Chapter 10 - The Business Card
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Nora reached into her left pocket with her good hand.
“When she slammed the door on me,” Nora explained, her voice shaking, “she dropped the velvet box. But the man she was talking to had handed her a business card. It fell near my knee. While she was distracted, I took it.”
Nora placed the small, blood-smeared piece of thick cardstock onto the mahogany desk, right next to her broken fingers.
Luca leaned forward. He didn't touch the card immediately. He read the elegant black text printed on it.
Silas Vance. Appraisals and Acquisitions.
“I saw him arrive thirty minutes ago,” Nora added quickly. “He’s wearing a gray suit. He’s in your conservatory right now, drinking your brandy.”
Luca finally reached out and picked up the card. He rubbed the thick paper between his thumb and forefinger, staring at the smear of Nora’s blood on the corner.
The silence in the study was absolute. The grandfather clock in the corner ticked loudly, counting down the seconds of Nora’s life.
Luca leaned back in his leather chair.
“Silas Vance,” Luca murmured, a dark, terrifying smirk playing on his lips. “I know Silas. He specializes in moving stolen jewels on the black market in Europe. I always wondered how he secured his inventory.”
He looked at Nora. The maid in the cheap uniform who had just unraveled a multi-million dollar conspiracy out of sheer desperation.
“Why didn't you just run?” Luca asked softly.
“She locked the gates,” Nora said. “Her guards wouldn't let me out. She was going to have her bodyguard drag me to the cellar to silence me. I had nowhere else to go.”
Luca stood up slowly. He walked around the desk, stopping right in front of Nora. He towered over her, radiating a dangerous, overwhelming power.
“You are a very brave woman, Nora,” Luca said, his voice a low rumble. “Or a very desperate one.”
“I’m a mother,” Nora corrected fiercely.
May you like
Luca nodded slowly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
“Then let’s catch a thief,” he said.
