Page 26 of Family Jewels

“Really?” he asked in surprise.

The woman whacked his arm again. “No, you stupid fool. She’s shittin’ you.” She grimaced. “You never were quite right after I dropped you on your head when you were two.”

My mouth gaped open in surprise, but Neely Kate was already backing up. “Thanks for your help.”

As soon as Neely Kate and I climbed back into the truck, I turned to face her. “I don’t believe him.”

“Which part?”

“All of it?” I shook my head. “I don’t know. Did you see him drumming his fingers? He was nervous.”

“So which one was lyin’? Rayna or Alberto? You know . . . Rayna never said whether she sold him the brooch or not. Only that he said it was cut glass.”

“True.” I put the truck in reverse. “Maybe we should talk to Rayna again.”

“I think we should pay a visit to Ripper.”

I blinked in surprise. “Isn’t it rough?”

Neely Kate snorted. “We’ve dealt with rough characters before.”

“I don’t have a hat and veil to hide behind this time.”

While I’d gone into plenty of dangerous situations without my Lady-in-Black disguise, I was undeniably out of practice. Plus, I’d always had a bodyguard before, thanks to James, and both he and Jed had made it clear that I still had protection if I wanted or needed it.

“We’ve got Jed,” I said. “We could call him to come with us.”

“No Jed,” she said in a short tone that caught me by surprise. Then she hastily added, “We need to do this on our own. We can’t have Jed following us around like we can’t take care of ourselves.”

While she had a point, I had a feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me. But now didn’t seem like a good time to ask. “I have my gun in my purse in case we need it.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “What?When did you start carrying your gun?”

I couldn’t tell her about my visit with James, even if part of me wondered whether my silence was endangering her. But James wanted our visits to remain a secret, and I needed to respect his wishes. “I picked it up when I went home. I knew we were going to visit some pawn shops, so I thought it might be better to be on the safe side.”

“Well, I have my gun too, so we’re covered.”

We were sitting in my truck, calmly talking about pulling guns on bad guys. This did not bode well for our visit.

Rainy Day Pawn was on the east side of town, but Ripper Pawn was in a small strip mall on the north side, just outside of the city limits, in a section that was known for being rough. A few new businesses had popped up over the last year. Besides the new pawn shop, there was a tattoo parlor and an adult “toy” store. A biker bar rounded out the offerings.

A neon sign that readopen till midnightflashed in the window of Ripper Pawn.

I glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard. “At least we don’t have to worry about them closing before we’re done.”

“I’m not sure we’d want to come here after dark,” Neely Kate said, opening her bejeweled bag and looking inside. She pulled out her gun and checked the chambers. She carried her grandfather’s old gun—the six-shooter revolver one of her cousins had used to teach her to shoot.

She flicked the barrel closed, then tucked the weapon into the back waistband of her jeans. “Better to be prepared.” Her flowy top covered the bulge at the small of her back.

Neely Kate clearly had more experience with whipping out guns than I did, and the last thing we wanted to do was go in looking hostile, so I left mine in the bottom of my bag.

“We need a plan,” Neely Kate said. “I think we should pretend to be customers. We can ask about the jewelry like we’re shopping.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

We got out of the truck and headed into the shop. The difference between this pawn shop and the other one was like night and day. One entire wall was lined with guns, the center section of the shop was filled with stereo equipment, which might or might not have been legally obtained, and there was a long glass case at the back.

Neely Kate squealed and pointed. “Oh, lookie there, Beth Ann! I told you they’d have jewelry here!” She made a beeline for the back case.