“As you can see…” Gordon gestured to the living room wall.
Several paintings hung off-kilter, and a gap showed where their father’s artwork had hung.
“You remember it, of course,” Gordon said.
A huge understatement. Both sisters kept entire encyclopedias of art in their minds.
Gen nodded sadly. “Easter at the Château.”
“Such a tranquil scene,” Mina added. “The château, the lawn, the trees in the background…”
The voices. The click of croquet mallets…slipped out of Gen’s head.
Funny how Mina described the sights, while Gen described the sounds. Weird, but I supposed that went with her creative mind.
“Much as I love that painting, I don’t understand. Why would anyone steal it instead of that or that?” Mina pointed to a framed Matisse cutout, then what appeared to be a sketch by Paul Klee.
“Because of what it meant to me,” Gordon said, choking up.
Gen touched his shoulder in quiet support.
I loved — and hated — that she saw the best in people…including me. But I would rejoice the day she finally accepted the truth about Gordon.
“Who would know that it was important to you?” I asked.
Gordon looked toward the desk, then grumbled, “Celeste.”
Everyone fell silent, and I shuffled puzzle pieces around in my mind. Claudette, murdered by a vampire. Gen, attacked by supernaturals. Gordon, targeted through his art.
The common denominator? Celeste.
“We thought the same when—” Gen started, but Mina cut her off.
“When you called,” Mina finished quickly.
Gen frowned, clearly wondering why Mina wouldn’t mention Claudette.
No details. No confidential information,I whispered into her mind.
How is that confidential?she protested.
I gave her a firm look that said,I’ll explain later.
“Celeste would know about the painting and how to sneak in here,” Mina noted.
Gordon nodded. “Precisely.”
“Anyone else?” Marius asked.
Gordon shot him a dark look that said,You crossed my mind.
His gaze went to each of us — Henrik, Bene, and me. Lucky for us, we had no motive. But Celeste did.
“What do you want us to do?” I asked before the ugly vibes between Marius and Gordon turned into a full-on electrical storm.
“Find it,” Gordon snapped so vehemently, Gen looked stunned.
“Find and extract, or find and report?” I asked. Clipped and clinical worked best when Gordon’s emotions ran high. No one needed to see what a warlock that powerful was capable of.
