The Emerald Trojan
The ride to the Lance estate was thick with a tension that Amber was tired of carrying. Dan sat with the black-wrapped package on his lap as if it were a live grenade. He had refused to even allow her to touch it—as if the paper was set to explode some inner device once her bio-signature was read.
She rolled her eyes internally for the umpteenth time. It was absolutely ridiculous and a bit paranoid. She paused at a small thought, her eyes slowly sliding to Dan—was he jealous?
"Dan, you are overreacting," Amber finally said—with a small huff—leaning her head back against the leather seat. "I'm a public figure. I have people who follow my work on social media now and some of who send gifts from time to time. Remember that handmade quilt from the woman in Maine?"
"Those weren't wrapped in paper that costs fifty dollars a sheet, Amber," Dan countered, his grip tightening on the box. "And they weren't sent to a Trace-Progressive PO Box. Why would it be sent there? Didn't that quilt go to a Blue Serene PO Box? I may be a bit paranoid, but there is someone out there watching. With what happened to Calvin, what they found in Iceland, and what was found about Trace-Progressive's villas at the lake resort." He paused in a bit of a huff himself. "We can't take chances, Amber. I won't take chances with you or our baby."
Amber had gone from annoyed to frustrated, and finally touched during his small rant. She smiled at him. "Okay. We will do it your way and make sure."
The SUV turned into the long, winding driveway of the Lance estate and at the circular drive before the estate, they were met by Samuel and a tactical team. Amber got out of the SUV with a smile and greeted her brother. "I hope we haven't bothered you for nothing."
"It is never a bother, Am, and I am with Dan on this one. I don't think it's nothing."
Samuel held out a gloved hand for the package. He wasn't taking chances. The tech ran the scans—X-ray, chemical sniffers, and a frequency sweep. After three minutes, the tech looked up. "It's clean, sir. No electronics. Just organic material and stone."
Amber pursed her lips to stop smirking. "I don't want to say 'I told you so,' but—" She shrugged. "I told you so. Can I please have my mail now?"
Samuel frowned. His gut told him something was wrong. "Let's do a more intense sweep first, maybe…"
Amber frowned and took the package from the tech. She walked to the hood of the SUV and ripped the matte-black paper away. She flipped open the ebony wood lid.
The emerald caught the dying evening light, glowing with an inner fire. Amber's breath hitched; it was a beautiful piece. Rose and yellow gold, beautiful filigree, and a dazzling emerald. Both her mind and smile froze as one. She recognized the deep, forest-green clear stone immediately. "This... Dan, look at the color."
Dan leaned in, his face turning a ghostly shade of pale. "That's a square cut. Amber... Calvin's ring? Could this be the same emerald?" His voice was on the verge of panic.
"No," Amber whispered—still in denial, but knowing the truth—her fingers trembling as she reached for the piece. "Calvin's was in a heavy, antique signet setting. This is... delicate.
These gold leaves are like silk. It's a completely different style."
"But the stone," Samuel said, his voice dropping an octave. "Look at the inclusions. That slight 'garden' in the corner of the gem. It looks exactly like the stone Calvin wore every day."
Amber lifted the brooch from the velvet, her heart hammering against her ribs. As she turned it over in the light, her thumb brushed against the cold gold of the backing.
"There's an inscription," she murmured.
She held it up to her eyes, squinting at the tiny, perfect calligraphy engraved into the gold:
Microscopium vitae est animae imago
"What does it mean?" Dan asked, he and Samuel stepping closer.
Amber felt a cold wave of nausea roll over her. "It's Latin. The microscope of life is the image of the soul." She dropped the brooch back into the box as if it had burned her and shook her fingers as if to shake off the feel of it from her skin. "He didn't just take the ring, Samuel. He took the stone and transformed it into a piece that I would like. He took the finger for his trophy and sent me this brooch to show me… something." She looked up at Dan, tears filling her eyes. "Calvin is close to death because of me."
She looked to Samuel and forced herself to talk over the lump in her throat. "Take it apart, Samuel. You and Dan were right. It seems that I am being targeted."
But it was too late. Dan had moved his wife to the new, secluded estate to protect her, but he had led a threat straight to them. An antique model Mercedes drove past the entrance to the long drive that led up to the estate. Sebastian Montague III marked the location into his high-tech GPS with a smile.
He would get his stealth night drones and survey the area later. He knew it was better to send the package through Dan; of course, he would lead him directly to his beloved. Amber would have left his gift at the office, not wanting Dan to see the true love between them.
Sebastian smiled again as he wondered if they would ever figure out that the delicate leaves had been the wiring for his tracking device. They may find the ceramic parts within the casing, but would they ever understand what they were looking at?
He imagined the piece on Amber Ann once more and shook it from his thoughts. The brooch wasn't for that. It was his way into the house that Dan thought he could keep from him. He frowned in anger, his fingers gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. How dare Dan! Trying to keep his Amber Ann away from him.
It seems that he had to take care of one more obstacle and then he and Amber Ann could finally rest together—forever.