She was curled up on her couch with a glass of Sprite when he found her.
"Care to explain why you froze in front of Joey?"
"What do you think?" She cut her eyes at him. "Or better yet, what did you expect?"
He hesitated before he spoke and tried to make her words make sense. "What the hell are you saying?"
"You really don't know?"
He threw his hands up. "Obviously not."
"Has she blinded you so badly that you don't recognize the pendant she's wearing?"
His expression remained blank. He still had no idea what she was talking about. Jewelry was not what he saw when he looked at Joey.
When he didn't speak, Sarah threw off her blanket and stood up off the sofa. "It's the Idol of Mishra, you idiot. The little pendant is a replica of the idol."
He frowned as her words sunk in. "You mean..."
"Yes, stupid. The idol that got our father murdered. The one he was accused of stealing."
"But why would she have it?"
"Wow. You are really dense today. How am I supposed to know? But it's not like you can just walk into a store, any store, and just randomly buy it. Pretty sure it's strictly a dragon thing."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"No shit, sherlock. Now you understand why I kind of froze and didn't know what to say."
Drake's mind whirled. Nothing that Sarah had just said could be argued. And of all things for Joey to wear, that one thing couldn't just be a coincidence.
"Maybe she doesn't know what it is." He was desperate to find a logical excuse.
"Possible," Sarah conceded, "but highly unlikely. I mean, come on. She never noticed that she had a pendant that she's never seen anywhere else?"
"Maybe it was a gift, and she didn't care."
"Again, possible. But I'd suggest you find out. Mom is going to freak when she sees it."
"I'm going to see Joey later. I'll find out what I can."
Sarah hugged him. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, or deal with, but something sketchy is involved, and we need to know what that is."
Drake thought about it as he headed home. He flopped down in the lawn chair on his deck and turned his face up to let the sun warm his skin. He let out a deep breath. Nothing could ever be easy, but this wasn't even an issue he could have thought to predict.
But Sarah was right. It was one that needed to be investigated. An idol from another world didn't just get made into a pendant.
Just before midnight, he went out to the barn. Joey was already there and grinned at him when he approached.
"I was early. I didn't have anything else to do."
"You're sure the goons aren't around watching?" He had been extra observant for the last half hour, and he hadn't seen anyone moving around anywhere, although he had missed Joey going to the barn.
"They're creatures of habit. Big dinner, illegal drinks, early bedtime."
Drake frowned. "Illegal drinks?"
She glanced around. "Come on. Let's get out of here, just in case. The way my luck works, I probably just jinxed myself."
