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I nearly choke on my drink when I see it.
The Keystone.
I’d seen Dredd’s sketch, but still, I’m surprised at how small it is and how utterly ordinary it looks. It’s hard to imagine why Titan and his brotherhood would go through so much to get to it.
I lean closer to it, and all I can hear are Titan’s words repeating again and again in my head.
You distracted me. You pulled me from my purpose.
That needed to end.
As if I was the one stopping him from getting this chunk of stone. As if I was the unreasonable one expecting him to honor my wishes and not do more than look into my mother and Richard.
It doesn’t matter that he effectively solved my ten-year legal battle. I’d been the one collecting every scrap of paper I could to prove the money was mine, spending late nights going over the case with Gutierrez, worrying how I’d be able to pay him and have a roof over my head. I was handling it. I was proving I could handle it.
Goddamn it, he is an arrogant ass.
Freddy walks back out with a small chalice. He holds it casually, but once he places it into the man’s gloved hands, it’s handled with the utmost care. The man in the black suit descends the stairs but is passed by a running guard.
“We’ve got a problem.” The guard skitters to a stop at Freddy’s side.
“What is it?” Freddy asks, shoving the outer shelf door close with a firm click behind him and hiding the open vault door and the Keystone from my view.
“There’s a man at the lobby asking for you.”
“Get rid of him.” Freddy waves his hand dismissively. “This is a private event.”
“He’s a… uh… with…” The guard sneaks a quick glance at me, and his voice drops to a whisper, and I can only hear half of what is being said. “… agent… art crime team… your collection… ceremonial vessel…”
Freddy’s face remains unchanged, but his body tenses.
Knox has begun his distraction. Titan set his plan into motion early. He has no reason to. Freddy is starting the unveiling soon. It was just about to start… until I pulled him away.
Titan set his plan in motion early because of me.
Because I went upstairs with Freddy alone.
He was pissed at me the entire ride over, and he’d even reminded me how little I meant to him in comparison to the Keystone, and now he has the nerve to be jealous.
Stupid fucking monster.
“Tell him to schedule a time with my assistant,” Freddy says in a clipped tone, seeming to forget I’m in the room.
The security guard doesn’t, and I manage to make out the words, “… coming back with a warrant.”
“Okay… Okay…” Freddy paces to the stairs, stopping at the top and turning back to the guard following him. “Collect any guard not next to an artifact and have them meet me in the security office. We need to get him out of the lobby immediately. I don’t want any of the guests aware of what’s going on. We take care of this swiftly and quietly.”
The guard nods, and they race down the stairs.
And I’m left alone with the awareness that the Keystone is only one hidden door away.
You distracted me. You pulled me from my purpose.
He’d said it less than an hour ago, and now he is changing his entire plan because of whatever macho bullshit he is going to use as an excuse.
I’m up and closing the distance to Freddy’s heavy oak desk before I register what I’m doing. My hand slides along the same filigreed design exactly as I’d seen him do, my index finger finding the floral button that gives way under pressure. I hear the bookcase door pop open.
I just want to get a good look at it. That’s all. Just see what the fuss is all about up close.
