CHAPTER 2
Sunlight streamed in through the opaque curtains pressing against her eyes, waking her. Her head pounded as though she were hung over. Her throat was raw. Her eyes were gritty. Her bandaged upper arm throbbed. She sat up with a start as the horror of the previous night came crashing back to her.
Oh, God, Evie. Where are you?
She rubbed her temples, trying to make the headache go away.
When she placed her feet on the floor, she realized she still wore her red sequin evening gown.
She also realized Bruce was gone. He had left a note on the bedside table beside the mug of tea that was now cold.
The hastily scratched note said he had returned home to shower and change and to call when she was ready to file the missing persons report.
She padded to the kitchen for a glass of water. She paused in the living room where she saw Evie’s shoes still on the floor and her handbag on the low table. She stared at it a long moment trying to make her fuzzy brain work when she realized the blue velvet bag was missing.
The only person who could have taken it was Bruce. Why would he take it?
Shaking her head, she continued to the kitchen where she got a glass of cold water and downed it. She had to pull herself together.
First order of business was to shower and dress, then get to the police station and file a missing persons report. That’s what Bruce had said he’d help her do. He’d said he’d go with her but now she wasn’t sure she wanted him to go.
She thought back to last night when he had arrived. Something was off, but she was unable to put her finger on it. Why did she have a bad feeling about him? What was bothering her?
He seemed…relieved when she told him the cameras weren’t working. And then he had said… She tapped her finger against her chin, thinking. He had said someone cut the cameras and he suspected it was one of the intruders.
Was he guessing when he had said that? Or was there something more?
She shook her head to clear it, pressing her cold fingertips to her forehead and massaging.
Get a grip, Chloe.
Bruce was not the enemy. The men who had attacked the museum were. She refilled her glass and took another sip of water before going back to her bedroom. On her way there, she halted at Evie’s guest room.
Her suitcase was still open on the floor, the pieces of clothing scattered as she had tried to find her black cocktail dress. She had tossed the clothes out in a frenzy looking for the bolero jacket that went with the dress.
Chloe stood in the doorway, remembering their exchange with such clarity, her heart hurt.
“I can’t find it,” she said as she furiously dug through the small carry-on. “Those TSA agents stole it.”
Chloe laughed. “Why would TSA want your bolero?”
Evie stopped to look up at her sister, her brown eyes shining with frustration. When she realized what she said, she laughed, then. “You’re right. I probably left it at home.”
“We better get going. I can’t be late.”
Evie hopped up, her bare feet pattering on the floor behind Chloe as she followed her into her bedroom. She headed right for the closet and started going through her clothes.
“Do you have anything I can borrow?”
“No. Eve…” When she said her nickname, Evie turned to face her. Her wild fiery red hair framed her face as question etched along it. “You’ll look beautiful without it.”
Evie took one more longing glance at her closet. “Are you sure?”
She moved toward her sister, and grasped her by the hand, squeezing. “Yes. I’m so glad you’re here, Eve.”
She gave her a winsome smile. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
“Good! Now go get dressed!”
“Okay…Mom.” She rolled her eyes as she left the room and headed back to hers.
Sometimes, she had to be the bossy one. The one who made sure Evie was taking care of herself. The one who made her go to bed early when she looked exhausted from working all day. The one who made sure she got her fruits and vegetables and harped on her about drinking enough water.
It was because she cared. And because she knew what sacrifices Evie had made to allow her to go to college and graduate with honors.
And where was Brianna, their older sister, during all that time? Sipping pina coladas on a beach in the Caribbean with not a care in the world or a thought about them.
Chloe shook herself to come back to the present. She didn’t need to dwell on their older sister right now. Right now, she needed to find her twin and her best friend. She needed to find Evie.
***
After showering, she dressed and made her way to the police station to file a missing persons report. She told the officer everything that had happened the night before and that her sister had seemingly disappeared into thin air. He looked at her like she was crazy.
She wasn’t crazy. She hadn’t dreamed it. Her sister’s belongings were still in her flat.
The officer took down the report though he didn’t give her much hope.
Her next stop was the museum. It was closed. Police tape still barred the entrance. The shattered glass door was boarded up. She was unable to get inside, which made her heart sink. Her logical mind told her Evie was no longer inside, but shouldn’t she at least check?
As she stood on the steps of the museum trying to decide what to do next, her cell phone rang. It was Bruce.
“I was calling to check on ye, lass.”
“I appreciate that. I’m just…out of sorts. I filed a missing persons report.”
There was a long silence, then, “I thought you wanted me to go with you.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. She didn’t want to tell him she didn’t want him with her. She opted to tell a trivial lie. “I got up early this morning to go. I didn’t want to bother you.”
Another beat of silence. “How about I pick you up and take you to lunch? To take your mind off things for a while.”
She glanced at the parking lot, her heart in her throat though she was unable to explain it.
“I ken ye’re worried about yer sister,” he said, his voice full of sympathy and concern. “I would be, too, if I were in yer shoes.”
“I am worried. She had a blue velvet bag. It was collected with her shoes and her handbag from the museum bathroom. I’ve never seen it before, and I have no idea where she got it.”
The bag that was missing after he left last night.
“Perhaps a jewelry bag?” He acted as though he knew nothing about it.
She shook her head as if he could see. “She doesn’t wear jewelry.”
Chloe knew this to be a fact. She and Evie had gotten their ears pierced when they were twelve, but Evie had had trouble with hers and ended up removing the studs and letting the holes grow in. She never wore earrings or anything else.
“Oh, well, perhaps for something else, then?”
“But what?” Chloe insisted. And why was she so determined to find out?
“I have to be at the pub this evening. How about an early dinner?” Bruce asked, changing the subject.
It irritated her. “I don’t know.”
“It will help you take your mind off yer sister. I’m sure the police are doing all they can to find her,” he said.
Were they? The officers last night didn’t seem too concerned Evie was missing. They assumed she had gotten out of the museum with the rest of the patrons. But if she had, then she would have been at the flat when Chloe returned home, and she wasn’t.
If the police weren’t going to do anything, then she would have no choice left but to go to the embassy and see if she could get help there.
“What do you say?” he said.
Maybe Bruce was right. She needed to go to dinner with him to take her mind off things. Worrying was doing nothing but making her sick to her stomach.
“All right,” she finally said.
“Good. I’ll pick ye up at six.”
He hung up before she could object.
***
When Chloe returned to her flat, she went straight to Evie’s guest room.
She started going through all her things, looking for clues about what might have happened to her.
She placed the clothes in a pile on the bed and then searched the zippered compartments of the suitcase.
On the outside, there were two pockets. One small, one large.
Her passport was in the large one. When she slipped her hand inside the small one, she felt something.
She pulled out a white business card with embossed gold lettering reading Mystic Treasures.
“Where the past meets the present,” she read aloud.
There was one name below that line. Moira.
Who was Moira and what was Mystic Treasures?
There was no address or phone number. She got out her smartphone and did a quick search for Mystic Treasures. Nothing came up. No shops in the area. She tried another search for the area near Evie’s apartment back home in the States. Again, nothing.
She stared at the card for the longest time, wondering where and how Evie had gotten it. If she hadn’t brought it with her, then where would she have gotten it in Edinburgh?
The airport seemed unlikely.
And then she remembered something about the day they were out shopping on the Royal Mile.
When they were going to have lunch, Evie had seemed distracted as she peered across the street at…
something. What was it? She had told her and Bruce to go ahead, and she would catch up. That she would only be a moment.
Bruce had taken her by the hand and turned Chloe toward the restaurant, so she hadn’t seen where Evie went.
By the time she had joined them for lunch, her face was flushed, and her hands shook. She’d seemed nervous. Chloe had never asked her about it because they were still with Bruce, and she didn’t want to question her in front of him.
None of this made sense to her. The only way to figure out where Evie had gone that day was to try to retrace her steps. That’s exactly what she was going to do.
A quick glance at her watch told her it was nearly time for Bruce to pick her up. She frowned. She didn’t want to go to dinner with him, but she had agreed, and she didn’t want to cancel at the last minute. She slipped the business card in the back pocket of her jeans.
In the bathroom, she brushed her auburn hair and swiped fresh lip gloss over her lips.
Staring at herself in the mirror, her normally bright emerald eyes were glassy with bags under them.
Fatigue lined her face. Though she had managed to sleep some last night, it was restless, and she was still exhausted.
She used a bit of concealer to hide the shadows, but it didn’t seem to help.
She had to get through this dinner with Bruce. Once it was over, she told herself she would head to the Royal Mile to see if she could find the mysterious Mystic Treasures.
A knock sounded on the front door. She grabbed her purse and headed to open it. As she passed through the living area, she glanced at Evie’s small handbag on the table and her shoes on the floor. A pang of worry went through her.
“I’m going to find you, Eve,” she said. “I swear it.”
Then she whisked open the door to see Bruce standing on the other side.
“Hi,” he said.
He acted like he wanted to come in, but Chloe pushed past him, pulling the door closed behind her and locking it.
“I’m starving,” she said, trying to sound like her bright and sunny self. In an effort to seem as though everything was situation normal, she hooked her arm through his. “I realized I haven’t eaten all day.”
Confusion flickered over his face as she ushered him toward the car. “How about the tavern then?” he asked. The tavern was a favorite of theirs.
“On the Royal Mile?” A glimmer of hope flickered through her.
He nodded. “If that’s what ye’d like.”
She pasted on a bright smile. “Sounds wonderful.”
And if she were lucky, perhaps she could give him the slip to look for Mystic Treasures.