Enemy Mine

Chapter 69

Vincent didn't let me out of his sight when we returned home from our eventful experience at Trinity, shadowing me when I checked on Mr. Pearlman and making conversation with him while I cleaned up Mr. P's dinner dishes and emptied his nasty ashtray into the trash compactor.

In the hallway, we ran into Charleton and Lucy as they headed out to enjoy dinner at their favorite restaurant. I thought Vincent might tell them about my excursion under the church, but he didn't, and it made me wonder if he'd become more secretive with his family to protect me.

Once inside our apartment, Vincent fed Bonnie and Clyde while I threw together a plate of veggies and hummus, and we sat in the living room, relaxing with our snack.

"Show me the goods," Vincent said as he crunched on a carrot, appeasing Bonnie with half of it. Clyde had no interest in carrots, and he barely lifted his head from the couch to observe blandly.

"Who said anything about goods?" I shrugged, pretending to look confused, but I didn't make Vincent wait long before I hopped off the couch to retrieve the lapel pin from the pocket of my jacket. When I returned, I set it on the coffee table in front of him. "I found a whole basket of these in the vault. I only took it because it looks like the pin your father wore."

His eyes widened as he picked up the piece to give it a closer look. "It's exactly like the one my father wore. There is only one other known to exist among the gollums, and it's locked in a cabinet in the high magister's home."

"Did your dad belong to a club of some kind?"

"No, he didn't, but the pins were worn by members of an order that broke up years ago. They wore them to show their commitment to the cause... protecting the innocent. My father's great, great grandfather Juno was a member, and when the order was disbanded, all the pins were turned in to the council, with one pin withheld as a reminder. It wasn't until Juno lay on his death bed that he admitted to keeping his pin, and he passed it on to his son."

"Wow. So, your dad owned a true relic."

"Yes, and Charleton handed it down to my father when he became magister. Rather than hide it in a strongbox, my father decided to wear it. Because of his high standing on the council, no one bothered to take issue with it."

"Your dad sounds like he did his own thing regardless of popular opinion."

Vincent nodded. "In every respect."

"Well, he instilled that quality in his oldest son." I smiled at Vincent just as a crazy idea came to me. Yeah, another one. "What if we convinced Marco this was Roberto's pin?"

Vincent's eyes snapped to me. "I'm listening."

"If Marco does have the pin, and he thinks we snatched it from him, he might retrace his steps and lead us to your dad's pin."

Vincent's eyebrows quirked as he let things process. "But that wouldn't help us prove his guilt to the council. We need visual or audio evidence."

"We could film him walking to the location where he hid the pin." I offered a weak shrug, feeling less confident about my crazy idea as Vincent picked it apart.

"That sounds too risky and labor intensive. We can't keep twenty-four hour surveillance on him."

"Why not? You did it with me." I smirked, but he didn't offer much reaction. He had his CEO hat on and there was no distracting him.

"I don't know how well we could pull off a scheme like that, but you're definitely onto something. I'm sure we can use this pin to our advantage. I think it's time I submit our petition to be mated."