldn’t get too excited. Not yet. After she’d been through each bag, if all seven items were here, she’d celebrate.
Two tiaras and two brooches later, Maddy raised a double-strand diamond bracelet, the large center diamond nearly winking at her.
“The last of the queen’s collection,” she said, her eyes filling with moisture.
Relief mixed with joy and crashed in on her. They’d done it.
Recovered all the missing pieces. She’d be cleared. She knew it. Felt it right down to her bones. All because of Phin and his brothers.
She blinked her tears away, met each man’s gaze for a few short seconds before finally landing on Phin.
“Thank you,” she told him. “I’m so grateful.”
Despite his brothers surrounding them, Phin nodded, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head.
“We should be thanking you. We did this together.”
Together.
Yes, she supposed they did.
“Not to be the one to break up this little lovefest,” Cruz said, smacking his hands together. “But let’s get this stuff to the feds.”
Already exhausted from an eventful day,Maddy accompanied Phin, Zeke, Rohan, and Cruz to FBI headquarters.
Her preference would have been to go home with Phin, grab dinner, and settle in for a quiet night. All this excitement?
Too much.
The adrenaline surges alone were enough to wear her thin.
Her quiet night would have to wait.Almost there.First, the FBI had summoned them to a meeting. They wanted an explanation for activities that included her riding shotgun on the recovery of priceless jewels belonging to the Queen of England.
Just another day.
They stepped up to the X-ray machine where, on the other side, Special Agent Blackwell stood waiting.
