Under the Cajun Moon
Page 37
I tried to reply, but my voice was lost somewhere deep in my throat. I swallowed again, watching with wide eyes as the man pointed a gun straight at me.
“Anna? Are you there?” Lydia persisted. “I’m sorry, but I suppose it is possible that someone might even come looking for you.”
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.
“You may be right about that,” I said finally into the receiver. “More than you know.”
With the man’s gun still pointed toward me, I somehow managed to conclude my call, promising the distraught and confused Lydia that I’d be in touch as soon as possible. As I disconnected, I wondered if I was cutting off the one chance I had to scream for help and be heard. Then again, how could she possibly help me from an Amish farm three thousand miles away?
“Who are you?” I asked as I put the phone in my pocket and tried not to sound as scared as I felt. “What have you done?”
Instinctively, I reached for Kiki’s wrist and felt for a pulse, which was faint but still there. Turning my attention to her face, I pushed back her hair to find the source of the bleeding. I expected to see a bullet wound, but instead it looked more like a gash, the result of being hit in the head by something hard and sharp edged, probably the butt of his gun.
“Your friend didn’t want to cooperate,” the man said. “Maybe you can learn by her example.”
He took a step closer, and as he did, I stood, anger and adrenaline pumping through my veins.
“What do you want?”
“I think you know what I want,” he replied, his eyes boring into me through the holes in the ski mask. “I’m here for the rubies. The whole set.”
“The rubies? What rubies?”
He took another step toward me, with something like excitement flashing in his eyes.
“The Beauharnais Rubies. I know you have them.”
He might as well have asked me for the Hope Diamond or the Crown Jewels. I had no rubies in my possession—and no idea what he was even talking about.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said earnestly, stepping backward and nearly tripping again over Kiki’s body. “I drive a car that’s held together by duct tape. I have less than a hundred dollars in my checking account. Do you really think I’d be living this way if I had something as valuable as rubies?”
“Who knows why anyone lives as they do?” he replied. “Get them. Now.”
“This is crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re crazy. You have the wrong person, the wrong house.”
He spoke evenly, cocking his gun.
“Your name is Annalise Bailey Jensen, currently going by the name of Anna Bailey. You are the sister of Robert ‘Bobby’ Jensen, the daughter of Charles Jensen and a descendant of Peter and Jonas and Karl Jensen, among others. I’m in the right house, and you’re the right person. Now hand them over.” Whoever this guy was, he knew more about my family tree than I did. But what he was asking for was ridiculous. I had never owned any rubies—and doubted I ever would.
Looking around, I tried to decide what my chances would be if I made a run for it. He was tall and looked strong under the form-fitting black shirt—though the ski mask could become a bit of an impediment. Unfortunately, as he spoke his steps had closed much of the gap between us.
“I’ll ask you one more time, and then I’ll have to get serious,” he said, coming to a stop in front of me and resting the gun barrel against my temple. “Where…are…the…rubies?”
Discover the Smart Chick Mysteries
by Mindy Starns Clark
The Trouble with Tulip
Josephine Tulip is most definitely a smart chick, a twenty-first-century female MacGyver who writes a helpful-hints column and solves mysteries in her spare time. Her best friend, Danny, is a talented photographer who longs to succeed in his career…perhaps a cover photo on National Geographic?
When Jo’s neighbor is accused of murder, Jo realizes the police have the wrong suspect. As she and Danny analyze clues, follow up on leads, and fall in and out of trouble, she recovers from a broken heart, and he discovers that he has feelings for her. Will Danny have the courage to reveal them, or will he continue to hide them behind a facade of friendship?
Blind Dates Can Be Murder
Blind dates give everyone the shivers…with or without a murder attached to them. Jo Tulip is a sassy single woman full of household hints and handy advice for every situation. Her first romantic outing in months is a blind date—okay, the Hall of Fame of Awful Blind Dates—but things go from bad to worse when the date drops dead and Jo finds herself smack in the middle of a murder investigation.
With the help of her best friend, Danny, and faith in God, Jo attempts to solve one exciting mystery while facing another: Why is love always so complicated?
Elementary, My Dear Watkins
When someone tries to push Jo Tulip in front of a New York train, her ex-fiancé, Bradford, suffers an injury while saving her—and the unintentional sleuth is thrown onto the tracks of a very personal mystery.
Jo’s boyfriend, Danny Watkins, is away in Paris, so she begins a solo investigation of her near-murder. What secret was Bradford about to share before he took the fall? And when Jo uncovers clues tied to Europe, can she and Danny work together in time to save her life?