Always a Thief - Kay Hooper [95]
Quinn reached inside, using his handkerchief in lieu of gloves. “I guarantee there are no prints,” he said. “Still . . .” Carefully, he lifted the wide gold bangle with its oval emerald and held it up so they could all examine it.
“Are you sure?” Morgan asked. “It looks real.”
“It's a good copy. A damned good copy.” He turned the bangle slightly to see the underside of the setting. “The workmanship is too new; the genuine piece showed faint hammer marks in the gold.” He turned it back so that the “emerald” flashed green fire. “And the stone is just one shade too pale.”
“How did she get into the case?” Storm demanded. “None of the alarms has been tripped.”
“I don't know. Christ, Max, I'm sorry.”
“It isn't your fault, Alex.”
“No? I asked you to risk the collection. I told you I'd keep it safe.”
“You did keep it safe—from the threat we knew about. None of us saw this coming.”
“I should have,” Quinn said. “I should have.”
It was after midnight when Morgan woke to see Quinn standing at the window gazing out on a chilly, foggy San Francisco night.
“Alex?”
He stirred slightly and then returned to the bed, sliding in beside her and drawing her into his arms. “Go back to sleep, sweet.”
“Alex, stop blaming yourself. You did everything you could to safeguard the collection.”
“Everything except keep it safe.”
“The only piece missing is the Talisman emerald. It's valuable, sure, but look at what the thief didn't get.”
“I knew there was someone working behind the scenes after the police found that body. I knew, Morgana. But all I could think about was trapping Nightshade.”
“Which you did.”
“And cost Max the emerald.”
“And saved lives, Alex. We'll never know how many lives you saved. If the price was the emerald, then so be it. You heard Max. He doesn't care.”
“Maybe not, but—”
“He doesn't care.”
After a long moment, the tension seemed to leave Quinn and he pulled her even closer. “Yes. I know.”
Feeling the effects of the previous night without sleep, Morgan yawned and snuggled closer. “Besides, you'll be able to find that other thief and the emerald. Set a thief to catch a thief, remember?”
“I remember. Go to sleep, love.”
Halfway there, Morgan chuckled drowsily. “That's the first time you've ever called me that. I like it.”
“So do I.” He kissed her forehead. “Good night, love.”
When Morgan woke late the next morning, Quinn was gone. She knew it the instant she opened her eyes. She knew he wasn't in the apartment. She doubted he was even in the city.
“Set a thief to catch a thief,” she murmured. “Me and my big mouth.”
He'd gone after the emerald.
Bantam Books by
KAY HOOPER
Once a Thief
Whisper of Evil
Touching Evil
Out of the Shadows
Hiding in the Shadows
Stealing Shadows
Haunting Rachel
Finding Laura
After Caroline
Amanda
On Wings of Magic
The Wizard of Seattle
My Guardian Angel
And coming this summer from Bantam Books
Sense of Evil
PRAISE FOR KAY HOOPER'S
STEALING SHADOWS
“A fast-paced, suspenseful plot . . . The story's complicated and intriguing twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the chilling ending.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The first book in a ‘thrillogy' which will feature back-to-back suspense novels by the awesome Ms. Hooper. If Stealing Shadows is any indication, readers are in for a terrific thrill ride.”
—Romantic Times
“This definitely puts Ms. Hooper in a league with Tami Hoag and Iris Johansen and Sandra Brown. Gold 5-star rating.”
—Heartland Critiques
HAUNTING RACHEL
“A stirring and evocative thriller.”
—Palo Alto Daily News
“The pace flies, the suspense never lets up. It's great reading.”
—The Advocate, Baton Rouge
“An intriguing book with plenty of strange twists that will please the reader.”
—Rocky Mountain News
“It passed the ‘stay up late to finish it in one night' test.”
—The Denver Post
FINDING LAURA
“You always know you are in for an outstanding read when you pick up a Kay Hooper novel, but in Finding Laura, she has created