Treasured Heart

Chapter 21

A/N: Howdy, folks! Hope everyone has had a good weekend! It's actually been gorgeous here for once, so I (meaning my husband) was able to somewhat tame the jungle that is my yard. Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing last chapter. I love hearing from you all.

Also a huge thanks to my beta (who has been at the beach, so I'm only a tad jealous) for fixing my crappy grammatical errors.

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"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, staring at Jasper and Agent Peter Charlotte two days later as I stood in the living room of my condo.

"Marcus Caius is dead," Agent Charlotte repeated, and I just stared at him.

"But—how? Who did it?"

Agent Charlotte gestured for me to have a seat, so I sat on the sofa, clasping my hands tightly together and wishing like hell that Edward was with me. Edward's house back in Hawaii had caught on fire, and he'd flown out yesterday to go deal with the aftermath and file the insurance paperwork.

"We don't know who did it, but I can tell you with certainty that it was a professional hit. He was shot in the back of the head, execution style. He's been dead for about a week."

I waited for the feelings of relief and satisfaction to hit me, but neither one did. I didn't feel anything except a slight twinge of anger that he'd not suffered.

"Did you find anything on him about the Treasured Heart or the attack on the Arrakis?"

"Nothing," Agent Charlotte replied, and now I had a sinking feeling. If Caius had stolen the Treasured Heart we'd never find it. He would have taken that information to the grave.

"Where was he found?"

"In a ditch in Tarrafal, Cape Verde. It's my belief that he hadn't stepped a foot on American soil since he was first shot and rescued."

"So, he didn't directly steal the Treasured Heart, but he could have hired out help."

"It's a possibility, yes," Charlotte agreed.

"What about Jacob Black? Is he a suspect in the theft?" I asked him.

"He is a possible suspect," the agent said slowly. "We don't have a clear motive, and yes, I'm aware the Treasured Heart is worth millions, but we don't have any information linking Dr. Black with Marcus Caius. As far as we can tell, they've never met."

"Well, great," I muttered. "Do we even know where Black is? I know that he had a 'family emergency', but he's been gone for a long time."

"He's in Bangor, Maine," Jasper told me, which I technically already knew, thanks to Rose. "He's got some cousins out there, and he's helping them out after the death of their father."

"I thought his only relative was his mother who is somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico."

"I thought so as well, so I talked to Aro. He informed me about Dr. Black's cousins and told me that he'd approved Black to take two weeks off to help his relatives."

I narrowed my eyes at his words. It sounded suspicious to me that Aro would allow anyone two weeks off for a family emergency, but Aro did tend to play favorites.

"Well, thank you for letting me know about Caius," I said to Agent Charlotte, who shook my hand and told me he'd keep me informed about the investigation before taking his leave.

"I don't care what Agent Charlotte thinks, I'm positive Black is involved in this somehow," I told Jasper as soon as the door shut behind Agent Charlotte.