His silence answered her question.
She knew she couldn't make herself leave without Cassidy. But she'd say anything to get this seemingly capable man to cooperate with her. "Yes. I'll leave. If I can talk to her first. In person."
Tagging on the "in person" clause made his jaw twitch again.
She didn't care.
A phone call wasn't going to cut it. He might as well know that now.
"OK, let's take this one day at a time. Tomorrow, stay around the house with Nutmeg. Stick to dog-sitting. I'll look for Cassidy. And I'll let you know if I find anything."
She'd prided herself on not trusting anyone for the last couple of years. Shedding her naïve faith in others had felt like an accomplishment. And she wasn't about to make an exception for Nash Stone. But his firm confidence convinced her to try it his way first. For now.
Partly because her alternative plan was to charge onto Emil's yacht tomorrow morning all by herself, and demand to see Cassidy. Which wasn't much of a plan.
And partly because . . . well, something about that unwavering confidence in Nash's gaze . ..
"Okay. I'll stay here tomorrow, but you better update me on something by tomorrow evening or I'll—"
He held up both hands. "You will hear from me tomorrow. You have my word."
"Thank you."
Nash felt like he'd just negotiated an international peace treaty. Or, more accurately, a surrender.
Lena wasn't hopping on a plane tomorrow, like he'd wanted. But the fact that she was still talking to him gave him the courage to push for more information.
"Is there anything more you want to tell me? About Cassidy? Or Emil? Anything that might be helpful?"
The fierce determination in her eyes mellowed. She lifted one shoulder. "My family associates in the same circles as Sebastian Ruben and Stanton Hightower. They smile together for the cameras at fundraisers and call each other friends, though, I doubt any of them have any real friends."
"Wow. That's harsh."
The side of her mouth quirked with a weary sigh. "No. Not really. It's just the way things are. Anyway, I don'tknow anything specific about how the jewels were stolen. I just know Cassidy didn't do it."
"I doubt she did, but you said Sebastian Ruben accused her?"
"Yeah, after she and Emil left. He told several people that he thought she stole the jewels." She rolled her eyes. "You need to understand that Sebastian is a petty man. He asked Cassidy out not long ago. She turned him down. Hard. His ego couldn't take it. He's lashed out at her several times since then. So his accusation wasn't a surprise. He may not even think she took the jewels. He may just want to spread the rumor to make her look bad."
"Okay. Noted."
She narrowed her eyes at Nash. “Do you think Emil took the jewels?”
Nash held up both hands again. “We don’t know that. But I can tell you that the owner of the jewels, Stanton Hightower, hired us to investigate Emil, and we’re happy to do so. Maybe he’s innocent, maybe not.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that the owner didn’t want to report the theft to the police?”
“Normally, yes, it would. But he did a good job convincing my bosses that the only reason he didn’t want to reportit to the police was because he didn’t want the story in the news. A theft of this magnitude would be very bad for his business, and he’s right about that. Whether there are other reasons he didn’t want to report it to the authorities, I don’t know. But, like I said, we’re just here investigating Emil. If he didn’t take the jewels, we’re just going to let him be.”
Lena stiffened. “But you’re going to look—"
"Yes, we're going to find Cassidy. I told you, you have my word. I'll do everything I can to help you find your cousin."
God, please help me keep that promise.
Chapter 6
Concerns about Cassidy and Lena woke Nash at a dark hour. Because apparently, he needed the wee hours of the morning to worry about the cousins who were now irrevocably enmeshed in his assignment.
