She walked straight to Devin. “How’s it goin’, Detective? How’s your Labor Day so far?”
“Fine,” he said, clearly suspicious of her cheery tone. “Food looks good.”
“It will be. Sorry to have to ask you to work, but there’s an antique, multimillion-dollar diamond-and-sapphire necklace cursed by jealousy that’s been stolen from Rose Rutherford’s supposedly impenetrable high-tech safe. How’d you like to handle the interrogation of the suspects?”
Looking resigned, Antonio set aside his coffee cup and rose. “Hell. I knew the gang was on the loose again.”
* * *
WHILE THE DETECTIVE WAS assembling the guests in the parlor, Victoria ran upstairs for her cell phone. She wanted to send an email to the Colemans—Junior and Senior—so she could book an appointment to resign first thing Tuesday morning.
She had so many ideas for her new agency she wasn’t sure her brain could contain them all.
Hope for a possible future with Jared also dangled before her. A weekend fling that became a real relationship? Certainly not something she’d planned on, and not something that would happen without overcoming a great many challenges. But for the first time in years, she was excited about a connection that paid dividends to her heart instead of her bank account or résumé.
Now if only they could catch a thief…
Unfortunately, she couldn’t find her phone anywhere in her room. She’d searched all the obvious places, such as her purse and luggage, when she recalled sitting on the chaise longue yesterday as she checked her messages. Sticking her hand behind the cushion, she felt around.
Her fingers scraped something hard and possibly metal, but it wasn’t the phone.
With a strange mix of dread and pleasure, she pulled her hand from beneath the cushion and found the missing necklace clutched in her fist.
The gems sparkled with all their beauty and mystery as her mind raced through the possibilities of how the jewelry had found its way into her room. The thief had either panicked or grown a conscience. All she knew for sure was that a worried woman was minus a necklace, and a suspicious detective was determined to find it and its sticky-fingered thief.
At her urging, no less.
Understanding Antonio’s earlier resignation at taking on an unwanted task, she headed downstairs. After hiding the necklace behind her back, she peeked into the parlor.
The guests, or rather, suspects, were perched in various poses of anticipation. Rose sat on the sofa with Sal on one side and Jared on the other. At least she’d get her necklace back.
The black-clad figure of the cop who’d come to judge them stood alone at the back of the room, his handsome, Italian-featured face contrasting with his vivid Irish green eyes.
Victoria waved to him. Naturally, he looked irritated, but walked toward her anyway.
Jared also glanced her way, and she gave him a weak smile as she retreated into the hallway with the detective.
“What?” Devin asked. “I’d really like to have some of that barbecue. It’s been a lousy few—”
He stopped as Victoria silently held up the necklace.
“That’s the—” he began, only to halt at her nod. “You chicks are gonna kill me. Where’d you find it?”
Victoria was surprised by the wave of nervousness that shot through her. “In the cushions of the chaise longue in my bedroom.”
“Has it been there all this time?”
She started to say no, but how could she be sure? “This is the first time I’ve seen the necklace since the night when Rose wore it to dinner. But when I conducted a search of everybody’s room yesterday morning, I didn’t look in my own room.”
“Uh-huh. Calla told me you’ve been playing Nancy Drew all weekend.”
“It’s Robin Hood, actually.”
“Robin Hood was a vigilante thief.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. Spoken like a true cop. Still, she had to admit, “I suck at being a detective.”
“But it looks so easy on TV,” Antonio said sardonically.
“Are you gonna mock me or find the thief?”
“It would make my week if I could do both.”
Victoria crossed her arms over her chest. “If you want barbecue before next month, you might want to move this along.”
“Sure thing. You’re certain you haven’t added theft to your list of crimes?”
“My record’s clean.”
“Sure it is. Are you and that big guy with the tan sleeping together?”
“Y—” She stopped. “What does that have to do with the theft?”
“Nothing. Just curious. But anybody who spends that much time in the sun isn’t working too hard.”
“Really?” She gave him a knowing smile. “Is there a particular reason you haven’t asked Calla out yet, or are you just scared?”
His green eyes sparked, then he visibly restrained himself. “Nice one, Vic.”
She scowled. “I don’t like being called Vic.”
Shrugging, he stuffed the necklace into his jacket pocket, and Victoria had only a second to wonder who wore black leather at the beach in September before he’d returned to the parlor.
He stalked into the already tense atmosphere. “I’m Detective Devin Antonio, NYPD.” When he held up his badge, several people exchanged uncomfortable glances. Emily gasped. “It’s my understanding that a necklace belonging to Mrs. Rose Rutherford was stolen this past Friday night, and I’m here to find both the missing property and the perpetrator of said crime.”
Victoria had to hand it to him. The man wasn’t big on conversation, but he knew how and when to say the important stuff.
Richard surged to his feet. “This is Southampton. You have no jurisdiction here.”
“Sit down, Mr. Rutherford.” Antonio glared at him until he did, then again addressed the group. “This crime was reported to me by Victoria Holmes, who’s a citizen of the city of New York and was concerned for her safety. Therefore, I’m making it my mission to find this thief and put a stop to the crime spree infesting this estate.”
“Infesting?” Richard again started to rise, only to have Ruthie lay her hand on his shoulder.
“Let the police do their job,” she said.
Richard sent Victoria a resentful glare, but followed his wife’s order.
Maybe Ruthie was tired of her husband’s posturing, and had decided to teach him a lesson. Victoria hadn’t really considered her a suspect, but how could any woman be married to that narcissistic creep and not want to take him down a peg or two?
Before she could pursue her thoughts thoroughly, the detective began his questioning. With a precision Victoria admired, he ran everybody through their movements of the night in question. He drilled Richard about the safe and its capabilities. He asked Mrs. Keegan and all three Rutherfords about the property’s security system.
“So, which one of you has it?” Antonio asked casually at the conclusion of the interrogation. When nobody moved, and in fact, all froze, he sighed deeply. “Come on, people. One of you did it. Fess up. It’s a holiday, and I’ve got a date with grilled meats.”
The only person who moved was Richard, who this time darted toward the detective before he could be reprimanded. “This has been a huge waste of time.”
“Sit down, Mr. Rutherford,” Antonio said, laying his hand casually on the butt of the pistol holstered at his side.
“Victoria already questioned everybody about their alibis,” Rich
ard pointed out. “Obviously, that got us nowhere, since the necklace hasn’t been stolen, simply misplaced.”
“I locked the necklace in the safe,” Rose said wearily, as if tired of explaining the same thing over and over.
“I just don’t see why we have to go through this farce of an interrogation when a crime hasn’t even been committed.” Richard gave the detective a haughty glare. “Though even if there was a theft, you don’t have the authority to arrest anyone.”
Antonio stared at him. “I’m sure I could dig out the paperwork for an accessory-after-the-fact charge that the local sheriff’s department would be happy to file for me.”
“If Victoria didn’t find that necklace,” Richard said confidently, “I can’t imagine you will.”
Dismissing Richard, Antonio walked to the center of the room. “Yes, well, as talented as Ms. Holmes is in PR, I have a few more skills than her in this particular area. Besides, it’s not a matter of finding the necklace.”
“Not find it?” Rose cried, clutching Sal’s hand between both of hers. “But it’s very important to me.”
Antonio’s gaze swept the room. “It’s not necessary to find it, because I already have it.”
Then, as casually as if he was pulling his keys from his pocket, Antonio held up the precious gems by their thick gold chain.
Though it was cool to see everyone’s astonishment—especially Richard’s—Victoria couldn’t help being annoyed that she’d spent days looking for the thing, as well as being the one to actually find it, and Devin was getting all the credit.
“M-my necklace,” Rose said slowly into the silence.
Victoria met Jared’s confused gaze and suddenly wished she’d taken time to warn him. Surely he didn’t think she’d been withholding the jewelry the entire time. Or that Antonio had found the thing in the twenty minutes he’d been on-site.
To her relief, Jared smiled and crossed the room to her. “Congratulations,” he said, pulling her into his arms.
“Anybody else have a comment?” the detective asked, looking annoyed by the interruption of his big moment.
“Rose and I are getting married,” Sal said proudly.
Richard whirled to his mother. “When did this happen?”
“Last night,” she said, her face glowing. “With all this tension over my missing necklace, we agreed not to say anything until it was found.”
“People, there’s the small matter of who took the necklace in the first place.” Antonio checked his watch. “I’m on a schedule here.”
“But…” Shocked and pale, Richard sank weakly into a chair. “It’s really been a most unpleasant weekend.”
“Oh, get over yourself, darling.” Ruthie crossed to her mother-in-law and kissed her cheek, then Sal’s. “I think it’s marvelous. We’ll start on wedding plans immediately. Should we have the ceremony here on the beach? Shelby, can you cater?”
Shelby blinked. “Uh, sure. We’ll all get together to discuss a date later in the week.”
Rose, in her element as the center of attention, beamed. “That would be lovely. Thank you all so much for—”
David pushed to his feet. “I took the necklace,” he said calmly.
Boy, it’s always the quiet ones.
Sal was the first to recover from the shock. “But why?” he asked, his voice tight with pain. “Why would you steal from Rose?”
David sighed, and despite all the trouble he’d caused, Victoria actually felt badly for him. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Rutherford,” he said, his pale skin flushing red. “It was an impulse. My mother was a secretary for Rutherford Securities, you see.”
Victoria didn’t—at all. By the blank looks on the faces around her, no one else did, either.
“When I was a kid, she worked there for many years,” David continued. “She was fired when she caught her boss stealing supplies. She told the office manager, her boss denied the theft, the manager sided with her boss.” David’s shrug was slow and heavy. “We had to go on food stamps for nearly two years until she found another job. I saw Rose wearing that necklace the other night and all the old resentment came flooding back. I know it sounds bizarre, but I had the crazy idea that I’d take from the rich and give to the poor.”
Finally, Victoria did see.
Detective Antonio, who recognized a valuable opportunity when it was presented to him, advanced toward David. “So you stashed the necklace in Victoria’s room, hoping to throw suspicion on her?”
“No,” David replied. “I just wanted to get rid of it at that point. I figured somebody would find it eventually, when I wasn’t around. I’m sorry if you suspected Victoria.”
“And the jewelry case in the pantry?” Victoria asked.
“What case?” Richard asked, confused. “When—”
“Be quiet and let him explain,” she said, aggravated by his continual interruptions. Thank goodness she didn’t have to work with the insufferable man.
David cleared his throat. “I sewed the necklace into the lining of my suitcase, where nobody would find it, so I had to dump the original box.” He turned to Antonio. “I guess you’re going to arrest me.”
Victoria could have sworn sympathy skated across the detective’s face. “Let’s go see the sheriff, and we’ll talk about what happens next.”
But when Antonio started to lead David out, both Rose and her son stood.
“You’ll do no such thing,” the matriarch announced.
“Mother!” Richard exclaimed. “He broke into your safe. My safe, actually.” He jabbed his finger in David’s direction. “How’d you do it?”
David’s shamed expression turned prideful. “I used my garage door opener to scramble the electronic signal. My mother told me the engineers at your company used to do it all the time to get into the executive lounge when they were working late. I could hardly believe it worked.”
Victoria exchanged a knowing look with Jared. Electronic fingerprint compromised. By a garage door opener. No freaking kidding.
“That blasted, supposedly impenetrable safe.” In a serious huff, Rose scowled at her son as she crossed the room. “You’re not going to the sheriff’s office,” she said to David, grasping both of his hands. “Your poor mother. I can’t imagine how she felt after her horrible boss lied, then doubted her word. It’s difficult enough to be a single mom.”
She kissed David on his cheek, then turned to Antonio with an inviting smile that had no doubt charmed kings and presidents for forty years. “Detective, surely we can forget all about this silly theft business.”
By the expression on Antonio’s face, Victoria could tell he was mentally repeating the words silly theft business as if Rose had spoken in a foreign language. But true to his sometimes odd and compassionate history, he sighed. “Fine. Whatever. I was never here.”
He was in the process of leaving the room when Trevor, Shelby’s fiancé, strode in.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Did I miss anything?”
* * *
AFTER TREVOR’S ENTRANCE, THE party pretty much broke up. Peter and Emily tried to console Richard, who remained furious with his mother, Devin, Victoria, Jared…well, pretty much everybody. Rose and Sal wanted to enjoy their holiday lunch during a private celebration cruise for two.
Jared, after recommending a certain secluded cove, had to leave for the airport.
Ruthie was kind enough to pack up containers of food for David, who went to see his mother, and for Victoria and her friends. They ret
urned to the city and ate barbecue on the balcony of Shelby and Trevor’s high-rise Chelsea apartment. Figuring they owed him—again—the gang invited the detective, too.
“I knew it was David before he said a word,” Devin said, twisting off the cap of another beer bottle while the sun descended beyond the buildings at his back.
“How?” Victoria asked in disbelief, annoyed that Jared was on his way to Acapulco and that she hadn’t ever considered David a serious suspect.
“When I started questioning everybody, he was the only one who was truly nervous. Also, when I held up the necklace, he stared not at me or the gems, but at you.” He shrugged. “He was worried you’d be implicated in the theft, so I knew he was the one who’d hidden the necklace in your room.”
Calla stared at him. “Why does that sound so easy?”
Devin lifted his beer. “’Cause it is. If you know what you’re doing.”
“Detective,” Shelby admonished, reclining on the lounge chair with Trevor, “please keep the bragging to a minimum. We’ve had our fill this weekend.”
“Sorry.” The detective sent a furtive, longing look toward Calla that Victoria noticed, even if her friend didn’t. “I don’t usually.”
Trevor kissed the top of his fiancée’s head. “And yet everything came out well in the end.”
Everybody turned toward Victoria.
“What?” she barked, grabbing her wineglass. “I’m perfectly happy. Why shouldn’t I be? I didn’t solve the case, plus I lost a valuable client, my senior vice presidency and my corner office. But I got my freedom. Life is damn near perfect.”
“No, it isn’t,” Calla said, laying her hand gently over Victoria’s. “But it could be.”
“We have nothing in common,” she told her friends, though ridiculous tears burned behind her eyes. “City versus country. Type A versus type B. He’s off skydiving, for heaven’s sake. And I still want my corner office. My own, mind you, but it’s still necessary. I’m not facing my mother over Christmas dinner if I’m unemployed. You honestly think Jared and I could make it as a couple?”
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