Her great-aunt sat in a wing chair across from them, every inch a monarch on her throne as she called for a small glass of vodka. Her color and energy had bloomed in the past day, and she was already demanding that Marko bring her back to Las Vegas every year for a visit.
Iris’s gaze traveled back to her father, but her former suspicions were now reduced to curiosity. Earlier in the day, he’d stopped at the store and asked her for those fake rubies she’d taken off Edgar’s collar.
“What are you up to?” she’d asked.
“Just returning things where they belong.”
“No funny business?”
“Never again,” he’d said, solemnly. She’d accepted his word.
But tonight he looked like his old self. The trickster ready to take the stage. He and Marko regaled each other with stories that made Sergei laugh out loud, and even Viktor occasionally broke a smile. She was sure the exploits were heavily embellished, but she’d no longer doubt any of their abilities or their love for their families.
“And what’s up with your cousin Sergei?” Mickey asked. “I heard he struck Turner in the arm with a knife from thirty paces. He could have killed you.”
Iris giggled. “It turns out Sergei is the black sheep of the family. He ran off with a circus for five years where he learned sword-swallowing, knife-throwing and trapeze before he returned to take a job within the Ministry of Justice. Personally, I think he works for the FSB.”
“FSB?”
“Russia’s version of the FBI.”
“Cosmo Fortune!” Aunt Tatiana commanded attention with her strident voice. “I have waited and waited. Where are my gems?”
Cosmo came forward, the jester to her queen, prepared to entertain. “Aunt Tatiana, I have brought them as promised.” Like the magician he was, he conjured up a pouch from thin air. Bringing it to Tatiana, he motioned for her to hold out her hands.
She played along and allowed him to shake the ten gems into her gnarled fingers. A cackle escaped her. “I never thought to see these again.”
“Those are yours to keep,” Cosmo said. “Unless, you’d care to trade them for what’s in here.” Again, he conjured a bag.
Iris and Mickey exchanged a look. “What’s he up to?” Mickey asked.
Iris shrugged. She was as enthralled as everyone else in the room.
Cosmo held the black velvet bag high. “George Halsted was a jeweler, a fence and, at times, a good friend. He gave his life to authenticate these gems. May he rest in peace having done such a good deed.”
“What do you mean, Cosmo?” Tatiana demanded. She piled her gems in her lap like a child gathering eggs when she fears the chickens might rise up and steal them back.
“Donovan sent me to Moscow with George Halsted to pick up the Romanov alexandrite. More than anything, George wanted to hold those mythical gems in his hand.” He brought the bag to Tatiana and bent down on one knee to offer it to her. “Now I give them to you and the Gorseyev family. You know so much of their past, you should decide their future.”
Tatiana regarded him with suspicion. “Show me one of them.”
Cosmo opened the bag and withdrew a single vivid red gem.
Tatiana took it and held it to the light. Turning it over and over, she analyzed it from every angle. Finally, she looked at Cosmo. “Where did you get this?”
“These are the stones purchased from the Russian mafia leader Konstantin Vanislav. To the best of my knowledge, they are the Romanov alexandrite.”
Astonished, Iris hurried to her aunt’s side. “May I?” She took the gem in her hand and studied it at length. The color was exquisite, a true red like a ruby, while the clarity was unparalleled. The facets of the stone were those cut by a master.
“Is there a fluorescent light anywhere?”
Marko pointed to the kitchen alcove. “Under the cabinets-it lights the countertops.”
Iris carried the gem over and flipped the switch. Holding out the stone, she held her breath as it turned from ruby red to vivid emerald green. She nearly dropped it. Spinning around, she cast an accusing glare at her father. “How? Where have you been hiding these?”
“I wasn’t hiding them. George hid them. Then he put the information on where to find them inside some fake rubies and put them on a collar for Edgar.”
Iris thought back to Sunday morning. When she’d decided to change out the stones on Edgar’s collar, she hadn’t looked twice at the lightweight fake rubies. “Stop. Go back to the beginning. How did you get involved, why did you get involved and why did you take Aunt Tatiana’s gems?”
“You’re taking all the fun out of this, Iris.”
“Humor me.”
Cosmo grinned that shameless coyote grin of his. “Donovan came to me a couple months ago. He wanted to hear all the stories about the Romanov alexandrite. Then he told me he had a lead on where the gems were and offered to hire me to help acquire them. And that’s when I got the idea-”
“You are a dangerous man when you get ideas, Cosmo Fortune.” Tatiana pounded her cane on the floor with anticipation. “Go on.”
“I decided to borrow the Gorseyevs’ synthetic alexandrites and switch them for the Romanov gems.”
Iris gasped “But that’s-”
“Stealing?” Cosmo’s entire face was lit in amusement. “Think about it. Donovan had already told me his plan to authenticate the Romanov gems and then send them as a gift to the Russian Minister of Culture.”
“Alexei?” Marko and Viktor shared a look.
“Exactly. So, Aunt Tatiana’s gems would have been on their way back to Russia almost immediately if Mickey hadn’t interfered.”
“Interfered?” Mickey snorted. “Cosmo, you’re lucky Donovan sent me and not Turner after you.”
Cosmo scratched his ear. “Well, that’s true…”
“So, if Aunt Tatiana’s gems were going to be given to Donovan and returned to Alexei Gorseyev,” Iris said slowly, “then what were you planning to do with the real Romanov alexandrite?”
“Exactly what I am doing.” Cosmo blew out an exasperated breath. “Bring them to you so you would understand that Irina’s stories were true. So you could see and touch the craftsmanship of your ancestors. And then I was going to take you to St. Petersburg to meet Aunt Tatiana and all your cousins. I thought you should learn more about your family before you married David.”
Iris’s throat tightened at the thought of how such a gift would have-had-affected her future.
“But the stones disappeared, and so we came here,” Marko said. “It is good, yes?”
“Yes, I think things worked out even better than I’d planned. Well, except for George.” Cosmo shook his head sadly. “He knew Irina, and God knows he knew me. I think he suspected I was planning something. That’s why he wanted to get his payment before he turned over the gems. But he had a soft spot for Iris-remembered her from when she was a child-so he gave me the collar with the whereabouts of the gems. I was going to switch out the gems Friday night, but then Mickey nabbed me. And Turner-well, he killed George and sent a very clear message by stashing the body in my car.”
Iris swallowed. Now she got it. “Even though I had George’s information in those fake rubies all along, you never told me. You were trying to protect me.”
“But then I dragged you into this whole mess.” Mickey squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled at him. “I’m not.”
“Once both of you got involved, you became marks, too,” Cosmo said. “No, from that point on the only thing to do was play it out until we caught Donovan.”
Tatiana clucked at Cosmo’s story. “You should have told us all about this Donovan character at once.”
“I was trying to keep everyone else out of danger,” Cosmo said sullenly.
“You cannot forever act on your own,” Marko said. “You asked for help, and now we have a happy ending for everyone, yes?”