“So what is that?” Sam pointed to the box.

“Treasure,” Lizzie said.

Sam’s eyes lit up as they always did at the mention of the word. “I like the sound of that. What kind of treasure?”

Lizzie hesitated. But after handing over the scepter to Sam, it seemed a little crazy not to tell him everything. She flipped the latch and slowly opened the box. “Everything we need to vindicate Aramis Dare is right here. All we need now is the other scepter and diamond, and all of Dad’s dreams will come true.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CON JOGGED TO the Posto de Saude do Corvo, barely acknowledging the young woman at the front desk as he threw Brianna’s name at her and headed toward the back.

There was one patient room with the door closed, a nurse at a small station nearby. She stood as he approached, but he just headed in, expecting to see Lizzie.

The room was dark and Brianna was asleep. He glanced around, but there was no sign of Lizzie or the box of documents she’d taken.

“Brianna?” he whispered, stepping toward the bed.

“Ela está dormindo,” the nurse insisted, coming up behind him. “Asleep.”

“I need to wake her.” He touched her hand and gave it a little shake. “Please, Brianna. I need to know where Lizzie is.”

“Senhor!”

He ignored the nurse and leaned closer. “Bree, wake up. Lizzie’s not safe. Neither of you are. Please tell me where she is.”

Her lids fluttered and she let out a soft moan. “Lizzie…”

“Where is she?”

Her eyes slowly opened, dilated and unfocused, then closed again.

“Is sedative of pain,” the nurse said, her hand on his arm. “No wake.”

“The other woman? Sister?” He searched for the word. “Irmã. Sister-she left?”

“Irmã!” She brightened, nodding. “Sim! Irmã.”

“Her sister, yes. Did she leave? Go?” He made his fingers walk off, then tapped his wrist. “When?”

She shrugged and shook her head, responding in Portuguese, enough to communicate that she had no idea when Lizzie left.

“Alone?” he pressed. “Others? A man and woman? Homem and…” He couldn’t think of the word for woman.

She nodded again, getting it anyway.

She held up two fingers. “Homem e mulher.”

Man and woman. A fist slammed his chest. She was with them.

There was only one place they could have gone. He thanked her and looked at Brianna. She wasn’t safe here. He pulled out his satellite phone and called the pilot waiting at the airport, instructing him to come guard Brianna until he returned. Then he waited until the pilot arrived, an eternity that was probably less than fifteen minutes.

Outside, he scanned the streets. A cab was unheard of, and unacceptably slow. There was no time to get the scooter, and even if he did, it wasn’t fast enough, either. He needed-

A Ducati.

The speedy little sports bike was parked directly across the street, the key in the ignition. Of course. There was no crime in Corvo.

Well, there was some now.

He looked left and right again, the only people in sight an older woman walking toward the church with a white-haired priest.

He jogged across the street, threw a leg over the seat, and closed his fingers around the keys. The engine turned over with the distinctly mellow growl of an Italian bike and Con took off, knowing exactly where he had to go.

As he passed the priest, he silently asked the old man to pray he wasn’t too late.

“He’s a thief, Lizzie, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you are.” Charlotte looked up from Solange’s open desk drawer, where she’d been rummaging since they’d arrived at the farmhouse, her normally calm demeanor agitated as she searched for something she claimed could really “help them understand the documentation” that Con had unearthed.

But every time Lizzie or Sam tried to press her on exactly what it was, her answers were vague and she changed the subject to harp on Con.

The facts she’d somehow managed to get on Lizzie’s lover were irrefutable. Any claims that he was not a former thief would sound as hollow to them as they did in Lizzie’s head.

Especially once she’d convinced them to stop by Sousa’s to tell Con where they were going, and he was gone. No note, no explanation. Just gone.

Where would he go without stopping by the clinic to tell her? It was possible she’d missed him between the restaurant and the clinic; there were plenty of winding back alleys throughout the town. Still, worry and uncertainty pushed at her heart. And the accusations didn’t help.

Charlotte slammed a drawer shut and stood, shaking her head. “Let me check the bedroom.”

Lizzie dropped onto a window seat that looked out over the property, stretching all the way to the windmill and the sea beyond. At a distance of what was probably the length of two football fields, the windmill looked small and sweetly picturesque. But it wasn’t so small when she was scaling the side to get to the brake. And it sure as hell wasn’t sweet when those gears nearly crushed her sister.

And Con had risked his life to save Brianna. He’d been a thief at one time, but he was a hero to her. She blew out a breath.

“If it’s any consolation, Lizzie Lou, I like him.” Sam had come up from behind, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I know Charlotte has all these connections in the world of art and collectors, so this dirt on Xenakis undoubtedly has some merit, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you, honey. A man who feels that protective about a woman can’t be all bad.”

She smiled wanly up at him. “If he’s so protective, why did he disappear?”

“He couldn’t have gone far on this island. Give him time.”

She nodded, looking out again. “This is when I miss my dad the most, you know. He was a great judge of character.”

“I don’t know about that.” Sam chuckled. “He liked me.”

“He did like you, a lot.” Never liked your new wife, though. But there was no reason to hurt Sam.

“That thief’s probably already been here.” Charlotte’s voice floated in from the bedroom down the hall.

“What is she looking for?” Lizzie whispered to Sam.

He lifted a shoulder. “She says she’ll know it when she sees it. You know how she is with treasure and art. Has a nose for it.”

“Did you tell her about the scepter?” she asked softly.

His expression grew pained. “Actually, no. I should have, but…”

“You were smart not to,” Lizzie assured him. “For her own protection.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t sound so convincing, but before she could pursue it, Charlotte made a disdainful tsk from the bedroom.

“He was probably here cleaning this place out while we were in the hospital with your poor sister,” she said loudly.

“My sister whose life he saved,” Lizzie said under her breath.

Sam put a hand on her arm. “If you like this man, or even if you love him, go with your gut, honey. Be honest with him. Give him a chance to explain who he is and why.”

“I did.”

“And did you like what he had to say?”

“Most of it.”

“Well, there you…” Sam’s voice faded as his attention shifted outside.

A figure moved in the far distance of the road. Lizzie sat up taller, squinting to see more clearly. She was able to make out the shape of a man in dark clothing with dark hair or a hat, dropping a motorbike to the ground and then bending over, running as though he were trying to maintain cover, as he headed toward the gravel drive that led to the property.

Was that Con? It was too far to make out any detail, but it sure looked like he wore a dark baseball cap- exactly like the one she’d playfully put on his head when she left to see her sister.

But why was he trying to hide?

“That your boyfriend?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know.” She narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the way he moved, the shape of his body. “From this far away, I think so.”