Stay with Me (The WITSEC series Book 1)

by Patricia Logan

  The smashing and grunts of the two thieves as they scooped diamonds up with gloved hands seemed to go on forever. Luca wondered how quickly the police would respond to the silent alarm. Since the store wasn’t located inside a mall, there was no mall security and they had no private armed guards either. Luca, Tracy, and their elderly customer were totally at the mercy of the police response. The longer the robbery went on, the angrier Luca got. He lowered his arm to peek out from under it and then heard one of the crooks yell at him to look away. He instantly nodded and closed his eyes. He loved his job but there was no way he was getting hit with a sledgehammer for the sake of a few diamonds.

  After another minute or so, he heard the men turn and run, the sound of their booted feet on broken glass echoing in the large store. As soon as they were at the front door, Luca popped his head up and then stood. Glass from his clothes fell in tiny shards all around him. He reached up and touched the top of his hair, feeling the glass that covered his head.

  Shit.

  He stepped out from behind the wrap desk where he’d crouched and looked over to Tracy who was also standing up and looking down at her clothes twenty feet from him. Tears tracked down her face as she stared at Luca. The elderly customer was straightening up from where she’d ducked down on the other side of the counter where Luca had sold the Rolex the day before. She looked white as a sheet.

  “Are you okay?” Luca said, hearing sirens in the distance. He walked toward Tracy and the woman who’d come around the counter to where they stood. Tracy’s terrified expression made Luca want to put his arms around her but his suit was covered with glass and he didn’t think it would be a good idea. He really hoped his dry cleaner would be able to get it all off without tearing it up. Fortunately, it wasn’t the Armani he’d worn yesterday.

  “I’m okay,” Tracy said with a tremulous voice. The uncertainty in her words was clear. She really wasn’t okay at all but she was trying her best to sound like she was. He really hoped she wasn’t going to quit after this. Even though she wasn’t the best salesperson he had, it was always a bitch when he had to hire and train someone new. Finding someone who could pass a rigorous background check in this town wasn’t the easiest thing either and until he could hire someone new, he’d have to fill in himself.

  Double shit.

  “Are you okay?” he asked the elderly lady. To Luca’s surprise, she smiled and nodded.

  “That’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced, honey. I’m dandy. Are you okay, sugar?” She looked him over and then her brows suddenly drew together. “Oh, dear, you’re covered with glass.” She stared at his suit as he looked down at his sleeve. A sudden noise at the front of the store brought his attention to the doors where two uniformed cops rushed inside with guns drawn. Staring down the barrel of a gun was the last thing Luca had expected when he got up that morning.

  “What happened here?” a tall male officer demanded.

  “Two men came in with sledgehammers and trench coats,” Luca said, hearing the way his voice quaked. “They smashed my diamond cases and ran.” The officer lowered his weapon and then grabbed a small radio on his shoulder and pulled it close to his face.

  “Cancel backup. It’s a simple smash and grab but we’re gonna need CSI and detectives,” the officer said.

  “Ten-four, Riley. They’re already en route,” the dispatcher said. “Anyone need a bus?”

  The officer looked straight at Luca as his partner walked over to Tracy and the elderly woman.

  “Does anyone require medical assistance?” the first officer asked. Luca shook his head as Tracy and the elderly woman also declined. After the officer told dispatch they weren’t going to require an ambulance, he looked back up. Luca gingerly started to remove his coat and then looked down at his wrist, realizing he still wore his stretchy keyring. He gently pulled it off over the broken glass on his hand and then took his coat off, feeling glass sprinkle to the carpet.

  “Luca, close your eyes and tilt your head back,” Tracy said close to his ear. He jumped, not even realizing she’d come up behind him. “You have glass in your hair, honey. Let me brush it off.”

  “We have questions,” the officer said.

  “Wait a second, okay?” Luca asked with his eyes closed as he felt Tracy gently combing the glass out of his hair.

  “We have questions,” the officer repeated, sounding annoyed this time.

  “Wait a second,” Luca repeated, thinking the guy was either rude or stupid or both.

  “Mr. …”

  “I’ll ask the questions. Thanks, officer.”

  Luca cracked an eye open at the sound of the growly voice. He spotted a tall man sauntering up behind the officer. He was dressed in a suit that was trying its best to hide the powerful form of the man before him… a man Luca recognized. The magnificent golden highlights in his thick brown hair were a dead giveaway, even though they weren’t standing under the club lights at Marty’s. The stunning man he’d run into the night he and Corey had gone to karaoke was glaring down at him as though he was irritated at being there. Luca sighed and closed his eyes again.

  “Oh, hey, Detective,” the officer said. “We just arrived.”

  “No problem,” a female voice said. “Delancey and I will take statements from the employees if you’ll take the customer.”

  “No problem,” the officer said as the voice moved away.

  “Okay, Luca. I got most of it,” Tracy said, stopping with the comb-out of his hair.

  Luca opened his eyes and he turned around to Tracy, ignoring the two detectives in front of him. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

  “Would you please call Mr. Auerbach and let him know what happened here, Tracy? I think I need to give a statement or something,” Luca said.

  “Sure, Luca.” Tracy moved away, walking over to the wrap desk where she picked up the phone.

  “We need to take your statements first,” the gruff male detective said. A chill went down Luca’s spine at the terse sound of the man’s irritated voice. He suddenly wanted to go watch Charlie eat raw bread just to see if he’d fart and burp.

  “It’s okay, Tracy. We’ll call him later.”

  “Is Mr. Auerbach the manager?” the redheaded female detective asked. She was very pretty, Luca noted. Her hair was long and curly—sort of a light garnet with citrine highlights—and her skin was a stunning alabaster that shone like a cultured pearl. She had ruby eyebrows and eyelashes and her eyes sparkled emerald green. He was charmed when her pretty bow lips smiled at him.

  “Mr. Auerbach is the store owner,” Luca replied. “I’m Luca Price, the manager.”

  “You’re the manager?” the detective asked, sweeping an unbelieving gaze down Luca’s body. “Aren’t you a little young?”

  Luca lifted his chin and thinned his lips, feeling the inexplicable anger pouring off the guy. He decided then and there that the detective hated him for some reason.

  “I’m twenty-two and yes, I’m the manager. Is there a problem?”

  “Twenty-two is pretty young,” the detective said derisively.

  Luca snorted. “Whatever.” He dragged his gaze back over to the pretty woman deciding he’d talk to her since she didn’t seem to hate him. Besides, women loved him and the feeling was mutual. She smiled at him again.

  “Mr. Price, will you please tell us what happened?” she said.

  “Sure. Two guys came in wearing trench coats and leather gloves. I walked over to the diamond case and put my finger on the button when I noticed the way they were dressed and then one of them pulled his coat aside. He was holding a sledgehammer. The minute I saw it, I knew what was about to happen so I pushed the button, yelled at Tracy and her customer to run, and then ducked.”

  “You knew you were about to be robbed before he even pulled out the sledgehammer?” the male detective said. His tone was filled with mockery.

  “Yes.”

  “How?” the male detective asked with a sneer.

  “Who w
ears a trench coat and gloves on a summer morning?” Luca asked, shrugging. It was simple enough. Is this guy trying to be obtuse?

  The female detective chuckled. “Good point, Mr. Price.”

  “So, let me see if I get this. You see two guys walk in wearing trench coats and gloves and just know they’re going to rob you?” the male detective asked. “What if you were wrong?”

  “I wasn’t, was I?” Luca asked, narrowing his eyes at the guy and deciding he really hated him too. Testosterone poured off the handsome man and it pissed Luca off that he loved it.

  “You’re just a smart-ass, aren’t you?”

  Luca grinned. “I guess so, Detective.” He wasn’t about to back down with this gorilla, no matter how attracted he was to the man. He was enjoying the banter way too much anyway.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to describe the men, Mr. Price?” the pretty female detective asked.

  Luca nodded. “Most definitely.”

  “Good.” The female detective pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “I’m Detective Murphy. This is my partner, Detective Delancey. Please come down to that address later today and you can go through our mug shots to see if you can pick them out of our books.” She pointed to her card.

  “No problem.” Luca smiled at her, completely ignoring the negative energy from her partner which was wafting across the counter. “I’ll call my boss and try to clean up a bit before I do that.”

  “We’ll need a complete inventory of everything that was stolen,” the male detective said. The growly quality of his deep voice sent a lightning bolt straight to Luca’s dick. It baffled him. He liked big guys, older guys, and handsome guys. He didn’t like assholes like this man clearly was. He couldn’t understand his reaction to the man at all.

  “Fine,” Luca said, turning his back and walking over to Tracy who was talking to the two patrol officers as she stood next to her customer. “How much longer is this going to be?” he asked one of the officers.

  “We’re done here,” the male patrolman said. He turned and handed his card to Tracy. “If you think of anything else, call me or one of the detectives.”

  “Sure,” Tracy replied. Luca watched them give their card to their elderly customer as they walked out with her. He turned around when he felt eyes on him. The male detective was still standing at the counter, glaring at him with relentless anger. It surprised the hell out of him.

  “Why is that detective looking at you like he wants to hit you, Luca?” Tracy asked.

  He broke eye contact with the huge detective and turned back to his salesgirl, shaking his head. “I have absolutely no idea, honey. Come on. We have a lot of clean-up to do and then I need to call Mr. Auerbach.” The thought of seeing his handsome boss again so soon was the only thing that brought a smile to his face for the rest of the afternoon.

  Chapter Four

  “What the hell got into you back there?” Kelly asked as soon as she and Kane were in the car, driving away from the store.

  “What are you talking about, Murphy?” Kane asked, frowning as he glanced away from the road as he steered their black Lincoln out onto the main highway.

  Kelly sent him a curious look as she raised one eyebrow. “I mean, I don’t know you well, but you were really short with that kid.”

  Kane thinned his lips and then glanced over at Kelly. On one level, he knew she was only too right. He hadn’t expected to run into the guy who’d sung that stupid Dolly Parton song to him the night he’d taken Lacy to dinner. He’d been embarrassed by all the attention he’d gotten in the West Hollywood club that night. He’d been mortified that Lacy had slapped him for becoming mesmerized while watching the man sing to him but more than that, she’d told him she thought he liked the guy. Lacy had insisted he take her home and had blown him off when he asked if he could come up. All his plans of getting laid were shot to hell and all because this guy had sung to him in the club. He sighed.

  “The guy’s story didn’t add up,” he said.

  “Didn’t add up?” Kelly asked, frowning. “I thought it made perfect sense. Clearly, that man acted appropriately. As soon as he noticed what was about to happen, he pulled the alarm.” She was quiet for a minute and Kane fixed his eyes on the road, refusing to glance over at her even though he felt the weight of her stare.

  “I don’t know. I just…” Kane paused. He needed to change the subject because admitting he had strange feelings when he looked at Luca Price wasn’t going to happen. He reached up and scrubbed a hand over his face before glancing over at Kelly. She had a smirk on her face which just served to piss him off even more. “I think I’ve been out of the detective game too long.”

  “It’s been less than a year, right?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah, I mean, I haven’t interviewed a witness in a long time, that’s all.”

  “Okay, whatever. I guess we’ll leave the interviews to me. Maybe you can observe a few before you get comfortable doing them again.”

  Kane shot her a frown before turning back to the road. When he heard her low chuckle, he looked over at her. She was grinning from ear to ear and her eyes were dancing. He couldn’t help but smile.

  “Shut up.”

  She laughed all the way back to the station.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  Luca had pulled a list of the missing items so that he had it ready as soon as his boss walked into the store with two huge men at his side. Stephen Auerbach looked even more upset that Luca’s hair still glittered with small shards of broken glass than he did at the loss of his inventory. The stunning older man he’d met only the day before rushed over and cupped Luca’s cheeks with both hands, setting the list aside, frowning as he stared deeply into his eyes. He did the same thing to Tracy, giving her a squeeze as he put an arm around her shoulder. Clearly the possibility that Luca or Tracy might have been injured during the robbery was much more worrisome to Mr. Auerbach than diamond theft.

  “I want both of you to accompany me to the hospital. You should be checked out,” Mr. Auerbach said. “You might have glass in your eyes. They should be washed out. My driver will take you.”

  Luca smiled because he knew he didn’t have glass in his eyes. His boss was being very kind and overly concerned but it really wasn’t necessary. He wasn’t hurt and neither was Tracy. As he looked around the store, all he could think about was how much cleanup he had to do. There were new diamonds to order, new cases to be built, and all of it would be Luca’s responsibility to oversee. They’d have no choice but to close the store until the repairs were made and that had to be distressing to his boss.

  “I’m fine, Mr. Auerbach, really,” Luca insisted. “And there’s a lot of cleanup to do.”

  “Nonsense. I’m going to close the store and call in a crew to clean. You and Tracy have been through enough.”

  “We can’t leave a crew in here. What about theft? And Sebastian needs this job… and Marilyn… and Chris… Chris is a college student and he’s only part-time but he can’t live without a paycheck while we’re closed… and I know we’ll have to close… and…”

  Mr. Auerbach smiled indulgently before cutting Luca’s rambling off. “Luca, please. No one will go without pay. As of this moment, everyone is on a paid vacation until we reopen. As for the cleanup, I’ll hire guards to oversee the workers. After this, I plan on having them in the store going forward.”

  “Guards?” Luca asked in distress.

  “Yes, armed guards. I can’t take a chance that you’ll be robbed again. The last time was at gunpoint and before that, a grab and run, Luca. I should have hired guards when those happened. I don’t know what I was thinking. God knows, I can’t risk your safety. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you, Tracy, Sebastian, or anyone else who works here.”

  It was a very sweet thing to say. Luca didn’t know how he felt about having armed men in the store all the time. It would be weird but Mr. Auerbach did have a point. Luca was holding his emotions togeth
er but when those men had come in swinging sledgehammers, it had been pretty frightening.

  “Okay, sir.”

  Mr. Auerbach smiled again and reached out, squeezing Luca on the shoulder gently. “Thank you, Luca. I know it will be a change here in the store but it will make me feel a lot better knowing you’re all safe. Now, gather up your things and accompany me to the hospital to get checked out.”

  “I don’t…”

  “Luca, don’t argue with me. This isn’t a request. We’re going to the hospital and getting you both checked out.” He narrowed his beautiful eyes at Luca and it was the first time he noticed how silver they were, nearly matching the gray strands in his salt-and-pepper hair. Mr. Auerbach broke eye contact with Luca and glanced at Tracy. “You are white as a sheet, Tracy. Grab your purse. We’re leaving.”

  Luca glanced over and saw that indeed, Tracy was very pale. Shit. He hadn’t even taken her feelings about the robbery into consideration since he’d been so caught up in trying to be brave for his boss.

  “We’d better go, Tracy.”

  She trembled as she sent him a shaky smile. “Okay, Luca.” She darted a glance at Mr. Auerbach and then turned to the wrap desk. She opened the safe—which was kept unlocked during store hours—and removed her purse. All the women kept their purses in the safe since they didn’t have lockers in the store. She was about to close the door when she looked up.