Page 61 of Boxed In

He turned to her and said, “The items were smuggled into the country in a shipment of stolen antiques.”

Olivia sucked in a sharp breath. “Stolen! I was afraid of something like that.”

“Those men stole the box?”

“No. They have been tracking it down. They almost found it in France. Then it shipped out with the Peterbalm consignment. Everything in the cargo boxes was hot.”

“Oh great.”

Another message came through. “The Grand Master wants us to bring the box to them.”

“When?”

“He’ll give us instructions.”

“Okay.”

Luke leaned back in the chair, looking worn-out. He’d been transacting the warrior’s business for hours. There was nothing more he could do until he received further information.

“Now what?” Olivia asked.

“We have to wait until they give us the location of the temple.”

“Why?”

“Because . . .” He stopped and thought. “Because it is not always in the same place.”

“How could that be?”

He shrugged. “They hide their presence.”

“How can it move around?”

“By utilizing an alternate space-time continuum.”

“Glad I asked.”

“Few people would understand it.”

“Do you?”

He huffed out a breath. “No.” After a long moment, he turned and looked at Olivia. “I’m sorry you got caught in all of this.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Carl Peterbalm should have been more careful.”

“Probably he thought it was a fantastic deal.”

“If the deal was that good, he should have been suspicious.” She sighed. “He’s a jerk.”

When they exhausted the subject of Carl Peterbalm, Luke shifted in his seat, looking like he was feeling awkward.

So was Olivia. They’d known each other for a month and hadn’t managed to get close, although they’d been attracted to each other. But a couple of hours ago, they’d made wild, frantic love. Although she longed to ask if he was having second thoughts about that, she couldn’t get the words out.

She turned and looked out the window into the night. She wanted to tell Luke that the password had been a sign that they should contact the Decorah Security agency. But she suspected the warrior wouldn’t let him do it.

When she said, “Let’s try to relax while we’re waiting,” she could see some of the tension melt out of Luke’s shoulders. “I think I saw some hot chocolate down in the pantry. How does that sound?”

“Good. But I need to stay at the computer, in case I get e-mail.”

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