Twin Temptation

He sat down beside her. “One thing I can tell you. I worked with her for a year before she signed the lease on this building. There were three other places she looked at, but she told me that she wanted a store on Madison Avenue. She believed it would bring her luck. It did.”

Maddie took the tool that Cho offered and turned back to the circular rings. Then, drawing in a deep breath, she hit the first stroke.

8

WHILE ADAM had waxed on and on extolling the design values of first a ring and then a bracelet, Jase had taken the time to study the room. The worktable that Cho and Maddie sat at ran nearly the length of one wall. It had two workspaces. Adam’s desk and worktable sat on the opposite wall.

Occasionally, Adam would glance over to see what Maddie was doing. Jase had used those opportunities to take a quick inventory of the sketches that nearly covered the walls. He knew from Jordan that Cho didn’t create any original jewelry, that he worked on executing and occasionally modifying Eva’s designs.Adam’s jewelry was bolder than Eva’s, and his use of gems was more dramatic. Jase glanced down at the piece Adam had described as a tennis necklace of multicolored gems nestled between stations of etched gold. It was a stunner, and it was the only piece Adam had shown him that might suit Maddie.

“How much?” Jase asked.

“One hundred and fifty thousand.” Adam glanced over his shoulder to check on Maddie and Cho again.

Jase took advantage of his distraction to pull open a second drawer in the small chest. It held hundreds of gems separated by colors into different compartments.

“Stop that.”

It was only his lightning-fast reflexes that kept Jase’s fingers from being caught when Adam slammed the drawer shut.

“That’s a lot of bling,” Jase commented.

“Yes.” Adam held out his hand for the tennis necklace. “If that tennis necklace isn’t to your taste, Arnold has more on the main floor.”

Instead of handing it over, Jase poured the necklace from one hand into the other. “I heard there was a robbery here about a month ago. I guess they didn’t get in here.”

“No,” Adam said shortly, wiggling his fingers impatiently for the necklace. “The thieves hit the main salon.”

“I heard that what they took roughly amounted to fifty thousand less than the price of this necklace. But I suppose something like this would be harder to fence than the smaller pieces that were taken.”

Adam stiffened. “Every piece that was taken was one of a kind. It was a terrible loss.”

“Were some of your pieces stolen?”

Something flashed into Adam’s eyes. Anger, or maybe fear. “As a matter of fact, none of my pieces were stolen. If your theory is correct, the thieves might have found my designs a little too pricey. Now, if you’ll give me that necklace?”

“Actually, I like it. But it’s a little large for Maddie. Could you make one a little bit daintier with smaller stones?”

Though Jase hadn’t supposed it possible, Adam grew even stiffer and his voice rose slightly. “Absolutely not. I never alter one of my designs.”

Jase allowed a puzzled expression to fill his face. “But Jordan told me that was why so few pieces were on display in the main salon—so that customers could consult with the designer and place special orders.”

Adam snatched the necklace, placed it back in the cabinet and locked the drawer. “That’s Jordan’s strategy. Aunt Eva went along with it. I didn’t.”

“But wouldn’t you have made more money in the long run by following Jordan’s strategy?”

Adam’s chin lifted. “I’m an artist. I won’t modify my designs.”

Jase would grant Adam was creative. But if he had to choose two other words to describe Maddie and Jordan’s cousin, they would be arrogant and rebellious. The rebelliousness was something he and his aunt Eva had shared. According to Jordan, both had shunned going into the family banking business. Perhaps Eva Ware had seen a bit of herself in her nephew. But in the end, she hadn’t seen enough to leave him her business.

At the far end of the room, the first hit of a hammer sounded.

Adam whirled toward Maddie and Cho. “Wait a minute. You can’t—”

Jase gripped his arm and kept him firmly anchored in place. He pitched his voice low. “Actually, she can. You have no authority to stop her.”

Adam’s face went red with fury. But whatever he would have said was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He glanced impatiently at the caller ID and then took the call. “Mother, I’m…No…Yes. I can explain.”

Adam glanced once more at Maddie and Cho; then with frustration radiating off him in waves, he whirled and left the room.

What exactly did Adam Ware have to explain to his mother, Jase wondered. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem happy about it. On the bright side, it had gotten Adam out of the room.

Jase shifted his attention to Maddie and Cho. Their heads were bent low over the pendant Maddie was working on, and Cho was speaking in a low murmur. They were so absorbed in their work that he doubted they were aware that Adam had just stormed out.

Satisfied, Jase moved to a far window that looked down on 51st Street. Pedestrians moved quickly along the sidewalks in steady streams interrupted only by the changing traffic lights.

Adam Ware was going to be a problem. Jase knew from Jordan that Adam was twenty-nine and he’d joined Eva Ware Designs right out of college. He’d already been working there for three years and designing his own line of jewelry when Jordan had come on board. He’d resented her presence from the beginning and complained regularly about any changes she wanted to make.

And Jordan hadn’t been a jewelry designer. How much more resentment was Adam feeling about Maddie? And just how dangerous was that temper that flared so close to the surface? Frowning, he glanced back at Maddie, saw her hold the pendant she was working on up to the light. Cho murmured something to her before she set it back on the worktable and once more picked up the small hammer.

The more Jase thought about it, the more he was convinced that Eva had stirred up a real hornet’s nest of trouble with the terms of her will. In college, Jordan had described her mother as having an acute case of tunnel vision. And while it might have interfered with her personal life and relationships, Eva’s ability to focus almost solely on her designs and business had served her career well. Jase had no doubt that the woman hadn’t considered even for a minute the problems her daughters might encounter as a result of her desire to reunite them. Toss Eva’s probable murder into the mix, and the terms of the will made a real recipe for disaster.

Jase didn’t like any of it. But part of the Adam Ware problem could be solved—temporarily at least. The best way to get Adam off Maddie’s back for a while was to distract him. And Jase had an idea of just how to do that.

Assured that Maddie and Cho were too engaged in their work to pay attention to anything he said, he turned back to the window and pressed a number into his phone.

“Campbell and Angelis Security.”

Jase recognized his brother D.C.’s voice immediately. “Holding down the fort, are you?”

“So you’ve finally risen from the dead? From the way you were talking last night, I didn’t expect to hear from you until at least midafternoon.”

“Is Dino there?”

“He’s due back momentarily. But I’m available,” D.C. said. “And bored. Answering the phone is not really my true calling.”

“I’ve got a list of names I want you to write down.” Keeping his voice low, Jase rattled off the names of everyone they’d met so far at the store. “They all work at Eva Ware Designs.”

“Sounds like you’re working on a case.”

“Yeah. It was one I agreed to before I left for South America. There was a break-in at Eva Ware’s Madison Avenue jewelry store. That’s Jordan’s mother. She was struck down by a hit-and-run driver last week. I’m playing catch up and keeping an eye on Maddie, Jordan’s sister.”

“Wait a minute. Jordan has a sister?”

It occurred to Jase then that D.C. didn’t yet know about Maddie. Hell, he’d only known about the will and Maddie’s existence himself for what? Less than twelve hours? Quickly, he gave D.C. a condensed version of what Maddie had told him and then filled him in on what he’d learned from Dave Stanton.

D.C.’s reaction was summed up in a low whistle.

“What do you need?”

Jase nearly smiled. He knew D.C. had a million questions, but for now, he’d focus on the job. “Have Dino or one of the other men get financial information on all of those names—look for the disappearance or appearance of significant sums of money from their accounts. The jewelry that was stolen from the store had a value of approximately one hundred thousand dollars. And see what else pops.”

There was a silence on the other end of the line, and Jase could picture D.C. writing everything down in the small notebook that he always carried with him. Cops, even of the military variety, always seemed to carry notebooks. There had never been much opportunity for jotting down notes on a special ops assignment, so Jase had learned to keep track of everything in his head.