Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [125]
She took Riley's hand as they crept down the stairs. They managed to make it down the stairs without any doors opening behind them or voices calling out. They were almost to the front door when she realized someone was in the living room. She grabbed Riley and pulled him across the hall into the dining room. There was no way they could open and close the front door without whoever was in the living room hearing them.
"Is that my mother?" she whispered.
Riley peered around the corner then looked back at her. "It's your grandfather. He's opening a safe."
"There's no safe in the living room."
Riley took another look. "Behind the portrait by the window."
"That's not possible." She pushed him aside to take a look herself, and what she saw was shocking. She'd thought she'd known where all the family safes were. There was one in the study, one in her mother's bedroom, another in the linen closet, although why there was one there she'd never been able to explain. But no one had told her about the one in the living room. She was so annoyed by the oversight that she stepped into the hall.
"What are you doing, Paige?" Riley asked. "Do you want him to see you?"
"I think I do," she said decisively.
"You're going to take a step you may not be able to take back," he warned her.
"It seems to be the night for that. Are you coming with me?"
"After you, princess."
She drew in a deep breath, walked across the hall, and entered the living room just as her grandfather turned away from the safe with a very familiar object in his hands.
Her body stiffened in amazement. "Oh, my God! That's the other dragon."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Her grandfather drew himself up to his full height, his eyes blazing with anger. Paige couldn't help but take a step back. Actually, she was tempted to run out of the room, but Riley's solid body blocked her exit.
"What the hell are you doing here, Paige?" her grandfather demanded.
She couldn't speak. The dragon in his hands was the last thing she had expected to see. "I—I came to ...." She couldn't think. Her grandfather had the other dragon. How? When? Why? The questions raced around her mind, but she couldn't get any of them out.
"Who are you?" her grandfather asked, his gaze now fixed on Riley.
"Riley McAllister. Ned Delaney's grandson."
Wallace was not surprised. That small fact registered with Paige before anything else. He knew who Riley was. In fact, it was obvious now he knew a lot more than he was telling.
"Where did you get that dragon?" she asked, finally putting a voice to her thoughts. "You told me you'd never seen a dragon like the one that was stolen last week, but this is an exact duplicate. You lied to me. Why?"
"It's none of your business. This is my property. I don't owe you any explanations."
"But you owe me." The voice came from the doorway. David Hathaway entered the room wearing a silk robe over his pajamas. He looked tired and pale, but his eyes were filled with excitement. "Where did you get that dragon?"
"You should be in bed. You look like death," Wallace replied, ignoring the question.
"I got up to get some water. I heard voices." David stared at the dragon in Wallace's hands. "I remember now. I saw the dragon on the television show, and you—" His gaze swung to Riley. "You and your grandmother brought it in to the store."
"That's right," Riley said tersely. "And you took it without telling anyone. The next thing we knew, the dragon was gone and you were in the hospital."
"I took it to show Jasmine. Then I went to show it to someone, a man who can spot a fake bronze from a mile away. I had to be sure my excitement wasn't misleading me."
"Why didn't that man tell the police he had seen you that day? You were on the news every other hour," Paige