Stakes & Stilettos - Michelle Rowen [76]
“Excuse me?”
She twisted a finger through her short pink hair. “I’m so sorry. I know this is the absolute worst thing, but… but I knew I was never going to wear it. I put it in my jewelry box and every time I opened it up it was just staring up at me giving me the evil eye.”
“A necklace doesn’t have eyes.”
“It felt like it did. I never in a million years thought that you would want it back, and if you had asked me in a couple of months or years why I never wore it I was going to tell you that I lost it.”
“What did you do with the necklace, Amy?” I asked tightly.
“Well, one day I was at home vacuuming and the TV was on in the other room and I heard a commercial. It was this guy talking about…” She stopped and her bottom lip quivered.
“Talking about what?” I prompted her.
“Talking about selling your used and unwanted jewelry. For cash.” She covered her face with her hands. “Oh, I am so ashamed.”
“You sold the necklace?” I managed, not believing my own ears. “You sold it? I gave it to you as a gift!”
“I wasn’t going to wear it.” She touched her ear. “And I was able to buy these earrings with the money the guy gave me. It was only the day before yesterday.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. On the one hand I was furious that she would sell a present I gave her, even though it was admittedly not really a present at all. On the other hand… those were some really cute earrings.
She hadn’t known. Hell, I hadn’t known that I might need that necklace again. Actually, I didn’t even know right now that it was even the object in question that would help me.
All I had was my gut instinct. And my gut was telling me I needed that gold chain and I needed it as soon as possible.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Where did you sell it?”
“It’s a place called Sell Your Gold for Cash.”
“Sounds classy.”
“It’s really not bad. A little cluttered.”
“How much did you get for it?”
“Fifty bucks.”
I nodded. My potential chance at a normal life had been pawned to some sleazy used-jewelry shop for fifty bucks. Great.
“Vampire or human owned?” I asked.
She thought about it. “I’m pretty sure the guy was human.”
Thierry approached us and I told him what was going on. He shook his head. “I know the owner of this store—his wife is a regular customer here at Haven—but it’s too late right now. They would be closed. It’s nearly midnight.”
“Well, as much as I’d love to wait until the stores open tomorrow morning, I’d prefer not to be fried by the sun when I stroll down the sidewalk.”
“I will investigate the problem myself, then.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be all contrary here, but I need to go now. I need to get the necklace now. I can’t wait.”
Thierry studied me for a moment and then glanced at Amy. “You are sure this is the correct place?”
She nodded and fluttered her eyelashes. “Uh-huh.”
He stood in silence for a while longer, his expression unreadable. “George will come with us. He has a talent we may require if I’m unable to contact the owner personally.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I didn’t know an affinity for tight leather pants would come in handy in a situation like this.”
“George is very adept at picking locks.”
This was news. “You learn something new every day. Do I want to know how he came to learn this?”
Thierry regarded me and a small amount of amusement slid behind his gaze. “We all have pasts and hidden talents, Sarah. I’m sure you do as well.”
“I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue,” Amy said, her gaze slowly moving over Thierry’s body. “Does that count?”
I hit her in the shoulder. Hard. “Not in this case.”
She rubbed her arm and pouted. “Ouchie.”
After Thierry made a quick and mysterious phone call, and without telling anyone else where we were going, the four of us piled into Thierry’s Audi, just returned from its extended stay in the Abottsville Motor Inn parking lot—he’d paid a couple of the employees to drive it over—and we left for a midnight pawnshop run to retrieve my Plan B.
Chapter