Page 42 of Leo

“I’ll call you tomorrow to set something up,” she smiled.

“Of course. And as you requested, we’ve set up the master suite with a temporary bed for you. Are you sure you’ll be okay in this big house all alone?”

“I’ll be wonderful,” she laughed. “Believe me, I stayed here a lot as a kid by myself.”

“Alright then, see you soon.” He left, and Lenora almost did a dance in the middle of the massive vacant foyer. The house was so empty her breathing echoed as much as her footsteps.

But she was home where she belonged, and her adventures were done. She would never leave Connecticut again. Just as she was about to take her bags upstairs, the doorbell rang.

“Who on earth?” she murmured. Opening the door, she was shocked to see Dean.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” he smiled.

“Dean!” she hugged him and kissed him sweetly, and he blushed, pushing her further into the house. “I’m so glad you’re here to celebrate with me.”

“Yeah. About that, Lenora.”

“I’ll order something for dinner. What would you like?” She walked toward the back of the house, hoping to get a better signal on her cell phone.

“Lenora,” he called out. She turned to see him surrounded by more than a dozen people. One, a woman, she recognized.

“Wh-what is this? What are you doing?” she asked.

“Lenora, I’m with the FBI. I specialize in recovering stolen art and antiquities,” said Dean.

“No. No, that has nothing to do with me,” she said with conviction.

“Lenora, it has everything to do with you,” said Tillie. “We know that you killed Echo, we know that you sold the amber and the eggs, and we know that you’ve done this game before.”

“You don’t know anything,” she said, glaring at them. Her back was to the bay, the windows behind her as she stared at them. She owned a weapon, but it was not with her, or she’d fight her way out. “You won’t take my home from me again.”

“You’ve bought this house with stolen money,” said Dean. “I wish I could give it to you. I wish you’d come to me for help. But I can’t ignore my duties.”

“Your duties,” she sneered. “Where were you when they took everything from me? No one was there for me!”

“I was a kid as well, Lenora. Don’t you remember? I was in college, too.”

“No. No, you’re not going to take this. I won’t allow it. I’ll find a way. I’ll fight you in court. I didn’t steal those things. They were already stolen. All I did was market and sell them.”

“That’s still stealing, Lenora,” said Tillie.

“What would you know? You had a home to go back to, family, your things. I had nothing!”

They could see that the conversation was getting them nowhere. The woman was becoming more and more irritated, but they’d given their word that they would let Dean handle her the way he thought best.

Slowly, he approached her, his hands raised, hoping that she would see he was unarmed.

She could see that it caused him tremendous pain to do this, but that didn’t matter any longer. The only thing that mattered was her home.

“Please, Lenora. Come with me peacefully. I don’t want to hurt you.”

The team fanned out, worried she would try to run. They had no idea if there were hidden tunnels, staircases, or anything else in the mansion. Leo gently pushed Tillie behind him, hoping to shield her from anything.

“Lenora, you have to give this up,” said Tillie. “There’s no way for you to get out of this.”

She looked like a trapped animal. Her eyes were wild, her body jerking with fear and concern. Pacing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, she was shaking her head, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Lenora? Lenora, honey, look at me,” said Dean.

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