Jewelry Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 6) (6 page)

“Or maybe…” Samantha took a sharp breath. “Maybe he’s out! Think about it. No one was injured in the ‘Rose Burglary’, so Tony may have finished his time by now, and even if he didn’t he might have gotten paroled early.”

“Well, if Tony is out then he is going to be our main suspect.”

“I’ll find out what I can from my contacts. In the meantime, Jo please, stay put. I’ll let you know whatever I find out, I promise.”

“All right.” Jo tugged at the bracelet on her wrist. “I’ll keep this on a little while longer in case we need to keep Roger on our good side. But Samantha you have to find out as fast as you can. If Tony is out, he’s not going to be satisfied unless he has the necklace and payback. He may still be hanging around waiting for the right moment to strike Roger.”

“Who knew thieves could be so dangerous?”

“Most aren’t.” Jo lifted her chin. A surge of defensiveness caused her cheeks to grow hot. “For most the goal is to get in and out with minimal damage, human or property. But there are some that are reckless.”

Samantha stared at her for a long moment. “I wasn’t talking about you, Jo.”

“I know. I’m sorry. This whole thing has my head spinning.” Samantha reached out and gave Jo’s arm a squeeze.

“Try not to let it get to you, Jo. This is not your life anymore. We all have pasts, okay?”

Jo nodded. She swallowed back the words that would point out how different their pasts were. Samantha had been gracious to her about her past from the first time they met. She was very grateful to her friend for that.

S
amantha watched
Jo walk away and then she walked up to her villa. After speaking to Eddy about the Clem connection she felt that solving this case might become very complicated.

Samantha’s phone rang as she stepped inside. She answered it with a tired greeting.

“Eddy, what’s up?”

“Did you find Jo?”

“Yes, I did. She was in Roger’s house.”

“Clem’s house. Is she crazy? What was she doing in there?” Eddy’s voice fluctuated with frustration.

“Jo can handle herself quite well you know, Eddy. But I did talk to her. I told her what you found out, and she asked me to look into Clem’s partner, Tony, to see if he is still in prison.”

“We’re getting into a dangerous position here. Walt told me about the man Jo met with. Bucky is a powerful and well-known criminal. If he thinks we’re crossing him we could face some serious consequences.”

“I think we need to let Jo take the lead on this one. She has the experience.”

“Experience? Of being a criminal? I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

“I don’t think you have a choice here, Eddy.” Samantha flopped down on the couch and closed her eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not in charge here. Yes, Jo has a criminal past. You have a past of being a grumpy and aggressive officer of the law…”

“No one could ever prove that.”

“I have a past of getting myself into reckless positions and trying to save murderers from well-deserved prison sentences. Walt, I imagine, has some kind of questionable past, too. The point is, we all draw on those pasts in order to contribute our skills. So, Jo is contributing her knowledge. She feels that if Tony is out, which I think is possible, he may be on the hunt for Roger.”

“If Tony got his hands on that necklace, he’s long gone.”

“You’re probably right. But I’m going to look into it.”

“All right.” Eddy hung up before she could say another word. She rolled her eyes and nestled down on the couch. No matter how sleepy she was, she had a few phone calls to make. As she dialed the number to one of her contacts she felt a familiar thrill.

It was always fun to investigate.

“Hi Samantha, it’s been a while since I’ve heard from you.”

“Hi Tasha, I was wondering if you could get me some information on a prisoner.”

“I’m fine thanks, and you?”

“I’m sorry. I was in a rush. How are you, Tasha?”

“Everything is good. What’s the name?”

“Tony Farie. Can you tell me if he’s been paroled or released?”

“It’s going to take me some time to find out since it’s near the close of business. Can I call you tomorrow with the information?”

“The sooner the better. I appreciate your help.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Samantha hung up the phone and yawned again. She found she got more tired out lately. She made a mental note to schedule a check-up.

A few hours later Samantha woke to knocking on her front door. She blinked away sleep and sat up. Her back was stiff from napping on the couch. Her curtains were still up on the windows, it was dark outside. The knocking came again. She pushed herself to her feet and walked towards the door. When she reached it, she paused. Who would be knocking so late?

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Jo.”

Samantha opened the door for her friend. She found Jo dressed in skintight black clothes.

“What are you up to in that outfit?” Samantha swept her gaze up and down then looked at Jo’s face.

“I’m going to Roger’s place tonight to check it out.”

“You mean break in?” Samantha titled her head to the side. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“It’s not like I haven’t broken in anywhere before.”

“I know that, but this time it’s different.”

“How?”

“How easy do you think it is to break into a thief’s house?”

The question triggered a slew of concerns in Jo’s mind. Samantha had a good point. If Roger was who she thought he was he had pulled off an amazing heist.

“I’m prepared.”

“What are you looking for exactly?” Samantha asked.

“I want to be sure that the necklace isn’t in there. I also want to get a look at his computer. So what if he wasn’t there when Valda died? That doesn’t mean that he didn’t hire someone to be.”

“I see you’ve been working some theories.”

“Yes, and the only way to find out what is true or not is to break in and have a look around. You asked me to keep you in the loop, so I am. Did you find out anything about Tony?”

“No, not yet, it’s going to take some time.”

“All right, well I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not going anywhere without me.”

For once Jo didn’t argue. “I could use a lookout.”

“Great, I’m perfect for the job. Just let me text Walt and Eddy to let them know what we’re doing.”

“No.” Jo met her eyes. “Just us. It’s an in and out job. It won’t be a problem I promise. I really don’t have the patience to go through the whole, ‘Jo this is too dangerous speech’ from either of them. Samantha, we’re independent women who have been in plenty of dangerous situations, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Samantha slid her phone back into her pocket. “Yes, you’re right.”

Samantha and Jo walked to Roger’s villa. As they approached the villa all of the windows appeared to be dark. They started to move closer to the villa. Samantha grabbed Jo’s arm to stop her.

“There’s someone back there, behind the villa.” Samantha looked over at Jo with wide eyes. “I saw a shadow.”

“Stay here.” Jo started to walk around the corner of the house.

“No, Jo don’t.” Samantha grabbed the crook of her elbow again. “I have a bad feeling about this, please.” Jo met her eyes through the darkness. It was clear that her friend was concerned, but Jo was determined to not only find the murderer, but to find the necklace that was stolen. She shook off Samantha’s grasp.

“Trust me, I’ll be fine. Just stay here.” Jo broke away and walked around the back of the house. She moved with stealth and grace. It was easy for her to be silent as she had spent so much time working as a cat burglar, and then isolating herself in prison. When she neared the other side of the house, she saw the shadow. Actually, it was a person, but the person was covered from head to toe in dusty-black clothes, which made the person look like a shadow. Jo was startled by the sight. One of the thieves she had worked with in her early years explained to her that solid-black clothing stood out more than smokey-black clothes. Therefore to blend in, she always wore the same slightly smokey-black clothes. This person wore a similar outfit, which to her meant that the person hidden beneath the mask was an experienced thief. She braced herself for what was about to play out.

“Stop right there!” Jo demanded. The figure froze with fingertips pressed against the glass of the window. “What is your business here?” The figure turned slowly to face her. Jo’s heart raced as despite the fact that the person was concealed by a mask, there was something very familiar about him.

“Walk away, Jo, before you can’t turn back.”

Jo’s breath caught in her throat. Her fingers trembled just at the fingertips. “Drew?”

“Don’t say my name, you know better than that.”

“You did this? You killed a woman?” Jo was so shocked that she forgot to keep her voice low. Samantha rounded the corner just as Drew wrapped his gloved hand around Jo’s mouth and pulled her body back against his.

“Jo!” Samantha shouted.

Jo didn’t hear her because she was far too occupied flipping Drew right over her shoulder. She slammed his lean frame down hard on the ground, then placed a foot on his chest to keep him still.

“Doesn’t look like I’m the one who is going to have a problem with turning back.”

“Jo, let me up.” He grabbed her ankle and held it tight, but he did not attempt to pull her down. “You have no idea what you’re doing here.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Jo said. She did not look away from Drew. He reached up and pulled his mask up enough to reveal his face. Jo tried not to be moved by it. He had the same baby blue eyes and full lips, the same rigid jawline and thick eyebrows. He looked just as he did when she first met him, aside from a few gray hairs and wrinkles. The memory of their brief, but passionate affair rushed through her mind.

“I’m going to call the police,” Samantha said. Jo’s heart rate quickened. She did not want the police to come. She wanted nothing to do with the police, but she didn’t want a murderer getting away. She started formulating a plan so she could restrain Drew and escape herself before the police got there.

“You’re going to send me to prison? After all of these years? Have you no respect?” Drew asked when she didn’t protest at Samantha calling the police.

“I have respect for those that deserve it. Murdering someone gets no respect from me.”

Samantha dialed the police while she kept her gaze locked on the two. It was easy to gather their history from their body language and the tension in their voices. What was harder to figure out was whether Jo was angry at him for the murder, or something much more personal.

“I didn’t murder anyone!” Drew yanked hard on Jo’s leg and knocked her off balance. She flipped to the side and landed on her feet, but Drew was able to get to his before she could stop him. “You know better than that.” He glared at her. “I came here for the necklace, that’s all.”

“I don’t believe you.” Jo shifted in a slow circle around him to keep him from running. She could hear sirens in the distance.

“Yes, you do.” He smirked a little and took a step towards her. “You believe me, because you know that I would never kill anyone. You know me better than anyone, Jo, years and lifestyle changes don’t erase that.”

Jo was breathless as he took another step towards her. His demeanor was mild, if not a little seductive. She recalled the amount of times they had celebrated together and the plans they made together for big heists. They never actually did one together, but they dreamed up quite a few adventures.

“I don’t know you at all, not anymore.”

“Then here.” He held out his hands to her. “Tie me up. Do what you will. If you really believe that I killed someone, go ahead and show me.” His eyes met hers with a spark of heat. She couldn’t look away. “Go on, Jo, show me just what you think of me.”

“Jo?” Samantha spoke up and broke the tension between the two. “Do you want me to do it? I have some zip ties in my purse.”

“You have zip ties in your purse?” Jo looked over at her with some shock. In that instant Drew took advantage of her distraction and shoved her hard right into Samantha. He bolted into the darkness as Samantha and Jo stumbled over each other in an attempt to untangle.

“He’s getting away!” Samantha tried to run after him, but Jo grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Don’t bother, Samantha. He’s already gone.”

With sirens fast approaching, Jo felt her stomach churn. She wanted to run, just like Drew had, just like they had in the past. It was already too late as beams of light arched along the outside wall of the villa and over the grass. Within moments Jo had her hands in the air and Samantha stumbled over her attempt at an explanation. “We saw someone back here, it looked like he was going to break in.”

“What are you two doing out so late?” One of the officers asked. Samantha recognized them as two of the officers who had attended the scene when Valda died.

Jo lowered her hands when she saw that no one was going to cuff her. “We went for a walk, to look at the stars,” Samantha replied.

“And the man you saw?”

“I didn’t see much. It was too dark. I ran after him to try to stop him, but he got away.” Jo shrugged. She tried to act casual, but under the surface she was panicking, she hated talking to the police.

“So, what you’re saying is you didn’t get a good look at the man you thought was possibly breaking in to this villa?” The police officer jotted down a note on his pad.

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.” Jo narrowed her eyes.

“And you?” The officer looked over at Samantha. “Did you see his face? Anything about him?”

“She didn’t see him until he was running off in that direction.” Jo pointed towards the road that Drew ran down. Samantha cleared her throat, but she didn’t argue the point.

“Is that true?” The officer tapped his notepad with his pen.

“I didn’t see anything but a blur,” Samantha stated.

“And what exactly were the two of you doing walking around at this time of night?” The police officer who Jo guessed was just barely above twenty-five addressed her as if she was a teenager hanging out after curfew.

“Walking, like we said,” Jo said.

“Just walking?”

“It’s a beautiful night.” Jo looked up at the stars.

“This is the same villa where a woman died. A woman who you are suspected of poisoning with muffins.” The officer looked over at Samantha. “Are you sure that there isn’t anything else that you want to tell me? Do you have a reason for returning to the scene of the crime?”

“Excuse me, but it was proven my muffins had nothing to do with her death.” Samantha frowned. “It’s a small community, it’s impossible to go for a walk and not be near someone’s villa at some point. I didn’t even realize which one it was, since it’s so dark.”

“So, you were out walking, in the dark, for no particular reason, and ended up catching a man trying to break in, but neither of you saw his face or can give any form of description of him?”

Jo looked sideways at Samantha. She expected her to admit that they had both seen and spoken to Drew, but instead she only shook her head. “Are you going to arrest me for walking and reporting a crime?” Samantha asked.

“No ma’am, not at this time. But I would advise very strongly that you keep your walks to the daylight hours. Understand?”

Samantha nodded without another word. The officer turned back to Jo. “As for you, I’d like to recommend that the next time you see a masked man, run the other way and call the police, don’t try to chase him down. You could have been hurt, or worse. Really, you should consider how dangerous something is before you make the decision to run straight for it.”