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Chapter 33
Savannah sneaked a peek at her watch. Ten more minutes. She turned the item on the table around to face her class of fourteen students. “What can you tell me about this artifact?” Her class had been engaged all year so far, and she was determined not to lose the momentum in spite of the problems facing her. Only a few more weeks and Thanksgiving break would give her a chance to think.
The students gathered around the item and studied it for several moments. Her brightest student, Dominga Steerforth, swiped a lock of black hair behind her ear and shot up her hand. “It’s Mezcala stonework. I think it’s andesite?”
Savannah nodded. “Time period?”
“Between 300 and 100 BC.” Dominga’s voice gained confidence. “Its provenance locates it in Mexico.”
“Very good.” Savannah shifted and glanced at her watch again. If she ended class now, she’d have time to run to the library before going to Hez’s office to relieve him of his babysitting duties. “Good job, and since you identified it so quickly, I’m dismissing class a little early. Have a good evening.”
The students chattered excitedly on the way out, and Savannah grabbed her purse and hurried to her car in the falling dusk. She paused to check Simon’s whereabouts. The app she’d put on his phone showed him still in the building where Hez worked. Was this a day he met with Will, Jane’s son, for tutoring? If so, she had a little time. She could zip to the library, then gather Simon. Maybe Hez would agree to join them for dinner. She had chicken out for alfredo, and it was one of Hez’s favorite recipes she made. She told herself she only wanted him to join them so they could discuss what to do about Simon, but she wasn’t so delusional that she didn’t recognize the rationalization for what it was.
She kept a close eye on the time as she parked in the Nova Cambridge Library lot and hurried inside. As she approached the desk, she pulled out her phone and found a picture she’d snapped of her nephew.
The librarian, a woman in her thirties, greeted her when she reached the desk. “Can I help you find something?”
Savannah extended her phone. “I know this will seem like a strange request, but have you seen this boy?”
The woman adjusted her round glasses and glanced at the photo. “That’s Simon. He was in yesterday. He was working on some genealogy and asked to see newspapers. I showed him how to find the Alabama digital library resources. We have all those old newspapers and journals available digitally. He doesn’t even need to come in here to access them.”
Savannah tensed. “Was there a particular time period he asked about?”
The woman’s brown eyes held curiosity. “He was particularly interested in 2012 to 2014. He printed off a page of engagement announcements.”
Oh no. It had to be Jess’s engagement to Erik. He was a smart kid, and he’d figured it out. Savannah thanked her and turned to leave.
Her phone dinged and she glanced at the screen, which announced a new charge on her credit card. An Uber? Hez wouldn’t use her card to order an Uber, and besides, he had a car. She checked her app and watched a few seconds. Simon must have stolen her card, then called an Uber and gotten away from Hez somehow. No wonder the school had expelled him. The kid was a juggernaut of determination.
The icon on the app moved along Tupelo Street and turned on Pecan Street. The breath left her lungs. He was heading for Erik’s house. This couldn’t get any worse. Jess was going to explode when she heard about it.
Savannah shot a text to Hez. On Simon’s tail. Stand by. I might need help.
Jess would absolutely kill her if Simon announced himself to Erik. As she drove toward Pecan Street, she prayed Erik was still teaching and she’d have a chance to retrieve the boy before any harm was done. She parked on the street and hopped out of the car. Mossy oak trees shaded the single-story house from the fading light, and she didn’t spot her nephew until she rounded the south side of the house.
He stood at a partially open window, and when she called his name, he glanced her way before he shoved the pane up the rest of the way. He threw himself inside before she reached him, and she grabbed at his ankle but missed. She dove inside the house after him, and the fall to the hardwood floor knocked the breath out of her for a minute.
She struggled to her feet beside a queen-size bed. “Simon?” The room was empty, and she went through the open door into the quiet living room. She followed noises down the hall to the office, where she found Simon crouching in front of an open desk drawer. His back was to the door, and he thumbed frantically through a sheaf of papers.
“Simon Legare, what do you think you’re doing? We are leaving now.” She grabbed his arm, and he jerked it away.
He stood and turned to face her with his hands fisted at his sides. “I’m off my trolley at all the secrets! I have a right to meet my dad, Aunt Savannah. He doesn’t know about me, does he? I don’t even know who I am or where I came from. How would you like to live your life wondering if something is wrong with you that makes your own parents not want you?”
When his voice quivered, she saw through his anger to the pain driving him. “Oh honey, your mom loves you. You don’t understand everything going on here.” She took his hand. “Let’s go. I’ll see about getting you in to see your mom. Let her explain it.”
Savannah had no idea how she’d get Jess to open up to her son, but her heart broke at the torment in Simon’s blue eyes. He let her embrace him, and as she held him, she spotted a jade statue on top of Erik’s desk. Her mind cataloged it as an Olmec figure. When Simon stepped back, she moved past him to pick up the piece. Jade was always a pleasure to hold, but even as her fingers registered the patina on the surface, she spotted a provenance letter on TGU letterhead. It identified the piece as part of the TGU collection and was signed by Professor Wilson Fremont on behalf of the Tupelo Grove University History Department. There was no Professor Wilson Fremont.
Erik was behind this scheme? It was the only explanation for why the figurine was in his possession. He was a European history professor with no legitimate interest in the item. She pulled up the camera on her phone, snapped pictures of the jade piece and the provenance letter, then sent both pictures to Hez.
“Aunt Savannah?”
At the sound of Simon’s voice, she realized they had to get out of here. Now. “Simon, we’re in grave danger. Come with me.” She took his hand and turned back toward the door.
But wide shoulders moved into view, and Erik’s blue eyes pinned her in place. His gaze moved from her to the boy and back again.
* * *
Bruno Rubinelli said the words Hez had been hoping to hear: “Your girl was hacked. No doubt about it. And the rat spreadsheet is fake.”
