He set the now-empty shell of the toy aside and took the sculpture, weighing it in his hands with a shake of his head. “No, most definitely not. I’ve never seen it before. There’s only one reason he would hide this in that toy, Thomasina.”

She nodded, for she had thought the same thing. Hoped she was wrong, but not believed it. “This is the treasure Maitland wants so badly.”

He flinched. How he wished he could deny that. How he wished he had found something to prove his brother wasn’t as connected to that villain as he obviously had been. Instead there was this. This proof of just the opposite.

He carefully handed the statue over to her and walked across the narrow room. He felt caged in now, both by the size of the space and the chains that his brother had created through bad decisions and equally bad friendships.

“What the hell was he thinking?” he muttered.

Thomasina brushed her fingers over the details of the clay lady’s face as she shook her head. “If he and Maitland stole this, if it is worth so much that it could cause this kind of chaos, it would have been difficult to find a buyer, wouldn’t it? The robbery might have been reported.”

“They’d have to go underground,” Jasper breathed.

Thomasina worried her lip as she stared. “I know this belongs to someone else. It isn’t ours to use as a bargaining chip. It certainly isn’t Maitland’s. But Jasper…my sister.”

He pivoted to face her and saw her crumpled expression. She wasn’t certain he would put her family first. Put her first. He hadn’t yet proven himself to her. And that broke his heart as much as anything else he had uncovered in this dark and dingy room.

He moved toward her, shaking off his own concerns for the moment in trade for hers. “Of course we are going to help Anne if we can with this item. I don’t love that it is stolen and that I will be party to keeping it from its rightful owner, but the life of your sister is worth more.”

She wobbled slightly at that declaration and her eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” she whispered. “So what is our next step then? How do we use this to find Anne and bring her home to us?”

Jasper stared at the statue and the unblinking lady’s gaze, with all its accusations. “I’m not sure. We already know Maitland is close by, watching.”

“Because he ransacked the storage building just after we searched it,” she said.

“You said that it wasn’t a coincidence and I happen to agree. Perhaps we can draw him out.” He shook his head. “But I’m not the expert here. Reynolds would be the better person to help formulate this plan.”

“Your man of affairs. You sent someone to fetch him.” She shifted. “Jasper, every moment we wait I feel my sister’s life is in danger.”

He set the hated statue down on the floor beside himself and caught her hands. “I understand, but Reynolds is but a handful of hours’ ride away on a fast mount with a skillful rider. And I’m certain he’ll return as swiftly as possible once he gets my message. I think we can safely expect him by morning. It’s only a short delay, Thomasina, and then we can be more ready. The last thing we want to do is be as reckless as Maitland is.”