Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(82)

“What a waste.”

“They were sitting here in a box all these years.” She opened the other two velvet bags to find similar necklaces. One was some kind of silver, although she thought it was possibly platinum, with tiny diamonds on what appeared to be a spider’s web of a necklace. In a low voice she said, “These are very valuable, aren’t they?”

“I’m afraid so.” Eagle carefully packed them up, placed them on the bed behind the box, put the envelopes off to one side, and found the whole bottom underneath was layered with cash.

“Why would your mother have taken the other box and left this one behind?” Hawk asked in a low voice. “Or did she grab the wrong one by mistake?”

“She said it was blood money,” Issa said. “Part of the devil’s work.”

“Did she become religious after she left here?”

“Not that I know of. But she never would talk about this time of her life. I don’t know how much of it she was ashamed of versus how much was just too painful to talk about.”

Eagle took out the bills and found nothing else underneath, so he repackaged everything but the envelopes. “Let’s see what these are.” Opening the topmost envelope, he pulled out paperwork. “The top one is another copy of an old will of her father’s. He left everything to his three sons. Nothing to his wife and daughter. But the will was dated ten years after his last son was born. In a court of law, that inheritance would pass to the unborn daughter.”

“Or he knew I wasn’t his daughter and didn’t bother to revise it after I was born,” she said in a low voice. “Maybe all those relatives aren’t my relatives.”

Eagle grabbed the second envelope, opened it, and pulled out more documents. “It’s your mother’s old will. It leaves everything to her husband, nothing to anyone else.”

“Well, in that case, I don’t know what will happen to her estate.”

“When you closed her estate, was there another will?”

“Yes. It was with the lawyers. She left everything to me.” She tapped the paperwork in his hands. “Her husband died and her sons died before her. I was her only living relative, so by rights it comes to me anyway. Should we bring the local police in on this?”

The two men turned and studied her. “It could open a huge kettle of fish, you know?”

She turned to look at Hawk. “Personally I don’t care about any of these valuables. Panther already lost a tooth. The last thing I want is for either of those men to die because of me. This is all old lies and old deceit. None of it belongs in my world.”

Hawk looked at her with respect.

But Eagle was the voice of reason. “That may be the way for you. But I have a suspicion everyone around here will not agree. Deeds done twenty years ago are probably deeds they want settled quietly and swept away forever. They won’t want the local police involved. Not to mention”—he nodded toward the box—“this is a fortune for those people. And likely the other reason you were kidnapped.”

She glanced at the floor to see a small envelope. “Did you see this?”

He looked at it and frowned. “No. What is it?”

She opened it and pulled out a letter. “It’s from Angus to my mother.”

She read it aloud.

I always loved you. I understood your reasons for not leaving your husband. That you would have raised my daughter as his is too much to be believed. I was good enough for you to sleep with but not good enough for you to wed. Even at the beginning you were mine. But he had more than I had. If our situations were reversed, I would have had more and him less. But still I am poor because I don’t have you. All these years you let me into your bed, yet you never let me into your heart. You know this weekend things have changed. He’s no longer here. Even though he tried to kill me once, I had nothing to do with his death. I implore you to please don’t walk away. Bring your daughter, my daughter, to me, and let’s finally be together as we were always meant to be.

Your loving Angus

She sighed. “A note from our star-crossed lovers.”

“Star-crossed lovebird,” Hawk corrected. “I don’t think your mother was as invested in that relationship as much as he was.”

“In truth,” Issa said quietly, “my mother wasn’t invested in very much. I think she was basically happy with whoever would look after her. She didn’t like confrontation. She didn’t like strife. And she really didn’t like hard work. Her life with my dad was just that. Angus was a light on the side for her. But I don’t think she had any intention of walking away from the life she knew.”

“I highly suggest we go into town tomorrow morning and talk to the police,” Eagle said. “I know I’m the first to argue against that course of action, but, in this situation, too many angles, people, and cases are involved. And there’s a time and a place … There’s a good chance these jewels came from a well-publicized heist way back when. They should be returned to the rightful owners, correct?” Eagle glanced at his watch. “It’s late now. Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow things might look brighter.”

She looked at him. “You think we should go to the pub to meet everyone?”

“No, not yet. First off, we don’t even know if they’re your family.”