Chapter 42: No Safe Witness

The day begins with a detail that should be ordinary and refuses to remain that way.

The pursuit collides with the museum director hunting a crown that rewrites recorded history, forcing an alliance that neither Nell Harper nor Rafi Cole is ready to name.

The trap is clever because it offers exactly what the hero wants. Recognizing that desire becomes the only escape.

Nell Harper keeps the larger goal in view: return each artifact before dawn and keep the outside world from being rewritten. The immediate problem is smaller, sharper, and impossible to postpone.

The moment almost becomes a kiss. Instead, it becomes a promise to tell the truth next time.

Their attraction grows through competence, danger, and the first honest confession.

The recurring signs of marble, gold, midnight bells return with a different meaning, linking this choice to what came before.

The evidence points toward someone they have both been protecting.