The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance Katherine Logan (no david read aloud TXT) 📖

“Let’s get the horses out of here,” Braham said.

“Kit and I will take them to the barn,” Cullen said. “We’re ready for dinner and baths and quiet time after all the excitement of the last several days.”

“I’ll help you get them out of the house,” Paul offered.

Kit and Cullen’s goodbyes with their children had been heart-wrenching to watch. But Elliott’s promise to take Kit to Washington, DC someday so she could visit with her daughters again had lightened the moment. From what Austin told her, Elliott was the only family member to ever take a trip back in time for personal reasons.

Maybe they could go when TR was president between 1901 and 1909. If they did, Ensley would insist on going along, too.

Charlotte was standing right where they left her, relief flashing over her face as she hurried across the room to hug Braham. “You’re never going without me again.”

“I won’t.” Braham kissed her. “But I’m glad I could say goodbye to Uncle Donald, and I needed to keep an eye on Kit and Cullen to make sure they didn’t stay behind.”

“Did they consider it?”

“Aye, but since Cullen’s heart attack, he doesn’t like being away from twenty-first-century medical care for longer than a few days.”

Elliott and Meredith hurried to JC’s bedside. Ensley wanted to go but thought JC’s parents should be alone with him for a few minutes.

“How long were we gone?” David asked Charlotte.

Charlotte glanced at the bank of wall clocks. “Seconds, I think. Braham distracted me, but the fog that took you away merged with the fog that brought you back.”

David picked up a trunk and placed it on the stainless steel table. “Hmm. That’s a record.”

“How long were you in the past?” she asked.

He opened the trunk and started unloading equipment, taking his time to answer her. “Well… Long enough to find a priceless Roman treasure.”

Charlotte’s blue eyes opened wide. “Where?”

Braham released her to pick up one of the trunks, placing it on the table next to David’s. “In a cave on MacKlenna Farm—and it puts the Confederate treasure to shame.”

“Larger objects? Or the size of the hoard is larger?” she asked.

Braham unloaded the cameras. “Ten times larger? Although I didn’t see it firsthand, I did scroll through a few dozen pictures while I was waiting to leave.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t go see it.”

“Cullen and I were busy looking at horses on adjoining farms, but if ye ever need a photographer, ask Ensley. She has a good eye, and it’s all captured in her photographs and Austin’s videos. The cave has a stunning collection of artifacts, life-size bronze statues, and frescoes that might even prove the Romans traveled to North America.”

“It might be true,” Ensley piped in. “Several caches of Roman coins have been found buried in North America, dating back to the sixteenth century. Some think collectors deliberately placed coins as hoaxes. But I don’t believe the hoard in the cave was put there by collectors to prove a point. I believe Erik put the collection together over time to finance the war against the Illuminati.”

“I’m with ye on that, Ensley,” David said. “But once we analyze the data and study the videos and photographs, we should have more answers.”

“I’ll get it all uploaded, and we can get to work.” Braham took the cameras and walked into a glass-walled office with large monitors and multiple computers.

“I’ll add Ensley to WhatsApp and give her an email address,” David said. “When ye have the pictures and videos uploaded, I’ll send out a link.”

“Is the system secure enough that I can send emails about the trip?” Ensley asked.

“We have an encrypted system as secure as the Pentagon’s,” David said, “but let’s keep this quiet for now. I want to go to the cave tomorrow and make sure the treasure is still there before we bring in everyone else.”

“I’ll go with you,” Braham said.

“If the Illuminati picks up on this, nothing will stop them from engaging in the battle from hell to steal it all,” Kenzie said.

“We have to be mindful of that possibility, especially when we’re inside the cave. There’s something strange about the place, and it’ll take a while to discover its secrets,” David said. “And we need to map the cave as it is today and compare the data to see if there’s any change.”

“But we didn’t map the treasure room,” Kenzie said.

“I realized that too late, but I’m pretty sure I can reconstruct the dimensions based on the photographs and Paul’s recollections,” David said.

The crease between Kenzie’s auburn brows marked her doubt, which matched Ensley’s. Although David probably didn’t make mistakes like that very often.

Ensley tried not to limp to the drink bar to get a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge but failed.

Austin spoke from right behind her. “You’re in pain.”

She sucked in her breath with a sudden hiss. “Do you know where I can find ibuprofen?”

Austin opened the cabinet over the sink. “Right there. Pick your poison—aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen.”

“Ibuprofen.” She grabbed a bottle of water, popped two pain relievers into her mouth, and swallowed them with a long drink.

“If Anne’s available, she can give you a massage. Do you want me to call her?”

“We don’t have time right now. It can wait.” She walked toward JC’s bed with a wave at Remy, who was still lying on his stomach and looking bored and restless, and she arrived just in time to hear Elliott say he planned to leave for Bhutan within the hour.

“What’s the plan for keeping him calm during the flight?” Meredith asked.

“I’ll go with you,” Charlotte said. “If JC needs to be sedated again during the flight, I’ll take care of it. I want to keep him comfortable.”

Emily entered the wardrobe room, stood behind a privacy screen, and tossed clothes over the top of it as she stripped out of her nineteenth-century day dress, “Charlotte, I can go and take care of JC.”

“And I can go, too,” Remy hollered from the exam room.

“You’re not going