“I don’t have time to read it. Tell me everything. Are there any other mysteries in the book besides the necklace?”
“Who said the necklace was a mystery? The man who stole the necklace and then killed the mistress of the house died. Mystery solved.”
“Right,” Brad said quickly. “What else is in the book?”
Katlyn looked at him hard. “If you know about the necklace but don’t know about the book, then is the story true?” Her eyes widened. “The Farringtons! Wasn’t there some story about missing sapphires when I was a kid?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. In a second he went from lover to lawyer. “Tell me,” he ordered.
“I can’t think of any other mystery,” she said, annoyed. “Oh! Wait! What about the riddle?”
“There’s a riddle?” Brad asked softly.
Katlyn took the book from him, flipped the pages, then handed it back to him.
Five by five and three by three.
Worth more than gold and married to thee.
Ten times ten and legends of me.
Look not where thou canst find me.
He looked at her in question. “What does it say about this riddle in the book?”
“That it was always believed to be bad poetry written by someone in the family, but no one knew who. The main character, a woman from this generation, found it carved into the back of a door in the attic. She was told it was probably written by a kid and that it had no meaning, but she believed it was a riddle. She never found out anything about it, though.”
“ ‘Worth more than gold,’ ” Brad whispered. “ ‘Legends of me.’ ‘Look not where thou canst find me.’ ” He looked at Katlyn. “There’s only one person in the Farrington family who had an ego like that.”
“Old Mrs. Farrington?”
“Not by a longshot.” Brad grabbed his coat. “Mind if I keep this?” he asked, holding up the book.
“Sure, but—” She caught his arm. “Why do I feel like I’m never going to see you again?”
He frowned. “I don’t have time for this right now. I have to get home. I think I have an idea of what they’re after.”
“Who is after what?”
Brad didn’t answer her. He ran out of the room and didn’t look back.
Chapter Twenty-two
EDEN tried to open her eyes, but it wasn’t easy. She didn’t know where she was or what was wrong with her head. Her brain was fuzzy and didn’t seem to be working properly. She sensed that there was something she should remember, but she didn’t know what it was.
When she heard a low voice, she opened her eyes. Jared McBride was standing in front of her bedroom window, talking on his cell phone. He was frowning.
I must get up, Eden thought. It was daytime, and she never stayed in bed during the day. There was always work to be done. She had to get Melissa ready for school. She had to—
At the thought of Melissa, memory came back to her. Frantic, she tried to get out of bed, but her body wouldn’t obey her.
“Gotta go,” she heard Jared say, then he was leaning over her and moving her leg back onto the bed.
“Be quiet now,” he said, his hand on her forehead. “Everything will be okay.”
She clasped his wrist with both her hands. “What happened? Where is Melissa?”
He sat on the bed by her, her head by his thigh. “You’re groggy because I gave you two of those sleeping pills you had in your bathroom. I need for you to keep calm right now.”