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Gabriel eyes were hard when he added, "And I'm going to let her."
Quinn left a message for Shane. He knew Gabriel when he was a boy on the streets of Dublin so maybe he knew something that could help tie the pieces together. But he too was unaware of a murder attempt on Gabriel. He was concerned for his friend and offered to assist them in finding the answers. Coming up empty, Quinn called Charles and asked that he look into Gabriel's past. She felt positively wretched sneaking behind Gabriel's back but he could be in danger so she focused on that and tried to bury her guilt.
Tessa, Derek and Constance stayed at Whispering Winds preparing for Constance's trip back through time. Tessa couldn't wait to actually witness time travel, particularly since this trip was going to be the last.
Nick had suggested that they go to Gabriel's and get a look at the box in the attic so two days after Gabriel's departure, Quinn, Shane, Cole and Nick pulled up the drive to Gabriel's estate as Mr. Payne waited to greet them.
"He was okay with us being here without Gabriel?" Cole asked.
"Yes, but I have to warn you," Quinn said, "the Paynes are very odd. Mrs. Payne is not a fan of mine but Mr. Payne, I like him a lot."
The car stopped before they piled out and Quinn approached Mr. Payne.
"Welcome back, Quinn." Mr. Payne said before he turned to Nick and bowed. "Your Grace."
"Please, it's Nick," Nick said as a blush crept up his cheeks and Quinn chuckled.
"You're blushing," she teased.
"Formality makes me uncomfortable," he muttered.
Quinn grinned before she looked back at Mr. Payne.
"Welcome. I imagine you'd like to go right up to the attic," he asked.
"Yes, please," Quinn replied.
The box was where she left it and as they all sat around it; Quinn pulled the contents out and placed them on the floor. As Nick scanned the article, Quinn silently studied the pictures of Gabriel. Where was he? What was he planning? She knew him well enough to know that as soon as he left Whispering Winds that night he was already forming a plan. Quinn's ringing cell phone pulled her attention from the task at hand.
"I've done an extensive search on Gabriel," Charles said over Quinn's phone, "and there was an incident several years ago involving him and another man, Niall Carver, that seems suspicious. But recently there haven't been any attempts on his life so if someone tried to kill Gabriel, it hasn't happened yet. I've also learned that this Niall Carver incident involved his sister. You can guess her description and her name."
Quinn paled before she replied, "Katherine."
Shane looked up at that. "Katherine? Katherine Carver? She's the woman that was coming around to see Gabriel. Beautiful but not right in the head."
Nick turned to Shane, "Meaning?"
"She's crazy, literally. She was the one who set up her brother and Gabriel. They almost died in a fight she instigated."
"Gabriel mentioned that to me. He didn't go into detail, but it was vicious." Quinn felt bile rising up in her throat.
"So if Katherine is this Katherine Carver, who at one time wanted Gabriel, then I think it's fairly safe to say that she went back in time to get Archer since Gabriel wouldn't have her," Nick concluded.
"Yes, but how did she know of the link between Gabriel and Archer?" Quinn asked.
Nick stood then and reached down to help Quinn up. "I don't know but in the future you were both at Whispering Winds so maybe whatever she learned she did so from the future."
"Maybe Constance and Derek can tell us something," Cole said as he too stood.
Quinn started to pace. "Katherine wants Gabriel so if we can orchestra getting them together, someplace where we're there too, we have a better shot at stopping her. We need an event. A publicized one that Gabriel will be attending which will have her coming to us." Quinn stopped pacing and looked at her friends. "Now we just need to come up with an event."
It was Nick who made the suggestion, "It started at Whispering Winds so let's end it there."
"Good idea but what's the draw?" Cole inquired.
"The unveiling of the Scarcliff treasure," Nick offered dramatically.
Quinn looked at Nick before she asked, "What treasure?"
