The Museum of Murder

By Melissa Perry

Ryan wanted to solve the museum break ins that constantly taunted him.

Kate was a gorgeous but unwanted distraction.

Would he be able to focus on solving the crimes or would his distraction cost him his life?

 

Kate Fontana grew up with a father who was a thief. She learned his trade well, maybe too well, as it turned out.
FBI Special Agent Ryan Greene was getting more frustrated by the day. He and his team had been assigned the job to find out who was behind a string of art thefts, and it was proving to be a difficult task.
When he happened to meet a beautiful woman one night in a bar, he was almost grateful for what he thought would be a fun diversion.
What he didn't expect, was an encounter that would challenge all his training, and change his life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stories2Life
• Release date: Mar 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393462958

Book preview

(Now)

F reeze or I’ll blow yer head clean off! the man behind her growled. Kate froze, instinctively raised her arms and began laughing as she turned around. Clarence, you’ve been watching too many reruns of westerns, she chuckled as she put down her arms, slightly embarrassed, and walked towards the guard. He had his hand pointed at her, as if he were holding a gun, his index finger acting as the gun’s barrel, thumb up, the rest of his fingers curled inward.

He started to laugh too, lowering his hand, his face coloring slightly at her remark. Well, Miss Kate, you know I always have been partial to that Marshall Dillon. Guess I couldn’t help myself.

Hey, you can’t argue with quality, she said lightly. Now, tell me how you figured out I was here.

Clarence pointed to a very small hole in the corner of the wall, at about shin level. Motion detectors, the latest models, virtually undetectable, he said smugly. The curator had them installed all over the building, as soon as she got word about the exhibit. She wanted to see if it was truly good enough to catch even a professional such as yourself. Silent alarms went off as soon as you stepped into the hall.

Well, it’s nice of Ada to have thought of me Kate murmured tersely, as she headed towards a large room to the left of where she and Clarence were standing, thanking the guard on her way out.

When she entered the exhibition hall, she stopped and caught her breath, her eyes hungrily taking in the statues and jewels, the huge sarcophagus in the corner, the masks and chalices and jars. It still gave her a rush, a longing, even now. The Egyptian exhibit was one of the best and most extensive ones in the world, on loan from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Kate had to hand it to Ada, the museum’s curator. Scoring the exhibit was certainly a large feather in the Denver Art Museum’s cap. Several other prestigious museums had petitioned to acquire the exquisite pieces contained in the collection, but somehow Ada had managed to land that honor. True, the exhibit would only be there for three months, but the amount of revenue and publicity generated during that time would be a definite boon to the museum, and to Ada.

Well, Kate, I see that even you weren’t able to steal my precious treasures. Ada’s voice behind her startled Kate out of her musings. She turned to meet Ada’s sardonic gaze, one eyebrow raised in triumph. Ada Fergusson was a stunning looking woman, an African-American in her mid-forties, with glossy black curls and lovely deep chocolate eyes. She stood about three inches shorter than Kate’s five-foot-seven frame, but her no-nonsense attitude and steely determination made her seem larger somehow, more formidable. Probably the same qualities that had gotten her the Egyptian collection.

"Your treasures Ada? I was under the impression that Mustafa Barakat was only charmed enough to lend them to you" Kate quipped, returning Ada’s gaze. She was referring to the prestigious, and handsome curator in Cairo. To an outsider, Kate and Ada’s relationship might appear hostile, cold at the very least. But, in fact, the women, while not the best of friends perhaps, did consider themselves friends of a sort, and each one respected the other’s expertise in their chosen fields of employment, empathetic to the strength and sacrifices made to become the best in largely male dominated fields.

Ada colored slightly and then grinned, revealing white, straight teeth, the front two gapped just enough to spoil the illusion of perfection, but not enough to detract from her beauty. Touché, Kate, I forgot how much I missed your acerbic wit. So, what is the verdict on the museum’s security, will the exhibit be safe for the time that it is here?

Kate nodded, looking thoughtfully around the large room. I think so, that was the fourth scenario Clarence and I ran through, and you know if I can’t break your system, no one can. Ada nodded in agreement.

Kate Fontana wasn’t being vain or boastful, she truly was the best in her field, that field being, unfortunately, that of a world-renowned art thief.

Two

Anthony Fontana, Kate’s father, had been a thief too; although he never reached the same level Kate had. Instead he pulled off small time heists, usually making just enough money to pay rent on the small house Kate grew up in and to buy a few rounds for his buddies down at the corner bar. Kate learned a lot from her father; what to do, what not to do, how to plan and expedite a job. But she differed from her father