Page 103 of Once a Hero

Philomena had only tried to pawn off the brooches.

“It’s missing a two-amber brooch,” Beatrice said.

“I have that brooch. The other two brooches and the box, I have not,” Molyneux said.

“Are you sure?” Beatrice asked. “As far as I know, your people robbed it from me when I came out of the bank in San Francisco. Remember?”

“Her people.” Dad turned to Molyneux. “You didn’t.”

“So you have the box, don’t you?” Beatrice asked, praying they did.

Everyone waited for Molyneux to answer.

“If you do have the box, then why do we even need Beatrice here?” Dad’s voice was deeper now.

“We don’t need it anyway,” Molyneux said. “I say we blow it all up and start digging.”

Dad laughed.

It was similar to Benjamin’s laugh.

How could that be possible?

“Do you or do you not have the box?” Dad asked again.

“Yes, but there was nothing there.”

“The box is the key. The brooches are the buttons.” Dad made a big noisy sigh. “Tell me you still have them.”

Molyneux nodded.

“Where?”

“Nearby.”

Beatrice’s heart soared. There was hope for a rescue yet.

That was, unless Molyneux figured out that the box was fake—before help arrived.

Chapter Forty-Two

Covering the sides of her eyes with her palms, almost like blinders on a horse, so that she avoided seeing more skulls, Beatrice followed Dad—or someone who looked like photographs of him—through the tunnel into a carved-out cavern.

It looked like a staging area to prepare bodies for burial.

Beatrice did not want to be there at all. She prayed for deliverance.

Even though Molyneux had gone to retrieve the brooch box that she believed to be real, Beatrice was not alone with Dad. Several guards stood watch around them. They didn’t speak much English, but Beatrice was confident they could understand anything she said to Dad.

Well, what would she say to Dad?

Let’s escape together?

It seemed apparent to Beatrice that Dad was working for Molyneux. No one workedwithher, so they must all workforher.

“Why would you work for her?” Beatrice blurted.

Dad sat down at the table and began poring over maps. “Somewhere in these catacombs, there is a door. That door can only be opened with a special key. Are you going to ask me what’s behind the door?”

---