The Diamond Secret. Lenora Worth

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      TWO

      “What do you mean, you?” And the diamond? “I don’t have that diamond.”

      Esther glanced back and saw the shadows outside the door. Big, hulking shadows. Could this day get any worse?

      Cullen shoved her toward the back. “I’ll explain later.”

      She ground her loafers to a halt. “No, now. I can call the police, you know.” To prove that point, she reached inside the deep pocket of her flared skirt and pulled out her cell phone.

      “No police. Not a good idea,” Cullen replied, dragging her with him in spite of her feet being practically glued to the floor. “This is too big, too dangerous. We can’t trust anyone.”

      She had a finger on the Nine when the banging on the door started. “I won’t let them ruin my shop.”

      He pulled her into a dark hallway and tugged her close, his breath fanning her now-disheveled hair. “Darlin’, you won’t be able to stop them. And better a ruined shop than the alternative.”

      “But—”

      “Listen to me, Esther. Some very dangerous people know about the chocolate diamond and they think your father had it. If I hadn’t reached you first, it would be even worse, trust me. And you do need to trust me, understand?”

      Trust him? He’d come here demanding a diamond that she figured didn’t even exist, and now he had thugs looking for him and this alleged diamond and he wanted her to trust him instead of the police? Right.

      “I don’t know you and I’ve had enough.” She tried to punch numbers. “I won’t stand for this.”

      He took her phone away and tucked it into one of his many pockets. “No police. That could make things much worse.”

      “Why? Because you’re actually a criminal and you lied to me about everything?”

      He winced. “I used to be a criminal, but I’m reformed now. And technically, I haven’t lied about anything.”

      She didn’t believe him. Except for the criminal part. She could imagine him doing bad things, very bad things. He had that kind of look about him. Half treasure hunter, half pirate. All male.

      “I won’t go anywhere with you,” she said, wondering about the lesser of two evils. Should she pray for intervention or distraction?

      He sighed and held her up like a rag doll, his eyes level with hers. “I don’t have time to argue with you. If you don’t do as I say, they will either torture you or kill you. Or both.”

      The banging ended and the sound of crashing glass took its place.

      “What’s it going to be, Esther?”

      She stared up at the man holding her, her heart beating so fast she thought she was having an attack.

      “What’s really going on here?” she shouted, her fingers digging into his shirt.

      “More than I can explain right now,” he replied. “Now let’s get out of here.”

      She heard the splintering of the two-hundred-year-old door and closed her eyes, willing this dream to be over. But it wasn’t. Cullen was still there when she opened her eyes. And she heard footsteps rushing through the shop.

      “Do you have a back entrance?” he said, still dragging her along the wall, bumping her against old picture frames and antique wall sconces.

      Apparently, he’d made her decision, Esther thought with each jump in her pulse. She was going with Cullen.

      “Yes.” She bobbed her head, then motioned to a hallway beyond a door on the left. “It leads to the courtyard.”

      “Okay, let’s go.”

      Esther heard more crashing and then chairs scraping with irritating force, followed by drawers being opened and dropped. The shattering of precious crystal almost caused her to run back to save her place of business.

      “Don’t,” Cullen said, his gaze hitting her with a warning.

      She hated the tears that burned at her eyes, but this was her life. Her only life. Her father had worked hard to build a solid reputation in the antiques and collectibles world and Esther had vowed to carry on that tradition. She’d given up almost everything else to hold on to this showroom. If she lost this place, where would she go? Certainly not to Great-Aunt Judith’s in Lake Charles. That woman might be her only living relative, but she was ancient and mean and she lived in a trailer with six cats.

      They reached the door. Esther shoved the letters into Cullen’s hands so she could get to her keys.

      “Hurry,” Cullen said, pushing her to unlock it. He put the letters in his big knapsack. “We need to hide somewhere.” Then he pulled out an intricate box and quickly opened it to reveal an exquisite pistol. “I bought this next door, but it’s not loaded.” He shrugged. “I’m guessing here, but I think they’ll probably shoot at us. They won’t kill us. They’ll want to question us about the diamond. But we can bluff our way out with this if we have to. Only use this gun if something happens to me. And make them think it’s loaded.”

      They had real guns and he wanted her to СКАЧАТЬ