Framed Shadows: Shadows Landing #6, Kathleen Brooks [great novels of all time TXT] 📗

they processed what this meant. She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat making it difficult to do so. “That painting, most likely all those paintings, were stolen from innocent Jewish families by Nazis during the war. Those families may not have survived the war but some may have. I have to find out. I have to get them back to their families. I have to, Paxton.” Tears broke free as Tinsley grabbed Paxton’s hand. She tried to slow their flow but couldn’t. How there could be such pain and suffering attached to such beautiful art, she couldn’t fathom.

“It’s estimated that over a hundred thousand pieces of such art are still missing from the Second World War,” Paxton told the group. “If we can get eighty of them back to their families, we will. Sometimes these pieces of art are literally all people have left to remember their families who were murdered during the war.”

“I’ll call Cy and let him know,” Dare said quietly before stepping away from the table.

“Yes, we have to find the rest. I have half. We need the other half,” Tinsley said, drying her tears. “Now, what do I need to do to find the owners of this stolen Nazi artwork?”

22

“Miss Tinsley, I won’t ask what’s going on, but I will offer my help,” Gator said as he, Skeeter, and Turtle approached the table.

“Me too. Anne said she would also help,” Skeeter told her. “She said those paintings have seen more death than she has.”

“That right there gives me the heebie-jeebies,” Turtle said as he reached for the large knife at his waist. “I’ll help, too. It’s the right thing to do.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” Maggie Bell said, coming from the back of the bar with her brother, Gage. “We want to help, too. We can store the paintings if you need. Or if you need a place to stay, we have rooms open now.”

“Thank you all,” Tinsley said, touched that she had so many people ready to help her. “I’ll let you know as soon as we have a plan.”

Everyone nodded, knowing she would call on them if she needed help. The noise level rose in the bar again, but Tinsley’s table was still quiet.

“We can’t look into the real owners until this is over,” Ellery finally said.

“Agreed,” Paxton said as they watched Dare come back inside.

“What did Uncle Cy say?” Tinsley asked Dare.

“He grunted a couple of times, said he’d take care of it, and hung up on me,” Dare told them. “But,” he said, stopping Tinsley as she got ready to ask a question. “Then Aunt Annie called me and said she and Bridget were taking a girls’ trip and wanted to stop by Shadows Landing because Bridget is training the dogs to hit on artwork. She’s training them on the scent of old paint and canvases painters used many years ago. There are some agents in customs that are already using dogs to search for stolen art and cultural antiquities that are being trafficked. She asked that you lay a polyester cloth and some cotton balls over some of the stolen art for a couple of days. They’ll be here Friday.”

“Um, okay,” Tinsley said, looking to Paxton to see if she was the only one slightly confused.

“Oh,” Dare said suddenly, “and you can’t tell the uncles that Annie and Bridget are here or in Atlanta.”

“Why not?” Tinsley asked.

Dare shrugged and held up his hands to say he had no idea.

“No, that couldn’t be it,” Paxton muttered, but it was too late. Everyone was already looking at him.

“What?” Tinsley said with annoyance. She felt as if she were missing something and didn’t like it.

“Well, Cy called his brothers in for a guys’ trip to take on the gang. Now your aunt called it a girls’ trip and it just made me wonder if they were coming to do the same thing but didn’t want the guys to know. No, that’s silly. Your aunt isn’t former military.”

“No, she’s former DEA, but Bridget is former military,” Tinsley said with a slow smile. “Go girls!”

“Nah, the uncles will have it wrapped up before Bridget and Annie even get to town,” Ridge said.

“Care to bet on that?” Tinsley asked.

“I’m in,” Harper said, slamming a twenty on the table. “Aunts, all the way.”

A flurry of bets rang out and ended as Gator added a twenty to the pile. “Sorry, men, but I’ve seen Annie Davies wrestle Bubba. The ladies got it.”

Paxton had laughed when the bets were made but now it felt like a lifetime ago, not just a couple of hours. Long gone was the laughter. It was now replaced with worry. He knew this feeling. It was the feeling of being on the cusp of cracking a case. Go one way and you solve it. Go the other way and you end up dead. There was no middle ground anymore.

“We need to buy time,” Paxton told Tinsley at the end of the night as they lay in bed in her house.

“I think I need to stay in constant contact with Maurice. It’s when I don’t reach out to him that he randomly shows up. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up to check on the art,” Tinsley told him as she snuggled up against him. She rested her head on his shoulder and absently ran her fingers along his bare chest.

“What if you tell him you have to travel to some archives? That could buy you a couple of days where you’re not here so he wouldn’t stop by.” Paxton ran his fingers absently over her arm as they brainstormed a plan.

“I’ll call him every day. I think that’s a good idea. Tell him what I’m working on and the prices I have so far. Then when he starts to get itchy about sending buyers, I will need to make the trip to the archives. What archives? I don’t know, but I’ll figure out something. Hopefully, that gives Cy time to find the