Framed Shadows: Shadows Landing #6 by Kathleen Brooks (well read books TXT) 📗

rooms. They would fill every inch of space, but they’d be safe from prying eyes.

“Ellery will be here in twenty minutes,” Tinsley told Paxton as she set up three easels in the back room. She lifted a wrapped painting onto each of them and then helped Paxton move paintings until Ellery showed up. It didn’t take long to fill her in on what was going on and then she was rushing past them to the storage area.

“A Vermeer? Are you sure?”

Paxton snickered at Ellery’s comment and Tinsley shot him the finger.

“Why does everyone think I suddenly don’t know Vermeer?”

Tinsley followed Ellery into the back room that was filled with paintings wrapped up for safekeeping. They were at least spread out now. “Didn’t Maurice say there were eighty paintings in the collection?” Tinsley asked as she looked around the room.

“Yes. There are only forty here. It’s smart. They are not putting all their eggs in one basket,” Paxton told her.

“Or they’re testing the basket’s strength before adding more to it,” Ellery said with a frown. “If there are more, we have to find them.”

Tinsley was already reaching for the first wrapped painting. “First we need to see what we’re dealing with. Let’s unwrap them.”

An hour later, Tinsley was sure she’d stopped breathing. She, Paxton, and Ellery stood shoulder to shoulder with their mouths hanging open, eyes wide, unable to say a word.

A tear ran down Tinsley’s cheek and then she finally sucked in a long deep breath. “I never thought I’d have my hands on art like this. Vermeer, Rembrandt, Renoir, drawings by da Vinci . . .”

“Picasso, Matisse, Degas . . .” Ellery muttered.

“Manet. Or is it Monet?” Paxton teased and then they were all laughing.

“Manet, definitely Manet,” Tinsley laughed as tears flowed down her face.

“This alone is worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” Ellery said into the silence after they stopped laughing.

“And it’s sitting in my little gallery in Shadows Landing, South Carolina,” Tinsley said with amazement.

She heard Paxton’s phone ring but didn’t watch as he stepped away to answer it. She couldn’t take her eyes off the paintings and drawings. It was an incredible collection and sadly, it was stolen.

“You don’t think it’s from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, do you?” Ellery asked about one of the largest unsolved art heists of all time.

“I don’t know. I need to catalog it all and run them through the stolen-art database. See if anyone has reported any missing. Maybe ask the insurance companies, too. I can’t imagine not having insurance on these,” Tinsley said.

Paxton stormed back into the room as Tinsley was getting her laptop ready to start cataloging. “I have to go. Charleston police just called. My apartment was just broken into. I’ve called Granger and Kord. They’ll be here any minute.”

Tinsley’s hand went to her back and she breathed a little easier when she felt Tina.

Paxton hurried over to her, leaned down, and kissed her lips. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t go anywhere without Granger or Kord.”

“I won’t. Be safe,” she whispered up to him.

Ellery looked away to give them some privacy.

“I’m more worried about you. I love you. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“I love you, too, Paxton.”

Tinsley watched as Paxton hurried out the door. A second later, Granger stood in her back room letting out a low whistle. “Even I know some of these names.”

“What do you think of the break-in at Paxton’s?” Tinsley asked Granger. They hadn’t talked much about what had happened in Atlanta, but when they’d returned, they’d all had a new respect for each other.

“I think there are no coincidences. We just got back from Atlanta where we took out a big chunk of Myriad’s men, drugs, and guns. For his apartment to be broken into, they have to have thought he was a part of it. News reports from Atlanta are nuts. Your Uncle Cy is nuts but whatever he’s doing on his guys’ trip is working. It’s breaking the gang. Unfortunately, it might be sending them our way,” Granger told her.

“Oh goodness. I didn’t know they sent Uncle Cy. He must like Paxton if he didn’t kill him. That’s a good sign, right?” Tinsley asked Ellery.

“Very good sign. I would also expect a call from Great Aunt Marcy soon, asking about a wedding date.”

Tinsley smiled, but the smile fell as she looked around. “Granger, are you telling me this art, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is all the assets the Myriad’s have left?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“I can’t let them take this again. These are priceless pieces of history. Granger, call Reverend Winston. Ellery, call the family. The second a painting gets logged I want it hidden at the church.”

“On it,” they both said as they picked up their phones.

Tinsley took a deep breath, grabbed her laptop, and got to work methodically taking pictures, writing down notes, and identifying the artist of each piece. As soon as she moved away from one painting, it was re-wrapped by Ellery and taken away by Ridge, Gavin, Wade, Trent, or Ryker to the church via the back entrances. There they were handed off to Harper, Darcy, and Savannah. They worked with Reverend Winston to store them and even diagram exactly where each painting was set down. Meanwhile, Skye and her best friend, Karri, staged an accident next to the sheriff’s station to prevent any out-of-town traffic from coming into Shadows Landing.

When Tinsley was done, she sat back and let out a deep breath. “The history, Ellery. I’m shaken that this history was stolen. It was taken from a museum or a collector or multiple museums and collectors and used to trade for guns and drugs. It’s a sacrilege. Now, how do I run this through the stolen-art system without tipping anyone off?”

“We need to find someone who can do the research on the quiet. The quietest possible,” Ellery said stretching her back. “But first, I need a drink. A big one.”

“I agree with that wholeheartedly,” Granger said from where