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CHAPTER FIVE
What kind of consequences?I wonder before realizing it’s probably best I not know the answer to that question.
“Not a fan of Wagyu?” Rafe asks.
“Hunh?” I return.
“Your steak.”
I look down at my plate. “I’m not hungry.”
However, I do take another sip of the red wine, which is probably the best wine I’ll ever get to taste. It’s got a vibrant berry flavor with a touch of pepper. Maybe when I make it through this, I will go get myself a bottle of that Boerl & Kroff Brut Millesime.
“Dessert is a dark chocolate torte with black and white sesame crémeux, paired with cognac,” Rafe informs me.
It sounds delicious, and I normally never pass on chocolate anything, but I shake my head. He said I was to be aguest,and, given my surroundings, I can pretend I’m at some luxury resort,but I was never that good at playing make-believe.
When Rafe is done with his steak, he waves off the next dish. Setting down his napkin, he gets up from his chair. “Come. I’ll show you my other Degas.”
I get up and follow him out the dining room. We walk down a corridor of beautiful mosaic flooring to a set of double doors. He opens them, and soft recessed lighting immediately turn on, followed by classical music.
I gasp.
On the wall opposite me is an oil on canvas, a seascape of a sailboat perched on the side of a large wave. A few men struggle with the rigging as water washes over the side of the boat. Near the stern of the boat sits Christ surrounded by half a dozen men.
“That’s not...?” I begin in disbelief.
“It is,” Rafe confirms.
I stride over and stare. Rembrandt’sChrist in the Storm on the Sea of Galileewas stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston back in 1990. Two thieves posing as police officers made off with thirteen works of art totaling five hundred million dollars in value. The case remains unsolved to this day, with no arrests made. None of the works have been recovered.
“How...?” I turn to Rafe.
“I didn’t organize or issue the heist,” he says. “I was offered the Rembrandt because it’s too famous to sell well.”
“And you know it’stheRembrandt from the Gardner Museum?”
“I had the paint chips lab tested and the canvas analyzed.”
My mind whirls. There’s a ten-million dollar bounty for information leading to the art’s recovery. Granted, this is only one of the thirteen stolen works, but I think it’s the one with the highest value.
Turning, I find Rafe’s gaze upon me. He smiles as if he finds me cute.
“You could tip off the FBI,” he says, “but you won’t live long enough to collect the reward.”
