Bound By Passion. Katherine Garbera
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the only things that didn’t get sold are a series of portraits in the upstairs ballroom. It’s a regular rogues’ gallery of Campbell heirs and family members. Each generation has a family portrait with the male heir and his wife and children. The last one has Eleanor in it—the same long blond hair. The housekeeper says the family wouldn’t sell them, but it’s more likely that the pictures wouldn’t be of much value to anyone but the Campbells.”
It was unlike Cam to take so long in getting to the point, and that fact alone had Reid’s curiosity growing.
“The thing is, none of the wives are wearing the sapphires—not even Eleanor’s mother,” he said. “Adair’s been nagging me ever since we left the ballroom to call you about it. She says that the sapphires should be in the paintings, and she claims their conspicuous absence means that Deanna Lewis might be right. The sapphires were not Eleanor’s dowry because they never belonged to the Campbells.”
“There’s certainly an argument to be made for that theory,” Reid said. In his mind he could hear Nell making it. If the Campbells had been in legitimate possession of the Stuart sapphires, surely a record would have been displayed in the family portraits.
“Yeah,” Cam said in a resigned tone. “It opens up a whole new can of worms. If the Stuart sapphires didn’t belong to the Campbells, who the hell did they belong to and how did Eleanor get hold of them?”
“That’s what you need to find out. And fast,” Reid said. “Anything else?”
“Now that you mention it, I am curious about whether or not you’ve read the fantasies in the MacPherson sisters’ fantasy box.”
Reid let a beat of silence go by. Of course, Cam would know about the box. Duncan would probably know about it, also. “No, I haven’t.”
“Well, you have a treat in store. Long story short, the sisters got together on the night our parents married and wrote some very explicit sexual fantasies. Then they buried them in the stone arch so that they would eventually come true. Nell wrote hers on pink paper, and it’s very interesting.”
Reid frowned. “Are you telling me that you’ve read them?”
“Hey, I’m CIA. I’m trained to leave no stone unturned.”
Reid couldn’t identify all the emotions that shot through him. Fury that someone had invaded Nell’s privacy was the first one. “You had no business reading Nell’s.”
“Whoa, big bro. Calm down.”
Reid was shocked to find that he needed to. He was pacing, and his free hand had clenched into a fist. If Cam had been in the room, that fist would already have collided with his jaw. He stopped short and drew in a deep breath.
“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Cam asked.
Reid found he couldn’t answer. He was very much afraid that the answer was yes. And if he said it out loud...
“I’m going to take your silence as an affirmation,” Cam said. “I bet Duncan that you’d be a goner within the first twelve hours of your arrival at the castle. The profiler believes that you’re a cautious man, and it would take at least twenty-four hours for you to take the fall. I win.” Cam was chuckling as he ended the call.
Reid stood there for a moment staring down at his cell phone. Then he reached deep for his control. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t think about his feelings for Nell right now. He had a forty-eight-hour countdown clock to deal with, which left them only thirty-six hours at most. When he glanced up, he discovered he was standing right in front of the connecting door to Nell’s room, his hand on the knob. But before he could turn it, it opened, and he barely recognized this version of Nell, who took one of his hands and drew him into her room.
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