Page 34 of Hidden Dane
“Thanks.” He held the metal container close to his chest and didn’t put it on the table until after the banker left.
Dane’s fingers trembled at what he might find as he unlocked the box. Trouble? A hoax?
Emily peeked over his shoulder and asked, “Is it there D…Uriel?”
“Yes.” Gorgeous. Nothing he’d ever dug from the dirt held this kind of luster at first sight. He lifted the diamond star and diamond badge, inspecting them closely. Just as the books described. ,Almost four hundred precious gems, three hundred and ninety-four, to be exact, were embedded in the design. He smoothed his thumb over the green shamrock made of emeralds, the red rubies along the border of the badge, and the motto written with pink diamonds.
The star was composed of diamonds, enclosing a cross of rubies and a trefoil of emeralds surrounding a sky blue enamel circle with words,Quis Separabit MDCCLXXXIIIin rose diamonds engraved on back. Everything was exactly as they were supposed to be.
“These are the missing jewels.” He held them to his chest.
Emily hugged him and squeezed tight. “So we did it!”
Only after they returned these to England and went back to a routine life would the adrenaline stop rushing in his veins. “Now we need to get out of here and head to my plane.”
Henry led them and Brady flagged behind. Emily bounced on her feet as they entered the lobby filled with bank customers and said, “This is very exciting. I never expected to be part of something so magnificent. Even more exciting? Once this is over, we can start that life we were talking about.”
Goosebumps grew on his arms and body as they walked onto the street. He tugged Emily faster and said, “Hurry!”
Not even the wind blew a single leaf in a nearby tree. All four of them jumped into the limo Henry had ordered. The passerby all seemed more interested in window shopping than them as the driver took off down the street.
Uriel’s heart raced.
Ted had to be close.
This had been too easy.
He didn’t trust it.
Henry listened in to his headset and the devices he’d set up around the bank, as Brady scanned the police broadcasts. Dane asked, “What do you hear, Henry?”
“Nothing from Ted,” Henry said. “Just normal chatter.”
“The limo is taking us to the airport, as instructed.” Brady settled into his seat. “Relax everyone.”
Emily let out a small snort. “I don’t know about relaxing, but we made it. I was half afraid I’d be kidnapped and driven around Paris again.”
Which was why he’d refused to let her out of his sight.
Brady then clapped his hands and asked, “Shall we break out the champagne for another job well done?”
“No,” Uriel said as the zip in his pulse reminded him that danger was close. “Henry, are we being chased?”
Henry shook his head. “Not that I can tell.”
“The authorities must have caught Ted.” Emily squeezed his hand and smiled at him, as if to calm him down.
Maybe they were right, though the rush of adrenaline continued in his veins. He opened his mouth to apologize and glanced over Emily’s shoulder.
A silver bumper was inches from the glass window where Emily sat. He threw himself over her as the glass shattered and metal ripped around him. He screamed out, “Emily, duck!”
“What’s happening?” She clutched his arm.
The crash ended and the limo spun crazily to a stop.
He brushed the glass off his arms, careful of the metal bumper that had punched through the door. He pulled her to the other side of the limo and said, “Just stay down.”
Henry’s door flew open and someone hit him.
