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“Where the fuck are they?” growled the man.
“I-I don’t know! They were here! It’s not possible that she knew. She was gone.”
“Well, someone took them, and since she’s the only one who saw them and knew we had them, it doesn’t take a fucking genius to figure this out.”
“Where does she live?” asked the other man.
“Garden District.”
“Show us.”
The sun was barely peeking out from behind the morning clouds as they pulled behind the massive mansion. There was one light on at the front of the house, but that didn’t bother them at all.
“We might have hit pay dirt,” smirked the man, staring up at the massive mansion. “Get our jewels and maybe a few others.”
“She doesn’t keep anything here,” said Smith. “Her grandmother taught her that. Everything is kept in a bank lockbox.” Smith was lying, but he didn’t want any more trouble than he already had. He had no beef against Sage. She was a good boss and had been hit with a lot in the last few years. He didn’t love her. But he didn’t hate her either. Just get the diamonds and leave the house.
Stepping up onto the back porch, they easily picked the lock, stepping into the mudroom. Hearing bustling in the kitchen, the two men pushed him aside, forcing their way inside. The old woman screamed, but only for a moment as she saw the huge crowbar rising above her. With all his strength, the man brought it down on the side of the head, knocking her to the floor.
“Find the girl.” A few minutes later, the man returned with nothing.
“She’s not here. If she was, she’s long gone.”
“Where would she be?” he asked Smith.
“Still on her trip, I guess. She was supposed to come back last night, I think. Maybe she stayed for another night.”
“Burn the fucking house down. We’re heading back to the store. If she comes home, that’s where she’ll go.”
Driving slowly past her home, Sage knew instantly what had happened. The mansion had been completely retrofitted with all the modern alarms and fire suppression systems years ago. This was no accident, and Silverstein was right. The men who owned the diamonds were dangerous and would be coming for her next.
Racing toward the store, she decided to enter from the back instead of the front as usual. She removed everything from the safe and then hung a sign in the window.
Due to a death in the family, we will be closed for one week.
One week. That would give her time to figure this mess out. Using her mother’s old identification, she booked a hotel room and tried to figure out what to do. If they’d gone to the trouble of burning down her home, they wouldn’t hesitate to burn down the store.
She stared at the suitcase filled with jewelry and cursed herself. How stupid! Millions of dollars worth of jewelry from the store was now sitting in the hotel’s massive safe on the main floor, while millions of dollars worth of loose diamonds were in the bottom of her purse. What a fool she’d been.
Digging in her purse to find the velvet cloth, she cut her finger on the fine cardboard of the printed invitation.
“Shit!”
She stared at the invite.
Annual Mardi Gras Ball – Belle Fleur
Belle Fleur. Where had she heard that name before? The woman. The old woman at her granny’s funeral. She’d said that if she ever needed anything just to come to Belle Fleur.
“I don’t know who you are, lady, but if ever there was a time that I needed something. This is it.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Mike was not happy to be here. He was happy to be home but not happy to be in the middle of the Mardi Gras ball.They’d gone to the jewelry store only to find a sign saying it was closed. With no other leads on where Sage Marshall had disappeared to, they returned to the compound to drown in purple, gold, and green.
“Don’t look so miserable,” laughed Nate. “Just find a woman and ask her to dance. At least pretend like you’re having a good time. If you don’t, Claudette or Mama Irene will find you a woman, and you’ll be forced to spend time with someone not of your choosing.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know if I want to dance with someone if I can’t even see their face?” he growled to his brother.
