If you’re just joining this story, you may want to start from the beginning.
This story follows the first in Jenn’s Rediscovered series, Last Assault on Oak Island.
After landing in Paris and taking a train to Colmar, Carlos and Lauren found someone waiting for them in the busy station. It wasn't Vistoli's representative as they had expected. When the Duke of Anjou promised Carlos their train would be met, the curator presumed it would be by Elden Grant of Vistoli's porcelain house.
Lauren noted Carlos' disappointment and a certain skepticism as introductions were made to the man meeting their train. It didn't escape her attention that Carlos stuck a suitcase in the hand Reuben Tolchov offered in greeting to her. Reuben seemed to notice it, too, but said nothing of it as he put their bags in the small waiting car.
Small talk as he loaded the car was strained and generic. Carlos reached for the back door for Lauren before Reuben could, raising her suspicions yet another notch. She got into the car and sat back in the seat as the men took the front seat. Reuben pulled the car onto the street.
"It's only a short ride," Reuben said into the back to her. He turned to Carlos in the seat beside him. "I believe you were expecting Elden Grant."
"Actually we were," Lauren heard Carlos say. She kept her eyes on the Colmar traffic as the car gained speed through the French city. There was a veiled discomfort in the curator's tone. "He's still at the hall?"
"Yes. He's much occupied with the plates."
She glanced to Reuben when she felt his heavy stare leave her from the rearview mirror. She took a moment to study him, trying to see what had spurred the curator's alert mode. Reuben's features weren't French, leaning toward an eastern European descent. His dark hair and eyes were personable, whatever his nationality, she decided, guessing he had nearly a decade on her. He didn't seem to notice her study. He looked to Carlos with a quick grin.
"But I trust you don't call them plates in the antique trade. Something more eloquent must be used," he added with a chuckle.
"I haven't kept up with the terms circulating in the porcelain world," Carlos admitted. He pulled his glasses from his jacket pocket, a movement that struck Lauren as odd. When he gave a bespectacled glance at the driver, swiftly appraising the man, she wondered why he cared to examine Reuben Tolchov more closely. "Personally," Carlos said, "I've always referred to them as plates."
She shifted her gaze back to the thinning traffic at the edge of town as Reuben's attention turned back to her in the mirror.
"Grant is a very thorough fellow," he said. "Very deliberate. I can see why Monsieur Vistoli entrusts him with the house's business. Have you met him?" His dark eyes were on Lauren still, but she knew the question was directed at Carlos.
"No, but I anticipate his acquaintance. Marlon speaks highly of him."
The car no sooner reached the city limits and headed north and east of Ribeauville than signs for Selestat and Strasbourg popped up. Lauren watched the town fade away, and then looked up at the cloudless sky.
"I understand you're interested in the manuscripts," Reuben said.
Her focus returned to the car interior, watching Carlos' profile as he nodded.
"Predominately. What is your specialty, Monsieur Tolchov?"
Reuben smiled at the older man's stiff question. "Herr Doctor, I am not competing with your field. I prefer you call me Reuben. Please. I represent buyers in Stuttgart and Munchen, and their primary interest is medieval weaponry. I will not be bidding against you on the manuscripts."
Carlos committed an insincere smile, but left his glasses in place. "I appreciate your honesty, Reuben."
Lauren saw his posture relax only minutely as he changed the subject to a topic concerning neither the illuminations nor weapons.
She had accompanied the curator on enough acquisitions to know he was disturbed by Reuben Tolchov, but she couldn't imagine why. He wasn't French, or not completely. He spoke with an accent that reflected both heavy German and Russian influences, but read the road signs with ease.
She didn't necessarily believe Reuben wouldn't be competing against them for the manuscripts, but that wasn't their exclusive purpose for the visit.
It could be, she thought with a subtle frown, that he, too, knew about the amber Vistoli had sent to Carlos. She wondered how that would affect any possible bidding. She glanced at Reuben as he spoke of a Madame Chatillier who was also presently at the hall. Perhaps Vistoli and Elden Grant were not alone in their knowledge of the Amber Chamber's proximity.
If it was really there.
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