by Cat Chandler
“It’s been a while, Ryan,” Matt acknowledged as he stepped back next to Nicki. “This is Nicki Connors. We work together. Nicki, this is the friend I told you about, Ryan Bevins.”
“Well aren’t you the lucky guy.” Ryan took Nicki’s offered hand and tucked it between both of his. “I should have gone into publishing.”
“You’d have to learn how to read and write,” Matt said. He looked at the hand Ryan was still holding and then back up at his friend.
Nicki withdrew her hand before Matt said something, and widened her smile. “I’m pleased to meet you, Ryan. I hope we aren’t interrupting your day.”
“You’re not. And I’m glad you could make the trip into town. Why don’t we go up to my office?” He gallantly offered Nicki his arm and strolled off, leaving Matt to trail along behind them.
Fully aware that Ryan was only pulling Matt’s chain with all the attention he was lavishing on her, Nicki decided to do what she always did when faced with male egos colliding. She’d let the two men hash it out.
So she relaxed and walked along, her arm securely tucked inside of Ryan’s, listening to his explanation of the various treasures on display. Many of them were noted as available for immediate purchase, and sporting price tags that made her eyes water.
“Here we are,” Ryan declared once they’d exited the elevator. “I’m a couple of doors down on the right.” He opened one in the row of look-alike doors and stood aside so she could precede him into a very tastefully decorated office. Muted watercolors adorned a wall painted in a light gray. A black mahogany desk sat under the window, with two leather wing chairs positioned in front of it. Ryan led her to one of the chairs, but when she gave a slight wince as she slowly sank into it, Ryan’s friendly smile turned into a look of concern.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Nicki assured him. “Just a little sore is all.”
Matt took the chair next to hers and fixed his own worried gaze on her face. “She was in a bad car accident a few days ago.”
“Clearly not that bad, since I’m sitting here and I’m fine,” Nicki protested.
“Let me get you both some water.” Ryan stepped over to a small refrigerator in the corner of his office and withdrew two bottles. He took a glass from a shelf and filled it from a small bucket of ice before pouring the water into it. He carried the glass and a second bottle across the room and handed the crystal glass, along with a napkin he’d also grabbed, to Nicki. She murmured her thanks and took a sip to keep both men happy. Ryan tossed the other bottle in Matt’s general direction before he took a seat behind the desk.
“Now then. You were asking about stamps?” He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a thin file. “Specifically a sheet of uninverted Jennys issued in 2013 by the U.S. Postal Service?”
“That’s right.” Nicki looked over at Matt who added a curt nod. “We were wondering if anyone had approached Heritage House to sell them?”
Ryan shook his head. “Not to sell. I checked our catalog, and also with our offices in Dallas and New York City, and none of our locations has made such a sale as far as I could find.”
“Oh.” Slightly deflated, Nicki leaned back into the chair.
Matt glanced over at her. “It was a long shot.” He shifted his gaze to Ryan. “But thanks for taking a look.”
“Not for sale,” his friend continued. “But a colleague of mine here said that a gentleman made an appointment several months ago to have his stamps appraised. He brought in a sheet that matches the description of what you’re looking for.”
Nicki once again scooted to the edge of her seat. “He did? Did he give a name?”
Ryan flashed an apologetic smile. “He wanted to remain anonymous, and we’re committed to respecting his privacy.”
Now Matt leaned forward. “Well if his name was Eddie Parker, then he isn’t worried too much about his privacy anymore. He was murdered over a week ago. And the stamps are missing.”
The auction house employee’s smile faded away. “Murdered?” Ryan opened the files and looked at his notes. “Then I’ll go as far as to say that I agree. Our potential client won’t be worrying about his privacy.”
“So it was Eddie Parker who came here?” Nicki asked.
“I can’t confirm or deny that.” Ryan smiled as he nodded his head. “Now I have a question. Was this man murdered because of the stamps?”
Matt ran a hand through his hair. “That’s the million-dollar question. Or rather the fifty-thousand dollar one. We don’t know. It could be he was. Or, he could have sold the stamps before he was murdered.”
“Or the man who said he would buy the stamps murdered him,” Nicki said.
Ryan shot the dark-haired editor a curious look. “Why are you interested in this Mr. Parker and his stamps?”
“He was a client of a friend of ours, and she was unfortunate enough to have discovered his body,” Matt explained.
“I see.” Ryan’s wide hand rubbed the back of his neck. “He might have sold them on his own. I have a few connections within the private market, both dealers and collectors. I could put out a few discreet inquiries for you.”
“Thank you. That would be a big help.” Nicki smiled. “Especially since we weren’t sure where to go from here.”
Ryan beamed back at her. “Well, let me dig around, see if anything floats to the surface. And if it does, I’ll be happy to come up your way to tell you whatever I find out.”
“That’s why the telephone was invented, Ryan.” Matt drummed one finger against the arm of the chair.
Ryan looked like he was trying not to laugh. “It’s a nice drive. I don’t mind making it. By the way, buddy, when did you say you’d be returning home?”
“Stuff it, Bevins.”
Ryan stood and came around the desk, grinning at Matt. “Congrats, Dillon. I always knew you’d take the fall first.”
The two men shook hands, once again acting like long-lost friends, while Nicki mentally rolled her eyes. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what they were talking about, and she wondered if either of these alleged grown-ups intended to ask her what she thought of this whole thing. She waited politely through another five minutes of catch-up talk before smiling at Ryan.
“We’re having lunch near Fisherman’s Wharf. Can you join us?”
She pretended not to notice Ryan’s sideways glance at Matt before he shook his head. “I have a heavy day in front of me and sent out for something earlier.” He looked at his watch. “It should be here any minute.”
“We don’t want to keep you from your lunch.” Matt held out his hand to help Nicki out of her chair. “I’ll order us a ride to the marina.”
“No you won’t. It’s only a few blocks, Matt. And I’m fine. The walk will do me good after sitting for a while.” She smiled sweetly. “Unless you’re too tired to walk.”
Matt snorted and took her arm. He and Ryan flanked her on either side as they walked to the elevator.
When the doors opened, Nicki held her hand out to Ryan. “Thank you again. If you find out anything else, please give me a call.”
“I will if Matt will send me your cell number,” Ryan grinned.
“Shut up, Bevins,” Matt said without any real heat behind it. “You can call me, and I’ll relay the information to Nicki.”
The door closed on Ryan’s laughter as Nicki turned an exasperated stare on Matt.
“We aren’t in junior high any more, Matt Dillon. What was that all about?”
He sighed and ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Honestly? I have no idea.”
She maintained her silence and smiled at the staff in the showroom as they strolled through the first floor and out to the sidewalk. Once they were no longer within earshot of the auction house staff, she shook her head at him. “Can you behave for the rest of the day?”
Matt reached over and tweaked a lock of her hair. “I’ll do my best, Sherlock.”
Thinking that was as
good as she would get out of him, Nicki pointed in the direction of the bay. “The water is that way.” After walking along in silence for several minutes, she glanced over at him. “Do you believe Eddie sold those stamps?”
“He went to the trouble of getting them appraised. And somewhere between then and when Dr. Weston saw them, he must have found a buyer. So yeah. I think he sold them.”
“Me too.” Nicki kept her head bent as they walked along. “I wonder why?”
“Why he sold the stamps?” Matt shrugged. “I assume for the usual reason. He needed the money.”
“For what? He didn’t own a house, or a car for that matter. And according to myMason, the only money Eddie owed on the diner was the loan from him.”
“Just another piece of the missing puzzle, I guess.” Matt pointed to the large Fisherman’s Wharf sign that had come into view. “Do you know where you want to eat?”
“Of course. It’s right on the pier.”
Two hours later they were walking off their delicious seafood lunch and enjoying the ocean air. Matt had declared a moratorium on the topic of murder, so they’d talked over possible articles for Food & Wine Online, and favorite places they’d traveled to.
Matt was astounded that she’d never been to Mexico, and she was equally astonished he hadn’t yet made it to Paris. An oversight, she argued, that he should correct at once, since he was so knowledgeable about French wine and Champagne. They’d moved on to discussing the best car for her, with Nicki sure she’d get another compact, while Matt pushed for a sturdier SUV.
“Nice thought, Dillon, but a pricey one,” Nicki said after he’d finished pointing out all the benefits of several of the newer models.
“Maybe so. But they won’t fold in half at the first impact like those compacts do.”
“But you have to consider the gas mileage too. And the insurance…” Nicki broke off when she heard her name. She turned around and came face to face with Rob. And a tall brunette who was pasted to his side before she took a quick step away.
Nicki blinked at her boyfriend, and mentally adjusted to the fact that he wasn’t out of town the way he’d claimed he’d be. Didn’t he break a date with her because he said his business trip had been extended… again?
“Hello, Rob. This is certainly a surprise.” While Rob sputtered without managing to get out an intelligible word, Nicki smiled at the woman standing next to him, her large brown eyes blinking rapidly. “Hi. I’m Nicki. And you are?”
“Tricia. Rob and I work together.” She unwound her arm from Rob’s and took another step away from him. “You’re his girlfriend, aren’t you?”
Tricia’s face was beet-red. She was very obviously so embarrassed, that Nicki felt sorry for her. She gave the uncomfortable-looking woman a friendly smile.
“Don’t let this bother you.”
“Nicki. My trip was cut short at the last minute, and I…”
“Rob.” Nicki cut him off. “Maybe we can discuss this when you aren’t out on a date?”
“That’s not fair, Nicki. You’re standing here with another guy. And I don’t remember you telling me that you were coming into the city.”
“Why would I, when you’re supposed to be away on business? Why don’t you give me a call when you decide you’re back in town? Because right now, you’re embarrassing Tricia.” Nicki gave the red-faced woman another smile. “It was nice to meet you.”
She turned around and walked in the opposite direction, her back stiff and her chin up high. She’d gone a dozen steps before Matt caught up with her.
“Are you okay?”
“Thank you,” Nicki said.
“For what?”
She kept her eyes straight-ahead. “For not getting into a sparring match with Rob the way you did with Ryan.”
“I wouldn’t have done that. I like Ryan. I don’t like Rob. But you can thank me for not giving him a pop in the mouth.”
Nicki stopped dead and turned to stare at him. “You wouldn’t.”
Matt shrugged. “I would, because he hurt your feelings, and because I don’t like him.” He ran a hand up and down her arm. “What do you want to do, Nicki? Go somewhere and have a drink and talk about this?”
She would. But certainly not with him. He was her editor, for goodness sakes. And a guy. What she wanted was a good glass of wine and a girl-talk session with Jenna and Alex. She forced her lips into a smile and shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
“Okay.” Matt didn’t look like he believed her.
“Since we have all the information we came for…” She gave a short laugh. “And some we didn’t come for, let’s go home.”
Matt heaved a big breath and looked back in the direction where they’d left Rob and Tricia. “Okay. That’s a good idea.”
Chapter Seventy-Two
When Matt had dropped Nicki off at her townhouse, she’d told him that she was tired and intended to call Jenna and then go straight to bed. Something in her face or tone must have alerted Matt that she wasn’t in any mood to get into an argument, because he’d simply nodded and walked her to her front door before turning around and heading back to his rental car.
Now she stood in her doorway and gave him a short wave before closing herself inside. She wasn’t even halfway to her kitchen before she had her cell to her ear, telling Jenna to come over right now. Nicki was pouring out two glasses of wine and talking to Alex on the speaker phone when her front door slammed shut and the slap of flip-flops sounded in the hallway.
“What’s up?”
“Exactly what I’m waiting to hear.” Alex’s voice floated out from the phone Nicki had propped in its little stand on the counter.
Nicki slid the second glass of wine over to Jenna. “Matt and I took a trip into San Francisco today to talk with a friend of his who works at a big auction house there.”
“Okay.” Jenna took a sip of her wine. “Nice day for a drive into the city.”
“It turns out that Eddie Parker had taken his sheet of stamps there just a few months ago to have them appraised.”
“Why would he do that?” Alex’s disembodied voice asked. “Unless he wanted to insure them?”
Jenna frowned. “Or sell them.” She looked over at Nicki, her eyebrows raised halfway up her forehead. “Did he sell them? Like, at that auction house maybe?”
“Which would leave us with no motive for him being killed,” Alex pointed out.
“Well, shoot.” Jenna drained a full quarter of her wine glass.
“You’re both getting carried away.” Nicki raised her voice to be sure Alex could hear her. “He did have them appraised, but he didn’t sell them. At least not through the auction house.”
Her tall computer-whiz friend pounced on that. “So you think he did sell them? Who to?”
“Do you think that’s who he was meeting the night he was killed? And whoever the stamp-buyer is, that’s who killed him?” Alex’s voice had risen a whole octave by the time she’d finished speaking.
Nicki held up her hands. “All we know is that he had the stamps appraised and now they’re missing.” She picked up her wine glass. “And before you ask, yes, I think he sold them. Or at least intended to. But that isn’t what I wanted to talk to you both about.”
“Uh oh.” Alex’s sigh came through the phone. “If you don’t want to talk about murder, whatever you do want to talk about must be pretty serious.”
“You went into the city with Matt?” Jenna looked around. “Where is he?”
“At Maxie’s, I’d imagine.”
“Don’t tell me you broke up with Matt?” Alex demanded.
“How can she break up with Matt?” Jenna laughed. “According to Nicki, he isn’t even her boyfriend.”
Nicki blew out an exasperated breath. “This isn’t about Matt. It’s about Rob.”
“Rob?” Both her friends said in unison.
“Matt and I had lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf, and we ran into Rob.”
Alex groaned. “And he wanted to
know what you were doing there with Matt?”
“Well I hope you told him it was none of his business. He’s never around anyway,” Jenna sniffed.
“No. He didn’t want to know what I was doing there with Matt. At least not at first. He was too busy trying to get out an explanation about Tricia.”
Jenna set her glass on the quartz top of the island. “Who’s Tricia?”
“He was with another woman?” Alex sounded floored.
Nicki nodded at the phone. “Yep. A very pretty, very tall, leggy brunette who was draped all over him.”
“Well. That’s a first for you, and thankfully the last of lover-boy.” Jenna lifted her glass in a farewell salute.
Nicki smiled. Trust the straightforward Jenna to say out loud what she’d been thinking during the ride back to Soldoff. And with more than a little guilt.
She should have been angry with Rob. Instead what she mostly felt was relief. Which is why she didn’t want Matt around at the moment. She’d been dating Rob for almost two years. Surely their relationship deserved a bit more inner contemplation than a simple “see ya later”? What was bothering her was the temptation to do exactly that and call it a day.
Not nice, Nicki Connors. Not a nice way to treat him at all. She sighed as she halfway listened to the debate her two friends were having on what she should do next. Her thoughts came fully back to her surroundings when Jenna said, “lousy boyfriend”.
“I wasn’t the best girlfriend either,” Nicki cut in.
“You are not going to tell me that him stepping out on you was in any way your fault?” Jenna demanded.
“No. It certainly wasn’t my fault. But I’m not blameless in this… well, whatever this is. I love you both for feeling that way, but Rob and I both contributed to the downfall of our relationship.”
“All you need to do is let him know,” the ever-practical Alex said. “That the relationship is done, I mean. Not that you contributed to its downfall.”
“The old, ‘it’s me not you’ line, still works pretty well.” Jenna grinned at Nicki. “If it works, I say go with it.” Her grin widened. “I take it that Matt was standing right there when Rob was caught with good old Tricia.”