“If you want to dance with celebrities, you have to protect your toes. I wouldn’t recommend pursuing this,” Tony said.
“If she is behind this, I want to make sure she’s caught and pays restitution.”
“But if she already paid for the wedding dress, is it really a crime for her to steal it?” Lorea asked.
“Good point,” Tony said. “I think you’d have a difficult time pressing charges against her.”
“Then what about letting her know that I know she was behind this?” I could feel the frustration seeping into my tone.
Tony sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Sounds dangerous unless you can find something really solid.”
I took a step forward and lowered my voice. “Do I have your permission to use my detective skills?”
Tony groaned, and Lorea laughed.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Now let’s get this dress back in business, Lorea.” I had a few ideas to start my investigation and even a pretty good guess as to how the dress had left my shop.
“I have one more piece of information for you,” Tony said. “Jerry, the diamond smuggler, gave us a couple names of people he worked with, but we think they were aliases, so we still don’t know who was involved.”
“Did he say if they were in Sun Valley?”
“Jerry said he didn’t think they were.” Tony’s phone rang, but before he answered it, he gestured toward us. “Please be careful. We’re heading out to Brock’s later today to investigate how this person was able to take the picture in the first place.”
I followed Lorea out of the station, mulling over the information Tony had shared with us. The revelation that there could be more criminals in the vicinity looking for diamonds or a wedding planner who imported dresses shoved aside my indignant attitude toward Sylvia. Maybe I needed to hope for the best when it came to Sylvia and just give myself a different outlook. The important thing was that we had the dress, and it hadn’t been vandalized. But if Jerry, the man in custody, wasn’t telling the truth about the whereabouts of his accomplice, what was the diamond smuggler’s next move?
Chapter 25
Chocolate Chip Raspberries
Place one chocolate chip in the center of each raspberry and fill serving cups with berries. Garnish with mint leaves.
Courtesy of www.mashedpotatoesandcrafts.com.
Dallas entered the shop a few minutes before four o’clock, looking delicious in dark blue jeans and a gray V-necked shirt. He had taken extra care in styling his hair. The shiny black strands were spiked in the front and combed neatly around his ears. His hands were behind his back, and he grinned when he caught me staring. I lifted one eyebrow as he stepped forward and surprised me with a bouquet of white daisies.
“Thank you.” I moved to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head and intercepted my mouth. I noticed the intensity in his eyes again. It made my stomach clench with apprehension, remembering what Lorea and I had discussed. “Let me put these in a vase.”
The daisies were lovely, but as I went to put them in water, it took all my willpower not to glance at the roses blooming on my desk. I shook off thoughts of Luke and concentrated on what Dallas had to offer and how he made me feel. It was nice to be loved. I hoped that spending time with him would help me make a decision. I smiled as I returned to the front of the shop and extended my hand. “Ready?”
“Definitely.”
I laughed and tugged on his arm as we headed to the Mountaineer. “Let’s go.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” he asked.
“I actually prefer to drive so I don’t have to worry about getting carsick on the winding roads.” I breathed in deeply. “It’s a beautiful day today. I’m so glad we’re going up the mountain.”
He opened the door for me. “You’re in a good mood today.”
The compliment made me realize just how much stress I’d been under recently. I hadn’t been hiding it as well as I thought. Maybe that was the reason my brain was so muddled when it came to dating. I waited for Dallas to buckle up before pulling out of the parking lot. “I’m trying hard to forget that someone is stalking me. Concentrate on the good things, you know.”
“Good things?”
“Like, the last of our stolen dresses was recovered at a consignment store today.”
“That is good news. It must not have been ripped to shreds like the others, if you’re happy about it.”
“In perfect condition.” That part still amazed me and was the most significant clue that Sylvia’s dress was not part of the diamond smuggling operation. I explained to Dallas how Necia had called me and my resulting suspicions regarding Sylvia’s involvement.
“But steal her own dress? I don’t think she’d take that risk,” he said.
“I agree. I think someone nabbed it for her. I know the why. I just have to figure out the who.”
“Does your mind ever stop?”
“Not even when I sleep. If you could see my dreams . . .” I winked at him. “Thanks for coming with me today.”
“Thanks for making time for me.”
I felt a little guilty. Dallas had done so much to show he cared, and I hadn’t been able to reciprocate much. His patience was probably the biggest reason why I had given him so many chances. I glanced at him and then cleared my mind of relationship worries for the moment.
Natalie and Brock had met at the hot springs off Warm Springs Road, and they wanted to exchange vows in a meadow not far from there. In March, I had gone with Natalie and Brock in
