Page 60 of Risky Obsession

I leaned into her ear. “Don’t go getting paranoid on me, sis.”

She scowled at me and strode to the next shop.

“Hey. Found one.” She lifted a magnifying glass off the cluttered table outside the shop. The antique was exquisite, with the handle crafted in four shades of Murano glass that twisted up to a golden ball attached to a gold frame around the magnifying glass.

“That’s going to cost a fortune,” I said.

“It will be worth it. Besides, Aria is paying.” She fished into the bag across her hip. “Come on, there may be more inside.”

As we entered, a bell chimed overhead, announcing our arrival. The shopkeeper looked up from her position behind the counter and smiled.

“Hello, do you speak English?” Tory asked.

“A little.” The shopkeeper held her thumb and finger apart.

As Tory went through the motions of trying to ask if the shopkeeper had another magnifying glass, I searched the crowd outside the window.

Tory thumped my arm. “Hey, we’re in luck. She has another one at the back.”

“Good stuff. You grab it. I’ll wait here.”

We bought two magnifying glasses, spending four hundred euro, and as we stepped from the shop, it flashed through my mind that using Aria’s credit card had been a terrible mistake.

By the time we found the car and returned to our hotel, the sun was all but gone. We didn’t run into anyone as we made it to our room, and a wave of relief washed through me when I locked the door.

As I cranked up the heater, Tory used the bathroom and changed into her pink tracksuit that hugged her glorious curves.

“Jesus, it gets cold quick.” She hugged her arms across her chest, maybe hiding her erect nipples from me.

Pity.

I pulled the envelope containing Pops’ map out from inside my jacket and handed it to her. “Here, spread this out. My turn to change.”

By the time I changed into comfy clothes, and stepped out of thebathroom, she had both maps ready to view. Pops’ map was too big for the tiny dining table and the edges draped over the sides. The framed map was on the bed and as Tory used a sock to wipe the dust off the glass, it reflected the light bulb dangling from the ceiling.

She handed me the Murano magnifying glass. “All right, let’s see what we have.”

With her using the other magnifier, side by side, we both leaned over Pops’ map.

I tried to focus, but she smelled so damn good that it was nearly impossible.

“Look at this.” She pointed to three marks in the top third, left hand side of the map. “What is that?”

I used the magnifier to study where she was indicating. Two sharp points were drawn on the map, like isosceles triangleswithout their bases attached to a wavy line. “I’ve seen them before. No idea what they are.”

“Could they represent mountains?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. All the other artwork on this map is exquisite. If the artist wanted to represent mountains, they would have.”

“Good point.” A cute frown danced across her forehead. “Are they on the other map?”

We both moved to the bedside and studied the map we’d bought today.

“Okay, there’s Carinhall.” I pointed at the castle that was drawn differently to the one on Pops’ map, but the name was the same. “So the triangle things should be about . . .”

I leaned forward with my magnifying glass. “They’re not there.”

“No.” Tory released a sigh. She pointed to another section. “This area doesn’t match your pops’ map at all. Why would that be?”