Free Time Thieves by Dale Mayer

Internet.”
    “And don’t forget to check genealogy sites. They would probably be the best resource.”
    “I’d never thought of that.” She grinned. “This is great. I could learn all kinds of things there.”
    He smiled. God, she was pretty. Then again he was biased, having been smitten for years. And it showed no signs of easing now. “What are you up to today?”
    She glanced at the shop. “I’m leaving for England and France in a few days and have a few pieces to work on, so I’ll be taking them with me.”
    “Jewelry pieces?”
    “In this case, yes.” She smiled. “I’ll be gone for three to four days this time.”
    “Did you get your security system set up in the meantime? After the last break-in, it would be a shame to leave the house wide open for them to have a second try.”
    She winced. “Thanks for the reminder.”
    “Just trying to be careful.”
    “Well, I’m happy to say the security system upgrade is supposed to happen tomorrow.”
    He grinned. “Good.” He hesitated a brief moment. “Are you going to see your mother on this trip?”
    That made her wince. Sari sighed, propping her chin on the palm of one hand. “I hadn’t planned on it, but I just found out that my mother’s house was broken into last night as well. She’s finally told me she has some of my father’s belongings she’s been keeping safe all these years. I’m going to retrieve them.”
    “Valuable?”
    “My father said they were, but she had them appraised and found them to be worthless.”
    “But not to you?”
    Her face softened. “No, not to me. I’m wondering if the books she has of his are the ones from that shelf.” She pointed up to the open space in the bookshelf.
    “Does it matter?”
    She shook her head. “No, not really. It would be just another mystery solved. In my head, I see the bookshelf full from the last time I saw it as a child. When I came back, the shelf was no longer full.”
    “Then it probably is those books.” Ward walked over to take a look at the volumes. “Wow – time travel, time space continuum, timepiece repair. Crossing time.” He turned back to look at her. “Really? He believed in time travel?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know what he believed. I was too young back then to discuss it with him. Now I’d give anything for a day with him.” She sighed. “The things we don’t value until it’s gone.”
    “Except you did value him. And he knew it,” Ward said seriously.
    She smiled, the shadows in her eyes lightening. “Thanks. I hope he did.”

Chapter 7

    B efore he left, Ward helped Sari to haul more boxes from the small attic down to her shop. She’d planned to give away or recycle anything that was of no value, and hopefully she could find something personal to identify those who’d owned the various belongings. She had a family tree somewhere around, but she didn’t think it went back very far. Maybe four generations. She spun around in the shop, wondering where it had last been.
    Her eyes lit on the half empty bookshelf. She needed to get those items back from her mother. Who knew what information her father had deemed valuable? She would have them in a couple of days, but that was too long. Maybe she should have had her mother priority ship them. No, they were too valuable. What if something went wrong and they were lost or damaged?
    In the meantime, she stared at the orderly mess in her shop. Maybe she should have left everything upstairs like Ward had suggested. No, of course she couldn’t do that. It would have been the easy answer.
    Time to get to work. She packed the clothing and other items she wasn’t keeping neatly into boxes, then set them against the back wall to deal with later. Grabbing another box, she opened it up and dug in. This set of belongings all appeared to be from a woman. There were dresses, underclothes, shoes, hair clips, and handkerchiefs, putting the belongings somewhere in the sixties as far she could see. Interesting.