Ramsey frowned deeply, rubbed her face. “Lord, I don’t know.” She looked up. “I suppose I’d have to take him at his word.”
“What if he’s lying?” asked Sullivan. “About all of it.”
“You mean what if he isn’t in trouble? What if he’s lying to me as a means to get his hands on my money?”
“Yeah. Would he do something like that?”
“In a heartbeat. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me.” She breathed easier for a moment, but it didn’t last. Her chest tightened and she regarded him plaintively, a little desperately. “How will I know?”
32
“Let me nose around some,”said Sullivan. “You recall that I’m a cop, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to use or abuse our friendship that way.”
“You’re doing neither. I offered. One of the last things the chief said to me before I left today was if there was anything he could do, he wants to know. With your permission, I’d like to tell him about this. He’s at his desk more than I’m at mine, and he has better contacts than I do. He could be a help.”
She pressed her lips together, considering. “All right,” she said finally, “but no one else. If you can find a way to explain this to Chief Bailey without mentioning the lottery win, I’d appreciate it. Right now, you’re the only one who knows. Well, you and Jay. It would be so easy for it to get out, and itwouldchange things.”
“Your family doesn’t know?”
“No. I couldn’t risk them finding out. I help them here and there when I get wind of a need, my brother more than my parents, but no one’s ever asked where I get the money. I think they assume it was part of the divorce settlement. Further proof that Jay is a good guy.”
Sullivan’s eyes turned the color of smoke as he rolled a memory over in his mind. “You live modestly.”
“Yes. On purpose as much as out of habit. I don’t have a lot of needs. I mostly manage on my Ridge salary, but I give myself an allowance for incidentals.”
“Uh-huh. I’m recalling a particular gold necklace that you wore to Linda’s wedding. Mrs. Packard remarked on it. Mentioned some designer’s Masai collection. You waved off her comment, but I’m thinking now she was right on the money. She was, wasn’t she?”
Ramsey fiddled with her glass. “Maybe.”
“I thought so,” he said confidently. “Is that necklace an example of an incidental?”
“Um, that would be more like an indulgence, but you saw that Mrs. Packard believed me when I pretended not to know a Marco Bicego from a Marco Bazinga. Why would I when I work at the Ridge? I mean, why would anyone suspect the studs in my ears are diamonds instead of cubic zirconia?”
Sullivan’s gaze narrowed on her earlobe. “Diamonds?”
She gave a short laugh. “No, these really are cubic zirconia. I lose too many earrings to pay more than twenty dollars for a pair.”
He sat back, looked her over carefully before his eyes settled on hers. “Those Bruno Mars tickets. You didn’t win any radio contest, did you?”
“No. That was an incidental.”
“Some incidental. What were they? Seven? Eight hundred dollars?” When she said nothing, his eyes widened. “Higher?” This time she nodded, although it was barely perceptible. “A thousand?”
“Let’s say it was.”
“Each. A thousand each.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You’re killing me. Back to that necklace…what would something like that cost? Ballpark?”
“You’re okay with knowing?”
“Yeah, about that.”
“Then the ballpark is twenty-four thousand plus tax.”
