“Does the situation call for me to lie, sir, or to tell the truth?” Winthrop heaved a sigh and his expression was doleful; he was sort of like a human basset hound.
“Well, she does regularly work with law enforcement, so I’ll let you use your best judgement,” Gabriel said cheerfully. He sat next to Kelly, grabbed a goblet, and held it up. “Mead! Pour me mead!” he shouted, and a maidservant hurried over to oblige him, pouring from a big pitcher.
Winthrop looked at Kelly. “The Kingsleys are paragons of virtue,” he said without cracking a smile. “And now, I will see to bailing out your sister.” He bowed to Gabriel and walked off.
After the banquet, everyone tried to crowd around Kelly and pepper her with questions, but Gabriel apparently took pity on her. Or maybe he needed a break from the crowd too.
“Not now! My bride-to-be and I would like to get to know each other a little better, if you know what I mean!” he yelled, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her towards the castle.
The crowd responded with whoops and whistles and appreciative catcalls.
“I really hate you right now,” Kelly muttered, blushing furiously.
Gabriel had a huge smirk on his face as he hustled her across the broad lawn and into the castle, through an enormous reception room with several chandeliers, down various carpeted hallways, up a flight of stairs, and finally into his huge bedroom. Kelly was out of breath by the time they got there.
“Goodness, I’ll never be able to find my way to the front door. I’d get lost in here without a map,” Kelly said in a silly, girlish voice that worked on most men. It didn’t work on Gabriel.
“Nice try,” he mocked her. “You undoubtedly already know the basic layout of the castle and memorized every single doorway, stairwell and window on your way up here.”
She scowled at him. “Fine, jerkface. So where will I be sleeping for now?” She put a special emphasis on thefor nowpart of the sentence.
Gabriel’s room had a four-poster bed that could have comfortably fitted a dozen people, but Gabriel gestured at a door across the enormous room.
“Well, as long as you want to pretend that you’re not marrying me, you can have that suite of rooms. Although of course you are always welcome to my bed…pardon me,ourbed. You’ll end up there eventually.”
She snorted. “Your continued delusions are kind of scary; you should probably see someone for that. Anyway. What about my sister?”
“I had Teresa bailed out, and Winthrop is driving her up here,” he said. “She’ll arrive shortly. Apparently she’s been expressing herself quite vociferously about her general hatred of dragons, the state of Nevada, you, and your highly unorthodox methods of investigation which were, and I quote, ‘only ever going to end in disaster’.”
“Yep, that sounds about right.” Kelly sighed. “Poor Winthrop.”
Gabriel laughed heartily at that. “Oh, I’m sure he’s not just commiserating with her, he’s egging her on. Do you want a chance to shower and freshen up? I’ll give you a tour of the castle later.”
A tour. Hmm. She had an advantage that he didn’t know about when it came to finding gems that were enhanced with mystical power – such as the Dragonsblood Ruby. It was why she had such a high recovery rate, and why Allied still employed her, despite their disapproval of her maverick methods.
“That would be all right,” she said cautiously. She didn’t want to sound too eager and tip him off to how much she wanted to tour the castle.
She was pretty sure the Dragonsblood was hidden somewhere on the premises. There hadn’t been even a whisper of the gem being put up for sale. The theory was that the Kingsleys were holding on to it for now because it was too hot to pawn, and she was pretty sure that they’d want to keep a gem of that value close to them, where there was less chance that it would be found. So there was still an excellent chance that it was being held on the property right here.
She pictured the wrinkled face of Madonna Rossi, the elderly matriarch of the Rossi family. She had worn the Dragonsblood Ruby for her wedding, and so had her daughter, and she prayed that her granddaughter would be able to do the same. Tears had shimmered in her eyes as she’d talked about the loss of their treasured family heirloom.
Fine. She’d go along with this ridiculous charade for now, and she’d use the opportunity to look for the jewel.
There was a loud knock on the door, and Gabriel went to answer it. Three maids marched in – and two of them were carrying her suitcases. One of them handed something to Gabriel, and the other two went and deposited her suitcases on the floor.
“How did you get my stuff?” she asked once the maids had left.
“I know this valley pretty well. Called around to find out what hotel you were staying at, and had my men go get your belongings.”
“The hotel just let your men take my stuff?” she squawked indignantly.
“Well, my family is pretty well known around here.”
“Yes, as thieves!” she protested.
“Of luggage?” He raised an eyebrow skeptically.
She put her hands on her hips. “So, you admit that you are a thief, just not of cheap stuff.”
He glanced towards her suitcases. “Oh, now, don’t put yourself down. Your stuff isn’t cheap – it’s very nice.”
“Thanks, I usually buy stuff at consignment stores,” she said, then glared at him. “Don’t change the subject! What we’re discussing here is your criminal behavior. You and your whole family.”
“My family may have had some minor scrapes with the law in the past, but we’re strictly legit now,” he said, giving her a wide-eyed, innocent look. “I’m sure you know how successful our jewelry design business is. Oh, and I believe this is yours.”
He tossed her the stolen velvet drawstring purse, and she felt relief rushing through her. On the one hand, her cell phone would be in there, which sucked, because she’d have to call the office soon. But on the other hand…if she could just get the truthstone pressed against Gabriel’s flesh, this whole trip might be a lot shorter than he’d expected.
She headed to her suite and slammed the door shut. She quickly rummaged through the bag…and her heart sank. Cell-phone: check. Wallet: check. Truthstone…gone.
