Holly made a face. “Let’s do it,” she said. “Maybe that’s where the jewelry has been coming from, and those notes.” When she saw Savannah looking blankly at her, she said, “Oh yes, this room’s been locked up. Sorry.” She chuckled. “I guess my imagination has gotten away from me.”

  Savannah stood up and took hold of the dresser. “This is heavy. What in the heck is in there, anyway?”

  “Unfortunately, it would be way wrong for us to open the drawers.” Holly shrugged. “Heck, for all I know, the family hoards gold bars.” She suggested, “Hey, let’s try moving the cabinet; it’s probably lighter.”

  “The armoire?” Savannah corrected. “Hey, you’re right,” she said when she edged it out a little from the wall.

  Holly helped move it out far enough that they could reach behind the dresser and encourage the cats to come out.

  “What were they doing back there?” Holly asked.

  “Just chilling, as far as I can tell,” Savannah said. She flipped the light switch on and also using the light from the flashlight, she peered behind some of the furniture. “Hey, I don’t see anything unusual. Come on, let’s go downstairs. I’d like to check out the garage. I have a hunch about the garage.”

  “You do?” Holly asked. “Let’s go. I’d love to see how your hunches play out.”

  But just as the two women reached the bottom of the staircase, someone stepped out of the shadows and demanded, “Okay, where is it?”

  Holly and Savannah grabbed each other and gaped in horror at the masked man standing before them.

  “Where is it?” he shouted.

  “Where’s what?” Savannah asked, her voice quivering.

  “Yeah,” Holly said, “we’re just here…um…looking for our cats.”

  “Yes. They got out. Have you seen them? If not, we’ll be going. Bye.”

  “Not so fast,” the man said, moving toward them.

  Savannah could see something in his hand. Oh God, is that a gun? A knife? This is awful. Who in the heck is that, anyway? What is he looking for? The jewelry? Word sure gets around fast.

  “Show me where you found the jewels and the cash.”

  “Cash?” Holly sputtered. “What cash?”

  “Now don’t play coy with me. You wouldn’t have come back up here if you didn’t know where it was.” He stared at Savannah and Holly. “You waited until it was all clear to make the grab, didn’t you?” He motioned for Savannah to move. “Show me!”

  Who is that? She wondered. Oh my gosh. I’ll bet it’s that crazy neighbor, Wayne. He has the same build and he knew we were up here today. Where in the heck is the stuff? I’d show it to him in a heartbeat if it meant he’d let us go.

  “Show me!” he shouted.

  “I…I…I don’t know,” Savannah stammered. “We honestly don’t know.”

  “I have ways of making you talk, lady, so you’d better change your answer or else…”

  When the masked man raised his hand toward Savannah, Holly said, “Wait. I’ll tell you.”

  Savannah looked at Holly, her eyes wide. She doesn’t know where it is. What does she think she’s doing?

  “It’s upstairs in the locked room behind the armoire.”

  “The what?” he spat.

  “It’s a big piece of furniture—like a cabinet. Look behind it. I saw some jewelry and money there just a minute ago. Here’s the key,” she said, holding it out for him. When he didn’t take it, she tossed it to him, then grabbed Savannah and pushed her toward the open front door. But before they could reach it, they heard a muffled shot ring past them and they stopped. The women froze, turned, and stared at the handgun.

  “Oh no you don’t,” he said, his voice gruff. “You’re coming with me.” Keeping the gun aimed at the women, he leaned over and felt around for the key on the floor, finally saying, “Here it is. Okay, let’s go.”

  Where’s Lucy? Savannah wondered, still holding tightly to Rags’s leash. She glanced around the room. Where’d she go? Suddenly she saw a gray streak rush past her and out the open front door. Good, she thought. I don’t want that creep to hurt the cats. She looked down at Rags and let go of his leash, willing him to go home. Rags, go with Lucy back to Holly’s house.

  At the same time, the man grabbed Holly by the arm and began pushing her toward the staircase. He poked the gun in Savannah’s ribs, insisting, “You lead the way.” He jabbed it into her ribs again, snarling, “And this is no toy gun.”

  Suddenly the man yelled. Savannah heard Holly bellow, “Oh my God!” Savannah turned in time to see a gray-and-white blur of fur riding on the back of the man who was spinning around, trying to shake the feline attacker loose.

  As the man howled in pain, Savannah quickly helped Holly to her feet and began pulling her toward the still-open door. When they reached the door, Savannah turned back. “Rags!” she shouted. “Rags, come on. Come, Rags!”

  But before the cat could jump, the man managed to shake him off his shoulders and Rags hit the floor with a thud. In the meantime, the intruder recovered and shot a couple more rounds toward the women, the silencer muffling the sound. “Stop or you’ll get it in the back,” he growled.

  Holly grabbed Savannah’s arm and they both stopped dead in their tracks. At the same time, Savannah saw Rags running as fast as he could toward Holly’s house, his leash trailing behind him.

  “What was that?” the man asked, wiping at the back of his neck with his gloved hand. He removed the glove, still keeping a bead on the women, and wiped his neck again, then looked down at the blood on his hand. “Damn it!” he complained. “What the hell was that?”

  “A cat,” Savannah said quietly.

  “Where’d he go?” the man scowled. He pointed his gun around on the floor.

  Savannah swallowed hard. “He’s gone.”

  The intruder looked at her, then grabbed her and Holly, pushing them along in front of him up the stairs and toward the locked room. He handed Holly the key and she opened the padlock. He motioned for her to open the door, then pointed the gun at her and demanded, “You get it.” He told Savannah, “You sit there and be still or she gets it in the head.”

  Savannah sat down where he indicated, her heart pounding in her chest, as she watched Holly push the armoire out from the wall.

  “Hurry up,” he said. He tossed a bag toward her. “Fill it.”

  What is she going to do? Savannah wondered. There’s nothing back there. Oh my gosh, how are we going to get out of this mess? Me and my ideas. This is awful, just awful.

  “What’s taking you so long?” the man asked. “Hurry up. I want to see those jewels.”

  “I…I can’t find them,” Holly said. “Someone else must have gotten them.”

  “Crap!” the man spat. He pulled Holly by the arm and ordered her to sit down next to Savannah. Then, while keeping an eye on the women, he pushed the armoire farther from the wall and shined his flashlight behind it. “There’s nothing here. You tried to trick me.” He rushed toward Holly and put the gun barrel against her head. “Now tell me where they are.”

  “In the garage,” Savannah blurted.

  He looked at her. “In the garage? Are you just making that up?” He aimed the gun at Savannah. “Are you trying to send me on another wild-goose chase? Because if you are, you’re not going to see the light of day tomorrow.” He thought for a moment. “The garage, huh?”

  Savannah nodded. If only we can buy some time. We’re bound to have another chance to run. He’ll surely take his eyes off us long enough for us to get away. “Yes, we saw it in the garage,” she told him.

  Holly looked at Savannah with fear in her eyes.

  “Okay, on your feet. Lead the way,” the man insisted.

  As they walked down the stairs and through the living room and the kitchen, toward the garage, Savannah thought about the cats. Where did they go? she wondered. Gads, I hope Rags is okay. It sounded like he hit the floor pretty hard.

  “Now where is it?” the man asked as they entered the garage. He shined his light around.

  “In the car,” Savannah said, nodding toward the small sedan the Veranos had left parked in the garage. “Under the backseat.”

  Holly looked at her sister-in-law, her eyes wide with apprehension.

  The masked man studied the car, then said to Savannah. “You go get it. I’ll keep your friend here company while you pull that seat out and get the stuff.”

  Taking a deep breath, Savannah walked slowly toward the car. She glanced back at Holly and the man. He motioned with the gun. “Get it.”

  She put her hand on the door handle. “Locked,” she said.

  “Break a window,” he demanded.

  “Wait,” Savannah said. “I saw keys up in that locked room. They looked like car keys. I’ll go get them.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” he snarled. “Break a window.” He looked around. “There’s a shovel. That ought to do it.” When Savannah hesitated, he shouted, “Get that shovel and break the window!”

  She picked up the shovel and walked back to the car. She looked at him, then raised the shovel. But before she could ram the blade into the window, something caught her attention. Holly and the intruder heard it too. Someone else in the house, she thought.

  The man suddenly grabbed Savannah’s arm and hissed, “Sit down and be quiet.” He looked at Holly. “Both of you.” He turned off the flashlight and aimed his gun at the door that led into the house.

  Someone’s in there, Savannah thought. Gosh, I hope it’s someone who’ll set us free. She so wanted to shout, but she feared for her life and Holly’s. She said a prayer, Please, God, let us find a way out of this mess with no one getting hurt. She listened to the muffled voices and wondered, Who is that? Maybe they’ll call the cops and we’ll be saved.

  But the voices became softer and softer.

  “Good, they’re gone,” the masked man said. He looked at the women. “Do you know who that was?”

  Both of them shook their head.

  “Probably a nosey neighbor,” he muttered. “They must have seen the open door. Damn, I knew I should have locked it.” He walked toward the garage door and listened. Then he peered out the small window. When he saw no one, he turned on his flashlight and demanded, “Now break that window and get that stuff for me. You’ve already wasted too much of my time.”

  Savannah glanced at Holly, then slowly picked up the shovel and walked back toward the car. She swung the shovel with great force against the window, but it didn’t break. So she hit it again and again, finally forcing the shovel, blade first, into the window. She knocked out the glass with the shovel and reached in to unlock the car door. She looked at the gunman, who motioned impatiently for her to get on with it. As she climbed into the car to try positioning herself to lift the seat, she heard glass shattering. She turned to see a man rushing into the garage. “Drop it!” he shouted.

  Another voice yelled, “Call the police! Someone call the police!”

  “Michael!” Savannah said under her breath. Oh my gosh, it’s Michael. “No!” she yelled when the masked man pointed his gun at her husband. “No!!”

  But before the gunman could get a shot off, Savannah saw the gun fly out of his hand and hit the cement floor. That’s when she realized that Keith was standing over the masked man holding a heavy metal garden rake in a threatening manner and the man crouched in pain.

  Savannah emerged from the car and rushed to the other side of the garage. She prepared to make the call, when, to her horror, the intruder regained his strength and pushed Keith into Michael. They both went down giving the masked man enough time to pick up his pistol, and sprint out through the garage door.

  By the time the men returned to the garage after trying to follow the masked man, Savannah had ended her call with the 911 operator and she ran into Michael’s arms. Keith kneeled next to where Holly still sat and embraced her.

  “Oh, Keith, it was awful,” Holly said. “He…he…he…”

  “Are you all right?” Michael asked the two women. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  “No, but he sure threatened to,” Savannah said.

  “Who was that?” Keith asked.

  Savannah looked at Holly and they both shrugged. “He never took the mask off. I tried to figure out who he was. Could be someone we know…” she spoke more quietly, “…like Wayne, maybe. I kept thinking it was your neighbor, Wayne Morrison.”

  Holly looked surprised. “Whoever it was, he sure knew about the jewels.” She gazed curiously at Savannah. “And cash. What’s up with the cash?”

  “I don’t know,” she responded weakly.

  “What were you doing in that car?” Michael asked.

  Savannah grinned sheepishly. “Taking him on a treasure hunt.”

  When the brothers looked confused, Holly said, “Yeah, he said he’d kill us if we didn’t tell him where the stuff is, so we had to pretend we knew. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t shown up.”

  Savannah looked at the men. “Yeah, how did you know we were here, anyway?”

  “Lucy told us,” Keith said quietly.

  Holly looked confused. “How?”

  “Lucy?” Savannah asked. Before Keith could explain, they heard activity outside. The women shrank back in fear.

  “It’s probably the police,” Michael said, hurrying to the window and peering out. He walked outside and led the uniformed officers in.

  Once the women told their story, the two couples walked back toward the Pettit home. On the way, Holly said, “So Savannah, you think that could have been Wayne?”

  “Could have been. There sure was something familiar about him.” She slapped at the air in front of her. “Oh, probably just my imagination. Wayne is the only person I’ve met here who seems weird and who obviously has an interest in this place. Remember the other day when he disappeared after he walked through the yard? I still wonder if he found a way inside the house. I mean, does he have a key?”

  “Well, I sure didn’t recognize him. I didn’t even think of Wayne when that man was terrorizing us.” Holly teared up. “I hate to imagine that a neighbor would do such a thing.”

  “Have you met any of the Veranos’ relatives?” Michael asked. “Could it be someone who knows the family history—I mean, about that jewelry heist and all?”

  “Well no,” Savannah said. When the others waited for more, she explained, “According to

  The newspaper articles we read, no one knew of a possible Verano connection to that robbery—at least not until it was hinted at in the nineties.”

  “And who brought it up then?” Keith asked. When no one spoke, he said, “It might have been one of those well-kept family secrets—you know, passed down through the generations.”

  “Yeah,” Michael added, “And which—some seventy years later—is probably taken with a grain of salt by the descendants.” He thought for a moment, then said, “And maybe, just maybe, a family member finally took the rumor seriously.”

  Keith looked at Michael. “I guess anything’s possible, but to answer your question about relatives visiting, no, I’ve never even seen anyone visiting them. They’re kind of private people. I was surprised when I learned they were renting their house out as an Airbnb, actually. I guess they need the money.” He chuckled as he opened the door to his home for the women to enter. “I’ll bet they don’t do that again.”

  “Hi, Rags,” Savannah said when she saw him walking toward her. She kneeled and began checking him over. “Are you okay, boy? You took quite a tumble off that guy’s back, didn’t you?” she crooned.

  “So Rags attacked him, did he?” Michael asked.

  Keith stared down at the cat. “He did?”

  “He sure did,” Holly confirmed. She dropped down to her knees and began petting Rags. “What a brave boy. You sure tried to help us, didn’t you?”

  “What cat does that?” Keith asked.

  “A very loyal, fearless cat,” Savannah said.

  “Too fearless,” Michael said, “like his mother.”

  Savannah stood up and glanced around the room. “Where’s Lucy?” she asked in a panic.

  Keith smiled. “Oh, she’s around here somewhere.” He pointed. “Here she comes.” He picked up the fluffy cat. “This is the one you can thank for saving you.”

  Holly tilted her head. “That’s what you said. How did she do that?”

  Keith glanced at Michael. “Well, I was sleeping peacefully in our bedroom when I heard this loud, demanding meow. I tried to ignore it. I just wanted to sleep. But it kept up. Finally it occurred to me that one of our cats or Buffy was caught somewhere—you know, in a closet or something. So I got up and started looking around. That’s when I realized the caterwauling cat was outside the window. I opened the drapes and there was Miss Lucy, obviously trying to get my attention. When she saw me through the window, she raced around to the front of the house. I opened the door and she came tearing in, meowing all the while. She’d look at me and meow, then run to the front door, then meow and run to the door.”

  He looked at his wife. “When I realized you weren’t home yet, I got a little worried. I knew that Rags had gone with you for your walk.” He cocked his head. “Actually, I didn’t know Lucy went. Did she go with you?”

  “No,” Savannah said. “But she showed up down there, so she found a way out.” She shook her head. “Little stinker.”

  Keith thought about that for a moment, then said, “Well, I started to get worried, so I went down and woke up Michael.”

  Michael nodded. “Yes. We knew something was wrong if Lucy was outside and so upset. We figured we’d better look for you gals. I infringed on poor Gladys’s slumber and asked her if she’d keep an eye on the sleeping children. We took Teddy and Lily up to her room.”