The Topaz Brooch: Time Travel Romance (The Celtic Brooch Book 10)

by Katherine Lowry Logan

  “Wait a minute. I said I’m not happy about your plan, but I won’t openly oppose you. And now, at the last minute, you want me to help you convince Elliott. How’d that happen?”

  He winked. “Because we have a magical, even spiritual relationship—soul mates who found each other across the cosmos—and we can communicate using telepathy.”

  She doubled over and laughed hysterically.

  Kenzie opened the door. “I thought I recognized your laugh. Come on in.” She stood aside while they entered to find Remy and Pete looking through the box of Viking coins and jewelry.

  “What’s so funny? Kenzie asked.

  Penny pointed at Rick while wiping away tears. “Sometimes I think I’m in the middle of a Broadway play, and for the life of me I can’t figure out if I’m watching musical theatre, a melodrama, a comedy, or a tragedy.”

  “Life is a ‘Cabaret,’ my dear…” Rick said, then sang…

  “What good is sitting alone in your room? / Come hear the music play. / Life is a cabaret, old chum… / Come taste the wine / come hear the band…”

  Kenzie looped her arm around Penny’s. “Come along, dear. I’ll rescue you. I brought wine, so how about a glass?”

  “Please,” Penny said, smiling over her shoulder at Rick.

  God, how I love that woman.

  “What’s the plan?” Rick asked, knowing what his plan was, but he wanted to hear Elliott’s first.

  “David found the specs from a recent remodeling project at the museum and located the security closet. He also broke into their computer system and found the code to the alarm. He can unlock a door remotely, and once the door is open, I’ll have fifteen seconds to get to the security box and enter the code before the alarm goes off.”

  “Are you sure about the code?” Rick asked.

  “If I’m not, whoever goes in will get busted,” David said.

  Rick hissed an impatient exhale through his teeth. “I knew we could count on the family’s master criminal.”

  David laughed. “I’ll remember that the next time ye need help with a problem ye can’t solve by searching Google.”

  “I’m going in alone,” Elliott said with the eye of a soldier—determined, tough, and ready. “I’m the logical choice.”

  “No, you’re not, Boss. I am,” Remy said, playing his drumsticks against the arm of his chair. Ba-dum-chsh! “And I’ve told you that a hundred times already.”

  “You haven’t been inside the museum,” Rick said. “You’ll waste time looking for the right display case. I’ve been there, and I know exactly where to go. And that goes for both of you.”

  “This isn’t open for discussion,” Elliott said. “I’ve already studied the pros and cons, and I’m the guy for this.”

  Rick flashed his eyebrows.

  “We’ve charted the pros and cons, too.” Penny attempted a smile, but her eyes didn’t bother. “And you have more Xs than Os.”

  “I don’t care about yer chart, Wilhelmina.”

  “Well, you sure as hell should. And stop being a stubborn asshole. You can’t go. You’ll blow up the mission. Look, as soon as I saw the torc, I had a physical reaction. I froze in place, and then the vision came. If I go, it could happen again.”

  “I wouldn’t let ye go,” Elliott said.

  Penny pointed her finger at him. “It could also happen to you, Boss, and would likely happen to David.”

  Pete closed the velvet-lined walnut box with a thump and picked it up. “Great. That frees me to go since I haven’t had a vision or a nightmare about the damn thing.”

  “Put it down, Pete. Other reasons disqualify you,” Rick said. “You’ve got a wife and kids, and one of them is here with you. You can’t take the risk, and the same goes for Kenzie.”

  Remy took the box away from Pete. “There’s no reason I can’t go.”

  “I’ve already told you why you can’t,” Rick said. “You haven’t been inside the museum, and you’ll lose time finding your way around. I’m the logical choice.”

  “Have ye two been plotting this for the past four hours?” Elliott asked.

  Penny gave Elliott a coy smile. “Not all of it. We had other things to do, but we did analyze the pros and cons of each one of us. In the pros column, Rick scores higher than everyone else.”

  “At least let me go with you,” Remy said. “Something could come up, and you’ll need another pair of hands.”

  “I’m not going to argue. If Remy wants to come, that works for me. David can remain in the SUV with his laptop to override the security system to open the door as well as monitor the system while we make the exchange,” Rick said.

  Elliott rolled a half-empty shot glass between his palms. “I can’t argue with yer analysis. But I intend to be in the SUV with David.”

  “Then let’s roll,” Rick said. “You got the gear bags?”

  “Yep. NVGs and a lock-pick set.”

  Pete hustled toward the door. “You’re not leaving me out of this.”

  Rick clapped Pete’s shoulder, squeezing it. “Stay with Kenzie, Penny, and the kids. We can handle the gig, but we need to know you’re here with them if this black op turns into a shitshow.”

  Pete’s face said he didn’t like it at all. “You fuck this up, man…”

  “I’ll make it up to you,” Rick said.

  Pete grinned. “Make me your best man.”

  Rick looked at him, smiling slightly. “Deal.” Then he hugged and kissed Penny. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours, babe. This is almost over.”

  She kissed him back. “You’d better call me as soon as you get out of the museum. If you don’t, you’ll end up sleeping on the sofa.”

  “You better believe you’ll get a text.” He held her as close as he could, then released her without saying another word, and they all left the room, with Remy carrying the walnut box that looked like Rick’s mom’s silver service chest.

  Rick rubbed the rosary in his pocket with the new cross his dad sent him. The cross had been a wedding anniversary gift from his mom—their last—and the symbolism added an entirely different meaning to his beloved treasure. It was now his parents’ rosary.

  Let’s get this done.

  Ten minutes later, he rode off the castle’s property with David, Remy, Elliott, Tavis, and three other Northbridge bodyguards.

  Elliott’s phone screen lit up the back seat of the SUV. Although Rick couldn’t see what Elliott was doing, he assumed he was texting Meredith. Within seconds the phone beeped with an incoming message. Elliott scrolled down the screen, then clicked it off and pocketed the device.

  “What’s the plan?” Tavis asked.

  “Drive past the museum and park,” David said. “Rick and Remy will get out and return within five minutes. That’s all ye need to know.”

  An hour later, they crossed over the canal bridge and turned toward the museum. “We’ll park at the corner of the next block,” Tavis said.

  “There’s a side door that comes out next to the security closet. I’ll open that one,” David said. “I’ll tell ye as soon as the door’s unlocked, then ye’ll have fifteen seconds to disable the alarm. After that, ye’ll have five minutes to make the switch and get the hell out before the override alarm goes off.”

  “Where’s the code?” Remy asked.

  Rick tapped his temple.

  “Shit. Tell me you have a backup.”

  Rick laughed. “Damn. You’re so easy.”

  “Doan fuck with me, O’Grady.” The SUV rolled to the corner and stopped. Remy climbed out and met Tavis at the rear of the vehicle while the tailgate slowly opened. Remy grabbed the box out of the cargo space.

  “Open it,” Tavis demanded.

  “Doan you fuck with me either, Tavis. Ya think I switched out the good stuff for fakes?”

  “I’m doing my job. Open it.”

  Remy opened it, and Tavis clicked the button on the Maglite he produced from his pants pocket and swung the beam slowly over the coins and jewelry, car
efully arranged on red velvet.

  “I thought you were only bringing a dozen pieces,” Tavis said, with a steely glance loaded with a truckload of suspicion.

  “Elliott thought a few more would be…I doan know…more interesting. Take a piece,” Remy said. “Any piece ya want. Just take it.”

  “What? So this is junk you can give away like a souvenir or something?”

  “Shit, no. I’m giving ya one, so ya can take it to an archeologist and have it evaluated or something. Then you’ll know it’s real Viking stuff.”

  “I don’t want one. If they’re fakes, I’ll read about it in the newspaper.”

  “Let’s move out, soldier,” Rick said. “I’m clicking on my headset. See you guys in five minutes.”

  Rick and Remy reached the side door and, while waiting for David’s signal, slipped on tight-fitting leather gloves. The nondescript velcro wristband on Rick’s pair held his lock-pick tools.

  “Door’s unlocked. Good luck,” David said.

  They put on their night vision goggles, hurried inside, and made their way to the security closet. Rick’s heart was in his throat as he punched in the code and waited for the signal that he’d successfully disarmed the alarm system.

  “System disarmed,” he said.

  “Time: 5:00,” David said.

  “Copy that,” Rick said. “The stairs are this way.”

  They hustled up two flights of stairs and turned right into the room with the Viking exhibition. His heart was still in his throat, but he didn’t have time to waste on shit like fear right now.

  Their footsteps echoed in muted thumps as they moved across the wide-planked floor toward the display case.

  “Time: 4:30.”

  “It’s the fourth display case.” Earlier, Rick was so focused on Penny’s condition that he hadn’t paid any attention to the torc. Now, looking at it for the first time, he was unimpressed.

  “Time: 4:20.”

  He selected the tension wrench and pick from the pocket in the wristband, but the wrench slipped out of his hand and hit the floor.

  Fuck.

  Sweat dripped off his forehead.

  Calm down, asshole.

  He snatched up the wrench and held both tools firmly while he inserted the wrench in the bottom of the keyhole and the pick at the top.

  “Time: 3:40.”

  While applying slight torque to the wrench, he scrubbed the pick back and forth in the keyhole, sweating like a maniac, his pulse pounding in his neck.

  “Time: 3:10.”

  He repeated the action until all the pins set and the lock opened. Slight relief washed over him but disappeared just as quickly. They still had to make the switch and get the hell out.

  “Time 2:40.”

  “Copy that.” Rick’s voice was calm, but his body was rioting. He removed the necklace and wrapped it in a piece of foam wrap while Remy removed the coins and jewelry from the box.

  “Time: 2:10.”

  Watching Remy spread the items around the inside of the display case ate up Rick’s last, best nerve. Then Remy paused to take a picture of the display, and Rick wanted to grab him by the collar and yank him the fuck out.

  “What the hell’s that for?”

  “Time: 1:10.”

  “Tavis will wanna know I really left the replacement pieces.”

  “Ya think?” Rick relocked the display case.

  “Time: 0:50.”

  “Fuck, yeah. I think.”

  “Ye’re on an open mic,” David reminded them.

  “Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here,” Rick said.

  They ran through the exhibition room.

  “Time: 0:40.”

  And down the two levels of stairs.

  “Time: 0:10.”

  They removed their night vision goggles before Rick pushed open the door, then they stepped out into the cool night air.

  “We’re out,” Rick said.

  “Time: 0:01.”

  “Hell, yeah! Time to spare,” Remy said.

  Rick unsuccessfully stifled a yelp as his fear subsided, and he glared at Remy. The last thing Rick wanted to do was celebrate. Committing a felony went against everything he stood for as a cop, and although he no longer wore the uniform, he stood by the values it represented…and rationalizing his actions didn’t make him feel any better. In this one case, though, he had no other choice.

  They walked toward the corner, and although he wanted to run like hell, they kept it slow and easy, and found the SUV, with the engine running, right where they left it.

  Tavis stepped out of the shadow of the vehicle, startling the shit out of Rick, the adrenaline surged, sending his pulse pounding against his eardrums.

  “Let me see it,” Tavis demanded.

  “Later,” Rick said.

  Tavis moved to stand in front of him. They were close in size, but if this confrontation escalated, Tavis was fifteen years younger and would probably beat the shit out of him.

  “We’re not leaving till I see it,” Tavis said. “You just committed a goddamn felony, and if we all get busted, I want to know it was worth it. Let me see the fucking necklace.”

  Rick’s pulse flared again, along with his anger, and he attempted to brush Tavis off, but the bodyguard wasn’t having it and stood his ground. “I thought you were working for us. Not the other way around.”

  “I just covered your asses. I want to see what you stole.”

  “Let’s get out of here. I’ll show it to you later.”

  Tavis’s hand went to his hip near his concealed Glock. “We’re not leaving till I see it. What part of that don’t you understand?”

  “Goddamn it, Tavis. What the hell ya gonna do? Shoot me?” Whatever was biting Tavis in the ass wasn’t going to stop until he laid eyes on the torc. Rick unwrapped the package and held it out for him to see.

  Tavis shined his Maglite on the torc, and a muscle tightened beneath the heavy stubble on his jaw. “Put it away. I’ve seen enough.” Then he whipped around and climbed into the front passenger seat without making further demands.

  What the hell was that about?

  Rick and Remy climbed in, and the driver pulled away from the curb.

  “Ye got it?” Elliott asked.

  “Yeah, Boss. We got it.” Remy finger-drummed on the back of the driver’s seat. Ba ba ba boom.

  David backed out of the museum’s computer system, closed his laptop, and blew out a breath. “I’m too old for this shite.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” Rick texted Penny that they got the torc and were back in the vehicle, and she sent back a message with only hearts and kisses emojis. He’d have to take a shower to wash off the stink of fear before he held her again.

  Damn. I’ll be glad when this is over.

  77

  Gothenburg, Sweden—Rick

  The return to the castle was the quickest trip they’d made all week. Of course, it was one o’clock in the morning and traffic was light. No one spoke, and Rick let his mind wander back to Penny. It took only two seconds of seeing her naked in his mind for his dick to respond.

  So he switched to thoughts of soccer and how much he enjoyed watching the game with her. But remembering her excitement and thinking about their children playing the game one day did little to help his now extreme discomfort.

  In desperation, he replayed the break-in to see where he could have shaved off a few seconds. David would ask later, and as much as Rick hated to admit it, dropping the wrench had cost him precious seconds. At least he’d kept his cool. If it had happened two months ago, he might not have recovered so quickly.

  As soon as they entered the castle, Elliott said, “Come to my suite. Let’s decide what time we’re leaving in the morning.”

  Rick sent Penny a message that he was back, but Elliott wanted to talk about their departure. She surprised him and was standing at Elliott’s door, yawning. He kissed her as if he hadn’t seen her in a month.

  “I was sweating like a pig. I probab
ly stink.”

  “You think I care?” She put her arms around his neck. “I was so worried. If I was a nail-biter, I wouldn’t have any nails left. Let’s go to our room so I can show you how much I missed you?”

  Elliott sidestepped them to get into his suite. “Not yet, Wilhelmina.”

  Kenzie gave David a big hug and kiss. “I’ve been worried about you, too, McBain. We’re too old for this kind of crap.”

  “I said the same thing an hour ago.” He squeezed her ass. “I’ll make it up to ye in about thirty minutes. Are the boys asleep?”

  She nodded, swaying to music only they could hear.

  Rick took Penny’s hand, and they crossed over to the bar. “Committing a felony isn’t a reason to celebrate, but we now have possession of the torc.”

  “I always encourage clients to celebrate when they break the law,” Kenzie said, tongue-in-cheek while holding out her hand for a glass of whisky.

  “Cool it, Lady McBain. MacCorp is your only client, and your husband breaks the law at least once a day.” Rick filled a shot glass and handed it to her. “You have no idea what he does on the dark web—that hotbed of criminal activity.” And now Rick was a criminal too.

  Okay, this is bothering me way too much. I need to grow a pair.

  Kenzie tossed back a hefty swallow. “You’re right, and I don’t want to know.”

  Rick removed the wrapped torc from his pocket. “Remy, lock this up somewhere. I don’t want it any closer to Penny than it’s already been.”

  Remy put it inside the velvet-lined box and locked it. “I’ll put it in the safe in my room when I go back there.”

  Someone pounded on the door. “Fraser. Open up.”

  Rick opened the door, and Tavis marched in. “Looks like whatever was chewing on your ass still is.”

  Tavis stomped past Rick and headed straight to Elliott. “I got a call from headquarters. My supervisor wanted to know what the hell was going on here. He got a wire transfer from you and wanted to know if we’d finished the job. I told him not yet, that we were going to Shetland for a brief stopover, then we’d be done.”

  “I told ye I was going to do that,” Elliott said. “So why are ye pissed?”

  “I told him you offered me a job. He said he already knew, and he’d release me whenever I was ready to go. When’d you tell him about the job offer?”