“There are two of them—the one-penny and the twopenny. You know the two-penny stamp, it’s the indigo one.”
“The Blue Mauritius.”
Gwen nodded. “The one-penny is a kind of red-orange.”
“The Orange Mauritius?” Joss guessed.
“No one calls it that. They just say the one-penny Mauritius.”
“Does anything about stamp collecting make sense? I mean, how can a measly stamp be worth over a million dollars? Why does anyone care?”
Gwen smiled. “They’re over a hundred and sixty years old, for one thing, and they’ve got a story. It was all a big mistake, see? That’s where the most valuable stamps usually come from.”
“Like the upside down airplanes?”
“Sort of, only whole sheets of the Inverted Jennies are out there. Only a handful of Post Office Mauritius stamps exist.”
“So what’s the big deal? What was the error?”
“They were made by an island printer when the local post office ran out of stamps. The postmaster told him to print ‘Post Paid’ on them but he screwed up and put ‘Post Office’ on them, instead.”
“The wrong words? That’s what a million dollars of fuss is all about?” Joss shook her head in amazement. “You collector types.”
“Silverhielm wants a Post Office Mauritius pair, badly.”
“So why didn’t Grampa sell? He’s ready to retire, why not take the money?”
“I don’t think he liked Silverhielm,” Gwen said slowly. “There’s something a little off about him and I think Grampa sensed it. Besides, his offer was only a million for each.”
“I thought that was what they were worth.”
“Separately. Together, they’ve gone at auction for as much as three million.”
It paralyzed Joss to think about that kind of money. It paralyzed her that she’d been the one responsible for losing at least part of it. “Did Grampa have any idea they’d be worth that much?”
“He got them from his grandfather and they probably weren’t cheap when he got them. Like investing in gold bars. Expensive, but worth it.”
“Except that it’s not so easy to stick gold bars in your pocket and walk away with them the way Jerry did with the stamps.” Joss stared moodily into her coffee cup. “It kills me to think about telling Grampa about this.”
“It’s not as bad as it was,” Gwen said softly. “We got most of them back.”
“You got most of them back, and you almost got shot doing it.” Joss picked a quarter up off the desk and began rolling it in her fingers. “So why is Interpol dropping the case? Didn’t they look into Silverhielm?”
Gwen nodded. “They say they’ve done some investigation but their hands are tied at this point. They can’t just walk in and search his house or his safe-deposit boxes.”
“I suppose not, but have they interviewed Stewart?”
“He doesn’t know anything.”
“Or won’t say.” He was a thug and a liar. As far as Joss was concerned, there was no reason he might not be a coward. Still… “Why don’t you try talking to him?” she asked suddenly. “He might tell you.”
“I’m not sure I could do it,” Gwen said, resting her chin against her hands. “It’s too hard, knowing what he did and seeing him again. He was practically family.”
Fresh anger coursed through Joss. Stewart had worked at the store when Gwen had been a gawky fourteen-year-old, looking up to him. She’d trusted him. They’d all trusted him and gotten only betrayal for their troubles.
Gwen shook her head. “Anyway, even if he confirmed that it was Silverhielm, what am I going to do, fly to Stockholm and camp out on the guy’s front porch?”
“Stockholm?” Joss blinked and sat up. “Wait a minute, isn’t the International Stamp Expo in Stockholm next week?”
“Yes, but I’ve got too much going on here. I can’t go.”
“No, but I could,” Joss said, her eyes flashing. “Remember? Travel is likely.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Why is that ridiculous? You did it.” A chance, she thought, a chance to make things right.
“I went to Las Vegas. This is Stockholm. You don’t even speak the language,” Gwen said in exasperation.
“I’ll find someone who does. Hell, I’ll hire a translator. Look, Gwen, all of this was my fault.”
“It was both of our faults.”
Joss shook her head. “If I hadn’t left Jerry in the store with access to the safe, he’d never have had the chance to steal everything.”
“He would have gotten to them sooner or later,” Gwen countered. “I should never have hired him.”
“Which you did because of me. I’m going.” In an instant, it had gone from a passing thought to something Joss wanted passionately. Needed passionately.
“There are other ways.”
“How?” Joss jumped to her feet and began pacing. “You’ve done all the work here. I’ve just sat around doing nothing.” And it had rankled her, every minute. “I want my chance to make it right. You already had yours.”
“And I almost got a bullet in my brain, remember?” Gwen said hotly. “It’s too risky. Silverhielm isn’t just some rich guy. He had Stewart hurt, Joss. He scared him to death. It’s not a job for us. It’s a job for the police.”
“The police aren’t doing anything,” Joss flared. “Do you want to just write off a million dollars of Grampa’s retirement? I don’t. I can’t, Gwen. I couldn’t live with it.”
“You may not live if you try to get it back.”
“So I’ll get some help.”
“Like who?”
“I don’t know,” she snapped. “I’ll call my friend Tom, the promoter at Avalon.”
“A music promoter’s going to be able to go with you to Stockholm and get stolen property back from a criminal?”
“Why not? A sportswriter helped you. Look, Tom knows this town inside and out. He might be able to point me to someone who could help.” Joss sank back down in her chair and looked at Gwen pleadingly. “I want to do this, Gwen. I need to.”
Gwen sighed. “Well, we’ve still got most of my poker winnings as a war chest. We’ve got the money to do it, but only if you find someone who can really help you,” she warned. “Not the music promoter. Someone who’ll know what to do when you hit Stockholm.”
“Okay.” Joss reached out for her coffee and took a sip. “Can he be cute?”
“Wait a minute. You didn’t cook all this up just so you could have sex on an airplane, did you?” Gwen asked skeptically.
Joss laughed. “Who, me?”
2
JOHN BAXTER leaned back in his chair and stared at the check in his hands. Smack in the upper end of the five figure range. Not bad for three months’ work, he thought in satisfaction. For the first time since he’d started his executive security business two years before, he’d banished the wolf from his door. Not just banished it, kicked its ass from here till Sunday.
It was about time for a vacation.