Bats and Bling (2 page)

              And I didn’t. Sleep that is. It probably didn’t help that I had thought making a cup of coffee before bed was a good idea. I normally would have made decaf but I had run out and I had really been craving a cup. It was my nightly routine. A cup of hazelnut, or pumpkin spice decaf when it was in season, from my trusty Keurig was comforting and helped me to relax. I needed to remember though that if I didn’t have decaf I should forgo the ritual. It wasn’t worth being up all night and I was going to pay for it this morning. Yawning, I unlocked the front door, balancing my travel coffee mug, my lunch, my purse, and my tote bag. Stepping inside I locked the door back up and quickly walked back to my office where I put it all down on my desk just as I was about to drop it. Throwing my lunch in the small refrigerator I took a swig of coffee and then bent over the safe in the corner of my office to get the money out. I started to put my hand on the dial to turn it and noticed that the tumbler was lined up on the last number. We never left the safe on the last number because then it wouldn’t be locked which kind of defeated the purpose of a safe in the first place and I knew I’d given the tumbler an extra spin last night just to be sure. My heart started racing as I touched the handle to see if the door would swing open I had a really bad feeling about this. I pulled the handle toward me and the safe easily opened. I squeezed my eyes shut, afraid to look in and see what I would find but finally opened them slowly and peered in. The register trays were there and had money in them but the thing I was worried about most I didn’t see. Shit! I grabbed the trays out and plopped them on the floor hard enough that some change bounced out, in search of the black box containing the bat brooch that Veronica had trusted me to hold on to.

Oh my God it wasn’t in there. I ran my hand around the bottom of the safe thinking maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me and the black box was blending in to the black of the safe but it wasn’t. This safe was completely empty. I leaned over and grabbed my phone out of my purse and sank to the floor. I took a deep breath, fought back tears and then called Katy.

“Forget something? Good timing I was just walking out the door.”

“It’s gone,” I said softly. All the energy left me when I realized the brooch wasn’t in the safe.

“What’s gone?”

“Veronica’s brooch. It’s not in the safe.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s not here and Veronica will be here this morning to get it. What am I going to do?”

“Just hold tight. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Katy got to the store about twenty minutes later and I was still sitting on the floor in the office with my head in my hands. I hadn’t been able to motivate myself to move not even to reach my coffee.

“What are you doing on the floor?” she asked, looking down at me.

“Sitting here trying not to think about what’s going to happen when Veronica gets here and finds out her bat brooch isn’t, sues me, and I lose everything. Oh my God, how could this happen?”

“Ok, Debbie Downer get up and let’s figure this out,” she said and held her hand out to me which I grabbed and she helped pull me up to my feet. She sat down on one of the office chairs and motioned for me to do that same. She then handed me my coffee.

“See, isn’t that more comfortable than the floor?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that someone broke into our store and stole a very expensive piece of jewelry. Who could have done this? I knew I should have paid to have that alarm fixed.” I thought I might be sick I was so upset. The alarm system had broken a few weeks ago and there just hadn’t been the money to fix it yet. I should have never kept that brooch. I could kick myself for being so stupid.

“Are you sure it’s not here?”

“I’m positive, Katy. See for yourself. There is nothing in the safe. Just the cash drawers which I pulled out onto the floor there. The safe was unlocked and I’d bet my life on the fact it was locked last night, so someone who knew the combination must have come in here and took it. That’s what makes it even worse. It has to be one of our employees and I just can’t deal with that. Not again.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet there might be other explanations.”

“Like what? Because I certainly can’t think of one.”

“Maybe you left the safe unlocked and someone broke in. Just a random robbery.”

“No. I’m positive that I spun the cylinder back around like I always do when I close it up for the night.”

Which is what I told the cops for the hundredth time an hour later when they showed up and were questioning us. I hadn’t wanted to call them but Katy insisted. She said that to file a claim with the insurance company there needed to be a police report besides the police were actually trained to investigate and solve crimes and they were our best chance at getting it back. I knew she was right I just think I just wanted to hold off because getting the police involved would just make it seem more real and I wouldn’t be able to keep it from Veronica. I wanted to live in denial a little longer.

I heard the front door chime and my stomach dropped. I expected it to be Veronica any minute, thought it was still early so more likely was Yvette coming in for her shift. I looked up to instead see it was Willie, which was a pleasant surprise.

“What brings you here? Did you get sent over because of the missing brooch?”

Willie was a detective and I had met him a while back when the previous owner of Silk was murdered. He’d been the lead detective on the case. He’d become a good friend and had been instrumental in helping Cooper and I get back together after a recent break. I owed him.

“I’m not on this case but I heard over the radio that a car was being dispatched here and I was worried. What’s going on? Why didn’t you call me?” he asked, looking concerned.

I quickly filled him in and while it made me feel a little better having him here it was a short lived feeling as I saw Veronica’s town car pull up. I wasn’t ready to deal with her.

“She’s here,” Katy said as if I hadn’t noticed.

“I can see that. Might as well get this over with,” I said steeling myself for the explosion that was sure to come.

Veronica walked in and up to me. “I’m here to pick up my brooch.”

“About that …”I hesitated just a second and Willie jumped in. “Hi, I’m Detective Landon. I’m afraid there’s been a robbery.”

She looked at him and at me and back at him. I was pretty sure she was already thinking it hadn’t been a few dresses that had come up missing.

“Presley, tell me that it’s not my brooch that’s been stolen,” she said slowly with an edge to her voice that made me extra glad Willie was here.

“Veronica, I’m so sorry,” I said softly.

“What,” she shrieked. “You let my jewelry get stolen? I trusted you!”

“Veronica, it was locked in the safe. I don’t know how this happened.”

Veronica took a step toward me and Willie again intervened.

“Ma’am I realize how upsetting this must be but we are looking into it and we will find out what happened.”

“You better get my brooch back, Presley, or I will sue you and take everything you’ve got,” Veronica said, venom in her voice.

“Veronica, I don’t know what happened.” It sounded lame but was the truth and I had no idea what else to say. I didn’t know how someone could have got into the store and into the safe or how anyone knew it was here except the people here last night and what would they have to gain? Except for me, Katy, and Yvette they were all Veronica’s friends.

“You should have plenty of time to figure that out since you won’t be working on the fashion show,” she said staring at me. I could tell she was daring me to argue. But I had expected this so it was no surprise and I didn’t blame her a bit. I would do the same in her shoes. Being dropped from the fashion show was the least of my worries.

“I understand,” I said and Veronica spun around and started to walk out of the store.

“Ma’am, before you leave one of the men will want to talk to you,” Willie said pointing at the police officers who were outside. They had walked back around from the back side of the building.

Veronica gave him a dirty look. “Fine,” she muttered and walked outside and up to one of them. I didn’t envy them talking to her.

I breathed a small sigh of relief. “That went as well as to be expected.”

“Except we lost the fashion show. I’m surprised you didn’t even argue with her a little,” Katy said. “This isn’t your fault.”

I held my hands up. “What did you want me to do? If I had trusted you with my custom piece of jewelry and it came up missing I’m not sure I wouldn’t kick you to the curb as well. I can’t blame her.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s just disappointing. The loss of the show and not knowing what happened to her brooch.”

“So how exactly did you come to have this nice lady’s piece of jewelry?” Willie asked.

I briefly explained the situation to him, again wishing I had never taken it for safekeeping in the first place.

“And you have no idea who could have come in here, opened the safe, and taken it?”

“None at all,” I said with a sigh. “And I know it was locked.”

“Who has access to the safe besides you and Katy?”

“Just one of our sales people, Yvette, who is our go to gal. She’s the only one besides us who opens and closes. But she wouldn’t steal from us.”

“What makes you so sure?”

I knew Willie was just doing his job but I hated thinking Yvette would steal. After everything that had happened in Silk the last time with who I thought was a trusted employee I just didn’t want to think it could happen again. Maybe I was being naïve. Maybe being too trusting is what kept getting me in these messes.

“I know what you’re saying and I guess there’s no way to know for sure. God, I can’t believe this is happening. Just when I thought things were getting better.”

“Things are getting better, Pres. This is just a minor setback.”

“I know you’re trying to be positive and I appreciate it but right now I’m just not feeling it.”

As I said that I saw the police outside had let Veronica leave. She was walking away from them anyways, and opened the door to come in. I sure hoped they could figure out what had happened or I was afraid Silk would be ruined. I wished, not for the first time since this had happened, that Cooper was here to help me figure this out.

“Are you ready for me to open a bottle of wine?” Katy asked me later this evening as I was laying on the couch, my arm over my eyes, in dramatic fashion, which I felt was completely deserved. After the morning with the police and the rest of the day dealing with customers and just obsessing over what happened, I was drained. Though I guess I should be happy I had customers. News had spread about the break in and people had to come in a check out what was going on under the guise of shopping so the store had been busier than a normal weekday. Though as much as my mental state could have used a slow day we had some great fall merchandise in and the ladies were buying regardless of the reason they had come in. It had been a good day in sales that we desperately needed. Especially with loosing the great exposure the fashion show would have afforded us. I was just too depressed over the stolen brooch to be excited over a good sales day.

“Do you really need to ask?” I said lifting my hands off my eyes and peering at her.

“Good point.” A few minutes later she came out of the kitchen with a double bottle of Barefoot Riesling opened and hunk of Bellavitano cheese. My favorite. “You haven’t eaten all day and drinking on an empty stomach isn’t a great idea. So eat some cheese first.”

“Thanks,” I said swinging my legs off the couch and sitting up I reached for a slice she had cut off. I closed my eyes, savoring the taste and the texture. This was the best cheese ever. I loved this stuff. “This is exactly what I needed. Plus the wine. Maybe they will improve my mood.”

“Listen, I know this is the last thing you wanted to deal with but it’s just a setback. You need to stay positive and keep moving forward. This will work out,  you’ll see.”

“You are always so positive.”

“I try.”

“I think what’s really bothering me is who did this and how. I feel violated. Insurance will cover the loss, or at least I think they will. I still need to call them. But who got into the store and into the safe. What’s to say they won’t come back and steal something else and I still don’t have the money to fix the alarm system.”

“For what it’s worth I don’t think it’s Yvette.”

“Me either. I didn’t think it before I heard her talking to the police and I definitely didn’t after. But then I thought I could trust Amy too and look what happened.” Amy had been an employee who worked at Silk when I took the store over.  I thought she had been a trusted employee who wanted to help me make the store a success and come to find out she was stealing merchandise and selling it on ebay. I had been really upset over that. I thought I was a pretty good judge of character and in that case I was completely wrong. “I don’t necessarily trust my judgment. The thing I really don’t understand though is why didn’t whoever broke in also take the money?”

“Maybe they didn’t want to be greedy,” Katy said with a smile, probably trying to make me laugh.

“Ha! Funny. Really though. Whoever took it had to be after the brooch. So were they out to hurt Veronica or Silk. Or me for that matter.”

Katy started to reply when there was a knock on the door. We both looked in that direction.

“I wonder who that could be?” I said. It had been quite around here the last few days as Jared was in Florida on a business trip, Cooper was on a business trip, and Dirt was back in Alkon, mine and Katy’s hometown, taking care of some final things regarding the sale of Katy’s beauty salon. After years of pursuing her dream of being a successful salon owner she had decided to sell and was temporarily living in Chicago with me until she decided what her next move would be. One that would definitely include Dirt. They made a great couple and had been through a lot to get to where they were at today. I loved seeing her so happy.

“Let’s open the door and find out,” Katy said and got up to do just that. The door swung open and in the doorway was a tall, beautiful blond.

“Anna!” I yelled and jumped off the couch rushing to the door and giving her a huge hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Korea until after the first of the year.”

“I came back early.”

“You remember Katy don’t you?”

“I do. Good to see you again.”

“Likewise.”

“Gosh, come on in. We don’t need to stand in the doorway.” I then noticed a couple suitcases sitting there and Anna saw that I’d seen them.

Anna looked at me sheepishly. “I hate asking but since I wasn’t supposed to be home so early I still have sub-letters in my place. Can I stay with you until I can figure out what to do?”

“Of course. The more the merrier. We have plenty of room.”

Katy and I helped her carry her suitcases in and she took off her coat which I hung up in the coat closet.

“Can I offer you some wine?” I asked.

“I would love some.”

I poured her a glass and gave her a few minutes to take a drink before asking all the questions running through my head, “Ok, I talked to you two weeks ago and you said you were loving it over there. So what’s changed, why are you home?”

Anna gave a big sigh. “There was this guy…”

“A guy? That’s what made you leave in the first place,” I exclaimed. Katy gave me a look and I realized that may have come out a little harsher than I had intended. Clearly something was wrong or she wouldn’t be here. “I’m sorry, Anna. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I’m just surprised that’s all. I thought you loved it over there. That you felt you were making a difference. At least that’s what you were telling me every time we talked.”

“I did love it there and I totally get where you’re coming from. I know my showing up on your doorstep is probably a shock. But it wasn’t a guy I was involved with that made me leave. In fact, just the opposite. It was a guy I didn’t want to be involved with and he just wouldn’t stop bothering me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We worked together and there was no way I wanted to date someone I worked with. Even if I had liked him in that way which I didn’t. I politely told him no, several times when he asked me out, but he continued to ask and started getting angry when I kept saying no. I finally had to go to the program director, which I hated doing but it was getting so uncomfortable for me to be around him I felt I had no other choice. The program director had a talk with him and he stopped asking me out and I thought things were going to be fine, but then weird things started happening. I couldn’t prove it was him but I knew it had to be. It was too much of a coincidence. He refused to speak to me and every time we were together he would look at me with such hate in his eyes I knew it had to be him.” She shuddered and took another drink of wine.

“What kind of things was he doing?”

“At first it was petty, juvenile type things, Presley. My bicycle tires were both flat for no reason, a dead snake in my backpack, paint all over one of my folders containing lesson plans which ruined them. They were more annoying than scary but then it escalated to things being taken from my apartment even though I knew I had locked the door. The whole thing started to scare me.”

“Did you go to the director again,” Katy asked.

“No. I couldn’t prove it and clearly telling on him just made things worse so I decided to resign and come home. I know it’s kind of the chicken’s way out but I wasn’t going to renew my contract in January anyway so coming home a few months early wasn’t that big of a sacrifice to feel comfortable again. I just don’t have a place to live for a few months,” she said and smiled. “Small price to pay I guess.”

“You can stay here as long as you need to. It’ll be fun. Like we’re back in college. Bunch of girls sharing space.”

“I know Katy and Dirt are staying here and I hate to crowd you all. I just didn’t have any other place to go tonight. I’d planned on a hotel but just didn’t feel like it. I wanted to be in familiar surroundings.”

“I’m glad you came. We will squeeze you in. I want you to stay.”

“So do I,” said Katy. “We can make it work.”

Tears shone in Anna’s eyes. “Thank you. You don’t know how good that is to hear. I’m so glad to be home.”