The Quiet One

49

Harper gently lifted Poems of the Forest from its glass case and wrapped it safely. It was time to get the book out of her house. She would be a mother soon and wanted nothing in her home that would bring danger to her child. Regal stood to the side, watching her handle the rare book with gentle hands.

"Let's go." She looked up at her fiance, he nodded and held out his hands for the book, she passed it to him, her shoulders tense.

"John is in jail, no one is coming after the book." Regal kissed her before heading upstairs to go to the car. Harper followed, ready for this day to be over.

"Joseph King is meeting us there, right?"

"Yes." Regal helped her into the car and drove the hour to the museum. Harper spent the time thinking about her baby and the future. Soon they would get married, she had an appointment with her doctor and they would do the bloodwork to find out the sex of the baby. She secretly hoped it was a little boy who would look exactly like Regal. He'd pulled her out of being this shy woman into his proud mate. She still struggled with talking to people, but her circle of friends was expanding.

"What has you so quiet?" Regal asked, placing a hand on her thigh. She smiled and took his hand.

"Just thinking once this book is with the curator at the museum, we can have our happily ever after. No more worries about someone breaking into our home for this book."

"Very true and our wedding is soon."

"How much longer until we get to the museum?" She didn't recognize where they were, gone were the trees of Black Wood Falls and in their place were massive buildings.

"We are almost there. I have to find a place for us to park and then we walk the two blocks to the museum," he explained turning into a parking deck. Large cities always amazed Harper, she wanted to see more and hoped with Regal they would be able to travel. They still had to decide where they were headed for their honeymoon.

"Good, the sooner this is over the better." She clutched the book to her chest as Regal pulled into a parking spot. Once he was parked Harper put the book in her crossbody bag and put on gloves and a scarf before stepping out of the car. Harper took a minute to admire Regal, he stood tall and proud in his button-up wool coat. It amazed her that his panther had picked her out of everyone in the world. She felt proud to be his mate.

"Ready?" he asked, turning to her. She nodded and let him take her hand to walk toward the museum.

"Who is the curator?"

"A Dr. Glen Yo."

"Never heard of him."

"I wouldn't expect you to. He isn't renowned for his papers." Regal held open the door and guided her inside. Harper looked around to see they were in the main hall with a large ceiling and shining wooden floors.

"Excuse me," Regal began walking over to a security guard at the information desk.

"We are here to meet with Dr. Glen Yo and Joseph King."

"I will ring Dr. Yo and he will come and get you. Another gentleman is already with him," the guard replied, picking up a phone and dialing an extension. Harper watched as the guard answered quick questions before telling Dr. Yo their names.

"He will be here in a minute. You can sit there." He pointed at a row of chairs. Harper and Regal settled to wait watching people come and go from the museum doors. To their left was the gift shop and inside a child was whining at their parents to get them a toy. Five minutes passed before a short man and Joseph King came out of a side door. Regal and Harper stood to meet them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Murphy." Dr. Yo held out his hand. Regal shook it and then Harper.

"I'd like to apologize for what happened in Orlando. The information I had been given was wrong," Joseph King said bowing his head slightly in apology.

"All water under the bridge. I have the book if you would like to take it to a private space and look at it," Harper replied this time looking at Dr. Yo.

"Follow me." Dr. Yo led them through the same side door he'd come through and down a long set of corridors.

"My office is here and I have the proper equipment to handle such a delicate book," he explained opening the door to a small crowded office. Harper smiled seeing the space, it reminded her of George's home.

"Here is the book." She took the book out of her bag watching as both men's eyes widened with delight. Harper handed the book to Dr. Yo and watched as he carefully placed the book on his desk unwrapping it.

"Exquisite," Joseph breathed leaning over to look at it. Harper and Regal settled in two chairs letting the men look through the book. Harper was happy to share it with them, she never wanted to keep the book locked away where people couldn't enjoy it.

"Thank you for sharing this with me." Joseph looked up at them after Dr. Yo wrapped the book back up.

"There was something we'd like to discuss with you maybe over dinner," Regal replied. Joseph's eyebrow went up but he nodded his agreement.

"I know a perfect Irish pub we can go to that is around the corner. You won't have to move your car," he answered putting his coat back on.

"Perfect. Mind walking with us?" Regal offered, he helped Harper stand and fix her coat. She'd unbuttoned it as they watched the two men admire the book. Joseph nodded and walked out with them.

Like he said the walk to the restaurant was quick and soon Harper and Regal found themselves at a private table with Joseph King and several of his guards.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Joseph asked once they had given their orders.

"We wanted to talk about protection for Harper's book collection. As you know George had a massive collection and many of the books are priceless. We need a way to make sure they will stay safe and we don't constantly have collectors trying to steal from us, Regal began, Harper took his hand squeezing gently.

"And you want my help protecting them?" Joseph finished with a knowing smile.

"Yes. We would like your help protecting the books. In exchange, Harper will waive her finder's fee and help you hunt down rare books. You know she is the best in the business and to have her finder's fee waived would save you a ton of money," Regal explained squeezing her hand back. Harper waited impatiently as Joseph thought through their proposal.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Is it possible just to have one of your men work at the bookstore?" Harper whispered this was about her books so she wanted to try hard to be a part of the conversation.

"I can swing that. I have one man floundering in his current position. He makes a great informant. I will send him to you next week and see if he fits in with your people."

"Thank you." Regal reached over and shook the man's hand.

"Done. Now let's enjoy our dinner and then you two can go back to finishing planning your wedding. Congratulations on your nuptials."

"Thank you." Harper gave him a smile and they spent the rest of dinner talking about books Joseph wanted Harper to start hunting down. 

The End

Thank you to everyone who has read my book. I will have an epilogue out soon. Please leave your constructive comments and don't forget to vote!