Cursed (3 page)

“Maybe that’s why he did it.”
 Frank Palmera, the Denver chief of police, sat across from him. A glimmer
of light from the lamp on Abel’s desk danced over the chief’s short brown hair.
Abel had called Frank and insisted he handle the case personally. After all,
Abel was partially responsible for helping Frank obtain his current position.
It was the least Frank could do. “A little ‘up yours’ gesture, huh?  Can’t
wait to see how cocky that damn thief is when he’s behind bars.” Abel’s tone
was sardonic.

Frank gave him a slight smile.

Frustration at the thief’s
arrogance had Abel leaning forward in his red leather desk chair pointing a
finger at the chief. “I want this man caught, Frank, once and for all.”

The chief nodded. “The first
officers on the scene questioned your guests thoroughly. One of them remembered
seeing a black SUV parked halfway down the block. We’ll canvas the neighborhood
and see if anyone was seen in or around the vehicle. We sent your guests home,
by the way.”

His matter-of-fact cop voice
irritated Abel further. Didn’t he realize the gravity of the situation? 
He, the D.A., had been violated!  Tension knotted the muscles in his neck
and shoulders. Abel reached for the crystal liquor decanter sitting on his desk
and poured himself a drink. He tossed back two fingers of fifty-year-old scotch
and let the smooth amber liquid slide down his throat. “Black SUV, huh?
 This guy’s like a shadow--in and gone before anyone knows he’s been
there.”

“Except for tonight,” Frank said.

Abel nodded. “Yeah. By the way,
thanks for having your officers process the crime scene so quickly.”

“No problem. I hope when your
gardener wakes up, he’ll be able to tell us something.”

Frank rose from his chair and
walked over to the safe, then continued, “This is the way I figure it went
down.”  He gestured with one hand. “The gardener arranged to meet his
housekeeper-girlfriend in the hallway outside the study. She told me the
gardener must have gotten there early. He walks down the hall, hears a noise in
the study and goes in to check. The subject was surprised, gave your gardener a
good whack on the head and then split the scene.”

Clenching his jaw, Abel stared at
the open, half-empty safe on the west wall of his study. Fifty thousand in
cash, a priceless coin collection, and Tess’s pendant had been taken a few
hours ago during a dinner party. Left behind was an open safe with a single
white feather. A sign of the Dove, the gentleman jewel thief.

Frank tapped a pen against the
palm of his left hand. “If the gardener hadn’t been having an ongoing romance
with the housekeeper and been in the house tonight for a little slap and tickle
between courses…”

Abel slumped back in his chair
and loosened the red silk tie at his throat. “What the hell does it matter
anyway?  The Dove’s identity has never been revealed. No one has so much
as caught a glimpse of the Dove in all his thieving years.”

Frank studied the traces of
fingerprint powder on the safe’s door. “It seems the Dove’s back after a
ten-year absence. Why now?”

Abel threw up a hand. “Who knows?
But it
has
to be him.”

“Maybe,” Frank murmured.

“Maybe! Look, I admit no one has
ever been hurt before during any of his thefts, but he left that damn feather.
It’s the Dove’s signature.”  He shook his head. Abel didn’t bother to hold
back the harshness in his voice. “Whoever this guy is, I want him behind bars
and my property returned.”

Frank fixed him with an
appraising look. “Calm down. It could be a copycat. Either way, we’ll catch the
guy.”  He walked back to his chair and sat down. After removing a small notepad
from his front pocket, he flipped a page. “You’ve already given my officers a
description of the stolen items but I have a few more questions.”

Abel nodded and rubbed his
throbbing temples.

“When was the last time you
opened the safe?”

“A couple of weeks ago.”

“Was anyone in the room with
you?”

“My sister-in-law, Tess.”

“When was the last time you did
an inventory of the contents?”

“I don’t know exactly, it’s been
a while.”

“The reason I’m asking is because
sometimes people forget what they’ve locked up.”

Abel laid his hands on top of the
desk and looked at Frank. “I have some bonds, stock certificates, the deed to
this house and my--well, just some personal items.”  He didn’t want to
tell Frank that he kept the original copy of his marriage certificate to Leann,
as if it could ever bring her back. He had a reputation for being extremely
tough and unbending when it came to the law and putting criminals behind bars.
Revealing that bit of information to the chief might make him think he’d gone
soft.

Frank nodded. “Okay.”

“All of those things are still in
the safe. Obviously, the Dove wanted items he could liquidate in a hurry.”

“Anyone have the combination to
the safe besides you?”

Abel took another sip of scotch.
“My lawyer, just in case.”  He heard the sound of his sister-in-law’s
voice drift in from the hallway.

Tess
.

He rose from his desk as she
walked into the room. Abel’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her. As always,
he found himself drawn to Tess. Why was she able to come so close to affecting
him like Leann?  His wife had been the only woman who truly understood
him. His heartache over his wife, Leann’s death in a car accident four years
ago had consumed him to the point that he had lost all interest in women. He
had thought he and Leann would have a lifetime together. He pushed away the
surge of old grief nudging his heart.

Then one chilly October day his
brother introduced him to Tess, the woman he planned to marry. Abel had never
envied anything his brother had…until then.

Tess wore a long, dark gray coat
and had a matching shawl wrapped around her head. Snowflakes sprinkled both.

“Tess, thank you for coming. How
was the theater?”

Her misty green gaze surveyed the
damaged safe for a moment before she removed her coat and shawl. “It was great,
thanks.” She looked at Abel. “I’m sorry I had to miss your party but I’d had
the tickets for a while.”

Her soft apology touched him. She
wore an ivory suit with matching shoes. By the neat appearance of her dark brown
hair twisted into a knot at the base of her neck, no one would ever guess she’d
been running about in inclement weather.

“Tess, this is Frank Palmera, the
chief of police. Frank, my sister-in-law, Tess O’Brien. It was her pendant that
was stolen.”

Tess turned to Frank with a warm
smile and shook his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. O’Brien.” Frank
said.

She was Ms. O’Brien now that his
brother was dead, but Abel didn’t bother to correct him. His comment might
embarrass Tess and hurt her.

“Can I fix you a drink?” Abel
asked, moving toward the bar caddy.

Tess raised a hand. “I’ll do it.”
She walked past him to the bar. The light scent of her perfume drifted smoothly
through the air, reminding him how much he enjoyed having her in his house.

She picked up the silver tongs
beside the ice bucket and placed two small cubes into a glass barely making a
sound. Tess had flawless taste right down to the perfect strand of pearls
clasped about her neck. Her pale, porcelain skin was nearly the same color as
the pearls. Exquisite. She poured a discreet amount of vodka into her glass
then speared two olives sitting in a small dish by the liquor decanter. She
tucked them between the cubes of ice then looked over at Frank and took a small
sip. “Chief Palmera, I’d appreciate it if you would keep me informed of any
leads you have.”

“
I’ll
keep you informed,
Tess,” Abel interrupted.

Tess glanced at Abel. “That’s all
right, Abel. You’ve got your hands full at the moment with that big murder
case.” She looked back at Frank. “Would you mind if I called you directly?”

Frank smiled. He stared at her as
if she were an angel who’d just descended from heaven. As far as Abel was
concerned, she was.

“Not at all,” Frank said politely
as he reached into his pocket and handed her a card. “Feel free to call
anytime.”

She took the card between her
delicate, manicured fingers, glanced at it then lifted her eyes to Frank.
“Thank you.”

“Mrs. O’Brien, I’ll need you to
verify ownership just for the record and we’ll need a photograph of the pendant
as well. I’m assuming it was insured…you’ll need to contact your insurance
company first thing in the morning.”

“Of course. The receipt and
certificate of authenticity are in my safe deposit box. I’ll get them for you
tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Was there anything
distinctive about the pendant that set it apart?”

Tess smiled. “Yes, the stone’s
color is pure white and it was set into a gold pendant fashioned in the shape
of a dove. When I took it in a couple of weeks ago to have the setting checked,
the jeweler noticed a tiny dove inscribed inside one of the prongs. He said it
was probably a jeweler’s mark. He took a picture of it and I sent it along to
my insurance company.”

“Okay, just one more thing. Why
did you keep your pendant here instead of at your home or a bank?” Frank asked.

“I didn’t keep it here,” Tess
explained in a quiet voice. “I kept it in a safe deposit box but had just moved
it to Abel’s house so I could have the setting checked. I plan to wear it to
the Carousel of Hope Ball next month.”  She glanced over at the safe. “No
one knew it was here except for Abel and me.”

“Are you certain of that? Did you
mention it to anyone before you moved it from the bank?”

“I called my insurance company to
make sure it was okay. I had to add an additional rider to the policy while the
pendant was away from the bank.”

“Did anyone else know it was
here? A friend, perhaps?”

Tess frowned and looked at the
chief. “I might have mentioned it to someone; I don’t remember. You don’t think
one of my friends could have had something to do with it?”

“People steal for all kinds of
reasons, Mrs. O’Brien. Even friends.”

* * * *

After the chief and household
staff left, Abel kicked off his shoes and stretched his legs out in front of
him. He watched Tess standing by the window looking out at the snow, her index
finger tapping absently against the side of her glass.

He looked at the slope of her
small shoulders and wondered where she’d found the courage to assume all of the
responsibilities thrust upon her after his brother’s death. For that and a
hundred other reasons, he admired her. “Tell me about your day.”

She took another sip of her drink
and looked at him in an absent way as if she just remembered he was there.
“Busy.”

He hated the thought of her working in a
department store for slave’s wages. “Why do you insist on continuing with that
job when I know my brother must have left you financially secure?”

She glanced at him, then back out
of the window. “I need to feel useful and earn some money of my own. Besides,
it’s fun. I enjoyed helping men pick out a special Valentine’s gift today for
their wives or girlfriends.”

Here was his opportunity. Abel
stood and walked to her side. A strand of hair had fallen across her cheek. She
looked utterly charming and he had to clench his hand to keep from brushing it
aside. “Tess, Valentine’s Day is a little over three weeks away. I was
wondering if I could take you out to dinner.”

She raised her eyes and studied
him a moment while a smile trembled over her full mouth. “Thank you,
Abel.”  Just like that, she reached out and brushed a lock of his black
hair from his forehead. The tips of her fingers felt warm and oh so soft where
they lingered on his skin. A spurt of happiness pulsed through him. The breath
caught in his throat like a teenager.
Oh, God, let her say yes
.

“That’s very kind.”  She
removed her hand and he wanted to pull her fingers back to his face, but he
kept his hands firmly at his sides.

She glanced away as if looking
into the past. “I don’t know if I feel like going out this year. I didn’t last
year or the year before that. I know Quinn’s been gone for four years and I
need to start getting out more…but it’s still rather hard without him in my
life.”  She looked up at him. “I hope you understand.”

Abel pushed away the heavy
feeling of jealousy. He damn well didn’t understand. She had no problem helping
strangers’ select special gifts for their loved ones but she refused to even
have
dinner
with him. He tamped down his disappointment and smiled. “Of
course, but if you change your mind…”

“You’ll be the first to
know.”  She put down her drink and reached for her coat and shawl.

“Stay for a while. We were just
about to have dessert when the maid screamed the house down. The cook made
raspberry tarts.”