“Sorry I’m late. It took me a little time to turn Adam Ware over to Tony and Carter. They’ll be on-site from now on filming. That ought to help with security issues for Maddie.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“No problem.” Easing himself into a chair, D.C. looked first at Dino and then Jase. “What did I miss?”
Jase leaned a hip against his desk. “We’re just getting started. On the surface there seem to be three cases. The first is the robbery at Eva Ware Designs. Before she died, Eva Ware hired me to investigate that. Detective Dave Stanton worked the case. He and I believed it was an inside job. Someone not only had the security codes, but they knew how to disable the alarm. A top-notch pro could have done it, but the thief was very selective about what he or she stole. Eva estimated the value of the jewelry at somewhere around a hundred thousand dollars. Another half a million dollars worth in the display cases was left there—untouched.”
“Interesting,” Dino said. “You’re thinking someone had a certain sum in mind, knew the value of what he or she was stealing?”
“That’s my hunch. I have a contact who may be able to give us a line on who might have fenced the jewels locally. I’ll put him on it. The next thing we have is the strong possibility that Eva’s hit-and-run wasn’t an accident but a homicide. Perhaps connected to the robbery. Maddie, Jordan and I all think that she either guessed or discovered who the thief was and perhaps confronted them. Finally, we have the attempted hit on Maddie.”
D.C. stretched out his good leg. “The question is, do we really have three separate cases?”
Maddie studied the three men continuing to discuss details as if she weren’t in the room. All three were good-looking, with Dino being the most classically handsome. On the surface, D.C. and Jase didn’t look at all alike. D.C. was a little shorter and his coloring was darker. She also sensed that the hint of recklessness she’d seen in Jase might be more pronounced in his younger brother. Her gaze returned to Jase. In the park she’d gotten her glimpse of his ruthlessness. And now she was seeing a focused intensity as he and his partner and brother picked away at the puzzle.
“Good question,” Dino was saying. Leaning back in his chair, he laced his fingers behind his head. “A mother killed and a daughter almost killed within a week? Hard to believe there’s not a connection.”
“I’m not a great believer in coincidence,” Jase put in. “But there’s plenty of motivation to get rid of Maddie without it being connected to her mother’s death and the robbery.”
Maddie felt a chill move through her. “Why would someone want to kill me?” Her mind had been trying to avoid that question ever since Jase had given her that hard shake and told her that someone wanted her dead. Of course, that hadn’t been much of a problem because her mind kept returning to those endless minutes when Jase and the hit woman had been rolling around on the ground.
“The will.”
When the three men spoke in unison, Maddie steadied herself by leaning against a desk.
“If you’re dead, the terms of the will can’t be fulfilled, and there are others who benefit,” Jase said. “Money’s a powerful motivator.”
Maddie swallowed hard. This morning her biggest worries had to do with getting to know her mother, finding out why her parents had separated her from her sister and figuring out what to do about Jase Campbell. And now someone wanted to murder her. Mentally, she gave herself a shake. One thing she’d learned from her father was that it never worked to play ostrich and try to ignore a problem.
“Okay. Someone wants to kill me because of the will. So far, we’ve been thinking about the robbery being connected to my mother’s death. Could it be connected to the will also?” she asked.
“She may be onto something,” D.C. said. “What if someone expected to get a lot more when Eva died and they wanted to hurry her along?”
“That’s a possibility,” Dino agreed.
“It still goes back to money,” Jase said. “We have to find the money trail.”
“I’ll get right on it.” D.C. pulled his notebook out and turned to a computer.
Dino moved to look over his shoulder. “Why don’t I take Cho Li, Michelle Tan and Arnold Bartlett. Then you can concentrate on the Wares and the Ware Bank.”
Maddie turned to Jase. “You suspect Cho Li?”
“Until we learn otherwise, everyone’s a suspect. It pays to be thorough.”
“We have to warn Jordan,” Maddie said.
All three men turned to stare at her.
“If someone is trying to kill me over the will and they haven’t succeeded, they could try her instead.”
“Or perhaps the plan is to get rid of both of you.” Jase picked up the office phone and handed it to her. “Call the ranch. Leave a message if you have to. Tell Jordan it’s urgent. Tell her to use my cell number to get back to us.”
Maddie nodded and her stomach knotted when she got the answering machine. “She was planning on going into Santa Fe today to visit the venue for the jewelry show. If they’re there, Jordan’s cell might work.”
She punched in the number, and to her relief, Jordan answered. “Jase?”
“No, it’s Maddie. We’re at his office.”
Jase punched the button to turn on the speakerphone.
“It’s Jase too, Jordan. Something more has happened at this end. Is Cash with you?”
“Yes, he’s listening.”
“Someone—we think someone at Eva Ware Designs—hired a hit woman to shoot Maddie this—”
“Maddie, are you all right?” Cash interrupted.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m worried about Jordan,” Jase explained. “So’s Maddie. It could be that the attempt on her life is connected to Eva’s hit-and-run—and we’re thinking all of it may be connected to the will.”
“The will,” Cash said. “Because if one or both of them is eliminated, someone else inherits?”
“Correct.”
“That’s what I’ve been afraid of. Can you keep Maddie safe?” Cash asked.
“I’ve put extra men on it. I want to send my brother out to Santa Fe to play back-up on your end.”
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line. “That might be a good idea.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Jase said and disconnected.
“I’ll handle the background checks.” Dino got to his feet.
“I’ll book my flight,” D.C. said.
Maddie wanted to feel relief but Jase merely frowned at the phone. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“The cowboy,” Jase said. “He agreed pretty easily to the back-up. My impression before was that he thinks he can handle pretty much everything.”
“That would describe Cash in a nutshell. He’s a lot like my father was.”
Jase met her eyes. “I’m thinking that something has happened that Cash and Jordan haven’t shared with us yet.”
11
WHEN THEY LEFT the office, Jase bypassed the elevator and opted for the stairs. Her borrowed sneakers helped Maddie keep pace with him. At ground level, he steered her to an exit door that opened onto an alleyway.
The scents of beer, human sweat and ripe garbage assaulted her senses. “I see we’re taking the scenic route back to the apartment.”“We’re not going back to the apartment.”
“I really need to change my clothes.”
“We’ll buy something.” At the end of the alley, he drew her with him toward the nearest corner. “For the time being, I’m not letting you go anywhere near that place. Whoever is behind this has to know you’re staying there. And they also know who I am and where I work. This time we’re not going to give anyone the opportunity to tail us—or to know where we’re staying.”
The light changed and they crossed the street.
“So your cover of acting as my brand-new lover probably didn’t fool the killer.”
“It didn’t have to. The hit had to have been set up before we got to the store. It might have been arranged as soon as Jordan told them when your first day at Eva Ware Designs would be. This way.” He drew her with him into a coffee shop on the corner.
At three-thirty in the afternoon, the lunch crowd had thinned. A black woman in a deep purple waitress’s uniform was leaning over the counter, flipping through a newspaper.
“Edie,” Jase said when he reached it.
The woman straightened and her face lit up. “Long time no see, sweet cakes. I missed you.”
“I’ve been working an out-of-town case for a couple of weeks. Just got back.” Jase circled behind the counter, gripped her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “I missed you too.”
“Go on now. You missed my apple pie.”
Maddie could have sworn that the woman was blushing. And Jase…well, it was the first time since they’d left the park that she’d seen the easygoing Jase Campbell. She wasn’t sure which side of the man fascinated her most.
Jase grinned. “That too.”
“Sit down. I’ll fix you a piece.”
“No time. I just stopped in to say hi.” He slipped a folded bill into the pocket of her uniform. “I need to use your back entrance.”