Page 56 of To Steal a Heart
“There was a break-in last night.”
Her breath hitched. “What?”
“The police are here. They want to question all of us.”
“What was stolen?”
“Carter’s African mask.”
“Oh, no.” Arden’s hand went up around her neck. “That’s terrible.”
His lips dissolved into tight lines. “It is. Sylvia’s beside herself. The mask is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of five million dollars.”
“Wow,” Arden breathed. Her mind raced. “Do they think it was one of the guests from the party?” The place had been crawling with security guards.
“I’m not sure. All I know is that Mom sent me to get you and Crew.”
She ran a hand down her t-shirt, trying to think. “Okay, I’ll get ready.” Sylvia was neurotic about her late father’s collections and had installed a state-of-the-art security system. How had someone broken in? It was a bad idea on Sylvia’s part to hold the party.
Forge jutted his thumb towards the door. “I’ll go and wake up Crew.”
“Good idea.” His room was two doors down. Still hazy from sleep, she had to propel her brain into action. She hurried to the bathroom and was coming back out to get her clothes when Forge came back in.
“He’s not there.”
She frowned. “Are you sure? Maybe he’s still asleep.”
“The door was unlocked. I went inside his room. The bed was still made as if it hadn’t been slept in. All of his things are gone.”
Arden’s heart lurched. “What? That can’t be right. There must be some explanation. I’ll call him.” She went to the nightstand to get her phone. Her gut twisted when she spotted the white square of paper with the wordsI’m sorryscrawled in the center. Her charm bracelet was resting on top. She picked it up to examine it. A charm in the form of a tear had been added. For a second, she wasn’t sure what it meant. Then, the full scope of the situation came to her in a hard, painful punch. Her knees buckled as she squeezed the bracelet in her fist. She collapsed down onto the bed, her body trembling all over.
In quick strides, Forge went to the nightstand and picked up the paper. The deep concern on his face spoke of the gravity of the situation. “Does this mean what I think it does?” Forge growled, his face going a shade darker.
Tears burned her eyes.Please let it not be true!Hadn’t she felt Crew’s goodness? And yet, he’d kept things from her. Hurt battered her insides. Had Crew used her to get into Sylvia’s mansion? Was any of their relationship real? Her chest squeezed, making it hard to breathe.
“Arden!” Forge demanded, but his voice seemed to be coming from far away.
She wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Her dream had felt so real … probably because it was real. Crew had been in her room. She touched her lips. He’d kissed her. His actions had been premeditated—right down to the part where he’d bought a charm in the shape of a tear to go on her bracelet.
“Snap out of it!”
She jerked, looking up at Forge.
His jaw was hard as glass, eyes blazing as he swore. “You wait till I get my hands on that charlatan.”
“There must be some explanation,” she said weakly. This couldn’t be happening.
Forge put down the paper. “We’ve got to show this to the police.”
Numbly, she nodded.
He motioned. “What’re you holding?”
She looked down and realized she was still clutching the bracelet. “Nothing important,” she mumbled.
“Get dressed so we can go down and talk to the police. You’ve got to tell them everything that you know about Crew.”
Even though Arden knew there was no other option, she didn’t want to implicate Crew. She wanted to believe that he was innocent. She should be fighting mad, but right now, she was too dumbfounded to know what to feel.