The Missing Ink

Chapter 56

Matthew was in the rearview mirror, getting smaller and smaller as I drove. I’d hung a U-ey and was now going toward downtown on Charleston.

About three miles later, my heart stopped pounding like it was going to come through my chest, and I managed to slip on my seat belt. My bag was on the floor in front of the passenger side, all its contents strewn about. It looked sort of like the way I felt: all discombobulated, shaken up.

He hadn’t had a gun. Or a knife. At least not one he’d shown me. His ultimate weapon was his size and how overpowering he was.

I was trembling, holding on to the steering wheel for dear life, because if I let go, I’d come apart.

For a second I thought about going up back to Red Rock, despite the heat, just to get a little of that chi balancing effect that it always managed to give me. I couldn’t risk it, though. Matthew was in that direction, and Red Rock would be a worse place to get stuck alone when a murderer was after you.

Asking about Kelly had brought out Matthew’s anger even more than when he’d been trying to get the diamond back.

The diamond.

I reached down under the seat belt and patted my pocket, feeling the rock’s sharp edge under the cotton material. At least I hadn’t lost it. Although I wasn’t quite sure just what to do with it. It seemed everyone was after it. Everyone except Elise, who’d gotten rid of it.

I got a little hostile thinking about that. She caused a lot of problems for me. For Ace. Maybe she didn’t deserve to get it back after all.

Thinking about Elise made me think about Kelly again, how she’d designed the eagle ink. She was talented; Jeff and Sylvia had trained her well. Too bad it wasn’t enough for her.

Why had she called Elise in Philadelphia? What had she said that lured Elise here?

Again, the link between the two women was Simon Chase. I kept coming back to him. Not that he wasn’t a nice place to visit, but it would’ve been nicer if we’d met under better circumstances.

Or if I didn’t have so many questions about him.

Twisting all this around in my head helped calm me slightly, distracting me.

The clock on the dashboard told me it was just after six. The gas gauge showed I needed some fuel, so I pulled into a Terrible’s. I also picked up a water while I was there. It was long overdue. As the tank filled, I went through the stuff from my bag. I didn’t have my cell phone, but I had Simon Chase’s BlackBerry. I punched in Tim’s number.

When he answered, I didn’t bother identifying myself. I just said, “Matthew Masters is walking along Charleston Boulevard, up near the exit for Red Rock, in Summerlin. He kidnapped me at the In-N-Out and took me up there, but I managed to get away.” The words jumbled together, like it was one big sentence.

“What?”

“I was at the In-N-Out burger. Matthew came in, grabbed me, took my car keys, drove up to Summerlin. I jumped out of the car and got away. You have to go get him.”

“Did he hurt you? Did he have a weapon?”

“I didn’t see one. He just grabbed me, pulled my hair.” My heart started its rat-a-tat-tat again. I took a couple of deep breaths.

“Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you?” The panic rose in Tim’s voice.

“I’m okay,” I said, trying to reassure myself as much as him. “But he must still be out there. He didn’t have a car or anything. I saw him walking as I drove away.”

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

I did.

“He kidnapped you?”

I didn’t want to get into the whole motorcycle thing, so I left that part out. “Yeah.”

“I’ll send a cruiser out there. Hold on.”

I waited a few minutes before he came back on the line.

“Where are you now?” he asked.

“Terrible’s. On Charleston. Heading back downtown.”

“You said you found something.” Tim reminded me that I’d started to tell him what before Matthew took my phone.

“I’ve got it,” I said. “I think it’s why he kidnapped me.”

“What is it?”

I pulled the ring out of my pocket. The stone flashed white, almost blinding me.

“It’s a diamond. Elise Lyon was wearing it when she came into the shop, but for some reason she stuck it in my orchid.”

“Excuse me?”

So now I had to explain about the plant. “This is what they’re looking for, I think. It’s got to be.”

He was quiet, then, “Bruce Manning said she stole it.”

“What? Wasn’t it her engagement ring?”

“There are things about this that the media doesn’t know. That you don’t know, Brett.” He paused. “We’ve been treating this as a missing persons case, but Manning’s convinced she took off with this other guy and planned to hock the ring. It’s worth two million.”

“Two million dollars?” I’d slipped the ring on my finger, and I stared at it. It was hypnotic. Even more so now that I knew how much it was worth. I needed to get rid of it before I lost it.

“Where is it now?”

“I’ve got it,” I said.

“With you?”

“Yeah. It was in my pocket. Matthew didn’t know I had it.” As I said it, I was struck by how stupid this was. I should’ve brought it to Tim from the get-go. I had another thought. “Is Elise missing because of this ring?” Or maybe she was still alive because she knew where it was and no one else did.

“We still don’t know why Kelly Masters called her in Philadelphia.”

The words hung between us.

“Or why she was using Kelly’s name when she was here,” I added. “You have to get Matthew Masters. He had her last night. I hope she’s okay.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?”

“He’s not exactly Mr. Sociable.”

“We’ve got a cruiser out now in that area, looking for him. I’ll let you know when we get him. In the meantime, bring me the ring.”

I bristled at that, not because I was getting comfortable wearing it, but because I had this crazy idea that if I kept it, I could find Elise and give it back to her. But Tim was right. I had to turn it in.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“Come to the station. We can file an official report, get a warrant. Put out a bulletin, find this guy, and arrest him.”

Sounded like a plan. But I hesitated.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m meeting Simon Chase at eight. I saw him with Matthew. A couple of times. I think they’re in on it together. Maybe you could wire me again, and I could see what I can find out.”

“You think Simon Chase wants to steal that ring? Why?”

He had me there. I had no clue. “He knows Matthew,” I repeated.

I heard him sigh. “I can’t wire you again. My boss wasn’t happy that we did that yesterday and nothing came of it. We’ve got cruisers out looking for Matthew. You come in here, file a report, we’ll arrest the guy. Forget about Chase. Stand him up.”

“But he-”

“Forget about him.”

Easy for him to say. I finished filling up the tank and put the gas hose back, hitting the button for a receipt. Something in his tone made me frown.

“Why? Do you know something I don’t?”

“No, no.”

He was lying. I grabbed the receipt and climbed into the car, turning over the engine while I still held the BlackBerry to my ear. “I’m going to start driving now. I’ll be there as soon as I get there.” I’d see what I could get out of him when I saw him. I put my hand on the steering wheel and watched the diamond glisten. I kept waffling between wanting to get rid of it and wanting to spend more time with it. Like a guy you should break up with, but you don’t want to end up alone on Saturday night, so you let him stick around.

We ended the call, and even though there were still too many questions, talking to my brother had calmed me down.

Until I saw the white Dodge Dakota behind me.