I stood taller. “Let’s.”
We made a slow but appropriately cordial circuit through the room, greeting guests and listening to fuddy-duddy rants on local politics. I found my people quickly. They were buzzing with enthusiasm for the upcoming Animal Elegance gala. They knew the keynote speaker and the menu. They recognized me right away and drew me in with questions on my time in Virginia, my fashion degree, and finding the right pet ensemble for any occasion.
Mrs. Neidermeyer arrived on the arm of a man half her age. She dismissed him with a kiss and drifted into our circle with dramatic flair. “Ladies.” She looked me over, taking care to examine Chase as well. She took a seat on the Queen Anne chair across from me and crossed her legs to reveal the telltale red soles of her Christian Louboutins. “Has Lacy told you all about the fabulous ensembles she’s creating for my girls?”
The little crowd lit up. Their eyes went wide at the possible scandal.
Nerves pricked the back of my neck. “I’ve spoken with Mrs. Feller. She’s okay with the change, and she was really pleased with the work I did for her babies.”
The women exchanged mildly disappointed smiles.
Mrs. Neidermeyer fluffed the layers of her chiffon gown around her calves. Her gaze fell to Chase’s hand on mine. “When did this begin?”
The group fell silent. People on the fringe seemed to lean in closer.
“It’s very recent,” I stammered.
“For you,” he said smoothly. “For me, this has been a lifetime in the making.”
One woman covered her heart with both hands. A pair of eavesdropping college girls frowned and left the vicinity. The other women in our circle traded looks.
I nudged Chase. “Well, we should see if my mom needs anything.”
“Anything you want,” he agreed.
I led him away from the circle. “I can feel eyes burning holes in our backs,” I whispered as we made our way through the crowded room.
Chase lifted my hand to his lips and murmured quietly. “Did we greet everyone?”
“I think so.” The only person we’d missed was Jack, and I hadn’t missed him as much as outright avoided him.
“Then our work here is done.”
Voodoo darted through the room and up the steps on silent feet. She stopped several feet up and peered through a set of wide cherry balusters.
Chase stared. “Is that your cat?”
“Yeah.”
“Voodoo, right?”
“Yep.”
He rubbed his forehead. “I think I remember her from high school. Is that possible? She’s got to be the oldest cat in the world.”
I laughed.
“I’m serious,” he said. “Your dad’s either a really good vet or a magician.”
“A little of both, I think.” I tugged his hand. “Thanks for being my boyfriend for a night.”
“The night’s not over. How are you feeling?”
I smiled. “Good.”
“Let’s go somewhere quiet, eat sugar, and reward ourselves for not leaving sooner.”
“I like how you think, Hawthorne.”
He scooted into my personal space and dropped his lips to my ear. “Did you find any more pieces to that puzzle we talked about last night?”
“Actually, yes, thanks to you. Do you want to hear?”
“Absolutely.” He looked over his shoulders. “Have you told Scarlet yet?”
“Yes, this morning.”
He groaned. “I like to get things over on her, but she’s got the red line to this town, I swear. The only person who manages to hear things before her is my brother, but being everyone’s favorite attorney helps in that area. I don’t know how she gets the scoop on anything while she’s home with three kids.” He hooked his arm with mine and swiped a plate of petit fours and lemon tassies off the buffet.
“She’s got that face. It’s all those freckles. People want to tell her things.”
He added one more tassie to his pile. “It’s all about the freckles.”
I sniped an unopened bottle of champagne from an ice bucket. “Ever seen my widow’s walk?”
He tapped his plate of sweets to my bottle. “Not personally, but I’m sure it’s fantastic.”
I led him to the stairs. “Oh, it’s fabulous.”
We climbed onto the railed rooftop platform and settled onto Mom’s designer chaises. The space was narrow but cozy and lined with plants and solar lights. Warm winds tussled our hair. I set the bottle on a little stand and pulled my feet onto the cushion beside me.
“So,” he prompted, “tell me about your investigation.”
“Well, I’ve obsessively rehashed every detail of my awful week and come to one conclusion.”
He tossed a pink petit four into his mouth. “What?”
“After looking at each situation—the break-in, the threats, the jewel heists—from every angle, I’ve found two consistent common denominators. Sadly, one of them is dead and the other is me.”
“Maybe you should stay with your parents until it blows over. This place is Fort Knox.” He pushed another petit four into his mouth.
I pulled a pillow onto my lap, barring against the wind. “Not really. It’s all smoke and mirrors. I walked right through the back door earlier.”
“Care if I open the champagne?” Chase stretched one long arm to reach it without getting up. “I think I have a sugar flower petal stuck in my throat.”
“You aren’t supposed to swallow mini desserts like aspirin.” I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes. “Why didn’t we hang out more when we were kids?”
He twisted the muselet off the cork and wedged his thumbs underneath. “I was your best friend’s boyfriend’s little brother. Not a big selling point in high school romance.” He pointed the bottle toward the streetlight, the trees, the moon. “What should I shoot for?”
“Not my car.” I relaxed into the chaise. “I’ve always loved it up here. I feel like I can see forever, like we’re in a big snow globe where it’s always sunny, or starry, I guess.” Thousands of historic oaks and other Garden District trees muffled the city sounds, making the world beyond our home seem surreal. “Living here is a little like living in a very green storybook.”
“Never thought about it.” The cork burst free, flying into the night and swan diving through the amber glow of a gas street lamp below. Chase swung the erupting bottle away. “Glasses?”
“Oh. No. Oops. Do you want me to go get some?”
He slid onto the floor by my feet. “Nah.” He sipped from the top and passed it to me. “I shouldn’t drink tonight. I’m having breakfast with the folks and a seven AM tee time with Dad.”
I sipped from the bottle and set it aside. “How’s that going?”
He leaned his head against my chaise. “They forgave me for having a career in volleyball and offered me a position at Dad’s law firm.”
“Ah.” I handed him a lemon tassie from the comfort tray.
He chewed and laughed. “If I get unlimited dessert for having disappointed parents, what do you get for living in fear of a psychopath?”
“So far? A headache.” I admired the sky full of stars, lightyears away from the mess in Storybook Land.
He tipped his head back and looked into my eyes. Curiosity played on his handsome face.
“What?” I hoped the light was too dim to see my blush.
He shifted, swiveling onto his knees and rising over me without needing to stand. “Have you given any more thought to our deal?”
“Trading a kiss for a false legal document?” I held his gaze, torn by desperation to flee, memories of a too-recent heartbreak, and a certain detective I couldn’t quite shake from my mind.
“The caveat to our deal was that you have to want the kiss.” His voice was a soothing purr as he inched closer. Soft scents of cologne, sugar, and champagne enticed me to curl my fingers into the fabric of his shirt and seal the deal. “Do you want me to kiss you, Lacy?”
Our breaths ming
led in the unreasonably romantic moment. I lowered my eyelids to think.
“Lacy.” His warm lips brushed mine as he spoke.
My eyes popped open. “I’m not ready.”
“Fair enough.” He returned to his spot on the floor with a look of immense satisfaction. “Another time, then.”
I flopped against the backrest of my chaise and exhaled pure adrenaline. “Wow.”
He popped another sweet into his mouth. “And I haven’t even touched you yet.”
Jeez.
When the sweets were gone and the wind had worn away my resolve to hide, Chase walked me to the valet and kissed my cheek. “Goodnight, Lacy Crocker. I fancied being your gentleman tonight.”
I curtsied. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Mr. Hawthorne.” Why couldn’t actual dating be as pleasant?
“Keep me posted on that deal we’re negotiating.”
I slid behind the wheel and eased onto the dimly lit street. If a letter from an attorney could help me get Penelope back, I wasn’t above hiring a real one the minute my stalker was caught.
A man in traditional livery waved me down at the corner. “Miss?” He had something that looked like a cell phone in his hands.
I checked my purse and pulled over. Jeez. I powered down my passenger window.
“You dropped your phone.”
“Thank you so much. I can’t believe I did that.”
He jogged to the passenger door and pulled it open, pointing a handgun at me from beneath his jacket. “Scream and die.” His dark eyes were hard and bloodshot. “We’re going to go for a ride. You’re going to take me to the diamonds. Those are mine. He owes me. He knew it. He doesn’t need them anymore, so they’re leaving town with me. Got it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I blathered, desperately scanning the scene for someone to notice my despair. From outside my car, I looked like someone casually speaking to a member of Mom’s evening staff. Not like someone about to die a bloody death because I hadn’t been able to read the mind of a dead man. “I swear. I don’t know anything about Miguel’s diamonds.” My bottom lip quivered, and I sucked in a fresh breath.
“They’re my diamonds,” he growled. He raised the barrel of his gun inch by inch. “I know Miguel had them when he went into your store, and he didn’t have them when the coroner hauled him out. The only other person in there was you. You’re going to take me to them, now, or I’m going to shoot you.” He emphasized the final words.
Whoever he was, he’d lost his blessed mind. Panic coursed through my veins like lightning. I’d been through this before. I wouldn’t do it again. I said a prayer and crammed the gas pedal against the floorboard.
The phone toppled onto my floor. His gun clattered onto the road.
He vanished with a grunt and a swear.
I sped through stop signs, screaming and pounding my horn while burning rubber down my parents’ street. My car door hung open in the wind. There was no one in the rearview. Did I imagine a carjacking? Was I losing my mind? Had fear finally taken my sanity, too? I fumbled for the phone with one hand and took the next left turn on two wheels. My door slammed shut and someone honked at me.
I hit speed dial and prayed Jack could find the guy before he shot anyone at Mom’s party.
No answer. Why did he even have a cell phone if he wasn’t ever going to answer it?
I dialed Dad’s cell next and spewed the information while barreling through the district with nowhere to go. “You need to pull over and calm down,” Dad insisted. “Don’t drive like this.”
“Hang on,” I sobbed. “Jack’s calling me back on the other line.” My teeth chattered as I took the call. “Jack?”
“Come back,” he answered. “I’ve got the guy, and I need your statement.”
“You’ve got him? Already?” I pulled into a bookstore parking lot to hyperventilate and wipe my nose. I rested my forehead on the steering wheel since I couldn’t get it between my knees. “Really?”
“I told you. I only needed to be at the right place at the right time.”
I sucked in a painful breath and let it out slowly. My fingers were numb from my grip on the wheel. “You were at Mom’s party because I was there?” I whipped my head up and the world spun. “I told her that and she didn’t believe me. How’d you know I was going?”
“I saw your invitation at Furry Godmother the day she gave it to you. For the record, stalking is subjective. I was on the lookout for this guy. I knew he was on the lookout for you. Take a minute to get it together, then get back here. I need your statement before the ambulance arrives.”
I reversed out of the lot and pointed my car back down Prytania Street. “I think he was Miguel’s partner. He said those diamonds were his and Miguel owed him. What ambulance?”
“He’s Levi Marks, and I had to call for medical. You ran over his foot.”
Chapter Nineteen
Furry Godmother’s advice for managing stress: Try a new lease on life. It’s exhilarating and extremely affordable.
A crowd had formed outside my parents’ home. Guests and staff made a human wall along the sidewalk three people deep. Neighbors had gathered behind fences in nearby yards, tying floppy robe belts around their middles and snapping pictures with cell phones. I pulled my car over at the corner, several yards away, and practiced breathing. Searing pain ripped through my throat and chest with every deep inhalation. Too many shallow breaths had blurred my world.
Dad ran toward my car with terror in his eyes. His black jacket fluttered in the wind behind him. “Lacy!”
Tears rolled over my scorching cheeks. I unlocked the door and waited for his help. My limbs were heavy and shaking. My teeth chattered violently, and my head ached from the fresh load of stress that had tipped my mental scale. I wasn’t built for this kind of excitement. I liked puppies and kittens. Sunsets and books.
Dad wrenched the door open and dropped into a squat. His soft palms warmed my cheeks. “Are you hurt?”
I turned my chin left and right, unable to trust my tongue.
He released my face and checked my pulse, then ran a critical gaze over my torso and appendages. “I heard the honking and came to see what was happening. There was a bleeding man in the road, and Jack had a gun on him. Jack said the man tried to hurt you. Did he touch you?”
I shook my head again. Without his hands to stabilize me, I was a life-sized bobblehead doll. “He tried to get in.” I slid my eyes toward the passenger seat.
“How’d you get away?” Dad’s voice wobbled.
“I think I ran him over.” I peered through the windshield. “Is he okay?”
“He’s pretty banged up. Jack wouldn’t let me treat him, but there’s an ambulance on its way. They should check you over. You could’ve been killed. I think that man’s on something.”
“Drugs?” I sputtered. My attacker in Virginia was high when he hurt me. Drugs turned normal people into time bombs. They couldn’t think. Couldn’t rationalize.
“I don’t know.” Dad gave the man another look. “He reeks of alcohol, but he’s clearly taken something else. His pupils are dilated. Alcohol would’ve constricted them. His eyes are bloodshot. He’s got a tremor, and he’s extremely agitated.”
The man sat in a heap on the sidewalk, propped against a tree and handcuffed to a historic metal hitching post. The poles were topped with stallion heads and rings for securing horses in another era. I’d strung colored yarn through those loops as a child and hung signs for tea parties and playdates. I’d never look at them again without seeing Levi Marks and his gun.
I swallowed. “Jack says that’s the murder victim’s old partner.”
Dad’s eyes widened. The skin on his forehead pulled tight. “Let’s go inside.”
“I have to give a statement.”
“They can come inside to take it. You don’t need to face that man right now.”
Dad escorted me from the car and led me toward the house. The distant cry of emergency vehicles
drew closer with each step. An uneasy hush rolled over the street as I pulled away from Dad and moved toward Levi. His pants were ripped and his cheek was raw and bruised. One of his shoes was missing. The bare foot was swollen, bloodied, and black.
Jack stepped between me and Levi. He nodded to Dad.
I leaned around Jack for a clear view of Levi. Anger burned away my fear like the silver coating on a sparkler. Surrounded by my people, bolstered by the presence of Jack and Dad, I felt primal, livid, and dangerous. “Why did you do that?” The words were feral. I wanted to frighten him the way he frightened me.
Jack reached for my shoulder.
I pulled back and jumped around him to look Levi in the eyes. “Why did you do that? Were you planning to kill me? For what?” Angry tears welled in my eyes. “Why are you doing this to me?” I screamed. A tremor rocked my limbs. My teeth chattered harder, knocking against one another until I feared they’d break. “I don’t understand what I’ve done to you.”
Levi narrowed his red, beady eyes and spat on the street at my feet. “What have you done?” he growled. “You’ve thrown me from a moving car and crushed my foot. You fled the scene of a crime.”
“Your crime!”
A smirk played across his filthy, road-rashed face. “I hope you have a good lawyer.”
My mouth snapped shut. I curled my fingers into fists at my side. Fire lit in my veins.
Jack lifted an arm between us. “That’s enough.”
Dad tapped the screen of his cell phone. Mom covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
I pulled oxygen into my stinging lungs and braced to spring. “How badly can I hurt him before the cops arrive?”
“I’m the cops.” Jack gripped my shoulders and steered me away from Levi. “Do not engage him anymore. I need you to think about your statement.” He lowered his voice. “Keep a level head. Don’t let him win.”
Levi spat at my feet again.
Jack pushed me onto the sidewalk with my parents, stepping on Levi’s foot as he passed. “Whoops. Sorry about that.”
Levi screamed and flailed, overselling his pain.
Hopefully the neighbors hadn’t caught the accident on camera. Someone might think it looked intentional.
Cat Got Your Diamonds Page 20