Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [119]
"It certainly was," Riley agreed.
Paige flipped through several more pages, noting the mix of photographs and yellowed newspaper clippings. There were a few pages devoted solely to the 1906 earthquake that had flattened the city and the fires that followed. Hathaway's had moved to Union Square with the rebuilding of the square after the quake. The clippings from the next few decades showed the Hathaways gaining importance as city leaders.
"This is amazing," she murmured, seeing her family history unfold before her. "I wonder why this has been hidden away. I would have loved to see it."
"Your family was really something. It looks like they built half the city."
She turned another page and stopped, the headline turning her blood cold: Wallace Hathaway Missing In Action. "Oh, my God. What's this?" She skimmed through the article, knowing Riley was keeping pace along with her. "My grandfather's plane was shot down over mainland China," she exclaimed.
Riley met her gaze with an excited gleam in his eyes. "We just hit pay dirt. Turn the page."
She was almost afraid to do that. Her grandfather had never mentioned being shot down over China during the war. In fact, she only vaguely knew that he'd been in the war, but that was it. No one had ever spoken about that time in his life.
Riley grew impatient and turned the page for her. "Damn," he said. "Would you look at that."
It was a newspaper photograph of two men dressed in ragged uniforms, their arms around each other: Hometown Heroes Found Alive
"Our grandfathers," Paige said in amazement, recognizing both men.
"Two of San Francisco's finest, shot down over China almost three months ago, were found alive," Riley read. " 'They credit their survival to a young Chinese man named Lee Chen, who gave them food and shelter and kept them hidden from the enemy.' "
"Lee Chen?" Paige could hardly believe it. "The same Lee Chen who is Alyssa's grandfather?"
"The third connection," Riley said, meeting her gaze. "This is amazing, Paige. It's all coming together. Our grandfathers flew together in the war. Wallace must have been the Wally my grandfather talked about."
"And Alyssa's grandfather was the one who saved their lives in China."
"When they returned from the war, they all went to work at Hathaway's with a new focus, Asian art. Imagine that," Riley continued.
"The three of them worked together until a fire destroyed the store," she continued. "They went their separate ways, nothing connecting them to each other until now."
"Until a dragon statue in my grandfather's possession came to light."
"The dragon set that was lost in China during the war."
They both came to the same conclusion at the same time.
"You think they brought it back from China?" she asked.
"It sure looks that way to me."
"But that would mean they stole it. Not just my grandfather, Riley, but yours, too. Is that what you're saying?"
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Someone stole it. I'm just not sure who."
"You can't still be trying to pin this all on my grandfather?"
"He did end up with the most money."
"He had the most money to start with."
"Okay. Let's back up a little."
"Good idea, because I don't think it would be that easy to smuggle national art treasures out of a foreign country. In fact, I wonder how Lee Chen got out of China so quickly."
"Probably courtesy of your grandfather, Paige. He came from a powerful family. He had political connections, didn't he?"
"I'm sure my great-grandfather did."
"There you go. Your grandfather was grateful for the rescue, and in return he got Lee Chen to the States."
"I suppose it could have happened that way. But that still doesn't explain the dragon."
"It was wartime. I have a feeling a lot of things were smuggled out of China."
"You can't just steal ancient artifacts and sell them without anyone noticing," she argued.
"The black market has been around forever. Who says you can't do exactly that?"
"I don't know,