Last Breath Part 31

"We have to take care of Daria McGowan."

She hung up on him and went to the window. It seemed that every conversation she'd had that morning had disturbed her.

b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Talking about her mother like that. Her mother was a priestess. She was. She'd said so.

She rubbed her eyes. Her head hurt like crazy. It was the things he said.

He was seriously p.i.s.sing her off.

Maybe it was time to move on without him. She could find someone else to sell the artifacts.

She really didn't need him now that most of the artifacts had been returned. The thought soothed her and the pain in her head started to ease. What she did need was a plan to eliminate not only Daria, but everything that was getting on her nerves.

Including him.

TWENTY-FOUR.

"D aria."

Daria turned and waved when she saw Vita bustling across the lawn.

"I'm glad I caught you." Vita appeared slightly out of breath. "Dr. B. was trying to get in touch with you." She stopped and fanned herself with her right hand. "Good Lord, it's another scorcher, isn't it? It must be ninety in the shade."

"Close enough." Daria smiled. "It's eighty-eight on the back porch."

"Dr. B. wants you to meet her at the museum. She's with the architect and they want your input on something."

"Why didn't she call instead of making you run all the way over here?"

"She said she did, but you didn't pick up."

"I must have left my phone in the kitchen." Daria put down the bowl of water she was holding. "Come in while I get my things. I've made sketches of some of the displays for the new exhibit. I'm guessing that's what Louise wants me to show the architect."

"I'm sure that's it." Vita followed Daria up the steps and into the kitchen.

"Can I offer you some water, Vita? You look flush with the heat."

"I'd appreciate that, thank you."

Daria took a gla.s.s from one of the overhead cupboards. "I usually have bottles of spring water in the refrigerator but I'm afraid I'm all out."

"Tap water is fine, really."

Daria filled the gla.s.s at the sink and handed it to Vita, who drank gratefully. When she was finished, she said, "I don't think I've ever been in this house but once or twice in all the years I've been at Howe."

"How many years is that?"

"Most of my life, so it seems."

"You grew up in town? You went to school here?"

"I did." Vita nodded. "I didn't graduate, though. I got married when I was nineteen and dropped out."

"What was your major?"

"Ancient history."

"Oh, mine, too, the first year. Was there any particular period that you were drawn to?"

"Not really."

"Do you have a family, Vita? Children?"

"Unfortunately, no. My marriage didn't work out. Lasted less than a year, actually." She shrugged. "I never tried it again. Once bitten, twice shy, and all that."

"How long have you worked for Howe?"

"Oh, my goodness, let's see. It'll be twenty-two years come October." She stared into s.p.a.ce for a moment. "I did think about coming back for my degree, but my mother was ill-had been for several years-and there just didn't seem to be time. I was busy caring for her. That's really why my marriage fell apart-he thought I was spending too much time with her, but really, what could I do? She was my mother and she needed me-"

She realized she was talking too much, too fast. She stopped and took a deep breath. "Anyway, after she pa.s.sed on, I got a job here at Howe and never left."

"I'm sure you've seen a lot of changes over the years."

"Yes, indeed. There's been a lot of water over that dam." Vita finished her drink and set the gla.s.s down on the counter.

"Was the museum ever open while you were here?"

"Just the dinosaur exhibit, when I was younger."

"I'd love to hear about it sometime." Daria hoisted her bag over her shoulder. "Let's go out through the front door, since we have to go in that direction anyway."

Daria locked the back door before leading Vita through the swinging door into the hall.

"This is a really beautiful place," Vita said admiringly, as she glanced from side to side. "I think I was here once for a reception of some sort. I remember the twin parlors on each side of the foyer."

"It is a beautifully designed house. I hope Iliana-my great-grandmother-was happy here. I'm sure it was hard for her, after her husband died, to stay here and raise her children alone."

"Do you ever feel her here?"

"No, I don't." Daria laughed a little. "Louise said there was some talk about her haunting the place, but you can't prove that by me. I wanted to find, I don't know, a sense of her, maybe...but I haven't. I'm sort of disappointed, to tell you the truth."

"The past does have its pull, doesn't it?" Vita stood in the center of the front hall. "You feel it, don't you?"

"I suppose I do. I guess that's why I went into archaeology to begin with. That and the fact that I was surrounded by it growing up."

"You really can't escape the past." Vita looked upward at the stairwell. "Inevitably, you're drawn into it."

"I suppose." Daria got her house key out of her bag. "Ready?"

"Yes," Vita replied. "I'm ready."

There was little chatter on the way across campus. Vita was preoccupied, and out of breath by the time they arrived at the museum. There was one guard at the front door, a tall, well-built man of indeterminate age, who stood stoically by as Daria and Vita made their way inside.

"I thought there was supposed to be more than one guard," Daria said as they stepped inside the cool of the building.

"Maybe the others are making rounds through the building, or they could be at lunch. Dr. B. said something about a reduced staff for an hour in the middle of the day. The university guards, like the one out there now, step in and cover for the bank's people."

Daria looked around the Great Room. Louise was nowhere in sight.

"I thought Louise was here with the architect," she said.

Daria walked down the unlit hall. "Louise? Are you down here? Louise...?" She turned to Vita. "Where could they be?"

"They were here a while ago. Maybe they went downstairs," Vita suggested. "Maybe Dr. B. decided to show some of the artifacts to the architect."

"Maybe." Daria went to the stairwell and called, "Louise?"

"They might be in one of the back rooms. Come on, I'll walk down with you."

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that." Daria started down the steps. "I know my way."

"I'll just check to see if Dr. B. wants me for anything else."

Vita followed Daria down the steps.

"You'd think she'd turn the lights on if she came down here," Daria said when they came to the bottom of the stairs and gazed down the dark hallway.

"She's probably using a flashlight," Vita said as she walked along. "I think the insurance people said something about the wiring being a hazard, and keeping the electricity off until it was replaced."

"I suppose that's a possibility," Daria said. "Louise?" she called.

Vita opened the door to the room where the Jacobs collection was housed. The room was dark, but the room beyond, where Alistair's find was stored, was dimly lit.

"They must be in there." Vita pointed toward the light. "Go on in, Daria. I'm right behind you."

Daria stepped into the room and looked around. A man was leaning against one of the crates.

"Stefano," she said. "What are you doing here...?"

TWENTY-FIVE.

C onnor could not remember the last time he felt this free or this good. He knew enough of life's twists and turns to know that things could change on a dime, but for right now, he couldn't think of anything better than being behind the wheel of a fast car on a winding country road, on his way to see his favorite girl, singing along with Jimi Hendrix's "Gyspy Eyes," a silly dog in the pa.s.senger seat next to him, hanging out the window catching a faceful of air.

He didn't hear the phone ringing until the song played out.

"s.h.i.+elds."

"Connor, it's Will Fletcher."

Connor turned off the music and slowed the car.

"You get a chance to run any more of those names I gave you?"

"Ran 'em all. I e-mailed everything to you this morning, but when I didn't hear back from you, I thought maybe I should give you a call."

"I haven't checked my computer yet today. What did you find?"

"Harry Dragonis." Will was not one to waste words. "Born Hakan Drago, February 22, 1937, Adana, Turkey. Family immigrated here in 1946. Worked as a security guard at Howe University from 1958 through 1988. Married a Turkish girl, Ayfer Demerkan, in 1955. One child, Vedat, born 1962. Wife died in 1984. Body was returned to Turkey for burial. Hakan-Harry-died in June of 1988. Don't know what happened to the daughter after that."

Connor drove slowly, thinking it through. "Look, thanks-"

"Wait, there was something else. Stefano Korban. Interestingly enough, he was also born in Adana, Turkey. Immigrated at age nineteen. Guess which year that would have been."

"Can't."

"July of '88.

"Right after Drago died?"

"Less than a month later."

"Think you can find out why?"

"I can find out anything if you give me enough time."

"Thanks. Let me know if you come up with anything else."

Connor hung up and thought it through.

Harry Dragonis the dealer had been a security guard at Howe and had selectively helped himself to some prime collectibles.

Way to cut out the middleman, Harry.

Stefano Korban arrived here shortly after Drago-Dragonis-died in 1998. What connected Drago to Korban?

Connor wasn't sure what it all meant, but he was d.a.m.ned sure it wasn't coincidental. It was all part of the same puzzle. Right now, he was still missing a few pieces, but he knew from experience that if he followed his instincts, they would lead him to the solution.