Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton Read Free Book Online Page A

stepped out into the hall. “Thanks, but I already have a buyer lined up.”
    Her shoes clicked quickly down the marble floor to keep up with his swift pace. “We’ll match any offer you’ve received.”
    This time he did laugh. Any offer he’d already entertained was nothing compared to what he’d get when he had all three in his hot little hands.
    “Mr. Sullivan,” she said impatiently. “You’re a businessman. I don’t think you realize what you’ve got here. One Fury by itself is a find. Two are worth a small fortune.”
    He stopped and glanced her direction. “And three will set me up for life. Tell you what, Dr. Gotsi. You figure out just what the Furies are worth to the Institute—all three together—and when I have Tisiphone, we’ll talk again.”
    He took a step away.
    “Rafael.” Her hand on his arm stopped him. “If this gets out, a bidding war isn’t the only thing you’ll have to worry about. The Furies together are the most sought-after reliefs in all of Greek art. Primarily because most people don’t think they actually exist, but also because if they’re real, it means all theories about how and why the Peloponnesian War began will have to be reexamined. They’re priceless. Treasure hunters will pour out of the woodwork to beat you to the last goddess. You could lose everything.”
    He already knew that. Was she genuinely concerned for his safety, or was she warning him of things to come? He covered her hand with his and squeezed just hard enough to make her eyes widen. “Then it’d better not get out.”
    The phone rang just as Lisa zipped her suitcase. “Dr. Maxwell.”
    “You got a pen?” Shane asked.
    She caught her breath and eased down to sit on the edge of the bed. “You found him.”
    “Rafael Sullivan. You were right. He’s American. Born and raised in sunny Florida. Thirty-nine years old, arrested once for breaking and entering, charges dropped for lack of evidence. Address lists a place in Key West.”
    Lisa ran a shaky hand across her forehead. “Give it to me.”
    She jotted down the information as he recited it.
    “Now, you gonna tell me what this is all about?” he asked.
    “Yes.” But not now.
    “Lis?”
    She stood, brushing off his concern. “I gotta go, Shane. I’ve got a flight in just about two hours.”
    “Lis—”
    She ripped the paper off the note pad by the phone. “I promise I’ll explain everything when I get back to the States.”
    “I’m going to hold you to that.”
    She smiled, knowing he would. “I love you, little brother.”
    “I know.” She heard the frown in his voice. “Call me when you get home. And don’t do anything stupid.”
    He knew her so well.
    “Trust me. I learned my lesson.”

C HAPTER F OUR
    Lisa tugged off her sunglasses and peered into the dark windows of the small two-story home on Olivia Street in Key West. No sound echoed from inside the house, and she couldn’t see a thing past the small entry with its sage-colored walls and rustic pine flooring. She blew out a frustrated breath, pushed the hair off her forehead and frowned.
    Sweat slid down her back, adding to her bad mood. Back home in San Francisco she’d be wearing a leather jacket and her snazzy black boots at this point in October, but down here in the southernmost city in the continental U.S., it was twelve thousand degrees. The tank top was a good idea. The denim capris were not. Only idiots lived in this kind of heat year-round.
    “He’s not there.”
    She turned at the fragile voice and looked toward the elderly woman with a big straw hat standing on the other side of the white picket fence that separated this house from its neighbor. Plastering what she hoped was a pleasant look on her face, Lisa eased down the front steps, moving around the dwarf hibiscus and palm shrubs. “I’m looking for Rafael Sullivan. Do you know where I might find him?”
    The woman snipped a flower with the shears in her hand, dropped it into the basket at her