A Cop in Her Stocking Page 8

  The only thing that stopped Ty from groaning was the fact that Megan would no doubt ask what had caused it. He would have to tell her the money for Connor’s disastrous Shop with a Cop outing had come from him, not the department. He cringed inwardly at the thought. He’d misrepresented the department, tricked her into taking gifts from him and lost her son in one efficient screwup. She would be about as happy with his brilliant idea as Leo and the chief had been.

  She’d probably hate him.

  Resisting the urge to glance at her, he put the cell away and turned off the ignition. He’d tell her. Just as he would come clean with Leo. Eventually.

  Right now he had to focus on finding out who might have taken Connor. And even though this fishing expedition they were on was far from efficient, until he could convince Megan to go to the police, this was all he had.

  “That bad, huh?”

  He pulled the key from the ignition. She’d obviously read his expression. He’d have to be more careful. “Let’s go.”

  They climbed from the car and entered Radiant Diamonds.

  The place looked much as it had when he’d bought that bracelet five years ago. Glass cases stretched from one end of the place to the other, and the shelves inside each were filled with sparkle. Diamonds and other precious stones, handmade jewelry using what looked like precious and semiprecious stones and spun glass caught every ray of sunlight streaming in from the window and reflecting on the snow outside.

  He needed sunglasses, indoors or not.

  They probably did a good business during tourist season, when Lake Hubbard was overrun with wealthy Chicagoans on vacation. And what’s more, all he could see in terms of security was an alarm system with an internal motion sensor, much like the one Keating had installed in their own place of business.

  “May I help you?”

  Ty turned to see a squat, heavyset man who looked as brutal as a bulldog. “Ah, yes.”

  “Let me guess,” he growled. “An engagement ring.”

  Megan said, “No, nothing like that,” at precisely the same time as Ty said, “Yes, thanks.”

  Ty felt a familiar sinking in his chest. Even though he actually hadn’t been going to buy Megan an engagement ring, it was as if the past rejection of that damn bracelet was playing itself all over again.

  He needed to get his head together.

  The man frowned. “So, you never asked or what?”

  “Ah, we talked about it.” They should have gotten their stories straight before they walked in the door. He hadn’t realized they were in for an interrogation even in the damn jewelry store.

  “Yeah. Briefly.” Megan gave him a weak smile, trying to play along.

  “And you didn’t know why you were coming in here today?”

  “I thought we were looking at necklaces for my mother,” she said, voice hesitant.

  “Why don’t you look at both?” The man smiled. He pulled out a small ring of keys, moved to one of the cases and opened it so fast even the most timid shopper wouldn’t have time to withdraw.

  He also didn’t have time to deactivate any additional security on the glass cases beyond the small lock on each. This place was nearly begging to be robbed.

  The salesman started with a couple necklaces, but apparently picked up the feeling that Megan didn’t really know what she wanted, so he shifted to the rings. “Princess cut, square, and here’s the most exquisite round diamond I have ever carried in this store. Platinum setting, too.” He opened a small box.

  Megan took in a sharp breath.

  The man smiled. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It is, but…”

  “Oh, you have to try it on.”

  Megan looked like she wanted to run from the store.

  Ty felt a little queasy.

  The man grinned. “Sometimes it helps to see it on your hand before you know whether or not you’re ready.”

  “Try it on,” Ty said. They’d seen what they needed to see, as far as the security, or lack thereof, was concerned. The quicker they played along with the rest of this, the sooner they could check out the next place on their list.

  Megan sighed and held out her hand.

  The jeweler slipped it on her finger. “Perfect. I don’t think it even has to be sized. Now hold it up. Take a good look.”

  Ty leaned close. He didn’t have much of an eye for jewelry. It all just looked like sparkly stuff, as far as he was concerned. But he had to admit, the ring was beautiful on Megan’s hand. Almost like it belonged there.

  “No. I don’t think so.” Megan pulled the ring off and handed it back. “It’s too expensive.”

  “I have a full range of prices. Let’s see what else…”

  “No. I mean, thank you, but I…I don’t think I’m ready for something like that.”

  “I guess we have some things to work out first.” An understatement if Ty had ever uttered one. They were here to take a look at the security, not rings. And there, he reminded himself, they had scored big time. “Thanks for your time.”

  “Why don’t the two of you talk things over? We’ll be here when you decide.” The manager gave them a patronizing smile and handed both Ty and Megan a business card.

  Apparently in case they wanted to shop alone next time. Ty returned the bulldog’s phony grin. “Thanks.”

  He took one last look around. A burglary here would definitely be profitable. Maybe a little risky, being on the main drag, but all in all a much easier target than the pharmaceutical company and more profitable than stealing artisan cheese.

  And the whole charade with the ring? The fact that Megan couldn’t even pretend to accept a diamond from him shouldn’t surprise him. After the would-be Santa Claus article came out, he doubted she’d be willing to accept anything from him again.

  He held the door open for her, something he knew she hated.

  As they stepped back out onto the snowy sidewalk, Megan glanced up at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For not playing along better in there. I’m not very good at lying.”

  He knew he shouldn’t feel so hurt by her choice of words, but he couldn’t help it. “Wanting to get engaged to me is that big a lie, is it?”

  She looked away from him and focused on his car alongside the curb up ahead. Her steps quickened. “That’s not what I meant.”

  He shook his head. He was such a jerk. Really, he shouldn’t be surprised at her reaction. The way he was behaving, who would want to even pretend to be his fiancée? “Listen, I’m sorry.”

  She kept walking.

  He hit a button on his remote and unlocked the car doors. Quickening his pace, he pulled beside her. This whole situation, seeing her again, being close to her, had dug up all of his insecurities. He needed to explain himself. “It’s just that…I’ve bought you jewelry before, and you refused it. I’m a little sensitive about the issue. Even if this time it wasn’t real.”

  “Jewelry?”

  Now he wanted to crawl under the nearest snowdrift. Good thing there were plenty around. “The diamond bracelet.”

  “You gave me the bracelet after you told me you were leaving, Ty. It wasn’t the gift, it was the timing. I didn’t need a pity gift or an apology gift or whatever you intended it to be.”

  “I just wanted to give you something that you could look at every day I was gone. So you could remember me.” The explanation sounded selfish, even to his own ears.

  “Even though you left, you wanted me to wait for you. You wanted to know I’d still be there.”

  That was it. And now, understanding that, he could see why she’d given it back. He couldn’t blame her one bit.

  She reached for the door handle. Something fluttered out of her hand and rested on a pile of snow along the curb. She picked up the card, then stared up at him, eyes wide.

  “What is it?”

  She handed him the business card the jewelry store owner had given her. “His name. Valducci. I think his family is t
ied to the Chicago mob.”

  Chapter Nine

  Megan wished she hadn’t said anything. Not until she was sure. But the sight of that familiar name on the business card coupled with their discussion last night had her mind racing.

  Ty blew out through tense lips, his breath fogging in the air.

  His brows pulled low. “How do you know this?”

  “Through Doug.” Megan didn’t want to go into those days in Chicago when her life fell apart for a second time. She didn’t even want to think about them. But if she knew Ty, she was going to have to tell him what she knew, difficult as it was. He wouldn’t leave her alone about it until she did.

  She glanced around at the quaint shops and restaurants of Lake Hubbard. The place was quiet compared to tourist season, but that only made her feel more exposed. She shivered. “Can we sit in the car or something?”

  Ty opened her door.

  She settled into the passenger seat. Even though they’d only been inside the jewelry store for a short time, the air in the car felt colder than outside. And as still as the inside of a freezer. She shivered again.

  Ty slid into the driver’s seat. Saying nothing, he started the engine and switched the heater to high, his unspoken questions hovering between them.

  “Doug has a gambling problem. Sports, mostly. It started out as something social, and he ended up really getting into debt.”

  “In debt to the Valducci family?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know if they’re related. But the name doesn’t seem too common.”

  “Is that why he embezzled money from your clients? To pay off gambling debts?”

  She had wanted to think Ty didn’t know about the embezzlement. She should have figured he did. Word certainly did travel fast in their hometown. And it often arrived embellished. “Then you know.”

  “Why you lost your investment business? Why you have to settle for cleaning jobs?” He nodded. “My aunt Sheila keeps me up on everything. You should know that.”

  Megan smiled. Sheila had been one of her favorites of all Ty’s family. She knew everyone’s business, but she was never malicious. And she was quite a matchmaker.

  “You shouldn’t have had to pay for what he did.”

  She let the smile drop from her lips and shrugged her coat tighter around her. Warm air blasted from the vents, but Megan wondered if she’d ever get warm.

  Her life had been turned upside down after Doug’s arrest. For a time, the police had even believed she was part of his scheme, and he had let them think it. In fact, he’d tried to blame the whole thing on her. But as painful as it was that Ty knew about those dark times, it was reassuring in a way, too. It made her feel less alone.

  And that in itself should probably have her worried.

  She focused her thoughts on her ex-husband. “Do you think it’s possible that Connor was kidnapped because Doug couldn’t pay off his debt?”

  “Maybe. But if that’s the case, why didn’t they contact him after Connor was taken? Why call you?”

  She didn’t have an answer. Or maybe she did. “Because I’m the one who had the job cleaning Keating Security. And I was supposed to have the expertise to get the security files.” Too bad she hadn’t actually had that expertise. Too bad she’d failed.

  “Did Doug get a call at all?”

  “Not that he told me. Unless the kidnapper called him since we last spoke.”

  “If the Valducci family is behind this, why would they target their own store?”

  “To collect insurance money?”

  Ty arched his brows. “Insurance fraud. Yeah. That could be possible. The store certainly isn’t a very hard target. And if they could blame the theft on you, or better, Doug, who has a record…I can see it.”

  “So how do we find out more about something like that? It’s not like we can ask the Valducci family.”

  “You’re not going to like my answer.”

  She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “The police department.”

  He held up a hand as if to stay her protests. “I can talk to some people. See what they know. We don’t have to make this official.”

  “And they won’t try to find out why you’re asking about the mob’s connection to this jewelry store?”

  He shrugged a shoulder.

  “You can’t tell them why, Ty.”

  “I won’t. Trust me.”

  She pressed her lips together and pulled her coat tighter. She stared out the window at the snowy street. She did trust Ty. She wanted to.

  Ty brought a hand to her jaw. He’d pulled off his glove, and his fingers were warm on her skin. He turned her to face him, his eyes searching hers. “We’re in this together, Meg. We need to work together, to trust each other.”

  For a moment, she thought he would kiss her, and she couldn’t remember wanting a kiss so much. At least not since she was twenty and still believed in love.

  She pulled in a shaky breath and dropped her gaze. He was right. If they were going to find Connor, they had to work together. And they also had to each use whatever resources were at their disposal. And Ty wasn’t the only one who had them. “I take it you don’t want me with you.”

  “In this case, it would make things a little harder to explain.”

  “Okay. Find out what you can. We can meet in an hour at the next place on our list.”

  He pulled the printout from his coat pocket and took a glance. “Julianne’s is the only one left. It’s at 533 Lake Drive.”

  She nodded, recognizing the name of one of the places she had never heard of before, and one that hadn’t answered its phone this morning. “Julianne’s.”

  She just hoped that when she next saw Ty, neither one of them had made a horrible mistake.

  A FEW OF THE DETECTIVES AT THE Lake Hubbard P.D. were creatures of habit. Every day, workload willing, they would venture out of their offices, cross the street, amble down the block and duck into a place called Buck’s for lunch.

  The scent of hot hamburgers and stale beer hit Ty as he pushed his way into the bar. Sports memorabilia and television sets tuned to hockey, basketball and NFL prognostication covered every corner, pushing the decor and the sound level into the loud range. But despite the noise, the place wasn’t busy.

  In fact, it was downright dead.

  Ty glanced in one booth after the next, expecting to see at least one detective chowing down a Buck’s Behemoth with cheese, a side of pepper fries and a Coke. But there wasn’t a cop in the place. He leaned against the bar and cleared his throat to get the bartender’s attention.

  A skinny kid wearing an orange Buck’s T-shirt threw aside the bar towel he was using to wipe down bottles and turned to Ty with a smile. “Here for the lunch order, officer?”

  “Lunch order?”

  “Six Behemoths, fries, soda to go?”

  “Sorry. Is that order for the P.D.?”

  “Yep.”

  No wonder the place was void of cops. They were ordering in today. He wondered why. “What time did you give for pick up?”

  The kid glanced at his watch. “Less than five minutes from now. That’s why I thought you must be here for it.”

  Five minutes. Only one detective would make the pick up. And he’d be able to ask that detective a few questions without others looking on and asking questions of their own. And without risking a run-in with Leo, or worse the chief.

  Five minutes hadn’t yet passed when Todd Baker pushed through the door and bellied up to the bar.

  “Hey, Baker.” Ty slid onto the bar stool beside him. “You piss people off or something? Where is everybody?”

  “Big case. A shooting out in Lake Pass.”

  A solidly working-class neighborhood of tiny ranch houses and no lakefront to speak of, Lake Pass was a quiet area with little drama. A shooting was unusual for Lake Hubbard. It was downright bizarre in Lake Pass. “Dead?”

  “As a doornail.”

  “What kind of shooting?”

 
; “Looks like suicide. But there are a few loose ends we’ve got to tie up before we’re making any kind of announcement.” He flagged down the bartender with a wave of his hand.

  The kid plopped three liter bottles of cola in a bag, set it on the bar, and disappeared through the swinging door leading into the kitchen.

  Baker pulled out his wallet and fished out a stack of bills. “Word has it you’ve been busy since I saw you yesterday.”

  Ty tried his best innocent look. Had Baker or someone else followed up with Doug yet? Was he fishing for information? Hard to say. “What do you mean?”

  “Talked to Ed. He told me you’re moonlighting as a janitor now.”

  He should have guessed that would come up. Ed had a love for gossip that rivaled a teenage girl’s. “Not exactly. I was just helping a friend.”

  “A friend, eh? Figured. I also heard you and Megan Garvey had a thing at one time.”

  “Sounds like you’ve been hearing a lot of things lately.”

  “Helps to know how to listen.” Baker thumbed through the cash in his hand and laid some bills on the bar.

  Ty wasn’t sure he wanted Baker to listen too hard to what he was about to ask. The detective was a smart guy. The last thing Ty wanted was him putting the pieces together.

  No, the last thing Ty wanted was to fail to figure out who had Connor until it was too late. “Know the name Valducci?”

  “Owns the jewelry store.”

  “So everyone knows who owns Radiant Diamonds except me?”

  Baker shrugged. “Me and the missus bought our anniversary bands there. Diamonds in the bands. Got a good price.” He held up his hand, flashing a sparkly ring.

  It figured. And Ty had spent the past five years avoiding everything about the place…and the memories that went with it. “He’s from the Chicago area, right? Marco Valducci?”

  “What are you getting at, Ty?”

  “Heard he was from a mob family. Is it true?”

  “That surprises you? You’re from around here. You know Lake Hubbard wouldn’t be more than farm fields if not for the mob needing a summer getaway.”