Page 71 of Dragon Tempted

Sienna handed one key to John, and she took the other key and placed it against the lock. They both pushed the keys into the locks and they turned successfully. The door opened and Charles pulled the metal box out of the slot. “Follow me, please.”

They walked out of the vault and across the hall to a small room that held a tall table where he set the box. He then bent down to the bottom shelf of the table and picked up a cardboard box with a removeable lid. “If you decide to take the contents with you, please feel free to use this box. I can get you a second box if you need as well.”

“Thank you,” Sienna said.

Charles backed toward the door. “Excellent. I’ll leave you to it.”

The man shut the door, and Sienna sucked in a hard breath.

“Are you okay?” John asked.

“I don’t know. I thought this was a long shot. Even if she had a box at some point, I didn’t think they would still have it. And she listed me to receive it. Why?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Sienna reached with shaky hands and lifted the vault lid. Her breath caught. Inside were several items wrapped in some sort of protective cloths. The first was a small square. The next a larger box about eight or so inches square across, and the last shape had her heart kicking into overdrive since it looked like a book.

Before she could reach for the items, John held up his hand. “I think we should wait to open these until we’re in the car.”

She curled her fingers into her palm and nodded as he picked up the three items and placed them in the box Charles gave them. They walked out of the room toward the front. Charles looked up from the desk in surprise. “That was quick. Can I help you with anything else?”

“I have some questions about how these boxes work. You keep records of all the comings and goings, correct?”

“Absolutely.”

“Can you tell me when my mother set up the box?”

Charles typed on his keyboard. “She opened the box fifteen years ago on May eighteenth.”

That was only two months before her accident. “And do you have records of any other visits?”

Charles reviewed the screen. “Yes, most of the time we request our customers to reach out in advance if they plan to come in. Of course, that isn’t mandatory, but it helps. Your mother accessed the box a month later on June eleventh.” He paused. “She had also reached out to us about coming in on July twentieth, but she didn’t keep the appointment.” He looked up with kind eyes. “We found out later that she had passed before her visit.”

Sienna’s stomach dropped. Two days before her planned visit. “How did you find out my mother died?”

“With our inheritance boxes, we use software to track obituaries. Some people reference the boxes in their wills, which makes the process easier, but we find that isn’t always the case.”

“Thank you for your help with all this.”

Charles smiled. “Of course. Would you be interested in transferring the box to your name?”

“Not at this time.”

As they left the building, Sienna’s stomach rolled like she had eaten bad sushi. She sucked in a couple of deep breaths. As she drew close to the car, Ryan frowned slightly before opening the back door. Sienna climbed in. John handed her the box, and she slid to the far side before he followed inside.

Ryan was in the driver’s seat and pulling out of the parking lot before she had her seat belt on. “Are you okay? You look a little green.”

Sienna nodded. “Just overwhelmed.”

“Ryan, pull into that fast food restaurant on the right,” John ordered.

“Are you seriously hungry right now?” Sienna asked.

“We’re going to get you something to drink. I think you need a little sugar,” John answered before putting his finger to his mouth to tell them to be quiet.

Ryan pulled into the lot and parked. John opened the cardboard box and placed the items from the vault in the space between them. He then took the box and chucked it in the garbage can next to the restaurant before climbing back inside.

“What was that?” Sienna asked.