Time Thieves
Dale Mayer
TIME THIEVES
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing
Copyright © 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1-928122-42-5
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
I love to read Dale Mayer’s books… keeps me guessing…. I am getting good though trying to figure out who did it…. I am on my fourth book….
…Review left on Vampire in Deceit, book 4 of Family Blood Ties
Dale Mayer’s work is always outstanding and Haunted by Death is no exception.
…Review from Haunted by Death, book 2 of the By Death Series
This is a GREAT series that you don’t want to miss out on!
…Review from Broken Protocols Series
This is my favorite author I enjoy all her books and I can’t wait for more… her books are easy to get into and I love the storyline
…Review from Dangerous Designs, book 1 of the Design Series
Dale Mayer is a gifted writer who now has me hooked as a new fan. She characters are complex and she shares her knowledge of energy work clearly and simply. Makes for fascinating reading…
…Review from Rare Find, book 6 of Psychic Visions Series
Don’t underestimated Dale Mayer. Combination of JD Robb and Heather Graham. Paranormal suspense………
…Review left on Maddy’s Floor, book 3 of the Psychic Visions Series
Wow! I read a lot, and I can honestly say that there a few books that I have read that I will remember for years. This is one of those books. Thank you Dale for giving me the gift of this magnificent story. It was both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.
…Review left on Skin, book 1 of Broken and yet…Healing Series
Touched by Death is an outstanding novel by Dale Mayer. Unlike her usual novels that contain paranormal activity, this novel is sheer malevolent actions from ordinary humans.
…Review left on Touched by Death, book 1 of By Death Series
Dale’s books are spellbinding in more ways than one. She has a unique way with words. Her characters are fun and funny and loving. I love the way the story flows. Her characters all have personality. She takes you from suspense to love, then fear love and eternal love.
…Review left on Second Chances, book 1 of Second Chances… at Love Series
S
ari Harrods ran
into her father’s shop, excitement adding extra height to her bounce. At ten, she already loved that she was so much taller than that awful Jimmy but the exact same height as Ward. Perfect. She giggled.
“Daddy, Daddy!” She let the door slam shut behind her, remembering too late that she was supposed to be quiet. It was so hard to remember. So many rules.
“Hush, Sari.” Her mother swept in behind her. “Your father is working.”
“I know,” Sari explained impatiently. “That’s how I knew to find him here.” How come adults needed to have everything explained to them?
“She’s fine, Lisbeth. Let her be.” Her father’s voice rolled over them both with its deep timber tones.
Sari laughed. “Daddy, I made it through the spelling bee at school. I beat Ward with the word aquarium.”
“Did you now? Now that’s fine, that is.” He stood up from his desk and came around the tall counter. Bending over, he swept her up into his arms. “I think that’s worth a treat, isn’t it, Lisbeth?”
“That’s wonderful news, Sari.” Her mother joined them, her warm and caring voice tickling Sari’s ear. “I think hot chocolate is definitely in order.” With a swift tickle of Sari’s ribs, she disappeared into the main house at the back of the shop.
“Yay!” Sari loved hot chocolate. She wiggled free and ran deeper into their shop. “Did you get any new parcels today, Daddy?”
“I did. Brodin came by with one of his grandfather’s watches. He’s gone to pick up the matched set from the safety deposit box and will be back any moment. Then we’re going to see just how special they are.”
Sari glanced around at him. “Is it very nice?”
“It is.” He pulled out a second chair to snug up against his desk chair before he sat down. Sari obediently hopped up beside him.
“Can I open it, pleeease?” She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the desk. “Please, Daddy?”
He laughed, opened a drawer, and pulled out a squat envelope. Shifting the mess on his desk back, he slipped the contents of the envelope onto the cleared spot.
“It doesn’t look very pretty.” Her voice reeked with disappointment. She’d been hoping for something with lots of shiny gold. Instead, this was a dingy tarnished color like Grandma’s old silver set Mom hid in the back of the china cabinet.
“It’s not always about the looks,” her father said, his gaze narrowed on the timepiece in front of him. “And this one is very interesting in other ways.”
“How? It looks very boring.” Sari turned to look out the window, wishing Mom would hurry up with the hot chocolate.
“It’s interesting because I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
That made it a little more interesting. Her daddy had been doing this for a long time. If he hadn’t seen anything like it, then maybe it
was
special. She peered closer, astonished to see the metal piece open up. “It opens? Cool.” She knelt on her chair to get a better look.
“Apparently.
Very
interesting.” Her father leaned back, removing his glasses to stare off in the distance. Suddenly, he pushed his chair back and strode across the small room to the narrow bookshelf on the far side of the room. With his finger dragging against the spines, he went from one book to another looking for one in particular. On the second shelf, he found what he was looking for. He tugged the book out and flipped it open, his face alight with excitement. “It’s here somewhere. Where is it?” He walked back to the desk, stopping every few feet to flip more pages.
“Where’s what?” Sari poked at the metal piece, checking her finger afterwards to see if the gray dust had come off on her skin. “What is all this inside?”
“I don’t know yet. Don’t touch,” he warned.
Sari lifted her gaze to see if he was watching. His glasses had slipped down the end of his nose, a sure sign that he was buried in whatever he’d found to read. “I won’t touch anything.”
Sounds of her mother’s arrival with the promised hot chocolate had Sari glancing from one to the other and then back down at the odd-looking machinery in front of her. Her father was adjusting the inside of the watch, peering at papers beside him then looking back. He sat back with a satisfied grin. “Got it.”
Cool.
She leaned closer. “Got what, Daddy?”
Her father turned his head to stare at her, the intensity of his gaze a little unnerving. As if just realizing how vulnerable the timepiece was, he leaned toward her. “I mean it, Sari. That’s a very delicate mechanism. It’s worth a lot of money.”
“Money?” Now that made it really interesting. They didn’t have much money. “Can we keep it then?”
He reached for the box and went as if to scoop the timepiece back into the protective cloth when it slipped out of his fingers to the floor where it dropped and rolled. “Oh no.”
Both Sari and her father bent at the same time to look for the missing watch.
“Where are you two? I bring hot chocolate and you’re both gone.” Her mother’s footsteps sounded along the wooden floor.
Sari laughed. “We’re right here, Mom. The watch dropped.”
Then she saw it shining in the single ray of sunlight dashing across the floor. “There it is, Daddy.” Sari stretched out her arm, but her father reached it first.
He glanced up at her, a big smile on his face as his fingers closed around it.
“I’ve got it,” he said triumphantly. As the words left his mouth, an odd look came over his face. He swallowed once, then twice. His gaze went from Sari up to where his wife stood.
“Daddy?”
“Something’s wrong,” he whispered. His face thinned, paled to the point Sari could barely see him. She reached out to touch him, and just as her fingers would have made contact, he disappeared.
Her mother screamed, dropping the tray full of hot chocolate, the broken cups bleeding their dark chocolate contents. Sari stared as the liquid spread over the empty space where her beloved father had been.
Fifteen years later
C
ould the airport
get any more crowded? Sari struggled to find a clear passage through the hundreds of people blocking her way. The more she travelled, the more she wished for a pair of wings of her own. The fanciful thought made her smile. First time all day by her count. She came to a dead stop at the customs line up. Thankfully, she’d moved to the head of the crowd.
Please let this be simple
. She had her paperwork in order. And the paperwork for her bag of goodies.
She was in luck. She knew the agent and the agent knew her and her business.
“Hey, Sari. Back again, huh? What have you got this time?”
Breaking out a bigger, warmer smile than she felt, she gave the same response as always. “Junk most likely, but hopefully a few treasures too.”