Page 56 of Disarming Caine

Tread carefully, Sam.“Selling it?”

“It’s being cleaned, then sold.” She slid over her color swatches and pulled out a few next to the fabric. “My boyfriend found it at a pawnshop in Detroit and I put it up, but he said it needed work.”

Antonio browsed the samples, flagging the ones he liked. “If it meets Samantha’s requirements, perhaps we could buy it?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. For your own place, maybe, but it’s worth quite a lot.” She kept her eyes on the samples, pushing another fabric toward Antonio, this one in a velvety gray-green. “Between the three paintings he discovered, he estimates they’ll bring in—”

Three paintings. The LA theft was of three paintings.

Felicia straightened, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. He told me they were supposed to be kept under wraps. He’s worried about thefts.”

“Understandable.” I tried taking part in their swatch and chip matching game, but each time I did, one of them changed something which was clearly better. “Maybe we should check out this pawnshop, honey. They could have other pieces like what I’m looking for.”

“Sì, this is an excellent idea. We’ll go after Christmas. What was the name of the shop?”

Felicia pulled out her phone and snapped some pictures of the collection of open magazines and samples strewn across the table. “I don’t know, but I can check with him. I’m not sure if they have other pieces as high-quality, though. He’s an art restorer and has a remarkable eye.”

Art restorer boyfriend? There weren’t a lot of professional companies in the Lansing area, so this was interesting.

Felicia left the table to sit at the laptop and prepare our printouts.

Antonio’s gaze snapped to mine as soon as her back was to us. He mouthedParker’s?

Of course! I nodded once. Parker’s was the restoration company that authenticated the stolen painting from the auction. The FBI had gotten involved, but if Parker’s was still in business, that meant they hadn’t found anything incriminating.

Or at least, not enough.

“Could you give us his contact information?” I asked. “I’d love to talk to him.”

“I’ll let him know you were looking.” She hit a button and a printer on her desk began spitting out pages. “I’m sure he won’t mind getting in touch.”

“YoushouldcallSpecialAgent Skinner with this information,” Antonio said as he settled in the passenger seat.

I tapped my fingers against my lips, staring at the squat brick building. Everything was still conjecture. We didn’t have any proof. “Not yet.”

He chuckled, pinching my thigh, memories of last night vying for my attention.

“Stop.” I shoved the hand away, trying not to laugh. “I don’t think the fuzzy pictures from the real estate listing, plus this tiny bit of information is enough for a search warrant, so it’s not worth calling him. Lucy and I were going to request an invite for the showing on January third, so I’ll check in with him after that.”

“If the painting’s not sold by then?”

Dammit. “Or at Parker’s Restoration undergoing work.”

“Either way, we don’t have to figure it all out right now. And we have other priorities, bella.”

It was only Thursday, but I had an appointment with Elliot on Tuesday, anyway. To dig a hole even deeper and snoop on the amazing man sitting next to me, helping with this investigation. I could still swing by Felicia’s house and look around, but she knew my face now, so I wouldn’t be able to con my way past her.

And who was her boyfriend? Was it the owner of Parker’s himself? Or one of his employees? I’d never found out from Elliot who—specifically—was behind the auction painting.

“Bella?”

“Hmm?”

“Priorities?”

“Right.” I pressed the ignition. “Packing.”

“And then…” He tipped his head, eyebrows easing up expectantly. “We go back to my place and…”

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