CAPÍTULO TRECE
The stairs were rickety, groaning under our weight as we climbed to the floor above. They must have been intended for the staff, as the space was cramped and narrow, opening to a small hallway lined by shut doors. Ahead, the noise of people settling down drifted toward us as we tiptoed closer.
Whit silently peered around the corner at the end of the corridor. “Stay here.”
“Where are you going?” I whispered.
“I’m going to add these chairs to the back row,” he whispered back.
He crept forward, returning after a moment, the line of his jaw tight. I skirted around him to have a look myself and nearly gasped. The auction was about to take place in a large room, rectangular in shape, with peeling wallpaper and a dusty candle chandelier that swung precariously above rows and rows of seats. Every single one of them, except the two Whit had just added, were filled. I tipped my head back to note how the third floor overlooked the second, as if it were an open courtyard. From the outside, the building hadn’t appeared that large, but now I realized that it went back farther from the street.
How were we going to explore every inch? It would take hours.
Although, I supposed we didn’t have to do the actual exploring right now. Not if Farida was able to take pictures of the walled rooms. We could always examine them later—but then I recalled her mentioning that she was still waiting for her other photographs to be developed and mailedback to her. We would have to search as much as we could during the length of the auction.
“Here’s what we should do,” he began in a hush.
“No,” I said firmly and just as quietly. “Here’s the plan.”
He lifted a single brow, and waited for me to continue.
“One of us needs to sit in during the auction to see if any of the Cleopatra cache is actually here,” I said. “Isadora and I will do that, as we are familiar with what to look for. Farida, you and Whit ought to go and see if you can locate any of the items that are going to be displayed. Take as many pictures as you can.”
“What happens afterward?” Isadora asked.
Whit gestured toward me with a faint smile. “My wife is the one with the plan.”
I ignored the label. “We meet down the street after the auction,” I said. “If that’s impossible, then the lobby of the hotel.”
“Wait a moment. She’s yourwife?” Farida asked, her rich brown eyes widening. “Since when? And why didn’t you invite me to the wedding?”
The corners of Whit’s lips tightened.
“We would have,” I said hurriedly. “But it happened quickly. Besides, it’s only a business arrangement.”
“Oh,” Farida said uncertainly, looking between us. I felt Whit’s quick stare; there was a faint air of outraged disbelief radiating from him, but I refused to look in his direction.
“Shhhh,” Isadora hissed. “Do you want them to hear you?”
Farida rubbed at her temples. “I’m trying to keep everything straight in my mind. This is new information I have to process.”
“Later,” Isadora said. “You have photographs to take.” Then she swept past, walking into the room as if she belonged there, and sat in the chair Whit had placed. Farida looked down the hall from where we had just come and then unwrapped my mother’s scarf from around her neck. She dug up her camera from deep within her skirt pocket, cradling it in the palm of her hand. I took the scarf and dropped it over her hand. A second later, her camera grew back into its normal shape.
“Magic is a beautiful thing,” I whispered. “It’s a shame it’s becoming extinct.”
“Everything comes to an end at some point,” Whit said, with the slightest inflection oneverything.
I knew his words were in reference to my decision for a divorce. I tried not to read into his tone and how it sounded the littlest bit bleak. Or maybe that’s how I wanted him to sound. I was having a hard time keeping my heart in line with my mind.
Silly, foolish thing.
“I’m going to take pictures of the rooms on this floor,” Farida said. “Whit, I’m sure there are more above us?”
He nodded. “We’ll have to move fast to go through them all. Get started; I’ll be right behind you.”
My gaze skipped around the room to familiarize myself with the layout, in case we needed to leave quickly. There was another exit on the opposite end from us, next to a grand staircase.
“You’ll be fine on your own?” he asked her.
