Read Online Vanessa Gray Bartal - Lacy Steele 07 - Icy Grip of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal - Free Book Online

I taunt her enough, it might draw her out,” Michael said.
    “Then who’s in the gray car?” Lacy
asked.
    “Could be anyone. I don’t recognize
the car,” Michael said.
    “That’s not comforting,” Lacy said.
    “I could try to see who it is at
our next stop,” he said.
    “What is our next stop?” Jason
asked. He sounded hopeful.
    “It’s not food,” Michael said.
Jason sat back, dejected. “We’re going to see Louse.”
    “Where?” Lacy asked.
    “Jewelry store.”
    “A person named Louse works in a jewelry
store?” she asked.
    “No, a person named Louse owns a jewelry store,” he said.
    “But I thought he was a criminal,”
she said.
    “Where do you think he gets his
jewelry?” Michael said. “He’s talented at changing it just enough to make it
unrecognizable.”
    “What’s your plan?” Jason asked.
    “I’m going to send you guys in
while I circle around back and try to figure out who’s in the gray car,”
Michael said.
    “If the police see you, they might
think you’re running. They’ll pick you up,” Lacy said.
    “Then I’ll have to make sure they
don’t see me,” Michael said.
    “Want me to come with you?” Jason
asked.
    “Normally? Maybe. Today? No. Go
with Lacy. I don’t want her to see Louse alone. If he realizes she’s with me,
it might not go over well.”
    The town was small. Within minutes,
they arrived at a jewelry shop. Lacy walked between the two men on the way to
the store, but when she turned to ask Michael a question, he was gone.
    “How does he do that?” she asked.
    “Soft, tiny feet,” Jason answered
as he opened the door for her. A bell over the door tinkled, and they had the
immediate attention of the store’s proprietor, Louse. He didn’t look like a
Louse, but Lacy had learned through her ex that appearances could be deceiving.
    “Hello, how can I help you?” Louse
asked. His appearance was surprising, almost the opposite of Flea and Bug in
every way. He was nattily dressed in a three-piece suit. The vest bulged over a
slightly paunchy belly. It was plaid, but more English looking than Jason’s
buffalo check shirt. His hair was parted starkly on the side and slicked over,
and he had a bottlebrush mustache. A large orange cat lay on the glass counter.
Louse stroked it gently. He reminded her of someone, but who ?
After a minute of staring, she figured it out: Teddy Roosevelt. The only thing
missing was a monocle. When he opened his mouth, Lacy half expected him to
shout, “Bully!”
    Lacy and Jason looked around the
shop in dismay. They hadn’t thought of a cover. Luckily, he provided one for
them. “Here to look at rings?”
    “Yes,” Jason said decisively as he
took Lacy’s hand and practically dragged her forward.  
    “We have an excellent selection,”
Louse said as he let go of the cat and reached behind the glass case and began
setting out trays of diamond rings.
    “Um,” Lacy began but didn’t know where
to go. She had grown so comfortable in her relationship with Jason that she was
surprised by the amount of panic the rings gave her.
    “These aren’t right,” Jason said.
“Do you have something vintage, something from the 1890’s through the 1920’s,
something with filigree and maybe an emerald cut?”
    Lacy and Louse stared at him.
“What? I know things about jewelry,” Jason said.
    “Over here,” Louse said. “These
aren’t traditional engagement rings, but they might work.”
    They shifted a few feet to the left
and bent over the tray. “See anything you like?” Jason asked. He was teasing
her, enjoying her discomfort. She could tell by his tone.
    She peered closer and surveyed the
rings. “This one,” she said, selecting a large heirloom diamond.
    She held out her hand for Louse,
but he picked up the ring and gave it to Jason with the words, “Good practice.”
    Jason took the ring and now Lacy
wasn’t the only one who looked distinctly uncomfortable. They turned toward
each other. He took her hand, the