Mickey got the girl, and what did I get? A mountain of paperwork.
Justin stared at the forms and papers strewn in makeshift piles on the worktable, then rubbed his eyes. It had been one hell of a long day. Add in the all-nighter at the hospital the night before, and he figured he hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours. He was getting too old for this. Daring a glance up, he tried to catch his reflection in the glass partition. Yep, Zombie Cop.
Which probably explained why he was hallucinating. No way was Allie Fortune wending her way through the squad room as if she were dancing through a field of flowers. She smiled at him with such carefree grace, he had to remind himself that she’d spent her morning tied to a chair.
Her hair, normally pulled back, cascaded around her shoulders and fanned across the breast of her floral sundress. Her bare legs tapered down to strappy sandals, which did nothing to slow her stride.
Justin gulped. He reached for his tea-a defense mechanism more than thirst.
“I knew I’d find you here,” she said in greeting.
“The reports don’t file themselves.” His voice sounded gruff. Bureaucracy smothered a lot of the satisfaction he should be feeling. He’d wrapped up a big case, caught the man behind a string of murders, and no civilians had been hurt. Granted, that crazy magician had more explaining to do, but-
As if she read his thoughts, Allie asked, “Aunt Tatiana is still angry with Daddy for taking her gems. Will you have to arrest him?”
“Since they’re related, we’re viewing it as a private domestic matter. Unless the Gorseyevs want to swear out a formal complaint, the department won’t officially get involved.”
“I knew you were on Daddy’s side.”
Justin shrugged. He needed to discourage that hero-thing she had for him. “Of course, Donovan is screaming that Cosmo tricked him-”
“Well, of all the nerve!”
Justin chuckled, despite himself. “Exactly. But he didn’t get that wealthy without brazening things out. Unfortunately for him, he can’t provide us with any evidence.”
“What does Daddy say?”
He lifted a large manila envelope he’d received upon returning to the station. “Your father sent us a written statement of the facts and a few other papers.” Closer to a hundred. Justin suspected these “facts” were dramatically colored by Cosmo’s warped perspective, but they made so much sense, he planned to integrate them into his report. Cosmo might be a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t a bad guy. “Cosmo claims he was hired by Donovan to acquire a set of gems that were intended as a gift for the Russian Minister of Culture. He says he’s picked up and delivered the gems, and therefore, Donovan has no cause to complain. Personally, I think your dad’s still lying, but I have no way to prove it.”
“Wait, don’t you see?” The overhead fluorescents bathed Allie’s face but had little to do with the twinkle of satisfaction in her eyes. “Tatiana said that Marko and Viktor’s brother worked for the Ministry of Culture.”
“But he hasn’t given her the gems yet. And they’re her own gems. Cosmo is shameless.”
She laughed. “He is, but it’s just a little white lie.”
“I hope so.” Justin tossed the envelope back onto the table. “If the Romanov gems do exist, I hope they remain safely in Russia.”
“And what about Donovan? Will he go to jail?”
“I don’t see how he can avoid it. He kidnapped your sister, he had you and Cory abducted, he tried to murder your father-”
“Not to mention Daddy’s friend George Halsted and those other people.”
“Yeah, well, we haven’t gotten Turner to talk yet. He’s still groggy from that sedative.” Served the hit man right. “He’s under surveillance at the hospital, but I think Officer Foote is going to enjoy reading him his Mirandas.”
“All neatly wrapped up. You’re to be commended, Detective Hunter.”
He ducked his head, unaccustomed to praise, and more than uncomfortable with the approval in her golden eyes. After a sip of tea to fortify himself, he steered the conversation back to a safer topic. “What about you? Have you talked to your father?”
“Not yet. I figure Iris and Cory have bigger issues to resolve with him.” She sounded blissfully unconcerned, and Justin couldn’t detect even a note in her tone that suggested she was lying.
“You’re not the least bit angry with him?”
“No. I wish he’d told us sooner, but I can’t be angry with him for giving me sisters.” A bittersweet smile trembled on her lips. “‘To everything there is a season.’ If Daddy hadn’t waited this long to tell us, then he wouldn’t have gotten in such danger, and I wouldn’t have met you.” Her golden eyes glowed.
Hell. For years Justin had avoided dipping a toe in the dating pool. During this investigation he’d worried that he might have waded in deeper than he intended. Now, suddenly, he found himself treading in water so deep, he could drown.
Allie Fortune had captivated him.
And that was not good. Not good for her. Not good for his job.
“So-” She reacted to his silence by forcing a casual tone. “I was hoping you’d let me buy you a drink. It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for Daddy and all of us.” Her angelic features radiated hope, and she exuded a contagious joy.
He hated to stomp all over it. “Allie, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
He didn’t want to embarrass her, but it was best to deal with this now. “Look, you’ve had a highly emotional weekend. Sometimes, that leads to people misreading some of those emotions and…thinking that something is developing that really isn’t developing…and…”
Allie bowed her head, but before he could think of a way to console her tears, she looked back at him with a barely suppressed grin.
Immediately, he went on the defensive. “What?”
“You think you know me after one weekend. Well, you don’t.” She stepped forward and clasped his hands. “Don’t drag a lot of emotion into this. It’s a drink, not a proposal.”
She was the most centered person he’d ever met, which was odd, since she was forever pushing him off balance. But there was no denying her quirky ways appealed to him. She had an eagerness for sharing-her thoughts, her company, her protective instincts-that made him want to give back.
And that was dangerous. Justin was a private person for good reason. If Allie opened up his past, she would find only hurt.
His gaze drifted to her wrists. Mild bruising remained as the sole evidence of the trauma she’d experienced earlier. Despite her fragile appearance, she was strong, resilient.
“There’s Darby.”
And completely in her own world. Justin swiveled his head. An officer clad in Kevlar with a black Labrador retriever on a close leash was stopping before the coffee machine.
“Darby?” He recalled his first meeting with Allie in the interrogation room. “You mean, the woman on the bomb squad? The five babies?”
“I never said woman. That’s her.” Her head tilted toward the coffee machine.
Justin did a double take. “That’s Frank Gomez. He’s not even married.”
Allie burst out laughing. “No, the dog. That’s Darby.”
The Lab sat on her haunches to stare at them and issued a soft whine. Even to Justin, she looked like she was grinning.
Allie tugged on his hand, pulling his attention back to her smiling face. “Come on, one drink. I’ll buy.”
Justin hesitated and, in that split second, acknowledged surrender. “Alberta Fortune, you have your own brand of magic,” he said with a rusty laugh. He glanced sidelong at the steadfast piles of paper and his reliable cup of tea. Then he turned his back on them and said as lightly as he could, “One drink, and I’ll buy.”
Whatever it was he felt for this woman, he was already drowning in it.
A diehard gambler, Cosmo was betting even money that Cory would go ballistic when she saw him safe. Still, the least she deserved was a chance to read him the riot act in private. It was well past midnight when he drove to an understated subdivision where Cory rented the mother-in-law suite of a sprawling home owned by a gay couple.
He did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach as he knocked on her door. A cigarette and a blindfold might not help the situation but, at the moment, he wouldn’t turn either down.
Opening the door, Cory stared as if he were a ghost. “Your beard’s gone.”
He nodded sheepishly then spread his hands open, palms up. “Nothing up my sleeve.” He steeled himself for fireworks, but they never came.
She didn’t yell or threaten or sob or pull any of the histrionics he deserved. No, Cory wept. Like a little girl. For all her poise and discipline, she was the most fragile of his three daughters.
It about broke his heart.
Paternal instincts, rusty with disuse, kicked in. He gathered her into his arms.
Iris’s reprimands always put him on the defensive and encouraged him to make excuses for his actions, but Cory’s silence tore at his conscience. He suspected the sick feeling in his stomach was that strange emotion called guilt. He’d heard of it often enough but, until now, he hadn’t been convinced he was susceptible.
He couldn’t guess what it must have cost her to learn that her mother was still alive. That shock alone might have crushed lesser people.
For the first time, he questioned the wisdom of keeping that secret from her for so long.
“Do you hate me?”
“Never.” Her arms tightened around his neck.
“Can I come in?” he choked.
That made her laugh. She released her grip and stepped back to let him enter. He allowed her a moment to wipe her face and pretended the sniffle he heard was caused by allergies. Denial had long been his co-pilot.
“Do you want anything?” Cory shut the door and marched past him to the kitchen. “I was just making a grilled cheese.”
“That sounds great. If you have enough.” He took a seat at the little counter that divided the warmly lit kitchen from the dark living room. “I’m not sure I deserve it.”
“Hmm, two slices of white bread and American cheese. I don’t think that will set me back too far.”
Cosmo watched her make a second sandwich in silence. Apparently, he’d taught her how to play that denial trick, too. He recalled that Iris had been less worried about gems and killers and more focused on his three families. Summoning his courage, he launched his second father-daughter conversation in less than sixteen hours.
“Roxana says you’ve known about her.”
The sandwich slipped off the spatula and Cory burned her fingers retrieving it. She glanced up at him, her lips pressed tightly closed.
He sighed. “Why didn’t you ask me about her? All these years-”
“It wasn’t your place to tell me, it was hers. And what was the point? She obviously didn’t intend to come home.”
“No, you’re right about that.” He’d accepted Roxana’s decision years ago, but it was harder for her daughter.
“Why?” Tears brimmed in Cory’s eyes again, but there also gleamed a fiery indignation. “What did I do that made her leave?”
Hampered by the counter dividing them, Cosmo leaned over and drew her hand into his. “My little Corazon.”
She pulled away from him. “Why did she disappear?”
“Only she can tell you that.”
“I don’t want to talk to her. Why should I believe anything she says? She’s never cared about me.”
This time, Cosmo hopped off his stool and came around into the kitchen. “That’s not true. She loves you. We could go see her right now. Sit down, the three of us. A family again. Talk this out. Would you like that?”
Her almond eyes, so like her mother’s, remained haunted with unshed tears. “You told me she was dead. How could you do such a thing? I cried for her for weeks, months.”
The memory of Cory’s adolescent grief confirmed that, after all this time, guilt had wrestled him to the ground.
“I let you get away with it for years. You lied.”
That hurt. “Cory, believe me, if there had been any other way, I would never-” Drawing a long breath, he ran his hand through his hair. Even after all this time, he didn’t feel right about digging up secrets that were better buried. “Look at me.”
It took a good thirty seconds, but she finally met his gaze.
“Your mother made a brave and terrible sacrifice. But she did what she did to protect you. It was the only way she could keep you safe.”
Cory’s mouth dropped open a moment before she all but choked on a bitter laugh. “She stayed away all these years for my benefit? That’s a crock.”
He withstood the sarcasm. “Believe what you want, but one day, you’re going to have to sit down and talk to her so you can understand her side of the story.”
“On a cold day in hell,” Cory said. He’d forgotten she could be as stubborn as her mother. Now was probably not the time to share that comparison. Instead, he thought it best to share his intentions.
“Be that way, but I plan to marry Mrs. Livingston.”
She swiveled her head to stare at him. For a second, hope warred with outrage in her dark eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“If she’ll have me.”
The silence stretched until Cory’s shoulders slumped with an audible exhalation. “Papa, do you think I can ever forgive her?”
“I don’t see why not.” He tilted her chin up until she met his eyes again. “You’ve already forgiven me. Now, you better check on that sandwich. I think you’ve just invented ‘charred cheese.’”
Iris sat in the Gorseyevs’ suite at the Bellagio Wednesday evening. For the first time in nearly a week, she didn’t feel as if danger lurked in every corner. Instead she felt insulated by family and friends. Amazing how much had changed in her world over a long weekend.
Aunt Tatiana had requested a family dinner, and even though she’d invited Cory and Allie, the two women had politely refused, saying that this once, at least, Iris should have her family to herself. The three sisters had enjoyed a long evening together the previous night, and Iris treasured the memory of how the three of them had bonded.
“What are you smiling at?” Beside her, Mickey laid a hand on her knee. “Me, I hope.”
She moved his hand before it started an up-thigh climb. “Stop. I was thinking of my sisters and my cousins and, well, everything.”
“Probably just as well. Not sure I’m quite up to, you know.” He wagged his brows at her as his lips slid into his familiar pirate grin.
“Behave.” She brushed a stray lock of hair back from his brow, grateful the doctors had seen fit to release him today-with strict orders to limit his activity. “Or I’ll put you in Aunt Tatiana’s wheelchair.”
He leaned close to her. “Is it true she was a KGB agent during the Cold War?”
“So they tell me,” she whispered. She pointed to her burly Russian uncles, who were laughing over a drink with Sergei and Cosmo. “And Marko and Viktor own a security company and train bodyguards.”
Her great-aunt sat in a wing chair across from them, every inch a monarch on her throne as she called for a small glass of vodka. Her color and energy had bloomed in the past day, and she was already demanding that Marko bring her back to Las Vegas every year for a visit.
Iris’s gaze traveled back to her father, but her former suspicions were now reduced to curiosity. Earlier in the day, he’d stopped at the store and asked her for those fake rubies she’d taken off Edgar’s collar.
“What are you up to?” she’d asked.
“Just returning things where they belong.”
“No funny business?”
“Never again,” he’d said, solemnly. She’d accepted his word.
But tonight he looked like his old self. The trickster ready to take the stage. He and Marko regaled each other with stories that made Sergei laugh out loud, and even Viktor occasionally broke a smile. She was sure the exploits were heavily embellished, but she’d no longer doubt any of their abilities or their love for their families.
“And what’s up with your cousin Sergei?” Mickey asked. “I heard he struck Turner in the arm with a knife from thirty paces. He could have killed you.”
Iris giggled. “It turns out Sergei is the black sheep of the family. He ran off with a circus for five years where he learned sword-swallowing, knife-throwing and trapeze before he returned to take a job within the Ministry of Justice. Personally, I think he works for the FSB.”
“FSB?”
“Russia’s version of the FBI.”
“Cosmo Fortune!” Aunt Tatiana commanded attention with her strident voice. “I have waited and waited. Where are my gems?”
Cosmo came forward, the jester to her queen, prepared to entertain. “Aunt Tatiana, I have brought them as promised.” Like the magician he was, he conjured up a pouch from thin air. Bringing it to Tatiana, he motioned for her to hold out her hands.
She played along and allowed him to shake the ten gems into her gnarled fingers. A cackle escaped her. “I never thought to see these again.”
“Those are yours to keep,” Cosmo said. “Unless, you’d care to trade them for what’s in here.” Again, he conjured a bag.
Iris and Mickey exchanged a look. “What’s he up to?” Mickey asked.
Iris shrugged. She was as enthralled as everyone else in the room.
Cosmo held the black velvet bag high. “George Halsted was a jeweler, a fence and, at times, a good friend. He gave his life to authenticate these gems. May he rest in peace having done such a good deed.”
“What do you mean, Cosmo?” Tatiana demanded. She piled her gems in her lap like a child gathering eggs when she fears the chickens might rise up and steal them back.
“Donovan sent me to Moscow with George Halsted to pick up the Romanov alexandrite. More than anything, George wanted to hold those mythical gems in his hand.” He brought the bag to Tatiana and bent down on one knee to offer it to her. “Now I give them to you and the Gorseyev family. You know so much of their past, you should decide their future.”
Tatiana regarded him with suspicion. “Show me one of them.”
Cosmo opened the bag and withdrew a single vivid red gem.
Tatiana took it and held it to the light. Turning it over and over, she analyzed it from every angle. Finally, she looked at Cosmo. “Where did you get this?”
“These are the stones purchased from the Russian mafia leader Konstantin Vanislav. To the best of my knowledge, they are the Romanov alexandrite.”
Astonished, Iris hurried to her aunt’s side. “May I?” She took the gem in her hand and studied it at length. The color was exquisite, a true red like a ruby, while the clarity was unparalleled. The facets of the stone were those cut by a master.
“Is there a fluorescent light anywhere?”
Marko pointed to the kitchen alcove. “Under the cabinets-it lights the countertops.”
Iris carried the gem over and flipped the switch. Holding out the stone, she held her breath as it turned from ruby red to vivid emerald green. She nearly dropped it. Spinning around, she cast an accusing glare at her father. “How? Where have you been hiding these?”
“I wasn’t hiding them. George hid them. Then he put the information on where to find them inside some fake rubies and put them on a collar for Edgar.”
Iris thought back to Sunday morning. When she’d decided to change out the stones on Edgar’s collar, she hadn’t looked twice at the lightweight fake rubies. “Stop. Go back to the beginning. How did you get involved, why did you get involved and why did you take Aunt Tatiana’s gems?”
“You’re taking all the fun out of this, Iris.”
“Humor me.”
Cosmo grinned that shameless coyote grin of his. “Donovan came to me a couple months ago. He wanted to hear all the stories about the Romanov alexandrite. Then he told me he had a lead on where the gems were and offered to hire me to help acquire them. And that’s when I got the idea-”
“You are a dangerous man when you get ideas, Cosmo Fortune.” Tatiana pounded her cane on the floor with anticipation. “Go on.”
“I decided to borrow the Gorseyevs’ synthetic alexandrites and switch them for the Romanov gems.”
Iris gasped “But that’s-”
“Stealing?” Cosmo’s entire face was lit in amusement. “Think about it. Donovan had already told me his plan to authenticate the Romanov gems and then send them as a gift to the Russian Minister of Culture.”
“Alexei?” Marko and Viktor shared a look.
“Exactly. So, Aunt Tatiana’s gems would have been on their way back to Russia almost immediately if Mickey hadn’t interfered.”
“Interfered?” Mickey snorted. “Cosmo, you’re lucky Donovan sent me and not Turner after you.”
Cosmo scratched his ear. “Well, that’s true…”
“So, if Aunt Tatiana’s gems were going to be given to Donovan and returned to Alexei Gorseyev,” Iris said slowly, “then what were you planning to do with the real Romanov alexandrite?”
“Exactly what I am doing.” Cosmo blew out an exasperated breath. “Bring them to you so you would understand that Irina’s stories were true. So you could see and touch the craftsmanship of your ancestors. And then I was going to take you to St. Petersburg to meet Aunt Tatiana and all your cousins. I thought you should learn more about your family before you married David.”
Iris’s throat tightened at the thought of how such a gift would have-had-affected her future.
“But the stones disappeared, and so we came here,” Marko said. “It is good, yes?”
“Yes, I think things worked out even better than I’d planned. Well, except for George.” Cosmo shook his head sadly. “He knew Irina, and God knows he knew me. I think he suspected I was planning something. That’s why he wanted to get his payment before he turned over the gems. But he had a soft spot for Iris-remembered her from when she was a child-so he gave me the collar with the whereabouts of the gems. I was going to switch out the gems Friday night, but then Mickey nabbed me. And Turner-well, he killed George and sent a very clear message by stashing the body in my car.”
Iris swallowed. Now she got it. “Even though I had George’s information in those fake rubies all along, you never told me. You were trying to protect me.”
“But then I dragged you into this whole mess.” Mickey squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled at him. “I’m not.”
“Once both of you got involved, you became marks, too,” Cosmo said. “No, from that point on the only thing to do was play it out until we caught Donovan.”
Tatiana clucked at Cosmo’s story. “You should have told us all about this Donovan character at once.”
“I was trying to keep everyone else out of danger,” Cosmo said sullenly.
“You cannot forever act on your own,” Marko said. “You asked for help, and now we have a happy ending for everyone, yes?”
Tatiana accepted the Romanov gem back from Iris. “Indeed. We will take these back to Russia. It is fitting that the Gorseyev family bestow them on a proper museum.”
Cosmo shook his head like a dejected child. “Seems a shame to stick them in a museum after all we went through to get them.”
“They belong to all Russians,” Tatiana said. “Besides, these stones have always had a troubled history. The blood of many people can be traced to them. We will make sure that your friend’s part of the story is not forgotten.”
Cosmo furrowed his brow. “What about my part?”
Tatiana pursed her lips primly. “We shall see.”
“Aunt Tatiana?”
“Yes, Iris?”
With everyone’s attention on her, Iris grew nervous, but then decided she needed to make her offer and see how it was received. “If you like, I can put the Romanov gems back into their original necklace. And I can copy the necklace, so you’ll have one to keep with your synthetic alexandrites.” She watched the older woman’s face, awaiting her decision.
Tatiana smiled broadly. “I would love that, my dear. It would be all the more special for our family’s history to have your craftsmanship become a part of it. But you must promise me something.”
“Anything,” Iris answered.
“You must keep the copied necklace for yourself. It will be your bride gift from all of us.”
Warmth rushed up Iris’s face as she glanced from her great-aunt to Mickey. “Well, but Mickey and I…I mean, we’re not…”
Mickey leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Run with it,” he whispered.
Cosmo helped gather up the loose gemstones in their respective bags. “Aunt Tatiana, it means a great deal to me that you would do that for Iris. She deserves to carry on her family heritage. You know, she’s not to blame for my…indiscretions.”
“Indiscretions?” Tatiana’s voice became more strident than normal. “I knew all about the marriages, were there also infidelities along the way?”
“What? No!” Cosmo stopped. “You knew?”
Tatiana cackled so hard, tears streamed down her wrinkled cheeks. The other Russians burst out in laughter, too, until Cosmo scowled at them.
Marko brought his aunt a tissue, and she wiped at her eyes.
“Did you think I did not know? I knew before you married Irina. I even told her, but she would not give you up. She loved you, and she wanted to live in America. She carried your child, and I allowed her to go. For a few years, I wrote to her and begged her to come home, but all I did was drive her away. She stopped speaking to me.”
Cosmo lowered himself into a chair. “She never told me she knew. But she always made it so easy whenever I told her I needed to leave.”
Tatiana’s eyes sought out Iris. “I think she kept us away because she feared I might tell you. She never wanted either of you to know. It was very important to her that she live the illusion of a normal American life. It was only important to me that she was happy.” She looked over at Cosmo. “And I don’t know how you did it, but you did make her happy.”
Iris went to the tiny older woman and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.” So many things fell into place now that she knew she belonged to this special family.
After dinner Iris took Mickey onto the suite’s balcony to watch the Bellagio fountains perform their magical ballet. They stood shoulder to shoulder, straining to hear the music that floated up on the night wind.
The music swelled, and a final spout of water shot from the lake, signaling the end of the performance. When it was over, the lake returned to its tranquil state, a small dark haven in the middle of the Strip’s bright lights. In the stillness, removed from all the bustle below, Iris cherished having Mickey by her side as they leaned on the balcony’s railing.
“Guess you’ll be glad to put all this behind you and get back to your usual routine,” he said quietly.
Without giving herself time to talk herself out of it, she leaned into him. “I don’t want my usual routine. I wasn’t living then. Just barely getting by, really.” She captured his lips with hers.
The kiss was warm, a mutual celebration, a mutual homecoming. His hand came up to caress her cheek as she withdrew.
“God, I love you,” he said.
She snuggled close to his chest, encouraging him to put his arms around her. “Good, because I think you may need me. And I know I need you.”
“I promise to always keep you and protect you.” His words were a solemn vow in her ear.
“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “You don’t need to protect me. You’ll be too busy protecting others as part of your job-and that’s as it should be,” she added when he tried to interrupt. “No, when you’re with me, just love me. And let me love you.”
“Gladly,” he whispered before pulling her to him for another kiss.