Heron's Cove. Carla Neggers

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СКАЧАТЬ there’s not a reason. It just happens. Come on. The rain’s stopped. Let’s have breakfast outside.”

      Lucas carried the tray and Wendell grabbed a towel to dry off the chairs and two-person round table on the small brick terrace. The sun broke through the clouds as they sat across from each other. They were both lanky and blue-eyed, but any resemblance ended there. Except for her green eyes, Emma favored their grandfather more than Lucas did.

      He watched his grandfather butter a piece of toast with a steady hand. For all his expertise in fine art, Wendell Sharpe lived simply. The only art he owned was by contemporary artists and craftspeople, mostly Irish, whose work appealed to him for whatever reason. He didn’t care about critics, reviews, whether a particular work or particular artist would ever end up in a museum or prized by discerning collectors. He just bought and bartered for what he liked. His lack of snobbery, combined with his knowledge, experience and extensive contacts, made him a formidable, insightful expert in art theft and recovery. He could see, think and feel what others couldn’t or overlooked because of their blind spots and prejudices.

      Lucas wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, but he knew, too, that he had to carve out his own path. And he was just thirty-four. Wendell did have a few decades on his only grandson.

      Wendell took a bite of toast and poured tea. “What’s on your mind, Lucas?”

      “Do you know a London jeweler named Tatiana Pavlova?”

      “No, I don’t, but that’s a Russian name. Why? Who is she?”

      “I don’t know. Emma sent an email last night asking about her. She said she’d call today.” Lucas poured his coffee, appreciated its heat. “She also wants anything we have on the Rusakov collection.”

      “The Rusakov collection?” Wendell went still, knife and toast in hand. “You’re sure?”

      Lucas nodded. “I’m sure. You can read the email if you’d like.”

      “No. I don’t need to read it.” He set his toast on his plate and glanced at the sky, the sun back behind the shifting gray clouds. He seemed to give himself a mental shake, then picked up his teacup and focused again on Lucas. “What else did Emma say?”

      “Colin Donovan is back.”

      “I met him in September when he and Emma were in Ireland chasing that killer. Good-looking fellow. All the Donovans are.”

      “I didn’t realize you knew them,” Lucas said, already wishing he’d made more coffee.

      “They’d come by the waterfront from time to time, mostly in a lobster boat. I’d wave. They’d wave. That was the extent of it. They were teenagers. I was old even back then. Their father was a town police officer.”

      “Did you think Colin would become an FBI agent?”

      “No, I thought he’d become a lobsterman. I’m better at figuring out art thieves than I am at figuring out law enforcement officers. They surprise me every time. Look at Emma. You said Colin’s back? Where did he go?”

      “Washington, supposedly. I don’t think that’s the whole story. I think he was in trouble.”

      Wendell nodded thoughtfully. “I suspect trouble’s a way of life for Colin Donovan. As it’s becoming for Emma, I fear.”

      “They’re FBI agents, Granddad. It’s their job to look for trouble. What about this collection? Does it in fact belong to Dmitri Rusakov?”

      Wendell shifted in his chair, a ray of sunlight catching his thinning white hair. “I haven’t been back to Maine in far too long. How is life there?”

      “It’s fine,” Lucas said, not hiding his impatience well. “Granddad—”

      “I’ll recognize the house when you’re finished with it?”

      “Yes. I’ve worked with an architect and designer to make sure we keep its character. My main focus is modernizing the offices. You’ve seen the drawings.”

      “The apartment will be ready by winter?”

      “Yes, but you have a place to stay in Heron’s Cove anytime you want to be there. You know you can always stay at my place. And you’ll love the apartment when it’s done. I promise.”

      “I know I will, Lucas,” Wendell said, pouring himself more tea. “I’m physically and mentally fit for a man my age, but I can’t help but feel that moving back to Heron’s Cove will mean I’m about to die. People will take it that way, though. Mark my words.”

      Lucas felt a spray of drizzle and sat back, wishing now he’d stayed inside and turned on the Irish news instead of trying to have a conversation with his grandfather. Coffee first. Then talk of going home to die.

      The rain didn’t develop, and the sun popped out again.

      Finally Lucas said, “Granddad, if you’re having second thoughts about retiring, we can work something out. You’ll still be a consultant but if you miss going into an office, there are options.”

      “I know, I know.”

      “And there’s a difference between retirement and death, you know.”

      His grandfather gave a wry smile. “Yes, I do know, Lucas. What about you? You never thought you’d be running the show at your age. You thought you’d have more time to sow your wild oats.”

      “Dad’s accident changed all that.”

      “And Emma,” Wendell said. “The convent, the FBI. We thought you would share the responsibility of running the business with her.”

      “It’s all worked out. Dad’s still a valuable asset to the business even if he can’t run it. Mom, too.”

      With another sigh, Wendell ate his toast, drank more of his tea. “Your father’s strength was always research and analysis. He and Emma have that same ability to dig into something and see all the pieces and how they might fit together.”

      Lucas again reined in his impatience and focused on enjoying his coffee and toast. He could feel his run in the backs of his thighs. He had pushed too hard. He could blame jet lag, but he didn’t. He blamed Emma’s email, and his grandfather’s attempt to deflect the questions about Pavlova and Rusakov—and his melancholy mood. Lucas had hoped that his presence in Dublin would be a boost for his grandfather. Instead, he was just another reminder that Wendell Sharpe had more days behind him than ahead of him. Transferring what he knew—what wasn’t in the files—to his grandson drew him into the past and underscored that he was at the end of a long and storied career.

      “I don’t know what the next chapter will be for me,” Wendell said, buttering his last triangle of toast, “but it’ll be short.”

      “Granddad, that’s morbid.”

      He shrugged. “It’s true.”

      “You could live to a hundred-and-five. That’s more than twenty years.”

      “I shudder at the thought.” He winked. “It’s all right, Lucas. I’m not about to leap off the Cliffs СКАЧАТЬ