Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

LAINEY

Conversation with Nicole

Mrs. Rosings says Emma never showed at the party, but Rosie definitely thinks she saw her there.

Working on a plan.

The Love Fixers mailbox is full. Like, we have at least twenty requests. I'd help you, but looking into Emma is a super important job, so obviously I have better stuff to do.

I sigh, feeling the press of all those lonely hearts needing someone to help them feel full again. Admittedly, Cleo wasn't so much a lonely heart as a scammer, but that doesn't mean the others are. They don't deserve to be ignored by yet another person.

Tonight, I promise myself. I'll look tonight.

I want to ask about Jake—if Damien has been making use of him today or if he's doing his own thing.

Websites, he said.

Imagine, being a thief who works on websites in his downtime.

Then it hits me…

Jake told me more about the old man and the watch last night. One detail in particular might be helpful to them. I hesitate for a long moment, tapping my finger against the side of my phone and leaning against the green wainscoting of the second sitting room. He wouldn't want me to tell them, and it feels like a betrayal to do it anyway. At the same time…he's in over his head, he needs help, and I can't just let him hand Mrs. Rosings's necklace over to his former boss. Something deep inside of me revolts against it, as if I'd be benefitting not just that awful man, but every narcissist who was ever brave enough to look at the world and ask, "But what if everything really is about me?"

No. He can't be allowed to have Mrs. Rosings's necklace. At the same time, I can't let anything happen to Jake's brother. To his person.

If Ryan even exists , whispers a cynical voice in my head.

But I believe Jake.

I believe the story he told me, and last night I could see the impact it had made on him.

The man who offered him that watch probably doesn't know it, but he completely transformed his life, his outlook, and his future.

I tighten my grip on the phone. I can't let the man who kidnapped Ryan pull Jake back into a life of crime, and while I will encourage him to share his full story with Nicole and Damien, I have a feeling they'll need time to look into everything and form a strategy.

That is, Damien will form a strategy. Nicole is more the type to break the door down first and ask questions later.

So I send a few more texts telling Nicole about the watch's history and how it's registered with the Sons of the American Revolution.

She sends back a thumbs up.

On it after the coffee kicks in.

I try to look around the house without appearing to, as I move from task to task—the list was waiting for me on the table beside the front door, as usual. At around noon, just before my usual lunch break, Mrs. Rosings asks me to join her in the drawing room, and she follows me in. The display cases with the jewelry have been left out, the fake Heart of the Mountain gleaming at me like an accusation.

To my eye, it looks no different from the necklace that was stolen, but it's also not my treasure. Maybe she's spent hours looking at it, wearing it. Maybe she knew the truth the instant she saw the case, and she's spent all morning toying with me.

It doesn't make me feel any better when she leads me directly over to it.

My palms are sweaty as I fold my arms over my chest, trying to look like I'm patiently waiting for directions from my boss, not like I'm waiting to be accused of grand larceny.

"Anthony is the one who cut off the power on Saturday night. The breakers were flipped off, and no one else knows where they are." Her lips thin; her chin lifts. "I expect Nina put him up to it." She gestures to the backlit jewelry case. "I thought this might be why, but if she'd intended to take the Heart of the Mountain or any of the other pieces we put on display, she did not." The corners of her eyes crinkle slightly. "Not even the brooch I specifically took out for her use."

My gaze follows hers to the gaudy bluebird broach in one of the other cases. It looks more like it's dead than about to launch into song. "Maybe she forgot it in the fuss," I comment. "We should bring it to her this weekend. Should we put all of these away?"

"Not yet." She doesn't say anything for a few seconds, but I can tell she's working her way toward something, and finally she admits, "I want to know what Nina wanted, and whether she got it."

I could point out that Anthony and Nina both probably wanted to escape the party, like everyone else in attendance, but I suspect she's right. Unless Emma took the necklace and blew town immediately afterward, they're our next best suspects. I've already mentally crossed Mrs. Rosings off my list. She wouldn't be going to all this trouble if she had it hidden in her underwear drawer.

"Why are you asking me?"

"You have a cunning mind," she says, straightening her back, "and I trust you."

I feel like she just plunged a ceremonial knife into my chest. Jeweled, of course. But I know what Nicole would tell me: if someone's handed you a gift, don't toss it back to them. Hell, Mrs. Rosings herself basically told me the same thing this morning.

She's asking me to look into her daughter-in-law, which is exactly what I need to do. She's also capable of getting both Anthony and Nina out of their house.

Still, I find myself saying, "I get the sense that Nina dislikes me."

She sniffs. "That's because you're young and pretty, and your car looks like a tin can that's gone through the garbage disposal. She dislikes anyone she sees as competition. She's eager for the Smith family fortune, and to her mind, every other young woman is out for the same thing."

I'm tempted to defend Nina, but that would be like lobbing that theoretical present at Mrs. Rosings's head, so instead I nod slowly. "I'll see if I can get her talking this weekend. Maybe she'll be more friendly now that I'm seeing someone. But…if you'd like…I could take a look around their house if there's a time you can be sure they won't be home."

Obviously, she could do that herself, but I know Mrs. Rosings would think such a thing beneath her.

She watches me for a solid thirty seconds, and I'm sure I've got sweat dripping down my back by the time she nods her agreement. "I'll inform you once I've made the arrangements. You can leave early today."

It's very early, but I'm not about to complain.

I want to go home.

I want to see him .