“No time, no place to set it up, and I wouldn’t know where or how to begin.” Now it was her turn to be embarrassed so she changed the subject. “I’ve been thinking. I don’t see Jordan giving up his life of crime just because he was given a new identity.”
He shot her a hard look. “Reading my mind now?”
“Common sense. You said you’re having a crime wave involving thefts. We both know Jordan didn’t make all that money Kip found in tips at the golf course.”
“Ever think of trying your hand at police work?”
“My job is similar to yours in a number of ways.” But she couldn’t keep the pleasure from her voice. “So where do we go from here?”
He held her gaze. “You go to my mother’s. I’m going to touch base with Todd and find out how many of our burglary victims belonged to the Oak Forest Country Club.”
LUCAN DIDN’T COME INSIDE with her, but he promised to call and check in later. She half expected the house to be in turmoil, but the boys were playing a video game and Maggie was in the kitchen at the table drawing pictures with Bear perched on the chair at her side. Maureen bustled about preparing lunch and a pot of spaghetti sauce for later. Kyra didn’t know anyone who made their own spaghetti sauce.
If Maureen’s house had lost power it wasn’t evident now. The aroma of baking chocolate filled the warm air. There were several types of cookies filling tins and cooling on racks on the counter.
“What can I do to help?” Kyra asked.
“Not a thing, lass. It’s all under control. The wee ones are going to help me decorate the cookies later. The power came back on a short while ago.”
“Did you find the missing necklace?”
“Aye. A great gaudy piece of glass it is, too. Young Kip was nearly as distraught as Maggie until he found it under her bed. The lad has a strong sense of responsibility. The house has been peaceable ever since it went back around the bear’s neck.”
Kyra pulled off her coat and gloves before squatting down beside Maggie’s chair. “Hi sweetie. What are you doing?”
“Drawing a picture of Bear and Kip.”
“And a very nice picture it is, too.”
“You look funny.”
Kyra followed Maggie’s gaze to the rolled-up sleeves of the oversized sweatshirt and had to agree. “I do, don’t I? Would you and Bear like to come upstairs and help me change into something else?”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back, Maureen.”
“Take your time, lass.”
The little girl was mostly silent, sitting on the bed watching wide-eyed as Kyra changed clothes. Not until she unrolled her jewelry bag did Maggie show any emotion. Her gaze fastened on a glittery necklace of dichroic fused glass in vivid shades of blues and violets.
“Would you like to wear this?” Kyra offered.
“No, Bear can wear it!” She opened the bear’s vest to reveal a flash of color. Kyra saw what had to be Maureen’s ‘great gaudy piece of glass’ and her heart stilled in her chest. It wasn’t glass.
Heart now pounding rapidly, she reached out to touch the pendant. “May I see this, Maggie?”
The child nodded, still looking at Kyra’s collection of jewelry. Kyra had handled many pieces of antique jewelry over the years in her job. While by no means an expert, she knew real gemstones when she saw them. Unless she missed her guess, she was looking at the brightest, largest, square-cut emerald she had ever seen in her life. The stone was set in platinum and framed by what could only be diamonds cut in a unique style. The pendant dangled from a piece of string.
“I’ll tell you what.” Kyra tried to keep her voice even and nonchalant. “I’ll trade you this necklace and my pearls for that one.” The pearls weren’t real, but the choker went with a number of her outfits and she wore it frequently.
Maggie hesitated.
“How about if I give you these, too?” She held up a pair of crystal earrings that tossed small rainbows around the room. “We can put them thru Bear’s vest like this.” And she pushed the posts through the material, capping them with the backs.
The sparkle of the glass and the offer of four for one was enough to convince the child. “Okay.”
Kyra tried to contain her excitement. Maggie removed the necklace and accepted the other two in its place. Kyra helped her wrap the much-too-large necklaces several times around the bear’s fake fur. Maggie was thrilled. She ran off to show her brothers.
Kyra carried the pendant into the bathroom where the light was stronger. Definitely platinum, diamonds and an emerald big enough to choke a horse. This was heirloom jewelry beyond a doubt. She didn’t need a jeweler’s loupe to know the stone and setting were real. She could practically feel the age of the piece. But where had it come from?
Kip suddenly appeared in the doorway, his face a mask of fear. “Give me that! It’s Maggie’s!”
“It’s okay, Kip. We traded.”
“No! You can’t keep that!”
She stilled. “Why not, Kip?”
The boy looked away, trembling in his agitation.
“Where did Maggie get it, Kip?”
He wouldn’t answer. His expression of guilt was enough.
“You found it where you found the money, didn’t you?”
The boy studied his shoes.
“Kip, look at me. It’s okay. I told you. I’m your aunt and your lawyer. You aren’t going to get into trouble.”
Disbelief was written across his features. “I had to give it to her! Maggie wouldn’t stop crying. Mom said we had to be quiet. When I tied the string on it and gave it to Bear she stopped crying.”
The thought of what he’d gone through made her ill. She gentled her voice, wanting to touch him, but afraid he’d withdraw. “It’s okay, Kip. Really. You found this with the money?”
He nodded.
“Was there anything else?”
He looked back down. “A ring,” he mumbled. “Green like that.”
Excitement zinged along her nerve endings. “What happened to the ring?”
“Brian put it in his pocket. When he went to the bathroom it fell out and rolled down the broken vent on the floor. I couldn’t get it out.”
Kyra tried not to let her voice show any emotion. “This was at your house?”
He nodded.
“Detective O’Shay will get the ring. Did you find anything else with the ring and the pendant and the money?”
He shook his head.
“Okay. These belong to someone, Kip. Maggie can’t keep this. But she may keep what I gave her. I wish you had told me.”
“I thought you’d be mad that we lost the ring.”
She hugged his stiff body soothingly. “I’m not mad, Kip. Honest I’m not.”
The child did not look appeased. “Jordan will be.”
Her heart was suddenly pounding once more. “Why will Jordan be mad?”
“’Cause they’re his. He put them in a sock with some money when he came home late.”
“How do you know that?”
“I saw him,” he mumbled to his feet. “I heard Mom yelling at him. They woke me up. I was scared.”
Afraid Jordan was going to hit his mother like his father had done, she realized.
“When it got real quiet I snuck out of bed to see if Mom was all right. Jordan was standing by the dresser holding them up and smiling. I thought he was going to give them to Mom like Dad used to do after they had a fight. Only Jordan put them in a sock with some money.”
A direct link from Jordan to the stash they’d found. “Did he see you, Kip?”
The boy shook his head. Lucan would flip, but Kyra strove for outward calm. “This is important. Did you see Jordan put the money or the jewelry where you found it?”
“No. When I went to show Brian, the jewelry was gone.” There was hope in his expression as he studied her face. “You aren’t mad?”
“No, honey. You didn’t do anything wrong at all.” She wanted to ask if Jordan had hit Casey
, but decided against it. “Your mother didn’t know about the jewelry?”
He shook his head.
“Do you remember when this happened?”
“Uh, last Tuesday. I remember because I had a math test and I didn’t do so good. Mom let me stay up late with her. She was mad because Jordan didn’t come home from work that night. She was crying, but she didn’t want me to know.”
No eight-year-old should have to grow up like this. Kyra could have throttled her sister. “Will you tell Detective O’Shay about this when he comes over, Kip?”
“He won’t arrest me for taking the jewelry or losing the ring?”
“Not a chance. I’m a very good lawyer.”
Kip smiled, but it faltered quickly. “Do you think he’ll ever find Mom?”
This time Kyra pulled him into a tight hug. “I know he will. And soon,” she promised.
“Good,” he mumbled against her shirt. “I want to go home.”
“I thought you liked it here.”
“It’s okay, but I want my mom.”
She squeezed him tenderly, trying not to cry. “I want her, too, Kip.” The boy tightened his arms around her waist, returning the hug. “She’s going to be so proud of you.”
He pulled back and eyed her seriously. “Is she gone because of Jordan? Did he hit her like Dad used to when he came home late?”
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know, honey. I’m pretty sure if Jordan did hurt her, she’s going to be okay.”
He nodded solemnly.
Maureen called up the stairs to tell them lunch was ready.
“Go wash up and tell Mrs. O’Shay I’ll be right down, okay?”
“Okay.”
Kyra tried to call Lucan, but there was no answer. She slipped the pendant in her pocket, then thought better of it. Taking one of her gold chains, she attached it and fastened it around her neck as she headed for the stairs. Whatever happened, she didn’t want to be responsible for something this valuable going missing again.
THE PEOPLE HE’D spoken with who had been robbed, had been members of the Oak Forest Country Club. That included the late Shereen Nestler and her husband. Lucan hung up after talking to Todd and drove away from the Nestler estate. Shereen Nestler should have been in New York with her husband the night she came home and surprised someone rifling her house. She’d changed her plans at the last minute, deciding to stay behind to attend a fundraiser for one of her charity groups instead. The plan had been to catch up with her husband the following day.
Lucan was revved. Todd agreed that this looked like a major break in the case. Even the captain was only mildly annoyed that Lucan hadn’t obeyed orders. There was too much pressure to find the person or people responsible for the burglaries.
But if Casey Fillmont was involved in the woman’s murder as well, Kyra was going to take it hard. And Lucan didn’t want to think about how badly Kip would react. Sometimes, he hated his job.
Lucan drove back to his neighborhood thoughtfully. The streets were clear now except for the melted water everywhere. The roads would be a mess again tonight when everything refroze. This close to Christmas, that would mean big problems for late-night shoppers.
He parked in the street in front of Casey’s house and walked up the driveway. There was no outward sign that she had returned, but like Kyra, he was betting she’d show up here eventually.
He was nearly to the porch when he saw movement inside. Lucan reached for his gun and radioed for backup. Whoever was in the house had seen him. There wasn’t time to wait. He ran onto the porch, unsurprised to find the front door unlocked.
Standing to one side, he pushed it open. “Police officer!”
Footsteps pounded toward the back of the house. Lucan set off in pursuit. He rounded the corner of the dining room. Milt Bowman was just reaching for the back door.
“Stay right there, Bowman!”
Too late, he sensed someone come up behind him. He started to swing around. Something heavy slammed into his elbow. His hand went numb. The gun fell from his fingers and he staggered forward.
“He’s a cop!” Bowman yelled.
“We don’t know that!” Kyra’s voice came from his back as something heavy glanced off the back of his head.
Chapter Thirteen
“When I tell you to take time off, you’re supposed to do it!”
Captain Walsh towered over the emergency-room cot.
“That doesn’t mean interviewing victims or chasing down leads or hotdogging after suspects!”
Lucan winced. His head throbbed. His arm throbbed. In fact, he was pretty sure there wasn’t a part of him that didn’t hurt. He counted himself fortunate that nothing was broken. He’d even regained feeling in his hand.
“You are damn lucky not to be permanently crippled,” Walsh continued, mirroring his own thoughts. “If she hadn’t been injured herself, she could have done serious damage with that baseball bat. I ought to bust you back down to uniform for insubordination.”
“Yes, sir. I gather they got away?”
The captain swore long and low. Behind and slightly to one side of the captain, Todd Berringer cringed.
“You are on leave. Got that? I don’t want to see you for the next five days. Take him home, Berringer. And this time, O’Shay, you stay there, got it?”
The captain stalked out without waiting for his response. The nurse must have been hovering just outside because she appeared at the cubicle with his discharge papers.
“What he said,” she told him acerbically. “Or I’ll call your sister-in-law.”
“God forbid,” he muttered, signing his name. All he needed was Sally on his case. His brother Ronan’s wife took no prisoners when it came to health.
Todd helped him back into his clothing, since Lucan could barely move. His head felt as if it was going to fall off if he turned it the wrong way.
“Good thing Sally is off today,” Todd agreed.
“You’re telling me.”
“I have some good news,” Todd told him as they left the hospital. “We got a lead on Bowman. A friend of his thinks he moved in with some woman he met.”
“The woman have a name?”
“I’m working on it. And for the record? I never told you this. Always nice to know the captain cares, right?”
Lucan started to shake his head and thought better of the idea. “At least I didn’t wreck Jessup’s car.”
“There is that. She said yes,” he added proudly. “I’m going to take her to that new seafood place that just opened in Bethesda.”
“Does she like seafood?”
His stricken expression was almost comical.
“I don’t know!”
Lucan’s lips twitched. “Ask Rhea Loosh. The two of them are friends.”
“Oh, yeah. Right. Great! Good idea. Thanks.”
“Anytime. You missed my turn.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Lucan shifted. A jolt of pain reminded him that all movement was treacherous. “I am not going to my mother’s. I want to go home.”
“You sound like a little kid. I’m following the captain’s orders.”
“He told you to take me home!”
“Before we went in to see you he ordered me to take you to your mom’s. I think he has a crush on her.”
“Do not even go there!” The captain and his mother? It didn’t bear thinking about.
“He wants to be sure you don’t slip into a coma and die or something.”
“I have a mild concussion and some bruises.”
“I’ll say. We heard the doctor tell you that you needed to be watched for the next twenty-four hours. And if you think I want a tongue-lashing like you just got, forget it, pal. The captain said take you to your mom’s, and I’m taking you to your mom’s.”
“Did the captain forget she has three kids and Kyra staying with her? How does he think that’s going to be restful? Where does he think I’m supposed to sleep?”
Todd shrugged. “I’m
just the delivery man. You could always bunk down with the gorgeous Kyra.” He waggled his eyebrows.
And the memory of how he had done exactly that last night snapped off anything else Lucan might have said. But he would have protested harder if he’d known his brother Ronan’s car would be in his mother’s driveway when they got there. Ronan’s car meant Sally was probably there.
“I’ll pay for your date if you’ll just take me home,” he pleaded with Todd.
“Sorry, pal. Besides, if your brother and his family are here, your mom probably baked something yummy. I’ll help you inside.”
“A year’s supply of my mother’s baked goods?”
“Take it like a man, Lucan.”
Kyra opened the door before he could insert his key. “What happened?”
She was so beautiful. Her genuine concern settled over him like a welcome glove. “Keep your voice down,” he begged, but it was too late. His nephew came charging around the corner.
“Uncle Lucan!”
“Hey, sport,” he greeted.
“Wow. That’s a really big bruise.”
“Yeah, it is.” Fortunately, the one on the back of his head wasn’t visible.
“Lucan?” Kyra turned to Todd. “What happened? Where’s his car?”
“The captain made Jessup reclaim it. The Lone Ranger here lost a duel with a baseball bat.”
“Will you be quiet?” Lucan demanded of Todd as more of his relatives crowded into the small foyer.
“Did you say a baseball bat?” Ronan asked, coming forward.
“Too late,” Todd whispered.
“Are you okay?” Ronan demanded. “You look like hell.”
“Dad, you aren’t supposed to say that.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Ronan?” Sally appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Good grief, Lucan. Did you have another accident?”
Lucan closed his eyes. He was in for it now. His mother bustled over to join the others. “An’ what have ye gone and done to yerself now, Lucan Alexander O’Shay?”
Lucan sighed. “Nothing.”
“He was attacked with a baseball bat,” Todd announced at the same time.
“When I feel better, you’re a dead man,” he told his friend with a pointed nod at Kip, Brian and Maggie standing behind the others.
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