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closed her eyes and tried putting a picture with each line in the letter. Tried to visualize it.
    â€œClose to your heart. Keep her close to your heart. Close to…”
    Her hand flew to her throat in sudden realization. Shegrabbed the necklace, held it in her suddenly unsteady fingers, and wondered. Could it be?
    It had to be.
    Practically tumbling from the bed, she got her feet under her and raced for the door.
    â€œIan! Ian, I’ve got it!”

EIGHT
    I an heard her yell and bolted from the conference room. They rounded the corner at the same time, sending her crashing against his chest. His arms came up protectively and held her tight.
    Or tried to.
    She scrambled back but grabbed his forearms and said excitedly, “It’s the locket.”
    â€œWhat?”
    She grabbed the necklace around her neck and pulled it out for him to see. “The locket. The letter. The clue. Oh, come on.” She dragged him back into the room and fiddled with the clasp on the chain, trying to release it. Finally, she dropped her hands and said, “I can’t get it. Can you?”
    Gina pulled her ponytail up and off her neck and Ian swallowed hard. With hands that held a slight tremble and a sudden propensity to sweat, he told himself to get a grip. This had to do with Mario. She’d figured something out.
    â€œThis is pretty heavy. Doesn’t it hurt your neck to wear it?”
    She gave a shaky chuckle. “No, I guess I’m used to it. Mario loved to see it on me, and I finally just quit taking it off except at night. You wouldn’t believe the compliments I get.”
    Finally the hook released and the necklace wilted into herpalm. She sat at the table and with shaky hands managed to hold on to the locket while she slid a thumbnail between the edges to open it.
    A younger version of Mario stared back at them from one side, and a girl of about ten years old from the other.
    Gina traced a finger over the pictures. “This is Mario’s sister, Patrice. She died on a mission trip in South America when she was sixteen.”
    â€œYeah, he told me about her. I remember he was torn up about it. She and two others were killed in some kind of cross fire between guerrillas and the Colombian military.”
    â€œHe never got over it,” she murmured.
    Impatience crawled through him. “Okay, so how does this tie in with what was in Mario’s letter?”
    She frowned. “In the letter, he said, ‘Thank you for keeping her memory close to your heart.’ So, it got me thinking that maybe he meant this…that there was something more than just keeping her memory alive…. What if he meant…” She held the locket up to the light, squinting at the piece of gold metal. “Something…like…this…right here. Does it look like it opens again?”
    He took it from her. “Maybe. Some kind of secret compartment?”
    â€œExactly. Can you get it open?”
    â€œYes, hold on one second. Look, it’s a little switch.” He pressed it and the bottom opened up.
    A small key fell out and Gina gasped. “You found it.”
    He smiled at her. “No, you found it.” He studied the small item. “Now we just have to figure out what it goes to.”
    Racking her brain, Gina paced the floor of the conference room. “I don’t know, Ian. The first thing that comes to mind is a safe-deposit box.”
    He nodded as he examined the key, turning it one way, then another. No identifying marks stood out. He looked up at her. “You’re right. That’s exactly what it is. Mario would expect you to know what it was to if he hid it in the necklace.”
    â€œYes, he would. Okay—” she shrugged “—it’s got to be where he banked.”
    â€œSo, we’ll call and find out if he’s got a box there.”
    â€œUm, I don’t know which bank. I know he had accounts at two different ones. One in