Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
“I really hope this isn’t a wild goose chase,” Jury said as they strode through the doors of the bank.
After a debate, they’d worn their funeral clothes. The bank looked fancy, and Imogen had figured they’d get less questionable stares if they dressed the part.
“Just act natural, okay? We’re here to access our safe deposit box. No big deal.”
Except it was a big deal because the safe deposit key had come from a locker in a club, opened by another key given to them by a mysterious stranger, who had set up a meeting at an unknown address after they called a phone number given to them by a tattoo artist from Voodoo Ink.
Imogen took a deep breath. Yeah, just like normal people.
She had to wonder what on earth Keira had gotten involved in when she married Lachlan Mount, but there wasn’t time to muse about it now.
A woman in a pantsuit met them in the lobby. “Can I help you?”
Imogen held up the key. “We’d like to open our safe deposit box.”
“Absolutely. Right this way.”
She led them into a small office. “Can I see your identification?”
Imogen glanced at Jury and then said, “Of course.”
Either it would work or it wouldn’t. They both pulled their licenses from their wallets.
The woman looked at them and typed their names into the computer.
“Ah, yes, I see you right here. Both of you are listed. Let me take you into the vault, where your key and my key will open the box, and then I will leave you in a private room.”
“Perfect,” Imogen said.
The woman smiled. “Follow me, Ms. Kilgore, Ms. Kilgore.”
Jury raised her eyebrows at Imogen as they followed the woman out of the office and across the bank to the cage that separated the lobby from the restricted access area.
Once inside the vault, she crossed to the bank of boxes, located a larger one, and slid her key into a slot. “Your key?”
Imogen held it out to her. Within seconds, the woman turned both keys and swung the door open. Imogen’s heartbeat sped up as she removed the shoebox-sized metal container from the wall.
“Right this way,” she said with a smile.
She led them into a tiny wood-paneled room with a table and two chairs. She placed the box on a leather mat in the middle and stepped back. “Anything else I can do for you right now?”
“No. This is perfect.” Imogen said.
“I’ll leave you be then. You have the room for as long as you’d like. Just stick your head out and wave me down when you’re finished.”
“Thank you,” Imogen said to her.
Jury didn’t speak until the door shut with a click.
She let out a long breath. “Okay, this is cloak-and-dagger shit.”
“It’s a safe deposit box, Jur.”
“Yeah, Im. But we’ve never been here before. I feel like Jason Bourne. Like, what’s even in it?”
It hadn’t seemed overly heavy when the woman slid it out and carried it, but it definitely appeared to have some weight to it.
“The only way to find out is to open it.”
“You do it,” Jury said. “My hands are shaking.”
“Okay. Here goes.”
She flipped open the metal lid on its hinges, and they both stared inside. A black velvet box waited within.
“Good grief. No wonder she married this guy. He sure makes life interesting.”
Imogen needed both hands to slide the velvet box free. Jury moved the metal box to the floor and took another deep breath.
“You ready?” Imogen asked her.
“I have no idea.”
Imogen went for it and removed the velvet lid. Inside was an envelope with their names written in Keira’s handwriting.
Imogen grabbed it and flipped it over. It was sealed with gold wax, embossed with a fleur-de-lis.
Keira was nothing if not extra. Or had been.
“Open it. I’m dying here.”
Imogen’s gaze lifted to her sister’s.
“Okay, poor choice of words. Sorry.”
She slid a finger under the flap, and the seal peeled free. Imogen swallowed as she removed the letter and unfolded it.
It was handwritten, also in Keira’s handwriting.
“Read it out loud,” Jury whispered.
Dear Imogen and Jury,
If you’re reading this, know that I am sorry for the grief you are feeling right now. It is unavoidable, unfortunately.
I knew what I was doing when I married my husband. I knew I was stepping outside of the world the three of us knew and entering a different dimension of reality. It’s hard to explain, but please know he has given me more joy, love, and happiness than I ever knew was possible.
I love you both so much, even though we’ve grown apart over the years as we have marched to the beat of our own drums and forged our own paths through life.
I wish I could say more, but more than anything, I wish to keep you safe.
Your world isn’t my world anymore. I’m sorry it had to be this way, but every choice has consequences, and marrying my husband has taken me down a very different path, one you will never understand because you haven’t walked in my shoes.
Please forgive me for not being a better sister.
I love you both. Be well, my sisters. May God bless you and keep you safe.
Love always,
Keira
“What the fuck does that even mean?” Jury said, snatching the letter from Imogen to read it herself.
“It means … she loved us. That’s all that matters.”
While Jury was reading the letter, Imogen peered into the box. There was a stack of smaller velvet boxes, and she opened the first one.
“Holy shit.”
It was a diamond necklace, with what looked like at least a hundred stones.
“What?” Jury glanced up from the letter.
“Look.” She held out the box.
“Whoa. Seriously?”
Imogen opened the one beneath it. It held two diamond bracelets.
“Holy. Shit,” Jury echoed.
Then the third. They both stared at it as Imogen lifted it out and eased the lid open.
“Oh my God.”
There were at least a dozen small gold bars inside.
“Whoa,” Jury whispered.
At the bottom was a checkbook. Imogen handed Jury the gold and picked it up. When she opened it, a slip of paper fluttered out. Jury grabbed it.
“What does it say?”
“It’s a bank balance slip.” Jury paused. “Holy fuckballs. I can’t be reading this right. Here, look at it.”
Jury handed it to her as she swallowed. Imogen had never seen her sister’s eyes look quite so big.
She took it and read it. “Holy shitballs.”
“Right? Am I crazy? Is that …”
“Thirty-six million dollars,” Imogen whispered. She jerked her gaze up to Jury’s. “This can’t be real.”
“Right?”
Imogen opened the checkbook and stared at the checks. She blinked twice. “Our names are on these,” she told Jury.
“No way …”
She handed the checkbook to her sister.
“How in the world …” her sister whispered, and she was thinking the same thing.
“I have no idea …”
“What do we do?” Jury asked.
Imogen rubbed a hand over her face. “I have no idea …” she repeated. “But holy shit. This is not what I was expecting.”
“You and me both, sister. You and me both.”