Page 147 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
“Don’t be nervous,” Sonja whispered as she turned the sign on the door to Closed. “They only want to ask you a few questions.”
The art had checked out, confirmed by two sets of experts. The sketches were real, drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. Sonja led them to her small office in the back, where two men sat in chairs against the wall. Two empty chairs sat across from them. The men were FBI agents, and they looked the part. Neat, short haircuts, crisp dark suits, ties knotted perfectly at their necks, one red, one blue.
They introduced themselves with firm handshakes and names that sped past Cat and Harper, then began with small talk, commenting on the quaintness of Bowskeep and the good pie at Starky’s down the street, but then got right down to it. “Bowskeep is an out-of-the-way place for art to turn up. Such a small town. Where did you say your sister got the art?”
“I didn’t say,” Cat answered.
“A swap meet,” Harper said at almost the same time. “They were stuffed in an old book she bought.”
“Which swap meet?”
“We’re not sure. She didn’t say.”
“May we see that book?”
“No, she took it with her.”
“Where did she go?”
“She said she went to see a friend.”
“She’s been gone quite some time now, I understand. Are you worried about her?”
“No.”
“We’d like to ask her a few questions. Do you have an address?”
“No.”
“Are you trying to hide—”
“She’s gone to Faerieland to find our dead father!” Cat snapped. “There is no address unless you have wings! Get over it.”
A hint of a smile sprouted on Sonja’s lips, and she offered Cat a sly nod. “Gentlemen, I think these ladies have told you all they know. And since there is no record of the sketches in the first place, they can hardly be considered stolen. If you have any further questions, I’m sure their attorney can help you—his office is right above Starky’s. The place with the great pie? You should have no trouble finding it.”
They took a few more notes, one raising his brow as he wrote and whispered, “Sister is in Faerieland. No address.”
As soon as they left, Harper asked, “Is Bri in trouble?”
“No,” Sonja said emphatically, “at least not here. But she has been gone for a long time. Do you know where she is, really?”
“Faerieland,” Cat repeated.
“She’s fine,” Harper added.
Sonja grinned and put her arms around their shoulders, still wondering about Bristol’s disappearance, but if neither of her sisters was worried, she would try not to worry either. “Good enough. Come on. It’s been a day. I’ll buy us all some molten ganache at Starky’s.”
CHAPTER 102
Bristol didn’t know what to do with herself. She had never felt so many emotions at once. Rage, heartache, shame, misery. By the time she got back to the palace and left August in his stall, her scattered thoughts had whirled out of control.
They helped me fake my death. Your grief had to be believable.
It was!she screamed in her head.Our grief was real!She fought disbelief that their own father would do this to them, but then his justification clawed through her chest.It was the only way to keep you safe. I had to agree not to follow.
They made a bargain. A bargain with Kormick.
Mick came to Bowskeep to check on the news himself. He used Bristol to confirm her father’s death, probing, asking questions—and then, as long as he was there, he used her in other ways too.God, how he had used her.
