Michael said as he handed Becci the pen.
She wished her aunt had stayed up, but she’d been
exhausted. The party had been for nothing, and the long evening
had taken its toll on both of them. She just wanted to be alone
so she could think about her and Caleb. She’d been about to go
to her room when Michael had returned. He said he’d stayed
outside to smoke and wait for the others to leave so they could
have a little privacy while they went over the papers for the
sale of her home.
“What am I signing?” she asked, shoving her sleeves up
over her elbows. She poised the pen just above the line waiting
for Michael’s answer.
“Just a bunch of mumbo jumbo so complicated that it can
hardly be explained. Trust me. It’s all legal.”
“I’m sure it is. When will I receive the money for the sale?”
Becci asked, straightening to look at him.
“The funds are set up to go into an account by the end of
the week.”
Becci picked up the top sheet and started reading.
“Damn it, Becci. It is not really necessary for you to read
every word. You’re acting as if you don’t trust me.”
“Maybe I don’t.” Becci slapped the paper and pen down
on the table.
“Now, Becci, be...”
“Half the blanks aren’t even filled in,” Becci interrupted.
“I’ll take care of that later. It’s three in the morning, and I
know you’re as anxious for me to leave as I am to get out of
here.”
“You’re right. Why don’t you just leave the papers? After
I’ve rested, I’ll read them. I want to discuss the offer with Aunt
Lilly. When she and I come to an agreement, I’ll sign and
forward everything to you by courier.”
“No. Just sign the damn things and be done with it.”
“If you do you’ll regret it the rest of your life,” Caleb’s
husky masculine voice preceded him through the door. “Where
I come from a handshake is as good as a man’s signature. But
from what I’ve learned since I arrived here, that doesn’t apply
nowadays, especially not with this man.”
“This is none of your business,” Michael snapped.
“What are you doing here?” Becci demanded at the same
time.
“I’m trying to find Jacobs, and I must have the medallion
before we can leave.”
Becci wanted to scream. He was here for that blasted
medallion. “Michael, I’m not going to sign anything right now.
Why don’t you just leave the papers and go home?”
She turned to Caleb, letting her gaze start at his mudencrusted
boots and drift upward. He’d changed from the
clothes he’d worn to the party into the thick cotton shirt and
pants he’d had on the day he arrived.
His hat was pulled low over his eyes, but she had no trouble
remembering the emotions she’d seen in them over the past
few weeks. She tried to stifle the flutter of desire that swept
through her, but it was impossible. Her fingers still tingled
with a need to touch him, and her heart continued to race with
excitement. Even now, after all she’d learned about him, she
wanted him. She would never see those twilight-blue eyes
glisten with excitement or darken in passion again. Never.
“I had hoped you would decide not to sell the house,” Caleb
said, snapping her attention back to him.
“I don’t know what I’ll do yet. I need to talk to Aunt Lilly
first,” Becci returned, suddenly feeling angry toward both men.
Caleb only wanted the medallion, and Michael only wanted
his finder’s fee for the buyer he’d found. “I’ll get the medallion
and the box.”
She whirled around, leaving before either of them had a
chance to speak.
Michael tapped the legal documents into an even stack,
slipped them into a large envelope and tossed it onto the table.
Reaching for his jacket, he shrugged into it and raised his gaze
to Caleb’s.
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll stick around until you make
your exit. But don’t plan on taking the medallion with you. I
have other plans for it. As far as the house is concerned, once
Becci signs these papers, I’ll own it, too.”
“Becci will never sign.”
“I’ll still have the gold medallion.”
Caleb took off his hat and placed it on the hook beside the
back door as he spoke. “The medallion is not gold, it’s orichalc.
It also isn’t yours or mine. It belongs to an existence far more
advanced than any we know and has powers no one can
understand, not even its keeper. At least that’s what this book
says.” Caleb pulled a small book from his shirt pocket. It was
the one he’d found hidden in Obadiah’s top hat when he’d tried
on the clothes the first time.
He hadn’t realized what he’d found until tonight when, as
he dressed for the party, he saw the front cover clearly—two
circles, one containing hands clasped in friendship, the other
with hands raised in anger. He’d only read the first paragraph,
but it had been very informative.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Michael said.
“You’re wrong, Ascott. I do know. I am its keeper.”
For the first time he realized the significance of the position.
No one could knowingly take it through the door without a
keeper. If they tried, death would soon follow.
Death.
“Becci!” he whispered, alarmed. He ran for the staircase.
He had to stop her before she touched the medallion.
***
A distant, whispered scream of pain sent a tingle of
apprehension through Becci. It’s only the wind, she assured
herself as she slowly climbed the stairs. When she reached the
top she glanced down the long, dark hall. Never had she been
afraid in her own house, and there was no reason to be afraid
now. Besides, Caleb and Michael were still in the kitchen. If
anyone was up here, all she had to do was scream, and they’d
come running.
The constant flashes from the early summer storm gave
the upstairs an almost ghoulish atmosphere. Wind whistled
through the open window at the end of the hall.
Her heart pounded. Each breath became more difficult to
draw in. An aura of gold, red and blue swirled around the
bedroom’s entry. She shook her head. The lights were an illusion
caused by the lightning. They had to be. There was no other
explanation for them.
Becci drew in a shaky breath and expelled a sigh. This is
crazy. I have nothing to fear.
She raked a trembling hand over her head and entered her
room. A gust of wind from the open window assaulted her,
bringing with it a strange yet familiar odor. She moved toward
the dresser.
She had to give the medallion to Caleb. The coin would
take him away, but it would also give him the ability to come
back to her if he wanted to. She didn’t know how she knew
that, but she did.
Becci opene
d the carved top of the small box. A shudder
of apprehension rippled through her as her fingers grazed the
warm coin and circled the cold chain. Reverently, she lifted it.
Earlier she’d been too angry and too hurt to see it’s beauty.
Now she realized she’d never seen anything so beautiful. Was
this the one Rebecca said Obadiah gave in payment for a
woman’s services? Or the one she’d given to Caleb?
Lightning flashed, and the gold caught each bright ray.
Slim, erratic bolts skittered across the room as the medallion
whirled in circles.
Becci gazed at the coin, hypnotized by its design. In a
whisper of time she heard a baby’s tears and a woman’s painful
sob. A man’s scathing laugh followed, and there was another
mournful cry from the woman.
Then she heard one word, drawn out. Noooo.
Its grievous tone tore at her very soul. With the sound came
a misty haze that seeped into every corner of the room, bringing
with it a sense of danger.
She heard a limb scrape glass, reminiscent of fingernails
across a chalkboard. The wind bellowed, matching the roar of
a freight train, and rain pelted the glass in the rapid-fire of a
machine gun.
Suddenly, she shivered. Someone was in the room with
her. She pivoted around. From the shadows a man crept out, a
knife raised high above his head. The knife swept toward her,
and Becci screamed.
Twenty-one
“Hold it,” Ascott ordered, catching Caleb by the shoulder.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“Wrong, Ascott,” Caleb said shoving the man’s hand away.
“Becci’s in danger. I’ve got to stop her from bringing the
medallion downstairs.”
“She’ll be fine, and you’re not leaving this room until I
say you can go. Besides, the time lock is either closed or only
works in one direction. I know. When I first arrived, I tried to
go back. I even knew that the medallion was the key, but it
doesn’t work all the time.” Michael paused, arched his brows
and asked, “How are Rebecca and Saul? Is she still as beautiful
as ever?”
Shock rippled through Caleb. Surely he’d heard wrong.
“You know Rebecca and Saul?”
Michael laughed—a cynical, cutting laugh that sent a chill
down Caleb’s spine.
“Yeah, I know them, and Obadiah, too. You should have
seen the look on their faces when I vanished.”
Caleb raked his hand through his hair and glanced toward
the family room. The lighted kitchen and the dark entry were
stark in their contrast. The shadows seemed to come alive with
more than the gentle breeze blowing through an open window
somewhere in the house.
“Use your head, Harrison,” Ascott said, rubbing his left
shoulder as he spoke. “I saw you once, too. When you were
engaged to Elizabeth, and a fine woman she was.”
Caleb let his gaze return to Ascott, and he stared at him in
bewilderment. What was he talking about? How had he known
Elizabeth?
“You really don’t remember…or maybe you don’t want to
remember. That’s understandable, considering the
circumstances. It also took me a while to figure out just who
you were.”
Ascott ran his hand over the file folder on the table. “You
caused me a great deal of trouble back then.” He laughed again.
“I guess you really didn’t get a good look at me after I shoved
Elizabeth at you. Great plan, having you arrested for my
murder.”
Ascott reached inside his jacket and pulled out a deerskin
pouch with the initials E.M. burned into the supple leather. “If
you have doubts of my identity, look at this. Recognize it?”
Caleb clenched and unclenched his fist. This was the man
he’d found Elizabeth with! The man he thought he’d killed.
His confusion shifted to fury in a heartbeat. He wanted to grab
the man and…He forced his temper back into control. Beating
Ascott half to death wouldn’t bring Elizabeth back, and he had
to concentrate on getting to Becci.
Ascott arched his brows and held the bag up. “You do
recognize it, don’t you?”
Caleb nodded. He’d been the one to stitch the bag and burn
the letters to mark it as Elizabeth’s. He’d given it to her a week
before she’d been killed.
Oddly, the only emotion he felt was a deep regret for the
loss of such a vibrant woman. No hate, nor anger, nor
bereavement over a love lost.
“I knew what Elizabeth did for a living. She said it was the
only way she had of surviving,” he said.
“That was true enough,” Michael replied as he bounced
the bag lightly in his palm. “But she made a good income at it.
Those little tent towns always did have men wanting to part
with their money for a willing woman, especially one as young
and pretty as Elizabeth. In my position I could line up as many
men as Elizabeth could handle. Night or day.”
Ascott curled his fingers around the top of the drawstring
and shook it in front of Caleb.
“She and I did our fair share of trading, too. The last time
we did business I received a little more for my half of her take
than the pleasures of her soft, warm body.”
Caleb flinched at the memory of Elizabeth slumped in his
arms, her life tragically over. He tried to remember the gambler
who had shared his bedroll with Elizabeth. Was it really Ascott?
Closing his eyes, he replayed the scene. The killer’s hand
had a thin scar that blazed a crooked river across his knuckles—
a scar exactly like the one on Ascott’s hand. His eyes flew
open.
“How long have you been here?” Caleb asked, trying to
keep the anxiety he was feeling out of his voice.
“About four years. Walked right in here and made myself
at home. Did you know that they have places that pay a fortune
for those small, gold nuggets? Of course I’ve long since used
up all the gold I had, but it got me started. And food is easy to
come by once you have money.”
Caleb didn’t respond but slowly eased toward the hallway.
Ascott was so busy bragging about himself that, hopefully, he
wouldn’t realize Caleb was moving until it was too late.
“It took me nearly a year to really adjust. This is a great
time to live, even if it is full of stupid people. Everyone is so
willing to help you learn, especially if they think you’re from
overseas.” Ascott casually sauntered across the room to block
the doorway.
Caleb inwardly cursed but still didn’t speak. As long as
Ascott was enthralled with the sound of his own voice, he’d
have a better chance of escaping.
“Yes, people here are stupid, and Becci is the perfect
example. She believes I’m a financial consultant.” He laughed
again. “Truth is, I’m a dealer at a gambling hall down in Tunica,
Mississippi. Nice little place, Tunica. You ought to visit it
sometime. There is more money in that place than
ever existed
back in the Raleigh we knew.”
As he spoke, he grasped Elizabeth’s pouch at the top and
loosened the leather strap. “But you’re not interested in the
gold are you? Not even this piece.”
Michael drew a medallion from the bag, carefully avoiding
the swinging coin. The circular piece whirled between them.
“What do you think about this little jewel?”
Caleb tried to keep the shock out of his expression. Ascott
hadn’t lied. He held an exact duplicate of the medallion Caleb
had stashed in Becci’s trinket box.
“I see I’m wrong. You are interested in it. This one belonged
to Obadiah Berclair.”
“Obadiah? Then how come you have it?”
“He gave it to Elizabeth for services rendered. She was
only supposed to hold it until he could pay up. But she took a
liking to it and decided to keep it, even though she couldn’t
wear it. Some miner would have stolen it right off her. She said
she’d never had anything so pretty. Obadiah was furious.”
Ascott leaned against the door frame and swung the
medallion in a circle around his fist. Brilliant flashes shot from
the coin, rivaling the lightning outside.
“Obadiah paid me to get this one from Elizabeth. He told
me how powerful having both medallions would make him.
Of course I didn’t believe him. He was drunk at the time. You
know the rest of the story. I was completing my deal with
Elizabeth when you walked in on us. Really bad timing on
your part, Harrison.
Caleb glanced from Ascott to the medallion as it slowed.
That’s when Caleb noticed the scratch that identified the
medallion as his mother’s.
“Once I recovered from your stray bullet,” Ascott said,
drawing Caleb’s attention back to him. “I came to Raleigh to
steal the other medallion. I tricked Eli. Told him I’d brought
the coin Obadiah lost, but I wanted to be sure it was really the
duplicate. I refused to give it to him until I saw the one it
matched. We were on our way to Eli’s bedroom when I vanished
and ended up here. I figured it was only a matter of time before
someone else showed up with the second medallion, and I was
right.”
Caleb glanced at the hallway. Apprehension swept through
him. If Becci brought the coin down...He couldn’t finish the
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