reason why his duffel was packed and waiting. He’d learned that Nell was heading to the castle on Sunday after her book signing today in Georgetown and a few days with her sister Piper. By joining her, he could kill two birds with one stone. Make sure she was safe and find the necklace.
The damn thing had always fascinated him.
The image flashed into his mind of the first time he’d seen the painting of Eleanor wearing her sapphires. He and his brothers had been ten, and their newly divorced mother, Professor Beth Sutherland, had made arrangements with A. D. MacPherson to research Beth’s first historical novel in the castle’s library. Part of the arrangement she’d negotiated had allowed her to bring her triplet sons along to the castle every day. Thus had begun a long summer of playdates that he and Cam and Duncan had shared with the MacPherson sisters.
Of course the oil painting had only hinted at the beauty of the jewels, but he’d felt something as he’d stood beneath the portrait that day and had listened to the story of Angus and Eleanor’s flight from Scotland to the New World. The older girls had let little Nell do most of the talking, and all through the recital, Reid hadn’t been able to take his eyes off the jewels.
Tradition held that this artwork in the main parlor was Eleanor’s wedding portrait, and the priceless sapphires were her dowry. But after her death there was no proof of their existence. Reid imagined that her children and grandchildren had searched the castle thoroughly, but they’d never found the sapphires. The long-missing “treasure” had become the focus of many of the games he and his brothers had played with the MacPherson sisters that summer.
It was on that day, looking at the painting, that he’d made a promise to himself that one day he would find Eleanor’s dowry. Of course life had interrupted. When the summer had ended, their mother had taken them back to Chicago and resumed her teaching responsibilities. But Reid had never forgotten the jewels or the story that Nell had woven about her ancestors.
Seven years ago, he and his brothers had returned to the castle for a brief visit on the day that their mother had married A. D. MacPherson beneath the castle’s legendary stone arch. That had been the last time he had crossed the MacPherson girls’ paths. He and Cam and Duncan had been seniors in college and totally focused on their careers. Cam had already interviewed at the CIA. Duncan had his sights set on working in the behavioral science division of the FBI, and Reid’s own goal had been to land a job in the Secret Service. None of those careers left much time for family. So even though they were technically stepbrothers and stepsisters, it hadn’t been until this summer that their lives had intersected again.
A tap sounded on the door, and Lance Cabot rose from his chair. “My vacation adventure calls.” At the door, he turned back. “Good luck finding the sapphires. But in two weeks, I expect you back on the job. By then I will have figured out your secret move.”
“Not worried.”
“You should be.”
Reid could hear Cabot’s laughter even after he shut the door behind him. But he didn’t smile. His conversation with the VP had only increased what his instincts had been telling him ever since Piper and Duncan had found the second earring. Nell could be in serious danger.
The cable news correspondent hadn’t spent much time at all on Deanna Lewis. But Reid’s family had been digging into her background for the past ten days. She’d been born and raised in London, the only daughter of Mary and Douglas Lewis. Deanna’s mother had died when she was three, her father when she was a freshman in college. She’d been working as a freelance photographer when she’d sold the senior editor of Architectural Digest on the idea of doing a feature article on Castle MacPherson. In short, she was everything she’d represented herself to be when she’d appeared at the castle that day and abducted Piper.
And Deanna still had a partner out there. Someone who not only wanted the sapphires but who believed he had a right to them. Deanna Lewis had claimed that the sapphires had never been Eleanor’s dowry, that she’d stolen them when she’d fled Scotland with Angus. It all boiled down to a priceless fortune in jewels and someone who was willing to do anything to lay hands on them.
That put the MacPherson sisters in serious danger. Fortunately his brothers had been on the scene when the worst of the trouble had erupted, and they were each sticking like glue to the older sisters. Cam had Adair with him in Scotland working with A.D. and their mother to see if they could find out who might claim the sapphires on that end. His brother Duncan was keeping a close watch on Piper now that she was working on a high-profile defense case in D.C.
That left Nell. Frowning, Reid picked up his pen and drew it through his fingers. So far the danger had been focused on the castle. But that could change. The sense of urgency that had been plaguing him for over a week now bumped up a notch when his cell blasted out his brother Cam’s ringtone. His brother seldom called with good news. But he was in Scotland. It couldn’t be about Nell. Taking the call, he spoke the standard phrase he and his brothers always used.
“Problem or favor?” And he willed it to be the latter.
“NEITHER,” CAM SAID. “And this is a conference call. Duncan’s on the line, too. Mom asked me to call.”
Cam’s tone had most of Reid’s tension easing.
“Congratulations, Cam,” Duncan said. “Usually Mom calls Reid to pass on the messages. Clearly the pecking order has changed.”
Grinning now, Reid leaned back in his chair. The fact that their mom usually called him first was something that his brothers had razzed him about since they’d gone away to college. She’d been a very busy professor then, and since he’d been the firstborn of the triplets, she’d put him at the top of her phone tree. The habit had stuck. “Let me add my congratulations, too,” Reid said. “I’m perfectly willing to hand that particular torch over to you, Cam.”
“Of course, it could be a case of out of sight, out of mind,” Duncan said. “Cam’s over there with her in Scotland. You’re not.”
That was true enough. Their mother had gained access to the library at the old Campbell estate that Eleanor had fled from with Angus so long ago. Beth was interested in uncovering the story that had led up to their flight to the New World to use in her latest historical novel. With the added information Deanna Lewis had brought to the table, they were all interested. “How can either of you be sure that Mom hasn’t already called me?” Reid asked.
The beat of silence gave Reid great satisfaction. He leaned back in his chair.
“She hasn’t,” Cam said firmly.
Duncan laughed. “Keep thinking that, Cam.”
“I know she hasn’t called him yet because Adair and I were just with her when she discovered it in the library. Many of the books there were damaged or destroyed in a fire about six months ago, but leave it to Mom to dig up something.”
Reid set down his pen. “What did she find?”
“Yeah.” The teasing tone had disappeared from Duncan’s voice. “Is it something that will help us identify the person Deanna Lewis was working with when she attacked Piper?”
“I’m hoping it will give us a start,” Cam said. “Mom came across an old family Bible with part of the Campbell family tree sketched on the inside cover page. Eleanor’s name
