Tori could understand why Jake believed as he did. Yet… “Maybe if two people marry for the right reason—”
Her phone rang and she murmured to Jake, “I’ll just let the machine take that.” But a few seconds later when she heard, “Ms. Phillips, this is Detective Trujillo from the Santa Fe Police Department. The jewelry store a few shops down from yours was robbed this evening and—”
Jumping up from her chair, Tori grabbed the handset. “Detective Trujillo? This is Tori Phillips. Did someone break into my gallery?”
“We don’t think so, ma’am, but we’d like you to come down here and check things over. We’d like to see if your security system was tampered with.”
“I can be there in ten minutes. Should I meet you out front?”
“That will be fine.”
Putting the cordless phone back in its stand, she looked at Jake. “I’m sorry about this, but I have to go to the gallery. The detective wants me to make sure the thief didn’t try to get inside.”
“I know Phil Trujillo. We went to the academy in Albuquerque together. Do you want me to come with you?”
“Do you want to?”
“No,” he said with a slow smile. It was the one she remembered from so long ago. “But I might be able to get information from Phil that you can’t. Detectives investigating a case are tight-lipped.”
She had the feeling that Jake was itching to get back into police work, but something was stopping him. Maybe she’d find out what that was tonight. “I’d be glad to have you along. I’ve never had an almost-break-in before.”
“Then let’s go see if your security system kept your gallery safe.”
Perceptions was located in a small plaza with a string of other shops. Tori’s shop, situated at the closed U end of the parking lot, was white stucco and attached to a bakery on the right. On the left, a brick pathway ran parallel to the narrow driveway that led to the rear entrance. There were two police cruisers, their lights still flashing, blocking the entrance to the walkway that wended to Tori’s shop, the bakery, and the adjoining building, where the jewelry store was located next to a leather boutique.
Jake and Tori climbed out of his truck, then angled around a cruiser to her gallery.
The detective who was standing at the door, his arms crossed over his chest, recognized Jake immediately. “Galeno! What are you doing here? Going to join the Santa Fe PD?”
“I was with Tori when she got your call. Just thought I’d come along as a concerned friend to find out what was going on.”
“Not much,” the detective said. “We’re waiting for the owner of the bakery and that leather shop. Just wanted to make sure nothing else was tampered with. As you can see, we dusted for prints on the knob and around the door. Same thing at the back entrance. But even if we find prints that match any at the jewelry store, that doesn’t mean we’ve found our guy. Shoppers, especially tourists, go from one shop to the next. That right, Ms. Phillips?”
“Yes, it is.” Taking her key from her purse, she asked, “Is it all right if I open the door?”
The detective nodded, watching her closely. She noticed Jake was watching her, too, and then she saw why. There were scratches around the keyhole. She didn’t know what they were from, but she was pretty sure they hadn’t been there earlier when she’d locked up.
She pointed them out to the detective.
“Yeah, we noticed them,” Trujillo offered. “We were waiting to see if you said anything. Any guesses as to what they’re from, Galeno?”
Phil knew Jake would recognize the scratches. “Possibly a pick that slipped. But I don’t get why he would even attempt the front door.”
“The back door’s solid steel, the lock obviously heavy-duty. This one is, too, but it’s not quite so cumbersome,” Tori explained.
“Right on the mark,” Trujillo said.
Taking a few steps back, Jake studied all the stores in the layout. “He might’ve just been making a quick run through here, seeing what was possible and what wasn’t. What happened at the jewelry store?”
“This guy doesn’t have much finesse. If you walk down there, you’ll see he broke the window, set off the alarm, crashed some cases and grabbed what he could. The good stuff was all in the safe, so he didn’t get to that. But the store’s security service tried to call the owner before they called us, so the unsub—unidentified subject,” he explained to Tori, “had time to hightail it out of here. My partner’s interviewing everybody he can find within a decent radius. Ms. Phillips, how about if you turn off that alarm system. I’ll see if anything’s amiss inside.”
Tori opened the door and pressed in the security code. A green light came on. “It’s off,” she murmured.
Detective Trujillo stepped past her, his hand inside his suit coat, as he ordered, “Wait here.”
Tori wasn’t sure what to think, and she looked up at Jake.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “He just wants to make sure this guy is gone…and was acting alone.”
A few minutes later, the detective beckoned them inside, and Tori took a cursory look around, then made a more detailed search. “I locked up myself tonight a few minutes early. Nothing’s been touched.”
She saw Jake studying the pictures on the walls, the sculptures on stands, the case of unique jewelry and pillboxes, the rack with hand-carved walking sticks. She’d decorated the gallery in the mountain colors of rust, green and blue. It blended with everything she sold, making the ambience of the gallery welcoming, yet sedate, unpretentious, yet undoubtedly exclusive.
Already, Phil Trujillo had opened the door into the room beyond. “Is this for storage?”
“Yes. Right now it’s crammed full of work I’m going to display for Christmas and an artist’s opening coming up.”
She hurried after the detective, saying to Jake, “He needs to be careful with my inventory.”
Jake caught her elbow. “Phil’s no bull in a china shop. He knows what he’s looking for.”
Jake’s fingers were hot on her skin. “And that is?”
He shrugged and released her. “He’ll know when he sees it.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“Intuition goes a long way in catching a criminal. But so does good eyesight.”
Jake was being flippant now, but the serious expression on his face told her he didn’t consider any of this a laughing matter.
“Tell me something,” Trujillo said as he reentered the gallery. “Would any of that stuff in there be worth a bundle on the black market?”
Tori motioned to canvases propped against the far wall. “I have a few artists who are well-known and their work is becoming more scarce. The right word in the right circle of private collectors who don’t care about fenced goods, and the thief could set up a nice retirement account.”
“We’re assuming this is a man,” Jake said, “but we shouldn’t necessarily make that assumption, should we, Phil?”
The detective’s eyes became hooded now. He’d shared all the information he’d intended to share. Everything else was not for public consumption. “I like facts better than assumptions.”
While the two men nosed around, Tori checked the remaining inventory in the storage area, once in a while looking over her shoulder.
Finally she admitted, “Everything appears fine in here, too.”
“Then there’s no reason why you can’t return home,” Trujillo said. “Let’s lock it all up and you can be on your way.”
Ten minutes later, as Jake was driving Tori home, he asked, “Have you ever thought about putting a security system in your home?”
“I’ve thought about it.”
“It’s like the tile in your bathroom, right? You’ve been meaning to call somebody sometime, but just haven’t gotten around to it?”
“Exactly,” she admitted as she let out a sigh.
“Do it, Tori. With a baby in the house, you’re not going to want to take any chances.”
She glanc
ed over at him. “I will.”
In her driveway, he didn’t switch off the ignition. “I’ll wait until you’re inside.”
It was almost dark now. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in and have that bowl of stew?”
“Having supper with you wasn’t about the stew in the first place. It was about clearing the air.”
“We haven’t done that.”
“I think we have. You want to stay friends with Nina, and you don’t want to feel awkward around me. Does that about sum it up?”
That was essentially what she’d said and he’d obviously been listening. “I suppose.”
“Look, Tori. There has always been chemistry between us. I stayed away from you when you were seventeen and eighteen because you were too young to handle what I wanted. Now—”
“I’m old enough to handle anything,” she interrupted him with spirit.
“Yes, you are. But you’re also going to be a mother. Where can a man not interested in a permanent relationship fit into that mix?”
The question was almost a challenge, as if he was daring her to say she wanted a roll in the hay, a quickie in the afternoon at his apartment, a hot, short interlude while her baby slept in the room next door. Of course she couldn’t say any of those things. She thought more of herself than that. She thought more of the child she was going to adopt than that. She’d never had a hot affair, and she’d only ever had one relationship—her engagement and marriage to Dave.
Reminding herself that Dave had left, just as her father had left, she replied, “A man doesn’t fit into the equation at all.”
Then she flipped open the handle on the door and put one foot on the running board. “Thanks for coming along with me tonight, Jake. And for…clearing the air. I’m sure neither of us will feel any awkwardness now.”
As she climbed out, slammed the door and hurried up her front walk she heard Jake call, “Tori, wait.”
His command echoed in her ear. Still, she ignored it and practically ran inside.
She wasn’t about to lose her heart again to any man—not even to Jake Galeno!
Chapter Four
Tori had just slipped on a dress with a peasant top and an ankle-length red, turquoise and yellow skirt the following morning when her phone rang.
After winding the dress’s long sash around her waist, she snatched up the receiver. “Hello.”
“Tori, it’s Jake.”
She waited, letting him explain why he was calling.
“I thought it might be a good idea for me to check out your gallery before you opened it this morning.”
“Why?”
“To make sure no one got inside last night after the commotion was over.”
“You don’t think he’d come back…”
“I don’t know. But I don’t like the idea of you walking in there this morning alone.”
Her heart sped up at his concern, but then she reminded herself Jake had been a cop. Making sure anyone was safe was second nature to him. “I would feel safer if you checked out the gallery. I usually park at the rear entrance. Do you want to meet me there?”
“Around eight-forty-five?” he asked, knowing she usually went in around nine.
“That will be fine. I’ll meet you there then.”
A few minutes later Tori brushed her hair, used her curling iron and carefully applied lipstick. Jake Galeno was a complex man who wasn’t easy to read or predict, and she shouldn’t even think about trying to do either.
When she arrived at the gallery half an hour later, Jake was already standing at the back entrance. He was wearing a gray T-shirt with a V-neck, and jeans that hugged his hips and powerful thighs as if they’d been made just for him.
As she locked her car and crossed to him, she wished she could stop noticing details about him—the way his chest hair filled that V, the way his eyes darkened when he looked at her, the way he kept his expression studiously neutral so she had no clue what he was thinking.
“I have to go in the front so I can turn off the alarm system,” she explained.
He nodded. “I know. I was just looking around. I stopped in at the bakery. The woman behind the counter told me they’ve been doing a brisk business this morning—lots of people curious about what happened last night.”
They walked along the side of the building to the front, where Tori’s gaze automatically went to the jewelry store. The front window was boarded up. “George will probably try to get that replaced today so he can reopen,” she murmured.
Turning to the door of Perceptions, she unlocked it, pressed in the code for the security system and then stepped inside.
Jake’s hand was on her shoulder to stop her. She could feel the weight and heat and strength of it through her dress.
After he’d taken a quick pass around the gallery, he went into the storage room. She crossed to the computerized cash register, flipped the switch to activate it, pressed another to start a Burning Sky CD and stowed her purse under the counter. Pulling a file folder from the cabinet behind the counter, she opened it and prepared to inventory the shipment that had come in yesterday. Whether Jake was here or not, she had work to do.
Glancing toward the windows that were fitted with special glass to protect the gallery’s items from ultra-violet rays, she realized that she hadn’t opened the blinds. That was always the first thing she did when the store opened. Obviously she was distracted—by everything that had happened…and by Jake.
Tori heard Jake moving around in the storage room. Wondering what he was doing, she was about to check when the gallery door opened and the security bell dinged. Ready to greet a customer, she turned and saw…Barbara!
The teenager was more than eight months pregnant now and she’d gained about twenty-five pounds. She’d been uncomfortable with the weight gain right from the beginning. Her brown hair had been lightly frosted before her pregnancy but hadn’t been dyed since, because of the baby. Tori could see now that Barbara had had her hair cut in a short pixie style that became her.
“You’re out and about early,” Tori said. “I like your hair.”
Barbara ran her hand through the short cut. “I just had it done this morning. I thought it would be better for…everything that’s coming up.”
Tori could see that Barbara had something on her mind. “Your new life at college?”
“No. Yes. I mean, well…I’ve seen pictures of women in labor and their hair always looks a mess. I thought maybe if mine was short, I might not look so bad.”
“Nobody’s going to care how you look.”
“I care.” Frowning, Barbara moved to a burgundy leather club chair, one of the few Tori had positioned in the gallery for her customers.
Lowering herself into it, Barbara looked up at Tori with wide, blue eyes. “I’ve been worrying about all of it. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about delivering this baby. I’m scared to death about labor and all the pain. What if I can’t handle it? What if in the middle of it, I just can’t do it?”
Crossing to the young woman, Tori dropped to a crouch beside the chair. “Have you spoken to your doctor about your concerns?”
Barbara nodded. “Dr. Glessner answers all my questions. She knows I want to try to do it naturally—that’s what’s best for the baby. But that’s what I’m most afraid of. What if I just can’t do it? What if I have to take drugs and they hurt the baby?”
Tori felt at a total loss, never having gone through the experience herself. She’d read about it, heard about it and had always desperately wanted to experience it. But she never would.
A deep, calm, male voice assured Barbara, “My sister had twins and she did it naturally. The biggest part of the secret is in the breathing. Have you gone to any classes?”
When Barbara spotted Jake, she glanced at Tori curiously.
Tori made the introductions, adding, “Jake’s sister, Nina, and I were friends in high school.”
As Jake approached Barbara, she sat up a little straighte
r. Her eyes became wider. Tori realized Barbara was noticing that Jake was a very rugged, appealing man.
The teenager smiled at him, then admitted, “I…I didn’t take any classes because they’re not just about learning how to breathe. They’re about being a parent, too, and since I’m giving Tori the baby…”
Jake seemed to understand Barbara’s dilemma. “My sister, Nina, has a memory to envy. My guess is she still remembers the breathing exercises and anything else she learned. She might even still have the books on the subject. She read everything about labor, delivery and babies she could find before Ricky and Ryan were born.”
Never shy, Barbara asked, “Do you think I could talk to her? I don’t know anyone else who went through it. My mom’s no help at all. She said they gave her lots of drugs. And I don’t want that.”
“Nina and I were going to go shopping on Sunday. Let me give her a call,” Tori suggested. “Are you free Sunday afternoon to meet us?”
“What else would I be doing?” Barbara grumbled. “I don’t exactly have a social life anymore.”
The door to Perceptions opened once more, and the bell rang again.
Barbara pushed herself out of the chair. “I’ve taken up enough of your time.” She looked up at Jake. “Thanks for telling me about your sister.”
“No problem,” Jake said kindly. “If Nina can help you, she will.”
Tori laid her hand on Barbara’s shoulder. “Nina works till five. I’ll call her this evening and then get back to you.”
As Barbara headed for the door, Tori stepped around a sculpture on a pedestal to greet her customer, then broke into a wide smile. “Peter! It’s so good to see you. When did you get into town?”
Jake found himself watching with interest as Tori crossed the gallery to greet the man who’d just come in. She gave him an exuberant hug. Jake didn’t like the churning in his gut as he watched the two embrace. The guy looked to be about forty. He was about six feet, GQ handsome and dressed in a crisp, collarless, pin-striped shirt and casual charcoal slacks. He obviously knew Tori well enough to hold her close and kiss her on the cheek.
Their Baby Bond Page 5