Page 89 of Once a Hero

“Hard to say. You know that the brooches may not lead to the rest of the Amber Room at all.”

Beatrice nodded. “Yeah. It could be a dead end.”

Kenichi threw up his hands. “I have nothing here.”

“If Dad left the circuit board for us to find, then he would expect us to figure it out,” Beatrice said.

“How did he know we’d be at the cabin?” Jake asked.

“Let’s back up a bit,” Benjamin said. “We’re assuming he’s still alive. For all we know, Philomena might have left the leather pouch under the table.”

“True,” Beatrice said. “Anyone could have found the pouch. Molyneux’s people were all over the place before they took us there. What if they planted the pouch to throw us off course?”

“It’s not a tracker,” Kenichi said of the circuit board. “That, we know.”

“Well, you two have been working on these for three days,” Beatrice said. “Why don’t you swap? Let Kenichi take a crack at the brooch box—while he’s still waiting for a signal on the fake one—and you see what you can do with the circuit board.”

“Good idea.” Kenichi stretched his arms. “Make Ben come down to the lab.”

“I’ll send a courier to bring the board to me,” Benjamin said. “I have a lab here.”

No one could make Benjamin leave the house.

“I’ll bring it,” Beatrice said.

“Come alone.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes. Did Benjamin think she was going to bring Jake?

“I have a better idea. Why don’t I go?” Kenichi said. “I’ll help him set this up. Then I’ll bring back the brooches.”

“The brooches are not in the safe?” Jake asked.

Beatrice studied his face. Was he expecting to be informed before the brooches were moved?

Jake seemed to be waiting for an explanation.

Beatrice reached for his hand. “I’m sorry. We were so busy yesterday it slipped my mind. I didn’t want to call you or text you while you were napping and resting. And then we got busy and I forgot all about it. Forgive me?”

“Always,” he whispered. He still held her hand.

Always? Did he mean that? Beatrice wondered if he could truly forgive her no matter what she did.

On audio, Benjamin cleared his throat. “Something going on between you two?”

Beatrice blushed.

A lot more could be going on between us two.

Chapter Thirty-Six

With the brooches safely returned to within his reach, Jake felt better about it. He had forgiven Beatrice for not letting him know that the brooches had left the lab safe because she seemed to have simply forgotten.

Still, he had stayed at the Glynn Research offices after lunch and into the late afternoon, although he should be resting his thigh. He had to keep an eye on things. Other than that, he felt a bit useless.

“We seem to have more questions but fewer answers.” Beatrice stared at the two brooches on the table. “We are missing a third brooch, and we don’t have the box—or tray, more likely—that the brooches originally came in.”

“And we are nowhere near finding what remains of the Amber Room,” Kenichi said. “I think it’s time for dinner.”

---