Chapter Seven
Suspicion, Minnesota, the next day
Madelaine was bone-tired, and not just from the long drive or staying up all night to get it done.
She was emotionally weary from fending off Jack and all of his reasonable questions.
The questions he totally deserved answers to, but she was unable to tell him because of the choices she had made.
He was just going to have to trust her. She’d done the best she could.
“Okay,” Jack said, glancing at his phone. “It’s almost one o’clock in the afternoon. I think it would be best just to go inside the municipal building, march up to the desk of the Secret Keeper’s assistant and ask Chester if we can see him. The Secret Keeper, I mean.”
Madelaine nodded. “The simple and direct approach. Good. I like it.” And she did. That was basically the plan she’d come up with. But she hadn’t known the assistant’s name. It was also great minds thinking alike. She liked that, too.
They hadn’t said much to each other in the past several hours.
If she’d kissed him in Liberty, let herself forget all of her obligations, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to hold it together.
She might have confided more than she should.
More than the Paladin Cabal would ever allow without exacting some sort of punishment in return—punishment Jack might have to share—and she just could not do that. Ever.
Madelaine had to stay strong. Jack was a means to an end and, eventually, they would have to part ways. She didn’t get to keep him, regardless of her feelings.
She wouldn’t drag him into this life of unending sacrifice.
The cost was too much. He shouldn’t have to participate just because he loved her.
She needed to remember that and keep her distance, even though spending time with Jack in close proximity reminded her of all the reasons why she’d fallen in love with him.
Madelaine mentally shook her head and forced herself to focus on the plan.
The town was quiet, as she expected a small Minnesota town to be, with only a few citizens walking around the square.
No one seemed to pay attention to them, which was good.
They walked into the municipal building on the town square of Suspicion, Minnesota.
Madelaine thought she would have had to check a directory to find the Secret Keeper’s office but Jack knew the way.
She followed her bachelor auction date to the elevator.
He pressed the call button. The elevator doors popped right open as if the car had merely been waiting for them to show up.
Jack pressed the button for the fifth floor and the doors slid closed.
They didn’t speak a word to each other as they ascended. When the doors opened once more, she gestured for him to go ahead. She didn’t know where they were going.
Jack walked straight to a set of large wooden double doors. Above was a plaque that read: “Office of the Secret Keeper.”
Perfect.
Jack opened the right-side door and this time gestured for her to precede him.
Madelaine stepped into a very sizable waiting room.
Across the plush rug from the door was a reception desk, a man in a suit seated behind it.
His attention was focused on a computer screen to one side.
There was a single large wooden door behind the desk.
Madelaine figured she needed to get through that door to meet with the Secret Keeper. She was not above leaping over the reception desk and barreling her way inside, if it came to that.
The man looked up as they approached. He saw Jack and smiled. “Jack, what brings you back to Suspicion so soon?”
“Hi, Chester,” he said, glancing at Madelaine. “I need to see the Secret Keeper on a matter of urgency. Is he in? Could we get a meeting with him today?”
Madelaine wanted to correct the word today to right now, but she remained silent and passive next to Jack. Often, confrontation wasn’t the best path to success, even if she was ready for it at all times.
Chester’s welcoming smile dimmed. He looked at Madelaine briefly before turning to his computer. “Well, I’m not sure. Let me take a look at his schedule and see if I can’t find a minute or two for you.”
Jack seemed to relax. At least they weren’t being kicked out for daring to show up unannounced.
The door behind Chester’s desk opened and a large, imposing man stepped into the reception area.
“Chester, I need—” he began. He stopped speaking as soon as he saw them. “Jack. What are you doing here?”
The man she assumed was the Secret Keeper glanced her way and seemed to do a double-take.
“And who did you bring with you?” He didn’t seem upset to see Jack with a stranger in tow.
“My name is Madelaine Archer. I’m the Paladin Courier. May I see you privately for a few minutes?”
The Secret Keeper didn’t seem at all surprised by her words. Jack, on the other hand, looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “The Paladin Courier? Is that some sort of secret code you failed to mention?”
Madelaine shot him a narrow-eyed glare, shook her head and sent a more civil gaze back to the Secret Keeper. He looked amused, for lack of a better word.
“Sure. I can spare a few minutes privately for the Paladin Courier.” He opened the door to his office and stood aside as she entered. He followed her in and closed the door, securing it behind him, leaving Jack in the outer office with Chester.
The Secret Keeper walked past her and sat behind his desk.
“Have a seat,” he said.
“I’ll stand.”
“Suit yourself.”
“You don’t seem surprised to see me, or Jack, for that matter. Why is that?”
He mulled her question before saying, “I’m the Secret Keeper for a reason. Beyond the obvious definition, I keep apprised of the goings on in my town. I knew you were coming because I have access to the cameras set up all over Suspicion. It wouldn’t do for me to ever be surprised.”
“Fair enough. Do you know why I’m here?”
“I do, now that you’ve identified yourself as the Paladin Courier.” He pulled open a drawer of his desk and pulled out a small, ornate metal box the size of a square carton of tissues and placed it on the desk.
The top of the box had what looked like an old-fashioned keyhole, with an oval indentation about the size of a thumbprint directly below it.
Each of the four sides had a unique design embossed in the metal like it had been hand-crafted long ago.
It was beautiful. “Here is the package,” the Secret Keeper said.
She reached for it but he held his hand up. “I have several instructions I need to tell you before you collect this item.”
“Okay,” she said, relaxing a notch. “What are the instructions?”
“First, I have a question. Why did you bring Jack Grey with you?”
She narrowed her gaze. “Because I trust him. I thought bringing him was my best chance for entrance into this office to meet with you. I also know there are fairly strict rules regarding strangers showing up in your town and demanding an audience.”
“Fair point, but as the Paladin Courier, you would have been granted an audience.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for my next dire, world-ending errand,” she said. He was right. She hadn’t needed Jack to accompany her. She’d just wanted him to. How long would she beat herself up over that unforced error and all the unfortunate, soul-crushing baggage that came with it?
The Secret Keeper smiled. “Still, it did keep you from being arrested and detained for an undetermined length of time the instant you crossed over the county line, before I might have eventually granted you an audience. So, your effort in bringing Jack with you for an expedited meeting wasn’t wasted. ”
Madelaine narrowed her gaze. Had the Secret Keeper just read her mind? That was unclear, yet suspicious. “Good. I’m glad we got off on the right foot.” What else could she say? “What were those instructions?” she asked, hoping for a sooner-rather-than-later end to this odd meeting.
“You need to take this box back to Alienn, Arkansas, and retrieve a key to open it. There will be instructions inside the box regarding your next task.”
“A key? Where is this key?”
The Secret Keeper reached into the drawer he’d pulled the metal box from, retrieving something small. He extended his hand, placing whatever it was next to the square metal box. It was a key. However, it definitely would not fit into the keyhole on top of the package.
“So I take this key to go get another key that opens this box that has instructions within?”
“Correct.”
“What about the oval beneath the lock? Is that where I have to put my fingerprint?”
“No. You will have to place your thumbprint in the oval as you turn the key to get it open. The oval indentation is a sophisticated bio-lock imprinted to your unique genetic signature.”
Madelaine smiled. “That’s right. My thumbprint.” She knew that. And now she knew that the Secret Keeper did, too.
His eyes narrowed and he pushed the key closer to her. “This key opens a safety deposit box in the hilariously named Tractor Beam Credit Union in Alienn, Arkansas.”
She quashed a smile, trying to be professional—which was what a Paladin Courier was supposed to be at all times. A professional. “Understood. What’s the number of the box?”
“One eighty-eight. And you must be the one to open this safety deposit box. When you go inside the bank, ask for the bank manager. He or she must be the one to retrieve the box for you. Once you give the manager the number of the box, it will signal the importance of your visit without you having to identify yourself in a public forum.”
“Got it. Are there any more instructions?” she asked, pocketing the key and reaching for the metal box.
The Secret Keeper held his hand up once more. “Yes.”
Madelaine put her arms back down and stifled a grunt of frustration. He reached into the drawer again and took out what looked like a standard flip-phone. He placed it on the desk next to the box she hoped to eventually take possession of.
“What’s this for?” she asked, not daring to reach for anything.