Page 72 of Conquest
The sound of many people running down the hallway echoed nearer and nearer. Upstairs or outside? Would a thief rush to get their things, or just bolt? The decision tore at her. A wrong one might get her in big trouble. It could get her shot if one of those detectives was trigger-happy. Chest heaving, Amelia started for the stairs—and changed her mind. She whirled, flying out through the first set of front doors, into the small, tiled foyer.
Through the diamond-paned glass of the front door, she saw Cora hobbling down the steps ahead, the old lady’s big yellow purse banging against her side as she hauled her wheelie suitcase down the steps.
“Stop!” she screamed through the closed door, her breaths coming hard and fast.
The suitcase clattered as Cora dragged it down each step, rocking nearly off its wheels at each impact. It had been a different clatter that had helped Amelia figure out Cora’s guilt. In the chaos of the breakfast room, Amelia had heard a lot of utensils clinking. It hadn’t been until she was outside, watching Ari struggle against the cops, that she realized some of that clinking had come frominsideCora’s purse.
She remembered the way Cora had shaken hands with her: grasping normally, then adding another hand on top. It seemed grandmotherly and warm at the time, but it was also distracting. Would she have been able to slip Nadia’s oversized ring off with a handshake like that? And the day they were in the library, they’d met Cora in the hallway. Gregory had been the one to recommend they check out the beautiful old books, but Cora was there too. Had she been using them as cover to find items she could steal?
Cora had been robbing Fred this entire time.
She shoved open the front door and ran through. “Cora, stop!” Amelia lunged for the older woman, who glanced over her shoulder and dropped the suitcase completely.
And, wow. That old lady couldmove.
Cora sprinted onto the circular drive and headed for the distant front gates. She made it halfway around the fountain before Amelia caught up. Her fingers wrapped around the strap of Cora’s purse, then slipped.
Cora turned and shoved Amelia with both hands. Amelia went stumbling back with a cry, nearly falling into the fountain. Distantly, she heard the crowd of onlookers arrive at the front door and spill onto the steps.
“You silly little girl,” Cora spat, her face twisted into something horrible. “Look what you’ve done.”
Amelia had spent nearly a decade making herself smaller. She’d had her confidence systematically stripped and destroyed. She’d survived an abusive relationship and come out the other side. She’d built her own business and had the courage to ask for help when she decided she was ready to date again.
She wasn’t going to let some white-haired thief talk down to her. Not Cora. Notanyone. Amelia was done making herself small for other people. She wasn’t a silly little girl. She was the only damn person in this place who’d figured out that Cora had been stealing from right under their noses.
Bunching her muscles, Amelia sprang. Her hands closed around the strap of the purse, and amidst the growing noise caused by their growing audience, Amelia tugged and tugged and suddenly she was in a Tug-o-War with a seventy-five-year-old woman.
A savage screech escaped Amelia’s lips as she put all her angst, all her anger, all her old wounds into the effort. She gave one good, hard yank.
The purse ripped right down the middle seam, sending the contents flying through the air like they’d been fired from a slingshot.
Three forks and three knives and a couple of silver spoons glittered in the air before clattering on the gravel drive. Dull rare coins flipped like some strange game of Heads or Tails. Amelia stumbled back and fell on her butt, but not before she saw a gigantic pink diamond glittering in the sunlight. It twirled through the air in a graceful arc, heading straight for the burbling fountain.
Amelia screamed, pointing. “No!”
If the ring hit the water, it could get sucked into the pump. It could be damaged. It could be lost forever. All this effort, for nothing. She watched the ring fly through the air, spinning, spinning, spinning—
A large body appeared, sprinting past her. Leo jumped. He flew through the air toward the ring, grasping for it with both hands, trying to reach the jewel—then went tumbling right into the fountain.
Water sloshed over the edge of the fountain, spilling onto the gravel drive. Amelia found herself speckled with the spray, its chill shocking her into silence. The fountain’s pool rocked back and forth, all that water displaced by Leo’s big body splashing and sloshing over the edges.
Then—silence.
The world held its breath. The entire assembled crowd—Amelia, Fred, the cops, the guests, the staff, even Cora—sat silent for a long, long second, staring at the lip of the fountain.
Leo’s hand shot up in the air, brandishing twelve million dollars’ worth of vivid pink diamond between his thumb and forefinger. His upper body followed, face set in grim satisfaction. He met Amelia’s gaze, and pride burned in his eyes. Then he turned to Cora and sneered.
“My watch!” Ari cried, staring at a spot on the gravel. “You stole my watch!”
“Oh, be quiet,” Cora grumbled as one of the detectives lifted her onto her feet. Her jaw was set, but she presented her wrists like she knew the drill. “No one cares about your stupid watch. You’re the one who tried to pull one over on Fred. Ever heard of a non-compete agreement, dumbass?”
“Dumbass? You’re callingmea dumbass?” Ari looked like he wanted to explode, but the cuffs were still firmly manacled around his wrists. Cora soon got the same treatment.
Fred hustled over to Leo and took the ring, inspecting it. He let out a breath, relieved, and moved to help Amelia to her feet. Percival was already there, handing a fluffy white towel to Leo as he climbed out of the fountain. Water dripped from his clothing, his hair, and his skin, but he was smiling. Another staff member gathered the stolen silverware, the watch, and the rare coins.
Amelia was bustled inside. The scrapes on her hands and elbows from her tussle with Cora were tended to, and then the detectives came to interview her. She told them everything she knew and even admitted to going into Ari’s room. They were grim, gruff men, and they were a little scary, but she squared her shoulders and told them everything she could.
She’d been serious before: She was done making herself small. She was done shrinking in the presence of others.