“It’s impressive,” Luke said, taking in the look.
Cara placed her hands under her chin and posed. “Isn’t it!”
Declan swallowed thickly. “Wow.” He nodded, his lips folding in. “Yeah. Just…”
Wes stood back, not wanting to intrude. It was interesting. Declan’s face was a mixture of horror and admiration while Luke’s was all delight.
“You look just like her!” Luke said. “Say something Courtney-like.”
“Oh, David! You are simply the best!”
Wes thought he might be the only one who caught Declan’s flinch while Cara and Luke dissolved into laughter.
“Do you have the IDs?” Cara asked. “I’d like to get this over with.”
“Yeah, of course.” Declan walked to the manila folder on the bar and pulled out a passport and driver’s license.
“These are what you need.”
Wes noticed he didn’t look Cara full in the face. And this time Wes wasn’t the only one. Luke and Cara exchanged glances.
“Ready?” Wes asked. Cara cast one more quick look at her brothers before squaring her shoulders.
“Absolutely!” Cara tucked a leather portfolio under her arm, and then threw a white fur coat Declan had procured over her arm.
They settled in the cab and stayed silent on the ride to Waterloo Place. Wes would have thought she was unaffected, except her hand crept across the seat to lace her fingers with his, even though she kept her gaze steadfastly forward.
There was so much he wanted to say. Last-minute warnings. What if they had guessed wrong about the pin number? Suddenly, the risk Cara was taking felt very real. After spending time with Declan, he didn’t doubt that Cara’s time with the Garda would be limited, but still… A cold sweat broke out along his spine at the image of handcuffs being put on her.
“It’s not too…”
“I won’t be but a minute.” She looked meaningfully between him and the cab driver as they came to a stop at the curb. Then, she was gone, as if the slightest hesitation would derail the whole thing, and he was left to sit in the cab, wondering what was happening inside.
CHAPTERFIFTY-FOUR
Cara kepther breathing even as she clicked across the marble foyer in four-inch heels. Thankfully, the rain had kept up, so her patting at her rain-dotted scarf, wrapped around her head and neck, seemed believable enough. “Left foot, right foot,” she told herself, a fake smile curling around her lips.
Reaching the desk, she asked to speak with a private banker. She didn’t know if Courtney already had one, but as she slipped the ID across the wooden surface and the woman skittered back, she felt a momentary satisfaction that the name Bloom still held weight. Less than two minutes later, the woman was back.
“I’m so sorry Mr. Murphy isn’t in today. Did you have an appointment?”
Cara controlled her exhalation of relief. “No, I found the piece of information I was missing yesterday to access my poor deceased husband’s account. I was hoping to get back to the States tomorrow.” Cara affected a simper, which felt saccharine enough to gag her, but the woman seemed to buy it.
“Oh, yes. Mr. Murphy mentioned you had come by. Did you want to access your husband’s box?”
Box?That ruled out art or any significant amount of gold or silver.
“If it’s not too inconvenient.” Cara let the sarcasm drip from her tongue the way she thought Courtney would.
“Of course,” the woman hurried to assure her. She shuffled through some papers and typed something on her keyboard. “It seems everything is in order.” She looked up nervously. “You have the four-digit pin?”
Cara hoped the woman couldn’t see the sweat on her upper lip. The woman turned a small keypad toward her. Cara stared at it for a second, and then taking a breath keyed in 1,1,5,5.
The young woman raised her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Bloom, that pin is incorrect.”
Cara’s heart rate picked up.It had to be right.Oh god was she going to be arrested? What else could it be? He’d sent her the snow globe—Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She looked again at the keypad, and her brow cleared. “I’m sorry. I must have hit a key by mistake. May I try again?” She was proud of how cool her voice sounded, but the woman looked unsure and put her hand out to pull the keypad back.
Cara didn’t give her a chance to object, swiftly keying in the numbers. Her eyes on the monitor, the woman’s whole body sagged with relief.
