Cursed (14 page)

     Frustration danced
up Hope’s spine. Why did he have to be so damn stubborn? “Did you hear what I
just said?”

     “Yeah, I heard you.
What do you expect me to do about it? She made her choice a long time ago.”

     “That’s crap and you
know it. You made it for her.”

     “I’m not the one who
told her to walk away and marry Quinn!” Cullinan snapped out his words as he
slid the omelet onto a plate and set it on the counter along with the salad
bowl.

     “No, big brother,
you
showed
her instead.”

     Cullinan gripped the
edge of the counter, leaned toward Hope and glared at her. “What the hell do
you mean
showed her?
”

     Hope cut the omelet
in half and slid a portion onto her plate. She took a bite and chewed. “You let
her go.”

     He straightened from
the counter and helped himself to some salad. “I don’t grovel.”

     Hope suppressed a
smile. “You will...eventually.”

     Cullinan sat at the
bar next to Hope. “Not a chance.” He poured some dressing onto his salad and
shoved a forkful of lettuce into his mouth. “I did some research concerning the
previous owners of the pendant.”

     “Yeah, what did you
find?”

     He wolfed down a
couple of bites of the omelet and drank a sip of wine. “They aren’t collectors.
They buy mostly on the black market then sell the item quickly.” He rested his
fork on the edge of the plate. “Here’s the interesting part. The point of sale
for the black market items originates with one company in particular.”

     “Finally, we have a
lead. Now we’re getting somewhere. Who owns it?”

     “Unfortunately, I
don’t know. I couldn’t find the company listed in any phone book at the library
or on the Internet and none of my contacts have heard of it. It’ll take a
while, but

I’ll keep looking. In the meantime, I brought
the list of buyers.”

     “Great, I’ll make a
few calls and see what I can find out.” Hope touched Cullinan’s arm drawing his
attention. “You need to make one too. Call Tess...or better yet, go by and see
her.”

* * *

     The next day, the
storm had cleared leaving behind several inches of fresh, white powder. The
sky, a hard, crystal blue bowl with a scattering of wispy clouds, loomed over
Nick’s head. A brisk wind swept through the small cemetery chilling him to the
bone. He drew his long, woolen coat tighter around his body and stared at his
wife’s grave. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was here. Maybe to close an
emotional door he’d never been able to shut before. A layer of snow shrouded
the lettering on the front of the headstone.

     Nick squatted down
and whisked away the snow with the side of his glove-covered hand revealing
Rachel’s name. He traced the letters with the tip of his finger and felt the
familiar tug on his heart. “I miss you, baby. I miss you so damn much.”

     The image of his
wife eased into his thoughts. Rachel’s heart-shaped face turned toward his as
she sat nestled in his lap on the sofa with her arms draped around his neck.
Her amber eyes appeared dreamy and a small smile curved her lips before he
leaned down and kissed her. The rest of the night turned into an endless
seduction of the senses as they made love slowly and sensuously in an attempt
to get Rachel pregnant.

     Nick rested his
hands on his knees and closed his eyes. He cleared his mind and tried to
remember the texture of her skin, the scent of her hair and the taste of her
lips, but damn it, he couldn’t. When they married, he’d planned to spend the
rest of his life with her, but his plan changed cruelly when she got sick. Since
her death, he’d spent his days going through the motions but not really living.

     Until last night.

     When he took Hope in
his arms and kissed her, he felt himself coming alive for the first time since
Rachel passed away. He’d spent a restless night tossing and turning, thinking
of Hope and the way she’d felt in his arms, the smell and taste of her, the
once dormant need and desire she’d reawakened in him.

     He wanted
desperately to hold onto the intense yearning and want he felt for Rachel during
their marriage, but thoughts of Hope kept intruding. It was time to accept the
fact that Rachel was never coming back. With tears blurring his vision, Nick
rose to his feet. He leaned forward and laid his hand on top of the granite
stone. A lump of emotion pushed into his throat so he could barely say the
words. “Goodbye, baby.”

     He turned and walked
away. Despite how Hope made him feel, he intended to continue his investigation
of her brother and his possible involvement in the theft. He would begin with
that jade egg he’d seen in Benedict’s shop.

Chapter Eight

     When the bell on the
shop door jingled, Cullinan headed from the back room to the front of the
store. He put on his salesman’s face for what he thought was a customer, but his
smile quickly faded when he saw Nick Morelli, Hope’s pseudo boyfriend, standing
just inside the door flanked by two uniformed police officers.

     Late afternoon sun
streamed through the windows at their backs creating a golden halo around them,
like a trio of avenging angels. Morelli wore a shirt and leather jacket with
his badge clipped to the waistband of his jeans.

     What the hell does
he want now?
This was the
third time inside of two weeks Morelli’d come around asking questions and
sticking his cop’s nose where it didn’t belong. Cullinan pushed aside his
irritation and walked over to greet him. “Detective, how can I help you?”

     Morelli looked him
straight in the eye with a smirk curving his lips as he held out a piece of
paper. “This is a warrant to search the premises.”

     Warrant! Shock
reverberated through Cullinan. Did Hope know about this? Why didn’t she warn
him?

     Morelli nodded to
the two officers. “Go ahead and get started. I’ll join you in a minute.”

     Cullinan snatched
the paper from Morelli’s hand and began to read
...there is now being
concealed certain stolen property, namely a gold pendant containing...
He
blinked, unable to believe his eyes.

     Tess had gone
through with it. Fury and hurt over her betrayal swam through his blood in an
icy stream chilling him from the inside out. He’d told her repeatedly he didn’t
have her damn pendant. How could she do this to him?

     When he finished
reading, he stared at Morelli. Fighting against the anger nearly blinding him,
Cullinan struggled to keep his voice cool and even. “What makes you think the
pendant is here?”

     “The department
received a tip from a credible informant that you have been involved in the
acquisition of stolen items.” Morelli stepped around him and walked over to his
desk.

     Tess
. She had to be the informant. Damn her!

     Morelli picked up
the jade egg then glanced at Cullinan. “Do you have a box for this? I don’t
want it to get damaged.”

     Cullinan flicked his
gaze to the egg than back to Morelli. “You can’t take that.”

     “The warrant says I
can.”

     His matter-of-fact
tone irked Cullinan to no end. He wanted to shove the warrant down Morelli’s
throat. Cullinan studied the warrant. All he’d seen at first was the
information about the pendant but now he saw that the egg was included in the
warrant as well. He jerked his head toward Morelli. “I told you before that egg
belonged to my father.”

     “We have reason to
believe this egg is identical to one never recovered from a museum theft in
Philadelphia several years ago.”

     Morelli’s steely
stare made Cullinan feel like a common thug. How could Hope stand this guy?
Frustration swelled like ice expanding in his veins but he melted it with the
heat of his anger. Arguing with Morelli would only make things worse.

     “If it turns out not
to be the stolen egg, it’ll be returned to you. Now where’s the box?”

     With anger still
riding him, Cullinan strode to the storeroom and retrieved a thick, foam-padded
wooden box that a Fabergé egg had been couriered to the shop in recently.
Returning to Morelli, he set the box on top of his desk and held out his hand.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to wrap it up myself.”

     Morelli smirked and
handed him the egg. “Suit yourself.”

He carefully placed the egg in Cullinan’s
hand.

     Warm memories of his
father temporarily cooled Cullinan’s indignation. This jade egg was the booty
from his father’s first job. His father had been so proud when he brought it
home and had even let Cullinan and Hope take turns keeping the egg in their
rooms. He exhaled a deep breath. At least the police couldn’t arrest his father
nor could they arrest him. He would swear to his dying day that his father
bought it from a legitimate collector. He stared at the egg for a moment, rubbing
his thumb over the intricately carved figures, the delicate renderings of trees
and flowers and the trio of white stones. A bittersweet emotion cloaked his
heart. This would probably be the last time he ever saw it.

     Cullinan smiled slightly.
He wrapped up the egg and gold stand in bubble wrap for additional padding and
laid them lovingly into the box. He secured the package with heavy duty plastic
packing bands and then slowly smoothed his palm over it.   Reluctantly,
Cullinan turned and gave the container to Morelli. “Take good care of it,
Detective.”

     Without another
word, Cullinan paced from one end of the shop to the other, keeping his gaze
firmly fixed on Morelli and the two cops as they searched the shop. He would
love to step outside for a breath of air but no way was he leaving them alone.
Being caught off guard once today was enough. As soon as the cops left, he was
paying Tess a visit. A very long visit.

* * *

     A couple of hours later,
Cullinan marched onto the stoop of Tess’s house and jammed the doorbell. The
sound of the bell ringing continuously inside the house buzzed through the door
fueling the fury simmering in his blood. He clenched his jaw, scowled at her
front door and willed it to open. The rapid patter of footsteps echoed from
inside right before the front door jerked open.

     Dressed in a pink
tank top, matching pajama bottoms and a white sweater, Tess glared at him with
her green eyes wide and irritation covering her face. “What’s wrong with you? I
thought it was an emergency!”

     He stepped inside,
brushing past her. The front door closed with a slam. He spun and faced her as
her just-washed scent enveloped him.

     She swept her arm
out to the side then let it fall. “Gee, Cullinan, come in!” Her normally soft
voice dripped with sarcasm.

     Tess stood rigidly,
folding her arms over her chest. The action revealed the gentle slopes of her
breasts, breasts he knew were soft, warm and tempting beyond reason. Awareness
slid through his body challenging his anger, but he ignored the sensation. He’d
been so thoroughly pissed off for the last few hours, he wasn’t going to let
his reaction to her stop him from letting Tess know how he felt about her
betrayal, a betrayal that cut him to the marrow.

     “How dare you come
to my house like this? I’m surprised you didn’t just kick the door down.”

     Her shocked tone
only fueled his ire. He scowled at her and jabbed a finger into the middle of
his chest. “How dare
I?
I’m thinking of charging you with harassment.”

     Tess blinked a
couple of times and looked at him as if he’d told her he’d just flown in from
outer space. “Harassment?” The word ended on a rather high-pitched note.

     How could she stand
there and look so innocent as if she had no idea what he meant? “You said you
would do it...and by God you did.”

     A frown furrowed her
brow. “What are you talking about?”

     A lethal mixture of
anger, annoyance and hurt moved through him like a living current. “You know
damn well what I’m talking about, Tess.” He bunched his hands into fists at his
sides and leaned slightly toward her. “Telling Abel ‘everything,’ as you put
it.”

     Tess opened her
mouth to say something, but he plowed ahead, effectively blocking her retort.
“I no sooner returned from lunch this afternoon than three cops showed up with
a warrant to search for your pendant.” He didn’t bother to temper the anger or
volume in his voice. “For the last time, I had nothing to do with the theft of
your precious pendant!”

     Relaxing her
shoulders, Tess heaved a deep sigh. “Do we have to talk about this by the front
door? I was just about to have some tea. Let’s talk in the kitchen.”

     She tried to move
around him but he stepped in her path. A gasp issued from her throat. He wanted
to shake her until her teeth rattled. “I don’t want any damn tea.”