Soft footfalls on carpet made her turn to see the workroom door opening. She wasn’t surprised to see him. Honestly, the guy could sneak into a sealed box.
He must have stopped by his home, because he now wore dark jeans and a black T-shirt. Mirrored sunglasses perched atop his head. “I locked the front door behind me,” he said with that wicked smile of his. “Any luck?”
Iris swallowed her trepidation and steeled herself to lie. “Lots of it.” She refocused her lamp over her table. “Come see for yourself.”
He peered over her shoulder at the ten gems displayed on the table. Beneath the bright light, the red glowed as dark and rich as newly spilled blood.
“They’re so perfectly matched,” Mickey said.
“The original gems were all cut from one stone. They ended up roughly the same size, though there were some different shapes.”
“You’re sure these are worth ten million? I mean, if they were real?”
“And then some. With their cultural and historical significance, they could be worth twice that. The Russian government would probably kill to have the originals returned to them.”
“Well, what’s a few more killers after them?” Mickey scooped the gems into his hand. “Will they really turn color and everything?”
“Look at them under the bathroom light. It’s the closest I’ve got to natural daylight.”
Mickey carried the gems to the small bathroom and flicked the switch. “I’ll be damned.” He looked back out at her. “This isn’t natural?”
“Those are treated with vanadium, so it’s not as strong a change as real alexandrite, but so few people have ever seen real alexandrite-”
“Let’s hope our luck holds out.” Mickey dropped the gems into the velvet bag she held open. “They won’t chip in here, will they?”
“No, corundum has a high density factor. Like diamonds, they’re nearly impossible to chip.”
He drew the string on the bag, but before he tucked it into a pocket, he stopped. “I can’t thank you enough. You may have just saved my life.”
Warmth flooded Iris’s face. They’d be having a much different discussion if he ever found out she had the real gems. “They’re meant to save Cosmo.”
“I’ll do what I can.” He turned and practically tripped over Edgar. “Where did he come from?”
“Allie got called into a rehearsal.”
He stared down at the rabbit. “You know, that collar… I didn’t think to check it. You don’t suppose Cosmo would-”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I checked them already.” She hoped she didn’t sound like she was lying. To her relief, Edgar hopped away from the bathroom light toward the worktable.
Mickey watched her but didn’t seem to notice her words. “Thanks again for these.” He patted his pocket, but his eyes burned with that predatory intensity she found so alluring.
But kisses were out-she couldn’t risk involvement with someone she didn’t trust. And you’re engaged, remember? She retreated to her table where she realigned her tools. “You’re welcome. And if you-” No, as much as she wanted to tell him the truth, she couldn’t risk it. She swallowed again. “Call me if you find Cosmo.”
“First thing. You’ll have to lock me out.”
“Oh, right.” Apparently, he could break into places, just couldn’t break out.
She followed him across the sales floor and let him out the front door. Already traffic inside the casino was picking up, mostly tourists and seniors in shorts and T-shirts, baseball caps and sneakers. One older foreign gentleman wearing a caftan and turban perused the window displays. Somewhere in the casino, a slot machine paid out with a repetitive ching-ching-ching.
Iris once thought hitting a jackpot would always bring happiness, but now she knew money was only one small part of the equation. She’d give millions just to see Cosmo again. Catching herself daydreaming, she stepped back inside, closing and locking the door behind her.
She returned to the workroom to finish cleaning up. “Come on, Edgar. You can help with some paperwork until it’s time to open.” She looked around for the rabbit, but the back doorbell interrupted her.
“UPS,” called a male voice from beyond the door.
Of course they’d get here early today. Iris hadn’t thought about them because Ginny usually worked the early shift and dealt with deliveries. Prepared to warn the guy to watch where he might step, she went to the backdoor and unbolted the lock.
Immediately, the door was kicked open, nearly striking her in the face.
Too late, she recalled it was Sunday.
Justin waited in the backstage area at the MGM Grand. Despite his normally grounded perspective, he experienced a twinge of awe at the scope of the surroundings. The airspace soaring above the stage was filled with black drapes and dark lighting instruments. The exotic dance show they staged here was all about lights, music and bare female bodies.
He was relieved the female bodies hadn’t been invited to the technical rehearsal.
The problem was no one seemed to have been invited to the technical rehearsal. No one except Allie Fortune. And him.
A motion in the heavy draperies had him reaching for his weapon before he saw Allie slide from the darkness. Her black attire made it that much harder to track her in the darkened theater. The last thing he needed was to shoot an innocent civilian. Once was quite enough for his career.
He relaxed into a neutral posture as she approached. Her black running shoes squeaked across the wooden floor of the stage, disrupting the somber silence. A single light bulb on a short pole cast a puddle of light but made no impact on the shadows.
Frankly, the whole place gave him the creeps.
“Didn’t you say something about a rehearsal?”
She stopped before him, the light behind her casting a halo around her hair and silhouetting her lithe body. Justin swallowed and dragged his mind firmly back to business.
“I did,” she said. “But I lied.”
“You lied?”
Her features were difficult to read in this lighting, but she nodded.
“Why?” he asked.
Her gaze lifted to meet his. Dilated by the darkness, her pupils made her normally golden eyes look black. “Can I trust you?”
Justin hated that question. It was the most loaded question in history. Immediate responses triggered in his mind. Why? Are you guilty of something? What is it you need? They were all qualifiers, because no one could be openly trusted in all situations.
She watched him with those wide eyes.
He wondered again if she needed rescuing. A woman like Allie didn’t deserve crappy things happening in her life. He’d like to help her.
“Can I?” she gently prodded.
“Yes.” So much for qualifiers.
Her sudden warm smile paired with the halo around her golden hair made him think of angels and all the good things in the world. “I thought so. I knew you were on Daddy’s side.”
“But I need to uphold the law-”
“You said you didn’t think Daddy had done anything wrong. You needed him for questioning. And I want to find him. I’m worried that he’s in real trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” As casually as possible, he took her arm and turned her so half her face was lit by that one glowing light.
She hung her head, eyes downcast. “I don’t know. Daddy always told me about his projects, his plans, his crazy schemes, but in the past couple months he’s been unnaturally silent. Kept telling me to move on with my school, my career.”
“Do you think he told your sisters anything?”
That made her lift her head. “Maybe. Did you know Cory and I went to Iris’s last night?”
“Yes.” He knew because Mickey had told him while they were at the morgue. Probably best not to let her know that little tidbit.