Page 76 of Uncharted

“We should take it out. There’s too much fabric,” Haley says.

“Right.” I take the monstrosity off the hanger and pull and pull the length of the dress out of the bag. There’s a thump. A very non-fabric-like thump.

Chapter34

Rocky Outcropping

Haley

Easton and I freeze—the only sound in the room is Calvin’s snoring. “You don’t think...?” We both fight with the voluminous dress, getting it onto the empty bed. Out of the garment bag, it’s even worse than I thought when it was in the bag. I tussle with it, shoving it out of the way, and drop to my knees. Easton’s on the floor too.

“Do you see anything?” I’m reaching under the original bed.

“No. But it’s dark under there. Whatever it was could have rolled under the new bed.”

“Right, I’m going in.” I drop and I inch in, slithering in an army crawl and then patting out in front of me. My knuckles bump into a cloth pouch about the size of my fist. I’ve found something. I pull it to myself. Through the cloth, I can feel something large and hard and some smaller things too. They shift as I grasp the bag. I start back the way I came in, but it’s not as easy. It’s been a long time since I’ve crawled underneath a bed. That’s how I watched scary movies at my grandmother’s house. I can still smell the must and see her mauve dust ruffle.

I hand it out to Easton and push myself the rest of the way out. “Is it the diamond?”

His eyes flick to the package and then to me. He slides it back into my hand. “You open it.”

My heart thuds. It’s heavy, and the surrounding bag screamsI’m important!I’m not sure I want to hold a 55-million-dollar diamond in my hand. I close my fingers around the bag. “If this was the reason the Rock Candy was sabotaged, why is it still here?”

“And what’s in the safe? But we’re not going to know unless you open it up, Firefly.”

I clutch it closer to me and step back until my thighs hit the mattress. I sit down on the edge. Then I lay the white bag on the bed and untie the ribbon, holding it shut. It’s going to be the diamond. It’s like the thing is vibrating. Calling out. Inside, there’s a piece of jewelry on top of another bag. I pull out a diamond necklace and two large teardrop earrings.

Easton’s eyes narrow. “Those were my mom’s first real flashy diamonds my dad bought her. I only saw her wear them once. At the wedding of my dad’s business partner.”

He leans over, and I pull out the other bag and open it. I hold up the diamond. It’s stunning. The evening light catches it and sends a pink spectrum over the top of Calvin’s white blanket behind me. It’s magical, but it’s also?—

“A little underwhelming for 55 million dollars?” Easton holds out his hand, and I place it in the middle of his palm.

Fireworks shoot through me. “Exactly. Think of all the good that money could have done. All the schools it could have built, the children it could have fed.”

“You’re very right. But that’s not something Candy ever thought about.”

I shake my head. “Why would Candy put this in her wedding dress bag?”

Easton wraps it back up in the first bag, but he doesn’t put it in with his mother’s jewelry. He places both in the top drawer of the dresser next to us. “I don’t know. But if she told Shayla to stay out of her wedding dress bag, I’m guessing she told Rocky to stay out of it too.”

My brow furrows. “He bought her the diamond. Why would she not want him to know where it was? I mean, you can’tstealsomething like that. It’s got a name. My college roommate loves jewelry. She spent hours watching videos on crowns and tiaras. They’re not stolen often because you can’t sell them.”

“Unless who you’re selling them to doesn’t care about wearing them. Unless they’re collectors.”

“Right, but why would she want to take it? Rocky already gave it to her.”

“Unless she was planning on leaving him. That would have been 55 million well spent.”

“Really?”

“No. But it doesn’t matter now.” Easton drops into a crouch. “I still want to get into the safe. I just think there’s something in there. Something we should know about.”

“We can keep looking,” I say as Calvin snores. “I think it’s okay to leave him for a while. Your father’s clothes are in here.” I lead Easton across the hall.

“This place is massive. I still haven’t been everywhere.” Easton yanks open the closet doors. His father’s closet isn’t something I’ve even seen. Shayla said Rocky hung up his own clothes. There’s what you would expect for traveling in the South Pacific: a lot of linen, some tropical print shirts—that had been his staple when he was on board. And at the end of the closet, pushed to the side, a tuxedo in a garment bag. “I guess Candy wasn’t the only one planning for a wedding.” Easton pulls it out and tosses it on the bed. The room isn’t finished, but Shayla made the bed. The white duvet still has her signature tight corners in place. Easton unzips the garment bag and pulls out the tux. He searches each of the pockets.

I’m holding my breath while he does. There’s no reason why the key to the safe would be in Rocky’s tuxedo just because the diamond was in the bag with Candy’s wedding dress. “Anything?”

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