Now, all he wanted was to watch Nicola burn in a cauldron of her own bullshit.
“Normally, I enjoy a good verbal dance,” Phin said, “but could we get to the damn point now?”
“The point is,” Zeke said, “this sword belongs to our family, and I’m not leaving here without it.”
“A costume sword?” Phin looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
Understanding lit Nicola’s eyes. “Seems your brother likes to keep secrets, even from you.” She flicked a manicured finger at the weapon. “What Zeke’s holding hostage is a sixteenth-century longsword.”
Phin frowned. “But—”
Zeke followed the play of emotions on his brother’s face and knew the exact moment the misshapen pieces clicked into place.
“You switched them. While we were in the museum. You switched the one in your scabbard with one in Nicola’s collection.”
Which must have been equipped with a tracking device or hidden chip. So much for Rohan’s assessment of their security. Zeke made a mental note to take that up with his normally infallible brother.
If an unpacked artifact already had a security chip, then every item in Nicola’s collection had to be similarly equipped. Which meant the only way someone could remove the doll from the house was by extracting the radio frequency tag.
In order to do that, the thief had to first know of device’s existence. Either someone close to the St. Martins took the doll—or the doll was still in the house. If the latter was the case, that scenario gave rise to a whole new set of headache-inducing questions he and his team would need to sort through.
He considered inspecting the sword but didn’t think the guards would appreciate him unsheathing a weapon in their presence.
Instead, he gave his brother a level look. Answer enough.
“I have a bill of sale for the longsword,” Nicola said, though he heard the first crack in her unwavering confidence.
“If I were you,” Zeke said, “I’d focus on discovering who among your intimate circle took the doll, rather than clinging to someone else’s family’s heirloom.”
Hugh’s drink paused halfway to his mouth. “What are you saying? Someone on our staff or a family friend stole from us?”
“Staff, friend…family.”
Hugh’s eyes widened and his attention shot to his wife.
Nicola waved her hand in irritation. “The Kämmer and Reinhardt is none of your concern. I’m here to retrieve my property.”
“A twenty-first-century receipt won’t hold up against the original,” he said, “nor a one-hundred-year-old newspaper clipping about the theft that included a picture of my great-great-grandfather standing beneath the sword.”
Phin’s eyes clashed with his. “This is the stolen sword?”
He nodded. “Lupos.”
“Lupos,”Nicola repeated slowly as if it was the first time she was hearing the sword’s name.
“You’ve been searching for it all this time?” Phin asked.
“Off and on, but seriously in the past year.”
A mixture of hurt and anger clouded Phin’s features before they molded into resolution. He turned to Nicola. “We’re taking the sword with us.”
“I paid a lot of money for that piece. I won’t let you just walk away with it.”
When the guards fanned out around them, Zeke rose and refastened the scabbard around his waist. “Your Rent-a-Guards are no match for my brother and I.”
“Or us,” Liv said, entering through the door that led to the outside. Kayla on her heels.
“Liv,” Zeke growled, shouldering his way past the guards to her side. “What are you doing here?”