The Pandora Box

by Lilly Maytree

Hawk swore so loud that the pleasant hum of voices around their table paused .

  “We could be in some serious trouble, here.” Starr moaned. “A no-good Nazi, Russian spy! Holy fright, we could be…”

  Hawk shook his head and swore again.

  “I think it’s only me that’s in trouble, at the moment,” Dee tried to sound reassuring. “You would all just be considered innocent bystanders, since you’ve only known me for a few days. Especially if you quit right now.”

  Marion blinked. “What about me, I’ve known you for years! Dee Parker, this is worse than driving us into that slum—what am I going to tell my kids? I’ll be a disgrace to Bill’s memory!”

  “Marion, I’m so sorry!” Dee felt as if a crushing weight were pressing down on her. “But I think as long as you go home right away, you’ll be all right. I’m the one who actually took the ring from the safety deposit box. I guess they were watching it because they figured he’d come back for it sooner or later.”

  “What ring?” Hawk asked.

  Dee felt a stab of guilt at the worry she saw in his eyes. “The Strassgaard ring. They knew all about it. That I could only get it from Peterson and then only if I were collaborating with him in some way.”

  Now, it was Starr who wore the mask of astonishment. “You mean you got the Strassgaard ring? Right now? That’s a piece of the collection! By the hoagie—that’s proof right there that this thing is no hoax! What do you think, Hawk—she’s got the ring!”

  “I think our…partner…was holding out on us, that’s what I think.” He answered without taking his gaze off Dee. “And if this hadn’t happened, we might have—”

  “Just out of curiosity,” Starr turned back to Dee without waiting for him to finish, “what did they say it was worth?”

  “All they told me was that it’s listed on some international directory of stolen jewels and—”

  “Oh, dear Lord!” Marion moaned.

  “Whatever it’s worth,” Dee insisted, “it’s not what the FBI is after. They want Heinrich Keller. Of course, I told them I never heard of Heinrich Keller. But they didn’t believe me. I had the ring, I left town suddenly, and I left on Goering’s boat. Which is what implicated me and linked me with Keller. You see? You really are just innocent bystanders, so the best thing to do is quit right now.”

  She sighed, picked up her fork and pushed at the unfinished scampi. “All I have going for me is the fatal blunder story. Which is the truth—even though nobody believes it.”

  “It was fatal, all right,” Hawk accused. “Do you realize they investigated me?”

  “They investigated all of us, but I was the only one they picked up. I told them I befriended a crazy old man who left me a boat and a map and a tantalizing piece of jewelry to prove there was more. Which is all true, it really is. The fatal part was letting them believe that during the course of planning the trip, I fell in love with Hawkins and…eloped.”

  Marion gasped. “Dee Parker—that wasn’t fair to Hawk!”

  “They investigated all of us?” Starr bawled. “Holy fright, I haven’t filed my taxes for three years!”

  “You should have asked the rest of us before you agreed to work with them,” Hawk said.

  “Hawkins,” Dee finally felt her patience beginning to crumble. “I wasn’t in any position to call a committee meeting. I agreed because being unwilling to cooperate with your government is dangerously close to subversion when you’re being accused of…subversion!”

  “People go to jail for tax evasion,” Starr mumbled.

  “Quit being so evasive, sugar, and let’s have it. What kind of deal did you agree to?”

  “Nothing we weren’t doing in the first place. Just go after the diamonds. The same way before I knew any of this.”

  “So what’s the catch?” Hawk pressed. “You didn’t agree to something crazy like taking this Eddington along, did you?”

  Starr choked, belched, and then gasped. “Holy fright—a fed—right in the same boat with us?”

  “No, of course not,” Dee assured. “They just want us to keep on doing what we’re doing. Like I said, they’re not interested in the diamonds at all. They think whoever Keller was working with will be following us.”

  “Then I think we should all quit right now!” Marion declared.

  “I can’t quit. I look guilty. The only reason they didn’t arrest me on the spot was because I agreed to cooperate. The rest of you can quit, though. I’ll just hire someone else to—”

  “Who said anything about quitting?” Starr shoved the sleeves of his flannel shirt up past his elbows and leaned his forearms on the table. “I, for one, need a break like this, and that’s good enough for me. If they’re not going to interfere with us like Dee says then I say let’s go on.”

  “Well, I’d worry myself to death wondering what was happening to all of you if I stayed behind,” Marion relented. “So I guess I’ll have to go, too. What about you, Hawk?”

  “I’m not letting anyone else run my boat, I’ll tell you that much. “ Hawk turned his gaze back to Dee. “And listen, sweetheart, you better start sharing more than just what you get caught red-handed with. Such as million dollar rings that are hot enough to get us all in trouble.”

  “A million dollars!” Starr whispered.

  “We’ve got to straighten up and start pulling together,” Hawk challenged. “That means, sugar here lays everything out straight with us before somebody ends up in jail or dead.”

  A long, sobering silence descended, during which no one ate or drank.

  “What exactly do you suggest?” Dee finally ventured.

  “From now on, I make the decisions.”

  “All right by me,” Starr said. “Somebody’s gotta be responsible.”

  “I don’t like it.” Dee objected so fast it was more a response than an opinion.

  The others looked at her as if she had suggested treason.

  “Listen, sweetheart,” Hawk warned, “your little shenanigans over the last week have gotten us into more trouble than if you put a full page ad in the paper and let the whole country know what we’re up to. Between you flashing million dollar rings around and Marion sending postcards home like we were on some cruise ship to—”

  “How did you know about my postcards?” Marion’s expression was indignant. “Did you go through my drawers?”

  “I went through the boat from one end to the other while you women were out getting yourselves in trouble.”

  “That’s unethical!” Dee accused. “I don’t know how you can expect us all to put our faith in you if you continue to stoop to such—”

  Wayne Hawkins crashed his fist against the table with an incriminating swear word that could be heard halfway across the room. “Where’s the journal!”

  There was another break in the hum of restaurant noise.

  “It’s in my purse,” Dee replied quietly. “And if you say it any louder, Hawkins, we might as well auction it off right here.”

  “You mean you’re carrying it around with you wherever you go like some tour brochure?” He swore again.

  “Now, just a minute,” Starr intervened. “Both of you settle down. Hawk’s just worried you’ll let it fall into the wrong hands, Dee.”

  “If only it wasn’t so hard to figure out who the wrong hands were,” she complained.

  “Do you still have it, or don’t you?” Hawk asked.

  “Of course I have it.”

  “Then something is way wrong! Eddington should have confiscated it for evidence. The only reason he didn’t was if—”

  “He didn’t take the ring.”

  “He didn’t?”

  Dee shook her head.

  “He didn’t!” Starr said ecstatically.

  “He should have taken it.” Hawk worried. “It’s standard procedure in a case like this. I don’t get it. Unless…”

  “It was in my purse,” Dee explained. “Marion had it.”

  “Didn’t they go through all your things down
at the station, Marion?”

  “We never got to that part,” Marion replied. “I hardly got in the door before they told me there had been a misunderstanding. That Dee had been found, and I was free to go. But they wouldn’t tell me where she was. For all I knew, she was dead somewhere. They put me in a taxi with no more explanation than that. And that’s why I was so upset when I got back. I thought maybe they were notifying her family first.”

  “I’m so sorry, Marion.” A wave of sympathy washed over Dee. “That had to be awful!”

  Hawk got to his feet with a frustrated sigh. “I’ll see you all back at the boat. I need some air.”

  “Sit down and keep your shirt on.” Starr’s tone carried a ring of authority, and Hawk automatically sank back down again. “Now, all we need are two rules. Dee puts the valuables in the yacht’s safe, and we form pairs. Nobody goes any place alone anymore.” Starr glanced over at Marion. “Not even to snap a picture.”

  “The trouble with that,” Dee objected, “is I can’t trust Hawk not to…”

  “Listen, sugar, the thought of you and Marion running off by yourselves again gives me the creeps.”

  “You two will have to pair up,” Starr reasoned. “It’s the only way both of you can be sure of what the other one is or isn’t doing.”

  17

  Amends

  “I was the most surprised girl in the world.” ~ Nellie Bly

  Hawk stuck his head inside Dee’s cabin as she sat propped up in bed with pillows, typing away intently on her laptop computer. The short-sleeved, khaki shirt, with its light sand color against his tanned skin made him seem more attractive than usual. Or maybe it was a pleasant hint of some spicy aftershave or the sparkle in that smile.

  Caught off guard, Dee got butterflies and it startled her. “Would you mind not barging in without knocking?” She ran a frustrated hand through her uncombed hair. “At least while we’re in port?”

  “Come on, sugar, you’ve spent the whole morning in here and I need to run an errand.”

  “Don’t call me ‘sugar!’ And can’t it wait? I’ve got to finish this and send it off before we get out of Internet range.”

  “Finish what? Let me see it.”

  She pushed the save button and folded down the screen before he could look. “It’s just some installments for one of my regular columns. Nothing related to what we’re doing here.”

  “Then why all the secrecy?”

  “It’s not secrecy, Hawkins, just principle. Outside of Columbia staff, nobody sees what I write until it’s in print. If we’re leaving tonight, I have to get it finished and turned in today. I’m not retired like you. I still have to work for a living. I don’t believe you’re retired anyway. Nobody but millionaires retire before forty.”

  “Maybe I’m over forty.”

  “You’re thirty-seven.” She set her things aside and got up. “I looked at your driver’s license.”

  “So while you’re criticizing me for reading Marion’s postcards, you’ve been going through my wallet?”

  “What do you expect when you leave it on the counter? Now, get out of here, will you? So I can change into something decent. I’m not going to walk around town in a jogging suit.”

  Actually it was powder blue, top of the line, and had cost her eighty-five dollars. The nights were cold on the water, and after the first few experiences of being wakened by Hawk at all hours, she wasn’t about to be caught wearing pajamas. Being on this boat was giving her flashbacks of summer camp.

  Once outside along the famous wharf, the smell of fresh-baked sourdough bread and boiled crab permeated the air.

  Hawk flagged down a nearby cab. Dee, dressed in a rose-colored silk blouse, matching sandals, and a flower-print skirt, protested the confinement when it was such a lovely sunny day and the perfect time for a walk.

  “County courthouse,” he said to the driver.

  “County courthouse? Oh, Hawk, don’t tell me you’re going to do it!” She rummaged through her bag looking for some lip gloss as she talked. “You’re actually going to add me to the papers so everything’s fifty-fifty?”

  “Something like that. Do you have any identification in there?”

  “Of course. I have everything in here.”

  “I’ll bet. You don’t have a gun in there, do you?”

  “No, but I have a can of pepper spray on my key chain in case I run into any bad characters.”

  “Pretty useless. Most bad characters aren’t polite enough to wait around for you to get out your keys. Yesterday was a good example.”

  “Yesterday, I left my purse in the cafe.”

  “Sheesh…” He sighed and looked out the window. “Let’s not bring that up again.”

  The tall courthouse could have been anywhere in the country. There was a directory not far from the entrance and men and women were coming and going within the routine of their own personal agendas. Very few who acknowledged or even noticed anyone else.

  “Fifty million dollars is a lot of money.” Hawk scanned the directory while Dee waited.

  “It certainly is,” she agreed, “and it’s making us all act despicable.”

  “What’s it worth to you?”

  “To quote what someone else said recently…I’m here, aren’t I?”

  He pointed down a hall and they started in that direction. “You never asked many questions about me.”

  “You’re Captain Hawk. As for what type of person you are, you wear that right in the open. I knew the first time you talked to me. When you said: ‘What’s the deal, lady, you ever heard of knocking?”

  “I spent nineteen years with the government.”

  “You already told me that,” she reminded him. Amused that he suddenly seemed nervous, she tried to lighten things up. “I can see the headline now: Retired Army Major Discovers Famous Austrian Jewels. And I’m going to write it. Might even put me in line for a Pulitzer.”

  “Gonna put you in line for something, I can guarantee that.”

  Knowing how hard giving up half the boat must be on him, Dee’s heart softened. “Hey. You don’t know how much I appreciate this, Hawkins. It’s a real vote of confidence on your part, and believe me, I won’t forget it.”

  “Well, before you get all sentimental, maybe you could look at things from my perspective for a minute.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m a woman of my word. I said I’d sell my half back to you when this is all over, and I will.”

  “You willing to guarantee that? Legally?”

  “For heaven’s sake, what do you want me to do, sign in blood?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Let’s draw up a paper, then. Whatever we both agree on, and we can have it notarized while we’re here. Then we’ll both have more peace of mind.”

  “Peace of mind is important. I was up half the night trying to find some. I don’t think you realize what an incriminating position you put me in here.”

  “Hawk, I already told you how sorry I am about that. If there was any way I could take it back, I would.”

  “You linked my name with espionage in some pretty important circles. I might be retired but…” He looked down at her and lowered his voice. “Once you’ve signed yourself over to him, Uncle Sam can haul you back and court martial you anytime. Especially for something as big as treason.”

  “They didn’t officially bring any charges, once I agreed to cooperate.”

  “Well, it might not bother you to tell little white lies to the big boys, but I can’t afford to take chances. We’ve got to set everything straight. Right on down the line.”

  “So what do you want me to do? Sign a notarized affidavit that I never consulted you prior to my subversive acts?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Wayne Hawkins, that’s the third time you’ve used that phrase this morning, and it’s making me nervous.”

  They stopped outside an office with a sign above it that said, “Marriage Licenses.”

  Dee imme
diately started to back away. “Not on your life, Hawkins, are you kidding me?” She shook her head as she moved off. “Not even if you were—”

  “Will you just listen a minute?”

  “No.”

  “It solves everything.”

  “Solves everything for you, maybe. But I take things like this very seriously! Marriage is something you promise someone forever. Definitely not something to do for convenience, just to keep yourself out of trouble.”

  “Look at it from a different angle.”

  “Looking at something from a different angle doesn’t change what it is.”

  “It does if it’s business, and that’s all it would be. I promise.” He smoothed his mustache down, sighed, and raised his voice in frustration. “I’m not asking you to spend the rest of your life with me.”

  Another couple on their way in looked over at the startling remark.

  Hawk drew her away from the door and lowered his voice. “Listen. It lends integrity to your story. Just think about that for a minute.”

  Dee stared at a potted plant a few feet away, unable to look him in the eye as he talked. What’s worse, her heart started to beat faster, as if she were some school girl being asked to a dance.

  When he continued, his voice was low and cajoling. “It automatically puts Pandora in joint ownership status. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? What’s more, if anything goes wrong—and this is the important part, baby—if anything goes wrong, we wouldn’t have to testify against each other in court. Because frankly, the thought of you telling your version of the truth about me in front of some—”

  “Hawk!”

  “It gives me chills. Now, like I said, it would be strictly business. Then when all this is over, we can get a quiet divorce somewhere and go our separate ways. Live the rest of our lives out any way we want, with no worries. What do you say?”

  “I come from a family that doesn’t believe in divorce, that’s what I say.”

  “Annulment, then. Whatever you want to call it. Only this way, ten years from now, when I get picked up for being involved with you because you’re still out being subversive somewhere…”

  “I am not subversive!” She closed her eyes and shook her head for emphasis. “It was a fluke they even thought that about me.”