Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“I’m sick to my stomach. If those are smuggled diamonds, and they’d been found when I went through customs, what would have happened?” she asked.
Phoenix lifted her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He rocked her gently. “It would not have been good.”
“I would be in some jail somewhere, wouldn’t I?”
“Probably,” Magnus confirmed.
“This is why Kingsley got us involved. Are we dealing with an international diamond smuggling operation or just one greedy man who agreed to take a few here and there?” Phoenix said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“That conniving bastard! I want him in jail,” Lyra said with iron in her voice.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he’s put there as we protect you, Lyra,” Magnus said gently. “I’ll go get another bag to hold the rest of the gems, then head downstairs to see what I can find.”
When he disappeared to go into the kitchen, Lyra looked up at Phoenix. “I thought he loved me. At least at some point. How long do you think he’s been using me to do this?”
“How old is that case?” Phoenix asked.
“It’s about eighteen months old. With all the travel, it gets banged up.”
“Do you still have the other cases?” he asked.
“No. I donate them to schools to use. I don’t remember where the last one went,” she explained, shaking her head in disbelief.
As Magnus returned, she asked, “You think he’s been doing this for a long time?”
The two men exchanged a look, and Lyra demanded, “Tell me the truth.”
“The spikes in his bank balances go back a couple of years,” Magnus muttered before gathering the evidence together. He departed quietly, leaving the two of them alone.
Lyra clapped her hand over her mouth, trying not to be sick. “I’ve been an idiot,” she whispered.
“There was no way you could have ever imagined this would happen,” Phoenix assured her.
“I should’ve known something was wrong. I should’ve gotten rid of him a long time ago.” It was hard for Lyra to avoid feeling foolish for all the time she stayed with Boyd.
Chapter Nineteen
At dinner that night, everyone filled their plates first before starting their practice of sharing the latest news. Zara picked up the metal ladle and handed it to Lyra to start the talking spoon rotation as everyone ate. Her news caused quite a storm of reactions from both the Littles and their Daddies.
“So, he made you his drug mule?” Sadie asked in outrage, focusing on the culprit—Boyd.
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. That pretty well sums it up,” Lyra agreed.
“But she didn’t even know it. He made her his fall-guy drug mule,” Juniper added.
“He sounds worse with every moment that passes,” Zara commented.
“He was amazing in the beginning, or at least I thought he was amazing. Maybe I was just young and inexperienced,” she suggested, shrinking back in her chair. Phoenix immediately lifted her onto his lap.
“Oh, it wasn’t your fault,” Zara rushed to reassure her. “I’m totally not blaming you. He’s the manipulative jerk.”
The other Littles nodded in agreement.
“The worst is that Lyra would’ve faced jail time if the stones had been found,” Kestrel pointed out. “Being in jail in a foreign country is not a good thing. Trust me.”
“How can we check that you didn’t miss any in the case? Can we x-ray it?” Sadie asked.
“Depending on the diamonds’ size, type, and cut, they could pass through an x-ray process and never show up,” Magnus answered. “That’s why Boyd set Lyra up so many times and got away with it.”
“So, we tear it apart?” Lyra asked, biting her lip as she wondered how she’d get the instrument home without its protective case.
“You and I checked it over well. We should have a couple more sets of eyes look over it as well to ensure we didn’t miss anything,” Magnus suggested. “Tonight after dinner, I thought I’d try vacuuming that spot at the bottom where the vial opened to make sure there aren’t any more gems.”
“Thanks, Magnus,” Lyra said as she passed him the spoon.
“I’m going to ask Celeste and Zara to help me look for serial numbers on the loose diamonds tomorrow,” Magnus said, looking at the two scientists.
“We could look tonight,” Zara offered.
“Tomorrow, Little girl. Work is done for today,” Magnus informed Kestrel’s Little.
“You’re always working,” Zara reminded him.
“Just keeping an eye on things. Consider me a guard dog. I’m going to hang out with you all tonight while I keep my ears open,” Magnus told her. “What we really need to do is match the fingerprint that Celeste found on that vial.”
“Really? You found some proof that Boyd’s guilty?” Lyra asked.
“I have the computer checking the database for matching fingerprints. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a match to something Boyd gave his fingerprints for. It may take a while,” Magnus warned.