“This is Ada. She’s from the Golden Isle. Born and raised. Dr. Patel, one of our researchers.”
Dr. Patel studied me with renewed interest. Her eyes moving over me like I was a specimen in a petri dish. I tried not to take it personal. “We have been trying to interview a native to the island for the longest time, the woman who owns the land especially.”
“She’s my grandmother.”
Hailey wasn’t surprised. Either Luke had clued her in, or he hadn’t been the only person Naira had been chatty with.
“Remarkable.” Patel looked like she’d won the information lottery.
“We can trust her,” Hailey said, reassuring me, though I intended to come to my own conclusions.
“A few days ago, our lead researcher, Dr. Franco, took the amulet from the lab, and we haven’t seen him since,” Dr. Patel explained. “It’s the archaeological find of the year, and probably the century, and we didn’t even get a chance to carbon date it, let alone run enough testing to determine its origins.”
She paused when a guy who’d stepped off the elevator, pushing a cart stacked with folders, approached us. “Excuse me for a moment,” she said.
I stared into the room as if the amulet would magically appear from thin air. “How’s this not on the news?”
“How’s it not on the news? My uncle would never let the public know an Endowment employee walked off the premises with not only a priceless ancient amulet, but a priceless ancientamulet that was likely stolen from African people and brought here.”
Patel returned, holding a bundle of mail to her chest. “You know, there was another young lady touring the lab with…” She trailed off. Her eyes shot to Hailey, whose head ducked away.
“She’s my best friend,” I said, ignoring the way my stomach twisted whenever Naira was referenced.
“I’m sorry for your loss as well,” Patel said, followed by those awkward seconds of silence when no one knew what to say next.
“We’d love to talk to your grandmother. We’ve been speaking to members of the Gullah people on some of the other islands and here in town. It’s amazing, the way you all have retained your culture. It helps build a complete story around the artifacts we find. Do you think she would speak to us?”
Patel was saying all the right things, but I couldn’t forget she wanted something I had, information on the Isle.
“The island was founded long before my ancestors arrived. Several Indigenous tribes were there first.” That was history I wasn’t sure was common knowledge. “Then they were either massacred or run off by the Spanish armies who were trying to colonize,” I said matter-of-factly. Hailey kept quiet. Dr. Patel nodded sagely.
Hailey walked the length of the long table, which held various old-looking items under glass casing. A Bible, some coins, other stuff. But one of the cases was empty. It was the biggest case, and the blanket that the artifact was supposed to be on was empty.
“This is what I wanted to show you,” Hailey said, directing my attention to the empty glass box protecting nothing but air insideof it. Next to the box was a photo of what should have been there. All the items on the table had photos beside them.
I leaned in to look at the photo of the mysterious amulet. This picture was clearer than the one Naira had sent me, and I could finally study it properly. I’d never seen anything like it before, with its rows of draping golden chains that all connected to the central precious gem. I’d never seen it before, and yet, it was undeniably familiar.
This missing artifact belonged to my grandmother’s people, to mine. It wasn’t just an artifact to us, but a piece of who we were, of the land we were taken from.
This amulet was a vessel of my ancestors’ power.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I kept quiet about the amulet’s connection to Nana Ama’s cuffs, not ready to share until I knew more. Dr. Patel, while nice enough, was still a researcher employed by the Endowment. That’s why she was looking at me like I was a snack she wanted to dig into. She reminded me of the land developers who chased Nana incessantly with nothing but dollar signs in their eyes, wanting to make our home another vacation destination.
As for Hailey? While we shared Naira and Luke, her family still owned the Endowment, and the Endowment had ulterior motives. I needed to remember that. From the photos, I asked if we could check the cameras, prepared to be stonewalled at this point. But Hailey, once again, readily agreed, leaving me both curious and confused about her fluctuating moods and her willingness to give me access to her family’s company.
“Who’s he talking to?” I pointed to the screen where Franco’s head angled and his steps halted, like he didn’t have complete control of his legs. He shook his head as if trying to get himself alert. Or shake something loose.
“His lips are moving. Every few seconds it’s like he’s speaking. Then he stops.” I was a sports broadcaster calling out shots as Franco performed them. “He dips his head as if he’s listening to something. Kinda strains like he can’t hear it well. Then he replies. There’s no volume on this thing?” I twisted in my seat to meet Patel’s eyes.
She firmed her lips. “Unfortunately not.” She shook her head. “All we’ve done, and here Franco waltzes right in, in the dead of night, and takes maybe the most valuable religious artifact we have. Certainly the oldest, if my guess is correct.”
The oldest, I repeated to myself. Like how old were we talking? I thought about Nana’s cuffs and how they looked so similar, and my stomach lurched. How much longer before the Endowment was on the Isle and learning everything they shouldn’t about Nana and me?
“Simon employed lip-reading experts to parse out what he’s saying, but to no avail,” Patel said.
“What do you mean?”
