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“I, I, wanted to speak to your brother.” Rowena was desperate to regain control of the situation.
“By hiding in an armoire.” Luna was overstating the obvious. “Did you ever hear of making an appointment?” She was livid. She turned her glare to the dude. “What’s your story?”
“Well, like I said, I was the one who sold the stuff to the guy who owns this place.”
“So?” Luna was about to press the lever of the fire extinguisher just for the heck of it. Maybe make them dance around a bit. No. She had to invoke her inner spirit and remain calm. She spotted a roll of duct tape on one of the tables. “Chi-Chi. Wrap their hands behind their backs.”
“My pleasure.” Chi-Chi was as calm as a cucumber. Luna kept swinging the hose back and forth in case either of them tried to make a quick move. Chi-Chi grabbed Rowena’s hands, pulled them behind her back, and began to wrap the tape. “Oh dear. This beautiful Hermès bracelet will be ruined.”
Rowena started to protest. “You won’t get away with this! My husband is an enormously powerful man!”
“Don’t be absurd. How are you going to explain your presence in a showroom after hours? You had a blackout and don’t know how you got here? You’re going to have to come up with some kind of crazy excuse.”
Luna turned to George. “So you sold the merchandise to my brother? What of it?”
“To tell you the truth . . .” he began.
“Yes, the truth. That would be a nice change.” Luna looked over at Rowena. “Let me guess. Your name isn’t Roseanne. It’s Rowena Millstone.”
Rowena stiffened but didn’t answer.
“OK. Back to you, cowboy. What are you doing here?”
“I figured if two people was lookin’ for the merchandise, it must be worth somethin’.”
“Yousoldit to my brother,” Luna said calmly, as she watched Chi-Chi wrap tape around the guy’s wrists. “And you received payment for said merchandise. According to the laws of commerce, that means the merchandise belongs to my brother; he owns it, however valuable it might be. Other laws pertain to theft and larceny, which you could be charged with. For starters, you are trespassing.”
George hung his head. He had no fight left in him. The woman who had come flying out of the cabinet had scared the bejesus out of him. And now this. Never in his life had he ever been bested by a woman. Maybe once when Shirley from the Road House beat him in arm wrestling, but he’d never been this close to being hogtied before.
Luna turned her attention to Rowena again. “Let me guess. You are looking for something that was stashed away in one of the pieces?”
Rowena didn’t answer her.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head. The document you were looking for is in a very safe place.” Luna was relieved that she had listened to everyone about putting it in Chi-Chi’s safe.
Rowena snapped to it. “What do you mean it’s in a safe place? You found it?” Rowena was slowly beginning to comprehend what was happening around her. What was she going to do? Whatcouldshe do? She slowly looked at her surroundings. She was on the floor of a showroom with her hands tied together with tape, crumpled next to a repulsive, greedy scruff who smelled like Chick-fil-A.
“You seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble. What exactly were you looking for?” Luna wanted to hear it from the red-lipsticked harpy.
Chi-Chi spotted the security guard entering the courtyard with another equally disheveled man in handcuffs. “Oh dear. What do we have here?” She nodded in their direction.
On the other side of the courtyard, Cullen and Gaines rushed through the front entrance of the art center, Gaines with his hand on his weapon. They dashed to the showroom, then came to an abrupt halt.
Luna looked up at the two men. “Took you long enough.” She waved the wand of the fire extinguisher at both of them.
“Seems like you have everything under control. I’ll take that now.” Gaines reached for the weapon Luna had been threatening her two intruders with.
Luna tipped her head toward Rowena. “Meet Rowena Millstone.”
“Well, I’ll be darned,” Gaines said. “And who is this?” He turned to George.
“This is the man who sold the goods to Cullen.”
“George Nelson?” Cullen looked flabbergasted.
“Yep.” George was beyond humiliated.
“And who are you?” Gaines turned to Leroy.
