Page 63 of Tangled Up In You

"I will keep that in mind." As she waved goodbye to Chloe, an older man strode down the sidewalk, his gaze on her.

She gave him a wary look. He was dressed in a gray suit, and he didn't look dangerous, but he did have an intense expression on his face.

"Miss Trent? Molly Trent?"

"Yes."

"I'm Lance Baylor."

"Should that mean something to me?"

"I'm Charles Weatherly's attorney."

She stiffened. She'd had zero time to look into Caroline's family. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Can we talk?"

She glanced at her watch. "I have a few minutes before I open." She waved him into the store and relocked the door. She set down the tray of baked goods on the counter and said, "What can I do for you?"

"It has been brought to our attention that Ms. Montgomery might have inadvertently given away something that didn't belong to her."

"You mean something that someone tried to steal three times now?"

He gave her a wary look. "I'm not aware of any theft attempts."

"Well, if you talk to the police, they can make you aware."

"All right. I will do that, but you can rest assured my office has no knowledge of any attempt to retrieve the diamond."

"The diamond?" she echoed. "There's a diamond?"

"It was a gift from Caroline to her husband, Charles, valued at three million dollars."

She gasped. "Seriously?"

"Yes, and it's missing. We think you might have it."

"I haven't seen any diamonds in the boxes that Caroline sent to Phoebe. Wouldn't she have kept something that valuable in a safety deposit box or a private safe? In fact, if it was a gift to Charles, why doesn't he have it?"

"He believed it was in a safe at the house. But upon checking the safe, it was discovered that the real diamond had been replaced with a copy."

"I don't know what to say, except that I don't have the diamond."

"Mr. Weatherly would like to send someone over to take a look through the items that Caroline sent to Ms. Haller. He can have that individual here this afternoon."

"No. I'm sorry. I'm busy today with my grand opening, and the Harvest Festival this weekend. I promise to take another look, and I will consider your request for possibly one day next week."

The lawyer didn't look happy with her response. "This is a very valuable diamond. We need to find it as soon as possible."

"Why didn’t Mr. Weatherly send you last week? Was it because his thugs couldn't do the job for him?" she challenged.

"I'm offended by your implication. We don't employ thugs. We only ask for your cooperation to retrieve what rightfully belongs to Mr. Weatherly. As for the timing, we only recently discovered that the real diamond had been replaced."

"Well, I'm going to need to check with Ms. Montgomery's lawyer, and Phoebe's lawyer. And then I'll get back to you. I have no problem turning over something that wasn't meant for Phoebe, but I'm not just taking your word for it." She glanced at her watch. "And that's all the time I have." She opened the door and motioned for him to leave.

He gave her a speculative look and then handed her his business card. "Please call me as soon as possible. We'd like to get this resolved. If someone else is trying to get the diamond, time is of the essence."

She didn't say anything, just watched him walk down the street.

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