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muffled click.

    The three of them exchanged looks. Drew motioned at Lauren. “Go ahead.”

    She took a step back. “Not me, it’s not mine.” Now that they were closed in this private room, she was reluctant to look inside. She told herself it was because the box wasn’t hers, not because she was worried about what she’d find.

    Apparently it had also occurred to Drew that his father’s safe deposit box might be private for a good reason. He hesitated.

    “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Gerald muttered, and stepped between them, taking the solitary chair. “It’s a good thing you have me here to take charge, since you two obviously fold under the slightest pressure.” Lauren and Drew ignored the insult and stepped closer ashe flipped back the lid. Lauren felt her heart kick into overdrive as she leaned forward for a better look.

    Silk- and velvet-covered jewelry cases fit like puzzle pieces inside the larger box. Lauren released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

    “Open them,” Drew instructed.

    She threw him a resentful glance, even though she knew they had to be sure.

    They watched as Gerald lifted each case out and opened it. Jeweled necklaces and large gemstone dinner rings glittered in the strong overhead lights as each lid sprang open, then was snapped shut again. With each sparkling item, Lauren felt her heart rate slow, until the anxious pounding returned to normal. Eight boxes covered the table when Gerald reached a light blue document-size envelope at the bottom of the box. He picked it up.

    “What’s that?” Drew asked.

    “I don’t know. I was with the senator last week when he stopped to get a necklace out for Miranda to wear at a charity ball. This wasn’t here.” He looked at them, eyebrows raised. “Should I open it?”

    “Hell, yes,” Drew said.

    Lauren nodded, an unexpected dread turning her hands icy. If Meg didn’t take anything out of the box, then she must have left this in it. What would she need to keep in a safe deposit box? It was probably completely harmless, her marriage license or an updated will, and of no concern to anyone but Harlan and Meg Creighton. But the fact that Meg seemed to have vanished after leaving it here sent ominous prickles down Lauren’s spine.

    Gerald undid the clasp and peeked inside, then slidsomething out. Before Lauren could tell what it was, he shoved it back inside and looked up in alarm.

    “What? What is it?” she asked.

    Gerald swallowed. “Pictures.”

    Drew scowled. “What kind of pictures?”

    His shoulders shuddered. “The wrong kind. Naked people. Two naked people.”

    Drew and Lauren exchanged a quick look. “Who?” Drew demanded.

    “I don’t know. I don’t want to know.” He handed the envelope to Drew. “You look.”

    Drew’s face was determined as he reached inside the envelope. Lauren thought it would be unseemly to rush to his side and peer over his shoulder, even though she was dying of curiosity. Gerald’s comment left the possibilities wide open, and none of them fit her image of Meg.

    He slid the pictures out slowly. She eased onto her tiptoes but could only make out a black and white blur. But she could see his reaction.

    The pictures weren’t all the way out before he shot them back in again. His face was drawn and serious as he held the envelope out to her. “I don’t need to see any more.”

    Lauren stared at the envelope, suddenly wary of what neither Drew nor Gerald had wanted to see. She’d never seen a man flinch at viewing nude pictures before. “What is it?” she asked.

    “It’s exactly what you think it is. A man, a woman, and a mattress. The kind of pictures most people don’t want to star in.” Drew scowled. “But you’d better be the one to look because I think the woman might beMeg, and I doubt either she or my dad would want me to see that.”

    Definitely not. “But the man…”

    “Is not my father,” Drew finished grimly.

    What he was suggesting