by Dale Mayer
“That would be very sad. You are blood.” His voice was terse. “And they need to remember that.”
“Levi’s men are digging into Ruby’s boyfriend. A little deeper than you did. We’re hoping he’s not involved in this nightmare, but …” Her words came out in a rush. She watched as her father’s fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white.
“I hope that you don’t believe your sister Ruby has anything to do with this.”
“I don’t know what to believe,” Diamond said softly. “The attack on me seems very pointed, very personal, an awful lot of effort to go through.”
“And what would be the end result?” he asked, puzzled. “It’s not like Ruby could do anything that would stop me from loving you. It won’t take you out of my will.”
“No.” Di’s voice was still gentle. “But it will take something very important from my heart.”
He sucked in his breath as he understood what she had meant. “That would be a very hateful intention, if that’s what is driving the breach, the forgery, your kidnapping, the theft of your sketches …”
“I know,” she said. “Yet that’s what Levi’s men were wondering. My birthright brings up a lot of issues and conflicts. And, of course, it’s a simple step for law enforcement to consider who might care enough to want to do this.”
“Whoever is behind this, regardless of their intent, would have had to hire someone … criminal,” her father said darkly. “And I don’t think any of your sisters’ boyfriends have that kind of connection.”
“Unless we’re talking Ruby’s IT boyfriend,” Diamond said carefully. “Dezi thinks my emails have been hacked and quite possibly my cloud storage backup files, which would basically be everything dealing with my business.”
“Ronnie could definitely have done that,” her father said thoughtfully. “But that still doesn’t mean your sister is involved.”
“No,” she said, “but it’s a very small jump to think she’s the one behind this, with the sole intent to destroy my business.”
“Of all three of your sisters, which one do you get along with the best?”
“Ruby up to now, although Emerald has been getting friendlier,” Diamond said. “She’s the one who wants to mend things a little more than the others—particularly now that she’s pregnant. I don’t think Ruby cares for me one way or the other but has kept a channel of communication open. Whereas Sapphire won’t talk to me, won’t answer my emails. She’s cut me out of her life for a while now.”
Her father gave a long-standing sigh. “I’m sorry about that. There’s no reason for it. What about Ruby specifically though? Is there something between you?”
“She has answered a couple business emails, but I think our personal relationship, as far as she’s concerned, is out of the question. It was all because, many years ago, she wanted a one-of-a-kind necklace that I had designed and already sold. I told her no. Then she refused to consider buying anything from me ever since. Plus she may also believe that you have helped me more than you helped them, and she doesn’t understand that.”
“It sounds like I need to have a talk with all my daughters,” her father said.
“It’d be great if you could at least make sure they don’t have anything to do with this and aren’t in a position or a mind-set to wish this on me.”
“That worries me because, once they hear this is happening, they might think to do it themselves. What happened to us?” he asked sadly. “We were all so close.”
“Somebody decided to find out who my father really was,” she said bitterly. “A man I’ve never even met.”
“I’m your father,” he said in surprise. “Not sure where you got the idea that I wasn’t.”
“Sapphire!” Diamond said in shock. “I also confirmed with Mother, and she didn’t deny it.”
“You mother has thrown that in my face—hell, about all four of you not being mine for that matter. However, I had DNA tests on all of four of you. You are all mine.”
“What? But I was told you had the DNA tests done, and you weren’t my biological father.” She turned on him in shock. “My mother said you did. My sister said you did.”
He shook his head. “I hate to speak ill of your mother, and your sister, but they lied.”
She sagged back in the seat. “Interesting. So why did Sapphire make it all up? Or maybe she overheard a conversation and, with her nonexistent sisterly love, used it to drive a wedge between us all? All the sisters know. They’ve thrown it in my face many times over the last fourteen years.” She couldn’t quite reconcile this development. And the pain caused by her sister’s lie.
She gripped his hand. “So you really are my father?”
“I am,” he said firmly. “The blood test confirmed it. We’ve always been close. You’ve been the light of my world ever since you were born. I really enjoyed your sisters as they grew up, but, with you being seven to ten years younger than them, it was like starting all over as a father again. I had a whole new perspective. The business was a big success then, and I was much less concerned about working late every night. I was also concerned because your mother was having more and more affairs,” he said delicately. “So I started to stay home to make sure she was looking after you. And, as such, I looked after you, and she took off a lot of times to be with her friends.”
She chuckled. “I was the one who won in that deal.”
He slid her a sideways grin. “We both did.”
She smiled, feeling herself warming on the inside. “Why would Sapphire tell me a DNA test was done, and I wasn’t your daughter?” she asked, a note of bitterness in her voice.
“She heard your mother and I arguing. After that, Sapphire wanted me to get it done because she wanted proof. She had hoped the DNA test results would force me to divorce your mother immediately, and I think she hoped that would cause your mother to take you away from me.”
“And that’s why you stayed with Mother until I moved from home,” she said in understanding. “I appreciate it.”
“The older you get, the more you look like my sister.”
She shot him a startled look. “Your sister who died when she was young?”
“She was twenty-one,” he said, a sad smile on his face. “She was beautiful, just like you.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of her.”
Henry nodded. “It hurt too much to see her, but I’ll dig that picture up again. And send copies to your sisters. Even if they don’t believe me or the DNA tests, one look at you and your aunt proves you have Liechester blood in your veins.
Diamond giggled. “Not sure how close the resemblance could be when I’m already almost thirty.”
“Hey, you looked different when you were born, just like all of us do, but you’re exhibiting more and more of your paternal side of the family as you age.”
“Not sure that’s a good thing either,” she said with spirit. “I don’t think I want to age in order to fit in.”
He laughed uproariously at that. “You are your own unique spirit,” he said. “Don’t ever change.”
He pulled into the parking lot of her store just then and turned off the engine. Sure enough, cop cars were parked in front, and she thought maybe Vince was here.
She hopped out and walked toward two policemen standing outside. “May I go into my store please?”
He turned with a frown. “Everybody needs to speak with you.”
“Well, nobody contacted me,” she said. “Why is that?”
“I stopped them,” Dezi said from beside her. “I told them you were at Sammy’s bedside, and you didn’t need more on your plate at the moment.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. “How is Sammy?”
“Unconscious and likely to stay that way for several more hours,” she said. “My father convinced me to get out of the hospital for a while. He didn’t like me hunched over Sammy, feeling guilt ridden over what was going on.”
�
��Good.” Dezi’s voice was curt. “Come on in the store, and let’s take a look.”
Trusting him, giving the two officers she’d interrupted a quick smile, she followed Dezi into her store. She was glad to see her father follow along.
Inside, she stopped. “Everything’s been smashed? Since we were here?”
Dezi nodded. “Looks like it. But this is more of a temper tantrum because nothing was put out this morning. It was emptied as per your usual nighttime protocol, and, since the store wasn’t open yet, none of the merchandise had been placed in the cases for public viewing.”
“Everything was in the vault, and, if the kidnappers got into my store vault, then I presume they completely cleaned me out.”
“Except for one thing,” he said with a crooked grin. “Levi had the security on the store changed last night. So whoever did this had to have been hiding inside.”
“What?” She glanced at him. “Why would Levi do that?”
“For the same reason I would have if we had been here,” Vince said, stepping toward her. “As soon as there’s some kind of a threat, like your home invasion and subsequent kidnapping, security is changed.”
She stared at him, hope swelling inside. “Did it work? So the kidnappers didn’t get in?”
“We were just about to open it up. Now that you’re here, you want to do the honors?” He sent a text to Levi and waited for the response.
It came almost immediately. Clear.
She glanced at his cell saw the message and walked over to the big walk-in safe and typed in her password. The code released the locks, and she pulled open the door. She cried out in joy to see all her merchandise still here. She ran inside, going to her special pieces that were in progress. “Well, it worked. It looks like everything is here.”
One of the police officers stepped forward and said, “Instead of just assuming it’s here, can you please go thoroughly through every box, every shelf to make sure it’s here?”
“That won’t be a fast job,” she said. “It would help if I had one of my staff to check things off the merchandising list. We have a manifest of everything that belongs in here. It’ll take a few hours to go over it.”
“We have a Maggie Mcleod here. She came to work this morning, and we’ve detained her until we can get her statement,” the detective said.
Diamond nodded. “She’s worked for me for about four years now. She’s been in my vault many times. Let’s bring her in, and we’ll get started. The two of us can check this over.”
As soon as Maggie saw Di, Maggie ran forward and gave Diamond a huge hug. “What’s going on?” Maggie asked. “The police said you were attacked last night. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Diamond said with a smile. “But I need your help. We have to go through everything in here and make sure nothing was stolen.”
“Why isn’t Sammy here?” Maggie asked as she accepted the paperwork from Diamond. “Did something happen to him too? Nobody will tell me anything.”
“We found him in his studio this morning,” she said. “He’s in the hospital unconscious from a head wound, but the doctors are working with him right now.”
“It’s that new boyfriend of his, isn’t it?” Maggie said. “I never liked him …”
“We don’t know anything for sure.”
They took up positions on the side of the vault with all the jewelry-making supplies, carefully opening each drawer, marking off the contents. With one person calling out what was inside each, the other one marking it off, it worked as a fairly simple inventory method.
About ninety minutes later they got to the end of the manifest, and Diamond turned to look at Maggie. “And?”
She handed Diamond the sheet. “It’s all here.”
“Good. Thank you so much, Maggie. Why don’t you head on home now, and I’ll call you later as I figure out what to do here.”
Maggie nodded and waved goodbye to all.
Diamond turned with a big grin to see Dezi—leaning against the open vault door, his arms across his chest, a lazy grin on his face that made her heart race. “Looks like this vault is secure and its contents complete and verified,” she said. “Levi has my deepest gratitude.”
“Good. I’ll tell him that,” Dezi said with a smile. He took the manifest. “We need to let the cops know too. And we’ll have to repeat this process with your residential vault.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Yeah, but my paperwork is much less detailed at home.”
He frowned.
She held up a hand. “I know. I know. We need to change my steps to secure this place. … And my home too.”
The two were led out of the safe, and then it was secured once again. As soon as the vault was armed, Dezi called Levi. “Vault is secure and intact. Can you change the code now, please?”
Even as she stood here, she could hear a series of numbers tumbling beside her. And then the door sealed shut. She looked at Dezi and said, “Do we really have to be this crazy about it all?”
He just gave her a flat stare.
Back out in the store, she stopped and looked around at all the destruction, shaking her head. “It’ll be an insurance nightmare dealing with all this.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” the cop closest to her said. “If all the expensive items haven’t been stolen, the insurance company will have no problem fixing the glass cases.”
“I guess you’re right.” She shrugged and looked at Dezi. “Are you needed here?”
He spun to look at her. “Why? What do you want to do?”
She frowned. “I need lunch. Breakfast was a long time ago, and I feel my blood sugar dropping. So I’m hoping we can get out of here for a little bit and eat somewhere private.”
He held out his hand, and she slipped hers in it. “Let’s go.”
*
A sandwich shop was around the corner, but he didn’t think she wanted something like that. He racked his brain for the restaurants he’d seen close by, then finally turned to her and asked, “Where would you like to go for lunch?”
She stopped once they were out in the parking lot. “I feel like I should have said something to my father before he left.”
“I talked to him,” Dezi said. “He’s staying the rest of the day in Houston. He changed his flights to tomorrow. And, of course, I also got a final warning that we had better solve this before he has to leave.”
She rolled her eyes up at him. “He means well.”
“I know he does,” Dezi said with a smile. “And he’s your father. If you were my daughter, I’d be looking out for you just as intently.”
She nodded. “There’s a small hole-in-the-wall Chinese food place a couple blocks from here. That sounds like something I could dig into. I really want vegetables.”
“Driving distance or can we walk?”
“Let’s walk,” she said. “Maybe it’ll help clear my mind.”
Holding hands, the two walked away from the jewelry store, and, with every step, he could see the lines of stress falling off her face, her shoulders relaxing.
“This might be a good time to consider whether you want to keep the store open after this,” he said. “Maybe it’s not necessary anymore. And maybe it’s time for a change. One that would decrease your stress.”
“Five people still rely on me for their employment,” she said, “not to mention various off-site accountants, my attorney, all those other people I’ve hired.”
“Accountants and attorneys you’ll still need,” he said. “And you will need some employee help if you work at home.”
“I know,” she said, “but I don’t know if I’m ready to let the store go yet.”
“You certainly don’t have to make a decision today,” he said.
Just then her phone rang. She groaned until she saw it was the hospital. The first words out of her mouth were, “Is he awake?”
“He woke up,” the nurse said. “But he’s back asleep. This time it’s a more restful sleep. He does need to b
e left in peace and quiet. We suggest you come back in a couple hours.”
“Perfect. Thank you very much for the update.”
Dezi had heard most of that.
They continued to walk toward the Chinese restaurant. For a very small, unassuming building, it was jam-packed inside with Asian people. Dezi took that as a good sign. He moved to the only free table left, a small one with two seats in the far corner. Once seated, he asked, “You already know what you want?”
She nodded.
The waitress arrived, and Dezi said to Di, “Just order me the same please.”
Once their food was ordered, she placed her hands in his. “Did you get an update from the police?” She leaned forward, looking into his eyes.
He shook his head.
“I really need to know what those three men have to say for themselves.”
“They aren’t talking,” he said bluntly. “But the police are pretty sure Sammy’s boyfriend attacked Sammy.”
“Why attack Sammy?” she asked. “He’s such an easygoing, friendly person. Why would those guys hurt him?”
“Most likely because Sammy wouldn’t give Tony what they wanted,” Dezi said. “Remember? They couldn’t get into your business vault. And they might have taken it out on Sammy, as he was the manager and should have been able to open it. Maybe they wanted the security code to the vault, thinking they could hack into the vault that way or could stop the security tapes focused on the vault itself. Maybe they wanted to know how to change passwords or codes? Until he wakes up and can tell us what happened, or until one of the three men breaks, we won’t be any wiser.”
Chapter 11
Diamond walked back into the hospital and headed toward the ICU where Sammy was being taken care of. As she approached the curtain hiding him from view, a nurse stepped up and asked her, “Who are you?” Startled, Diamond turned to look at her. “I’m a friend. I’m his boss too. I was here this morning, but they told me that he would sleep for hours, and there was no point in staying.”
The nurse looked at Diamond suspiciously, motioning to somebody behind her. Diamond turned to see a cop walking toward her. She was happy Sammy had security, but she was a little concerned she wouldn’t be allowed to see him. She again explained who she was and that a nurse had called to let her know Sammy was awake. She wished Dezi had stayed with her, but he wanted to talk to the front desk about something, and she’d hurried on to see about Sammy’s condition.
