One-Click Buy: June 2009 Harlequin Blaze

by Tori Carrington

  “There’s the sketch your mother was working from.”

  Maddie shifted her gaze to the corkboard that formed the walls above each workspace. There were at least a dozen sketches pinned to the wall, and it took her a moment to locate the right one. She saw that the inner circular ring was supposed to be hammered too.

  She looked back at the pendant now nestled in the palm of her hand. “It’s beautiful. Just beautiful. I’ve been experimenting with a technique like this one.”

  “Why don’t you try your hand on the silver?”

  “Silver?” Maddie’s eyes narrowed on the inner ring. “I thought it had to be white gold.” But it wasn’t. She could see that now. “I didn’t know that Eva worked with silver.”

  “She had just started.” Cho held out the small hammer. “Go ahead.”

  Her fingers itched to take it. Instead, she met Cho’s eyes. “You knew her for a long time.”

  He nodded. “I worked with her for a year before she opened this store.”

  Maddie drew in a deep breath. “Did she ever tell you about me?”

  “No. I’m sorry.”

  Maddie read both sadness and understanding in Cho’s eyes. Swallowing her disappointment, she glanced back at the tool he held in his hand. “I think you’d better finish this. I’m not sure she’d want me to work on her pieces.”

  “But she brought you here,” Cho said.

  Maddie stared at him. He was right. Eva had brought her here with the terms of the will. She must have wanted her to be here. When Cho swiveled the chair and she felt it at the back of her knees, she sank into it.

  He sat down beside her. “One thing I can tell you. I worked with her for a year before she signed the lease on this building. There were three other places she looked at, but she told me that she wanted a store on Madison Avenue. She believed it would bring her luck. It did.”

  Maddie took the tool that Cho offered and turned back to the circular rings. Then, drawing in a deep breath, she hit the first stroke.

  8

  WHILE ADAM had waxed on and on extolling the design values of first a ring and then a bracelet, Jase had taken the time to study the room. The worktable that Cho and Maddie sat at ran nearly the length of one wall. It had two workspaces. Adam’s desk and worktable sat on the opposite wall.

  Occasionally, Adam would glance over to see what Maddie was doing. Jase had used those opportunities to take a quick inventory of the sketches that nearly covered the walls. He knew from Jordan that Cho didn’t create any original jewelry, that he worked on executing and occasionally modifying Eva’s designs.

  Adam’s jewelry was bolder than Eva’s, and his use of gems was more dramatic. Jase glanced down at the piece Adam had described as a tennis necklace of multicolored gems nestled between stations of etched gold. It was a stunner, and it was the only piece Adam had shown him that might suit Maddie.

  “How much?” Jase asked.

  “One hundred and fifty thousand.” Adam glanced over his shoulder to check on Maddie and Cho again.

  Jase took advantage of his distraction to pull open a second drawer in the small chest. It held hundreds of gems separated by colors into different compartments.

  “Stop that.”

  It was only his lightning-fast reflexes that kept Jase’s fingers from being caught when Adam slammed the drawer shut.

  “That’s a lot of bling,” Jase commented.

  “Yes.” Adam held out his hand for the tennis necklace. “If that tennis necklace isn’t to your taste, Arnold has more on the main floor.”

  Instead of handing it over, Jase poured the necklace from one hand into the other.

  “I heard there was a robbery here about a month ago. I guess they didn’t get in here.”

  “No,” Adam said shortly, wiggling his fingers impatiently for the necklace. “The thieves hit the main salon.”

  “I heard that what they took roughly amounted to fifty thousand less than the price of this necklace. But I suppose something like this would be harder to fence than the smaller pieces that were taken.”

  Adam stiffened. “Every piece that was taken was one of a kind. It was a terrible loss.”

  “Were some of your pieces stolen?”

  Something flashed into Adam’s eyes. Anger, or maybe fear. “As a matter of fact, none of my pieces were stolen. If your theory is correct, the thieves might have found my designs a little too pricey. Now, if you’ll give me that necklace?”

  “Actually, I like it. But it’s a little large for Maddie. Could you make one a little bit daintier with smaller stones?”

  Though Jase hadn’t supposed it possible, Adam grew even stiffer and his voice rose slightly. “Absolutely not. I never alter one of my designs.”

  Jase allowed a puzzled expression to fill his face. “But Jordan told me that was why so few pieces were on display in the main salon—so that customers could consult with the designer and place special orders.”

  Adam snatched the necklace, placed it back in the cabinet and locked the drawer. “That’s Jordan’s strategy. Aunt Eva went along with it. I didn’t.”

  “But wouldn’t you have made more money in the long run by following Jordan’s strategy?”

  Adam’s chin lifted. “I’m an artist. I won’t modify my designs.”

  Jase would grant Adam was creative. But if he had to choose two other words to describe Maddie and Jordan’s cousin, they would be arrogant and rebellious. The rebelliousness was something he and his aunt Eva had shared. According to Jordan, both had shunned going into the family banking business. Perhaps Eva Ware had seen a bit of herself in her nephew. But in the end, she hadn’t seen enough to leave him her business.

  At the far end of the room, the first hit of a hammer sounded.

  Adam whirled toward Maddie and Cho. “Wait a minute. You can’t—”

  Jase gripped his arm and kept him firmly anchored in place. He pitched his voice low. “Actually, she can. You have no authority to stop her.”

  Adam’s face went red with fury. But whatever he would have said was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He glanced impatiently at the caller ID and then took the call. “Mother, I’m… No… Yes. I can explain.”

  Adam glanced once more at Maddie and Cho; then with frustration radiating off him in waves, he whirled and left the room.

  What exactly did Adam Ware have to explain to his mother, Jase wondered. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem happy about it. On the bright side, it had gotten Adam out of the room.

  Jase shifted his attention to Maddie and Cho. Their heads were bent low over the pendant Maddie was working on, and Cho was speaking in a low murmur. They were so absorbed in their work that he doubted they were aware that Adam had just stormed out.

  Satisfied, Jase moved to a far window that looked down on 51st Street. Pedestrians moved quickly along the sidewalks in steady streams interrupted only by the changing traffic lights.

  Adam Ware was going to be a problem. Jase knew from Jordan that Adam was twenty-nine and he’d joined Eva Ware Designs right out of college. He’d already been working there for three years and designing his own line of jewelry when Jordan had come on board. He’d resented her presence from the beginning and complained regularly about any changes she wanted to make.

  And Jordan hadn’t been a jewelry designer. How much more resentment was Adam feeling about Maddie? And just how dangerous was that temper that flared so close to the surface? Frowning, he glanced back at Maddie, saw her hold the pendant she was working on up to the light. Cho murmured something to her before she set it back on the worktable and once more picked up the small hammer.

  The more Jase thought about it, the more he was convinced that Eva had stirred up a real hornet’s nest of trouble with the terms of her will. In college, Jordan had described her mother as having an acute case of tunnel vision. And while it might have interfered with her personal life and relationships, Eva’s ability to focus almost solely on her designs and business had served her care
er well. Jase had no doubt that the woman hadn’t considered even for a minute the problems her daughters might encounter as a result of her desire to reunite them. Toss Eva’s probable murder into the mix, and the terms of the will made a real recipe for disaster.

  Jase didn’t like any of it. But part of the Adam Ware problem could be solved—temporarily at least. The best way to get Adam off Maddie’s back for a while was to distract him. And Jase had an idea of just how to do that.

  Assured that Maddie and Cho were too engaged in their work to pay attention to anything he said, he turned back to the window and pressed a number into his phone.

  “Campbell and Angelis Security.”

  Jase recognized his brother D.C.’s voice immediately. “Holding down the fort, are you?”

  “So you’ve finally risen from the dead? From the way you were talking last night, I didn’t expect to hear from you until at least midafternoon.”

  “Is Dino there?”

  “He’s due back momentarily. But I’m available,” D.C. said. “And bored. Answering the phone is not really my true calling.”

  “I’ve got a list of names I want you to write down.” Keeping his voice low, Jase rattled off the names of everyone they’d met so far at the store. “They all work at Eva Ware Designs.”

  “Sounds like you’re working on a case.”

  “Yeah. It was one I agreed to before I left for South America. There was a break-in at Eva Ware’s Madison Avenue jewelry store. That’s Jordan’s mother. She was struck down by a hit-and-run driver last week. I’m playing catch up and keeping an eye on Maddie, Jordan’s sister.”

  “Wait a minute. Jordan has a sister?”

  It occurred to Jase then that D.C. didn’t yet know about Maddie. Hell, he’d only known about the will and Maddie’s existence himself for what? Less than twelve hours? Quickly, he gave D.C. a condensed version of what Maddie had told him and then filled him in on what he’d learned from Dave Stanton.

  D.C.’s reaction was summed up in a low whistle.

  “What do you need?”

  Jase nearly smiled. He knew D.C. had a million questions, but for now, he’d focus on the job. “Have Dino or one of the other men get financial information on all of those names—look for the disappearance or appearance of significant sums of money from their accounts. The jewelry that was stolen from the store had a value of approximately one hundred thousand dollars. And see what else pops.”

  There was a silence on the other end of the line, and Jase could picture D.C. writing everything down in the small notebook that he always carried with him. Cops, even of the military variety, always seemed to carry notebooks. There had never been much opportunity for jotting down notes on a special ops assignment, so Jase had learned to keep track of everything in his head.

  He let his gaze sweep the street below. It was shortly after eleven, and pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic had picked up. He was about to turn around and check on Maddie again when he shifted his eyes back to the corner diagonally across from the store on Madison. Something had caught his attention. What?

  Then he spotted her—the same matronly woman who’d been examining jewelry when he and Maddie had first entered the salon. She was wearing the same pillbox hat, the same pink suit. She stood in the recessed entranceway to a designer leather-goods store, but she wasn’t window-shopping. Instead, she seemed to be watching Eva Ware Designs.

  “Earth to Jase. Are you still there?”

  The woman in the pink suit chose that moment to turn and walk into the Louis Vuitton store. Jase refocused his attention. “I’m here.”

  “Anything else you need?”

  “Yeah.” Jase flicked a glance toward Maddie. She was chewing on her bottom lip and beginning to wield that hammer like a pro. A few strands of hair had fallen loose from the knot she’d twisted it into.

  “This is a job for you and it takes priority over the research for now. I want you to call Eva Ware Designs and ask to speak with Adam Ware. Identify yourself as a freelance writer. You’re working on an article for Vanity Fair on up-and-coming jewelry designers. Ask him for an appointment ASAP.” Jase glanced at his watch. Eleven-ten. “As soon as you hang up, if possible.”

  D.C. laughed. “Sounds like fun. I suppose you’re not going to tell me why.”

  “Later. Just put the plan in action.”

  “Dino just came in so it shouldn’t take us long. Anything I should know about this Adam Ware?”

  “He has an ego the size of Australia.”

  “That should work. What do they say—the bigger they are, the harder they fall? Am I stuck with your scenario or can I make up one of my own?”

  Jase bit back a grin. “Going to improvise, are you?”

  “When we were kids and got into scrapes, I always came up with a better story than you did.”

  Jase wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it was true. Not only was D.C. inventive, but he had a real flare for playing his audience. “Just keep it believable. And while you’re creating your scenario, see if you can keep Ware busy for the next few days or weeks if possible.”

  “Got it. You know the military police never get assignments like this. Maybe I ought to get out and come to work for you.”

  “Anytime,” Jase said before he closed his cell. If D.C. was serious, he and his brother would have to have a talk.

  Later.

  Cho and Maddie were now holding up the pendant to compare it to the sketch of the design. Neither of them glanced up when he moved to Adam’s chair, sat down and propped his feet on the desk. It was his favorite position for thinking—and there were several things he needed to mull over.

  At the top of the list was Maddie Farrell. Even now when he should be thinking of solving the puzzle of who’d robbed Eva’s store and then run her down, he couldn’t keep his eyes from returning to Maddie.

  What he was feeling for her was growing beyond that initial chemical connection that had ignited between them. Little by little he was coming to know her as a person. She was smart, brave, certainly not afraid to try new things. Her spunk reminded him of his mother and sister. His lips curved as he thought of the game way she’d taken on the challenge of walking in Jordan’s killer shoes, then handling her cousin. And now, she was also throwing herself into the task of working on one of her mother’s designs.

  As he watched, she picked up the pendant again and held it against the sketch. Though her back was to him, he knew that a little line was furrowing her brow. She’d inherited at least some of her mother’s focus. And she shared Jordan’s energy. And he’d experienced both of those qualities when they’d made love.

  Just thinking about the night they’d spent together had his body hardening and desire moving through him with rusty claws. It wasn’t just that he wanted to make love to her again. He had to. He needed to taste her again, touch her, to thrust into her when she knew it was him and not some dream lover.

  The only question was, how long could he wait?

  IT WAS two hours later when Jase and Maddie walked out of the work studio. Adam had checked on them once early on. Other than giving Maddie and Cho a frustrated look, he’d done nothing to interrupt them before leaving. “That was quite a design you finished.”

  “Thanks,” Maddie said. “How did you manage to keep Adam distracted for so long?”

  “Charm.”

  Maddie snorted. “I didn’t think your brand would work on him.”

  “Piece of cake. All I had to do was ooh and ahh over his designs. And then he got a phone call from his mother and left.”

  “My impression is that she rides him pretty hard.”

  “He certainly didn’t look like a happy camper when he got the call. What did you learn from Cho?”

  She drew in a deep breath and let it out. “That my mother wanted me here.”

  Jase stopped dead in his tracks and turned to her. “That’s the first time you’ve referred to Eva as your mother.”

  “I know.”

  “D
id Eva tell Cho she wanted you here? Did he know about you?”

  “No. Cho says Eva never mentioned me. He never knew that Jordan had a sister until I was invited for the reading of the will. But Cho said the will proves that my mother wanted me here. I hadn’t thought about it quite that way before.”

  “He’s right.”

  “I still have questions, hundreds of them, but it helps to look at the will that way—as proof that she really wanted me here. That she wanted to unite Jordan and me. Cho also told me that she specifically wanted a store on Madison Avenue because she believed it would bring her luck. Am I foolish to think that means she was thinking of me?”

  Jase raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. “No, it’s not foolish at all. You’ve had a good day, Maddie Farrell.”

  “Yes. The next thing I’m going to do is to ask Michelle about my mother’s appointment calendar.”

  But when they stepped into the office area, Michelle was on the phone and Dino Angelis was filming her with the video camera he had resting on his shoulder. Jase realized that when D.C. had promised fast action, he’d obviously meant it. Through the open doorway to one of the offices, Jase spotted Adam sitting behind his desk. Facing Jordan’s cousin, with a cane hooked over the arm of his chair, was D.C. Adam seemed to be hanging on his every word. Jase wondered if the cane was a prop or if D.C. needed it for that leg injury he’d mentioned. The latter, he bet. He made a mental note to stop by the office later in the afternoon.

  Putting down her phone, Michelle waved them over, and Dino moved toward the door to Adam’s office.

  “What’s going on?” Maddie asked.

  Michelle leaned closer and though her voice was pitched low, there was a thread of excitement running through it. “Those two men came to talk to Mr. Ware. The one with the cane is Mr. Duncan Dunleavy. He’s producing a new reality TV show about artists in the city. They want to feature Mr. Ware on it. They’ve already taken some footage of him downstairs in the main salon.”

  “Wow,” Jase said.