Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  He couldn’t even have the guy beaten up, because Jack told him he’d be watching. Not that there was anything Jack could do about it, except tell Carlotta, who could make trouble between him and Miguel. It wasn’t worth the effort to do it anyway, but it sure made him mad.

  “Oh yeah, I see what you mean. Sorry I brought it up.”

  “That’s okay. I just got some good news, so I’m going to focus on that.” He thought about his stocks in a company that produced LNG and how they were finally going up. Last week they’d hit rock bottom, which had only added to the whole debacle with the jury, and he’d been worried.

  “What does LNG stand for?”

  Uncle Joey sighed, unhappy that I’d heard him. “Liquid natural gas. It’s been on a downward spiral for a while, but I just got off the phone with my agent, and it’s finally headed back up.” Because of that, he was in the process of making a ton of money. That always put him in a good mood.

  “Great! That’s good news. So… what did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Oh yeah,” he smiled, then his face turned serious. “It’s Miguel. He’s attending a private school, and he says things are going well, but I think there’s something wrong. He’s grown his hair out. It’s long enough to wear in a ponytail. And he won’t talk to me about school. He only says that his grades are good and everything’s fine. But I get the feeling he’s hiding something from me, so I’m worried about him.

  “I don’t know any of his friends, but lately he’s been staying after school. Almost every day. When I question him about it, he just says he’s working on a project for his science class, and the only time to do all the lab work is after school. I thought maybe you could go to his school and see what you can pick up. I haven’t had any luck there myself. Most people keep their mouths shut around me, but that won’t matter for you. What do you say?”

  “Um… sure. I can do that.”

  “I’d like you to go during the day when you can talk to the principal, his teachers, and of course, observe and listen to the other students. I want to know everything that’s going on, and you’re just the person to find out.” He was thinking that I’d know if someone was bullying his son, or if there was a teacher that was prejudiced against him for some reason, most likely because he was Hispanic… and maybe the son of a mob-boss. Then he’d know where to start and what to do about it.

  Yikes! Did that mean he was going to have them killed or beaten up? I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be part of that. “I see what you mean, but won’t it seem weird to have me there? It’s not like I’m related or anything.”

  He chuckled. “But you are. At least… Miguel thinks you’re his cousin. You called me Uncle Joey in front of him, and he’s never forgotten it. He’s even asked me about you a few times. He’d be happy to have his cousin drop by and eat lunch with him.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right, I did say that, didn’t I.” I barely remembered that part of the day, since right after that someone had tried to kill me. Based on that experience, maybe talking to Miguel wasn’t such a good idea.

  “Good. I’ll make all the necessary arrangements. How does tomorrow sound?”

  “Uh… sure… that should be fine.” I’d learned that I might as well agree with Uncle Joey on pretty much everything, even if I didn’t want to, since he always got his way.

  He picked up his phone and called Jackie, telling her that I’d agreed to visit Miguel, and to let the school know I’d be coming over tomorrow in time for lunch. He hung up and smiled. “His lunch time is eleven-thirty. If you could get there by eleven-fifteen to check in, that would be best. I’ll let Miguel know you’re coming. He’ll be thrilled.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. Having a grown-up come to your school at any age to eat lunch with you was about the worst thing you could do to a kid. At least that’s what I thought. I’d have to ask my kids when they got home from school today if I was right. Of course, maybe they did things differently at a private school. Who knew? Maybe they had lunch in a restaurant-type setting with waiters and everything?

  “Here’s the address. Why don’t you come back to the office tomorrow when you’re done, and we’ll discuss what you found?”

  “Okay.” I took the card from him and stood. “How old is Miguel again?”

  “He just turned eighteen, and he’s grown a bit taller this last year, but I’m sure you’ll recognize him.”

  I glanced around the room for a picture to refresh my memory, since I’d only seen him once, but found no evidence of him anywhere. “No picture?”

  “Not here,” Uncle Joey said. “For his own safety, I’ve tried to keep him off the grid, but I should remedy that. He’ll be graduating soon, and before he rushes off to college, I want to familiarize him with the business.” He was thinking that he had most of the summer to make up for lost time. Then once Miguel graduated from college, he’d be ready to take charge of the majority of his business dealings.

  Uncle Joey glanced at me, realizing I’d heard most of that, and he didn’t want me to get my hopes up. “I’m not planning on retiring anytime soon, Shelby. In fact, I’ll probably die before that happens.”

  “That… makes sense.” I was about to say, doesn’t surprise me, but changed my mind at the last minute. “Well, then… I guess I’ll go now. Unless there’s anything else?” It was on the tip of my tongue to ask about a person named Zack, whom Ramos had mentioned while we were in Paris.

  Several months ago, Zack had tried to kill Uncle Joey and Ramos with a bomb on a yacht, but it was mostly because of Kate. Once we caught up with Zack, Uncle Joey had a long talk with him. Rather than kill him, Uncle Joey had pressed him into service in a more dangerous capacity, but I had no idea what it was. So maybe in that light, it was better to leave it alone. I mean, why remind Uncle Joey that he’d wanted my help with something, if he didn’t bring it up himself?

  “No, but I’ll call if something comes up. Oh… and tell Chris congratulations for me, won’t you? It’s great that he made partner.”

  “Yeah, it is. I’ll be sure to let him know you said that.” Since I had a feeling that Chris had made partner mostly because of Uncle Joey’s influence, I listened real close to hear what Uncle Joey really thought about that, but his mind was curiously blank.

  “Good. See you tomorrow. Oh, and thanks again for the chocolates.”

  “You bet.” I smiled and nodded, then hurried out into the hall, closing the door behind me. What had I gotten myself into now? On the bright side, at least I didn’t have to worry about getting killed at a high school, so that was a plus. Still, I wasn’t sure I liked spying on a bunch of teenagers. I had a hard enough time blocking out my own children’s thoughts. I mean, who wanted to listen to all that angst coming from your own kids?

  Josh had turned fifteen a couple of months ago, and Savannah’s thirteenth birthday was at the end of next week. Most of the time, I kept my shields up around them. I’d learned from experience that there were some things I just didn’t want to know. Now I had to step into a high school and actively listen to everything I could pick up. I hoped it wasn’t too bad, but a shiver of discomfort trickled down my spine anyway.

  As I approached Jackie’s desk, she hung up the phone and glanced my way with a smile. “You’ll be happy to know everything’s all set for your visit to Miguel’s school tomorrow. They’ll ask to see your driver’s license, and you have to sign some papers, but after that, Miguel will be summoned to the office to meet up with you.”

  “Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know. I told Uncle Joey that I’d come back here when I’m done.”

  “Good, then we’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I said goodbye and hurried to the elevator while checking my watch for the time. I had a couple of hours before my appointment with the realtor. Since I was downtown anyway, I might as well stop in at the precinct and say hello to my favorite detective. I’d kind of left town in a hurry a few weeks ago, and I hadn’t had a chance to congratulate Dimples on hi
s engagement to Billie. It should be official by now, and I wanted to see how he was doing.

  A few minutes later, I pulled my special ID badge around my neck and walked into the precinct. I smiled and waved to the officers at the front desk and made my way back to the room with the detective’s desks and Chief Winder’s office.

  When I used to come in unannounced, I could pick up enough of what was going on to surprise Dimples into thinking I’d had a premonition that he needed me. But that wouldn’t work anymore, because Dimples knew my secret. At least he was the only one in the department that did, and he’d promised to keep it that way.

  Still, because of my ‘premonitions,’ there were a couple of detectives who didn’t like me much and, since the feeling was mutual, we tried to stay out of each other’s way. Detective Bates was the worst, but in the ensuing months since the investigation into the attorney general’s office, where I was instrumental in uncovering a violent drug ring, he’d let go of his animosity. Not completely, but at least now he accepted my presence without all the bad feelings he’d held before.

  In fact, he was the first person to see me enter. Instead of ignoring me like he used to, he smiled and gave me a head nod. “Hey Shelby,” he said, then turned to Dimples. “Harris, look who’s here.”

  Dimples jumped to his feet with a huge smile on his face. I caught sight of his dimples doing that swirling dance and chuckled with pleasure. “It’s great to see you,” he said, giving me a quick hug. “Billie told me you’d gone to Paris with Blake Beauchaine. How did that go?”

  “Good… mostly.” I wasn’t sure how to tell him everything, let alone explain what I’d been through. “In fact, we helped the police catch a terrorist, so that part was pretty awesome.”

  “Wow, no kidding?” He wondered how I’d been able to do that, since my mind-reading ability wouldn’t help much with everyone thinking in French.

  “It was tough, but I had a lot of help, so it all worked out in the end.”

  Dimples’ brows rose. He was thinking it was almost certain that I’d had to tell Blake my secret. “If you’re not careful, word will get out, and you’ll be too busy with Blake and his kind to help us around here.”

  “Oh, no.” I shook my head. “That’s never going to happen. I like it just fine where I am. And Blake’s still recovering in France. But he’s in my debt, so I doubt I’ll be seeing him for a long time.” I realized I said that for my benefit as well as his, and I hoped it was true.

  “Recovering? What happened to him?”

  “He got shot. In fact, he nearly died, but he’ll make a full recovery, so it’s all good.”

  “Wow,” Dimples exclaimed. “Sounds like quite the story.”

  “It is, and I’ll tell you all about it another time. I just wanted to stop by and tell you congratula…” Dimples shook his head and his eyes bulged with alarm, so I did a little backtracking. “Uh… to tell you hello, and see how things are going.”

  Before he could answer, Chief Winder stepped out of his office and spotted me. “Shelby. You’re back. How was Paris?”

  Geeze, did everyone know? “It was great. I just got back last Friday, so I thought I’d stop by and say hello. But don’t let me interrupt. I’m sure you’re busy.”

  “You don’t need to run off,” the chief said. “I’m sure we’ve got something you could help us with.” He glanced at Dimples and raised his brows, thinking about the homicide from two weeks ago that they still hadn’t solved.

  Dimples glanced at me and shrugged. “Well there is a case we’ve hit a dead-end on, but I don’t want to impose if you’re busy.”

  I checked my watch, grateful I’d worn it today since I’d been looking at it a lot. “I have to be somewhere in about an hour. Is that enough time for you to fill me in?”

  “Sure. Have a seat.”

  I sat in the chair beside Dimples’ desk and caught the chief’s satisfied nod before he headed back into his office. After the door closed, my shoulders sagged. The way I’d just been manipulated by the chief reminded me an awful lot of Uncle Joey, and I didn’t like it much.

  “Sorry about that,” Dimples said, in a quiet tone. “I’m sure you weren’t planning on getting roped into helping me.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t mind helping, but you need to tell me what’s going on with Billie first. I thought you’d be officially engaged by now.”

  Dimples let out a huge sigh and shook his head. “I had to special order the ring she wanted, and it’s taken over two weeks to get here. Doesn’t that seem a little too long to you? Billie doesn’t want anyone to know we’re engaged until she has that ring on her finger, so I’ve had to keep it quiet.”

  “Oh… that’s too bad, but I totally understand.”

  “Hey, why don’t you come with me to the jeweler? Then you can tell me if something’s going on with them.” He knew I’d pick it up pretty quick if they were pulling a fast one on him.

  “You think they’re crooked?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’d sure like to know where the ring is.” He stood, grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, and shrugged it on. “Let’s go.” He hoped to slip out before anyone noticed, but he also thought I provided a good excuse in case the chief wondered where he was.

  We made it outside, and Dimples directed me down the street. “We can walk since it’s not that far.” I nodded and he glanced at me. “I sure appreciate your help with this. I’m almost half convinced that Billie thinks that I already have the ring and I’m just stalling. She’s kind of a suspicious person, and it’s starting to worry me. I mean, she should trust me, right?”

  “I’m sure she trusts you. You just have to remember that being suspicious is what makes her so good at her job. She’s probably in reporter mode most of the time, am I right?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Is there something else you’re worried about?”

  He glanced at me and smiled. “You’d know, wouldn’t you? But no, she’s great. We’re great. I think once she gets the ring on her finger, she’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah. I’m sure that’s it.”

  “Do you want to hear about the case?”

  I sighed. “Not really. After everything that happened in Paris, I’m not sure I’m ready to jump right in again.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that. Dealing with murder can be a real downer. Don’t worry about it.”

  “How about you call me if you need me to be there when you question someone? I can do that much.”

  “Sure. That should work.” But he was thinking that, so far, they’d questioned just about everyone they could think of, with no motive for murder in sight.

  “Oh, that’s not good. Look, if you feel like I can help out, just let me know, and I’ll do what I can. How does that sound?”

  “Great. Thanks Shelby.”

  “You bet.”

  “Here we are.” Dimples motioned toward the door with “Quality Diamond Retail” on the glass. The bell jingled, and I followed Dimples to the counter as a man came from the back to help us. There was something about this place that seemed familiar, although I knew I’d never been here before.

  “Mr. Harris,” the man said, recognizing Dimples. “Did my son call you?”

  “No. But it’s been over two weeks, and I’d like to know why my ring isn’t here yet.”

  “Let me see where he is. I’ll be right back.”

  After he disappeared, I leaned close to Dimples and whispered. “Hmmm… that’s weird. There’s something going on, but I’m not sure what it is.”

  A younger version of the first man came out with a half-hearted smile. “Mr. Harris, I’m so sorry it has taken so long, and I want to make this right.” He glanced at me and wondered who I was, since I wasn’t the fiancée who’d been there before.

  Turning back to Dimples, he continued. “The ring must have been misplaced. We’ve looked for it in our shipments every day, but it hasn’t shown up yet. I’m really sorry, but I
have another ring that is real close to the same thing your fiancée wanted. The diamond is bigger, and therefore more expensive, but I will sell it to you for the same price as the one we lost. That’s how much I want to make it up to you. Please take a look at the ring before you decide. I’ve got it right here.”

  He took a ring out of a black case and set it on the black velvet display area. With the lighting in the room, it sparkled enchantingly. The main diamond was pretty big, probably close to two carats. Then it had several smaller diamonds spiraling around it.

  Wow… all those sparkles sort of took my breath away. Dimples thought the design was so close to the one Billie had wanted that he couldn’t tell the difference. But the diamond was also huge. Would Billie want a diamond that big?

  “Yes,” I said, totally mesmerized by all that shining splendor. Oops. “Um… it’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” He didn’t bother to nod, instead wondering what it was about diamonds that made a woman lose her ability to think straight.

  It took some effort, but I managed to pull my attention away from all that dazzling glory and focus on the salesman’s thoughts. He was grateful Dimples had brought me since I had reacted like most women, and that would go a long way in closing the deal.

  He also hoped that Dimples took him up on the offer without asking a lot of questions. He’d just made the arrangement to purchase this ring two days ago, and he hadn’t had a chance to change the setting, but if Dimples bought it as is, he wouldn’t have to.

  What? Did that mean this ring was stolen? Since I didn’t have enough information to go on, I decided to use another tactic and caught the clerk’s gaze.

  “That’s a lot of ring for a police detective’s salary. Are you sure you can sell it for the same price?”

  The clerk’s eyes rounded with alarm. “Yes. I’m almost positive, but let me ask my father, just to make sure.” He snatched the ring from the display and hurried into the back, but not before I heard a few choice four-letter words in his mind.