Page 25 of Leo

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Anyway, we know that Tzarist rule ended with the Romanov dynasty. But so many great works of art, jewels, and other items disappeared when the Romanovs disappeared. For instance, we know that Fabergé created sixty-nine eggs, but only sixty-one are known to have survived, with the imperial eggs accounting for fifty of those.

“Then we have the amber room from Catherine’s palace. We know this was stolen by the Nazis, but no one has ever recovered even one ounce of this. The sheer magnitude of items boggles the mind.

“Six months ago, the archaeological world was buzzing with stories of lost imperial treasures found in Asia. Now, Asia is a big place. Everyone kept asking where in Asia? Why in Asia? There were no responses. Then, we got this grainy photo sent into the inbox for lost treasures.”

They all stared at the photo, squinting as they were trying to see what she was seeing. The background was dark, clearly nighttime wherever it was taken.

“What are we seeing?” asked Eric.

“That is the site in Laos, beneath one of the ancient stones that someone removed and placed four velvet wrapped Fabergé eggs and several large pieces of amber, which may or may not be part of the lost amber room.”

“What the hell?” mumbled Cam.

“This is a game,” said May. “Kids who think it’s funny to hunt down these important artifacts and then play a game of hide and seek with them. They don’t care about the history of these pieces or how important it is that we recover them. This is all fun for them. They send out a puzzle on a website, a riddle if you will, and the first person who finds what they’ve hidden wins a cash prize.”

“What happens to the items?” asked Luke.

“They’re sold on a black-market auction site and never seen again.” Luke nodded at the others in the room.

“Okay, so we think these items were hidden beneath this massive stone while Fred and Gemma were at the site, and hemay or may not have seen who did it. And the items may or may not still be there.”

“They are not there,” said May. “We’ve had the team on-site check, and the items are gone, which is heartbreaking. But it seems a logical explanation for why they’re after Fred. He saw something or someone.”

“Well, shit,” muttered Cam. “Let’s go talk to the others. We’ve still got a lot to figure out about this.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“There’s no way,” said Fred in a decidedly American accent. “There is absolutely no way that I wouldn’t have seen that or known what it was. I’m not a fool. I’m a German who understands my history and especially the atrocities that my own people have committed. If I had seen any of that, I would have reported it.”

“Calm down, Fred. We don’t think you hid it or had anything to do with it being there, but everything seems to point to the fact that someone believes that you saw these items being brought into the site or out of the site,” said Luke.

“I’m sorry I can’t be more help, but I was the lowest man on the totem pole there. I had not done a dig before. I knew nothing. I worked closely with a man and woman. I believe they were husband and wife. But we started early in the mornings, and we would leave around six or so in the evenings.

“I was usually so tired, I’d go back to my small apartment, shower, watch a movie or read a book, and go to bed. I never went out unless it was to pick up food or go to the market.”

“Were there any new people at the site the last few weeks that you were there?” asked Leo. Tillie was sitting beside him, holding his hand.

“There were a lot of people there. The government was making sure that nothing was done without their approval, and there were always two members of the national antiquities division. They were very nice, but they watched you like a hawk.”

“Do you think they knew something?” asked Tillie.

“I’m just not sure. I mean, I had no clue anything was happening. I just didn’t really speak to anyone other than theteam I was working with during the day. I can give you their names, but they were all archaeological students or professors who worked full-time for the government.”

“Fred, while you were in Botswana, did Jewel ever try to approach you for more than friendship?” asked Tillie. Fred blushed, looking down and then back up.

“Yes,” he nodded. “I refused because she was so much younger than me, and quite honestly, she just wasn’t attractive to me.” Leo looked at him, then the others around the table.

“Fred? This does not matter to any man or woman here. I’m asking out of curiosity and for context. Are you gay?” asked Leo. Fred said nothing, just looking down at his plate of food.

“Fred, we don’t care,” smiled Tillie, reaching for his hand. “I’ve always liked you. Whether you like men or women doesn’t matter to me. But why hide it?”

“Why? My father is old school, upper crust,” he said, chuckling to himself. “He wants me to have a family. To take a wife and start spitting out children. I’m nearly fifty. You would have thought he’d figure out that I don’t want to do that.”

“Do you not like children?” asked Sophia Ann, seated with Eric.

“Oh. No, I didn’t mean that. I love kids. I just don’t like the way you have to go about getting them.” Sophia Ann laughed, shaking her head.

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