Wyoming Tough - Diana Palmer [48]
“This egg was left to us by our grandmother, who was given it as a Christmas gift from her husband decades ago,” Mallory said with ice dripping from every syllable. “It’s utterly priceless.”
“At current gold prices, the gold alone would buy a Jaguar,” she murmured, shocked.
“Interesting, that a poor working cowgirl would know that,” Mallory replied.
She handed the egg to Mallory. Her eyes were full of abused pride. “You think that I would steal from you?” she asked quietly, and searched his face.
“The evidence pretty much speaks for itself,” Mallory told her.
She looked from his angry face to Cane’s shocked one and Tank’s bland one. Darby lifted his chin.
“She’s no thief,” Darby said shortly. “I may not be the world’s best judge of character, but I’d bet my retirement on this girl’s honesty. Saw her run down a cowboy who dropped a five-dollar bill out of his wallet and didn’t notice. Not the act of a thief,” he added.
“This was missing out of the case.” Mallory indicated the egg.
“How did she get the key?” Tank asked aloud.
“Mine is missing,” Mallory said coldly. His eyes narrowed on Morie.
She just stared at him, with her heart breaking in her chest. She was damned without a trial. Everybody was looking at her with varying degrees of suspicion. She knew she’d been set up and she knew who did it—that Bruner woman, with some help, she would have bet, from that grinning cowboy in the barn who’d gone riding with her. Bates.
But it would do no good to condemn him on a stray thought. Nothing she said was going to convince Mallory that she’d been set up. She could see that in his face. It twisted her heart. If he’d cared for her at all, he’d never have believed her capable of this.
She stared at him with resignation. “I suppose you want to call the sheriff now,” she said, and thought how she was going to explain this to her parents. Her father would be outraged. He’d come after Mallory with his team of family attorneys and it would be a major assault on the man’s reputation and wealth. Her father was vindictive. Especially where his children were concerned. Mallory Kirk had no idea what a hornet’s nest he was stirring up, nor did that Bruner woman, whose entire past would be laid out to public view when her dad got through.
“No,” Mallory said, averting his eyes. “I won’t do that. But you’re resigning as of right now. I want you off my land in one hour. No more. And Darby will watch you pack, to make sure nothing else goes mysteriously missing.”
Morie lifted her chin. Spanish royalty from three generations ago showed itself in her comportment and arrogance. “I have never stolen anything in my life,” she said with quiet pride. “And you will regret this. I promise you.”
“Threats!” Gelly scoffed. “The last resort of a thief caught red-handed!”
“You remember it,” Morie told her evenly. “You’re wearing last year’s clothes, probably bought from a consignment shop, and trying to insinuate yourself into the boss’s life,” she said flatly, shocking everybody, especially Gelly. “You’re a fraud, too, lady. I don’t know what your game is, but sooner or later, you’ll betray yourself.”
Gelly moved closer to Mallory. There was something oddly dangerous in the other woman’s delicate features. Something Gelly recognized, because she’d seen it before.
“How would you know anything about fashion?” Mallory asked coldly, indicating Morie’s stained and torn jeans and old sweatshirt and disheveled condition.
“You might be surprised at what I know, and where I learned it,” she told him. Her black eyes were snapping like fireworks under her long, black eyelashes. “One day you’ll know the truth about me, too. And you’ll regret to your dying day that you ever accused me of a crime.”
“Criminals always say such things,” Gelly chided.
Morie smiled coldly. “You’d know.”
“How dare you!” Gelly stepped forward with her hand raised.
“Lawsuits will ensue if you hit me,” Morie told her. “I promise.”
Mallory caught the woman’s arm and pulled her back. “Let’s get this over without complications,