Page 27 of Family Jewels

“You were right, Nancy,” I said in an exaggerated drawl. “It’s a far cry from thatotherplace.”

“Other place?” a man asked from the back corner. He closed a padlock on a metal bar covering a row of guns. “You mean that sorry excuse of a pawn shop on the other side of town?”

We both spun around, coming face-to-face with a six-foot-something burly guy who was muscled up enough to be a body builder. He was wearing a T-shirt that looked two sizes too small from the way it stretched over his chest and biceps. His hair was long enough to cover his ears and his collar, and he sported a neatly trimmed beard.

Neely Kate quickly fell into her role. “I knew we shoulda come here first, but Beth Ann was sure that other place was more respectable.”

Well, crappy doodles. She’d just thrown me under the bus. “No offense, Mr. . . . ?” I looked up at him with innocent eyes.

He stared at me for a long moment, as if trying to place me, but I was pretty sure we’d never crossed paths before. Not even back when I’d interrogated criminals as the Lady in Black.

“Wagner,” he said, extending his hand with an amused grin. “Hugh Wagner. I’m the owner.”

Wagner.I fought hard not to react. This had to be the man who was planning to attack James on Friday night. One of the few things James had told me about Wagner was that he worked in retail. I’d presumed that meant stolen merchandise, not an actual bricks-and-mortar store, but there were plenty of expensive, rare items filling Ripper Pawn. Maybe I hadn’t been that far off.

He was waiting for me to respond, so I quickly got back on topic. “Well, Mr. Wagner,” I said brightly. “I’m a firm believer in supportin’ local businesses. Nancy wanted to head over to El Dorado, but I insisted we stay local. And since Rainy Day’s been here longer, it seemed the most logical place to start, ya know?”

He grinned down at me like I was a toy poodle yapping around for treats. “So we’re second choice then?”

“Not second choice,” I said. “We’re just movin’ our way up the ladder to bigger and better.”

He laughed out loud. “You’re funny. I like you. What are you ladies lookin’ for?”

“Jewelry,” Neely Kate said in a gush. “Antique-lookin’ stuff. With real gemstones.”

I cringed inwardly when he looked us over. Even though Neely Kate had on her pink gauzy top, I was wearing a plain, light-pink T-shirt, and we both had on dirty jeans and shoes. Not to mention the fact that my hair had seen better days. We definitely weren’t dressed for fancy jewelry shopping.

But he must have decided to look past our clothing. Smart man. You never knew who had money in southern Arkansas. A man who wore overalls and drove a thirty-year-old pickup truck just might be a multi-millionaire. “Jewelry, I have,” he said, walking around us and leading the way to the case. “But most of it’s newer. There’s not much of a market for vintage jewelry. And what I get, I usually sell online.”

Neely Kate gasped. “You sell it online?” She got an inquisitive look on her face and turned to me. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

I pretended to consider it. “If we can’t find what we want here, we can try that next.”

“Well, hold on there, little lady,” Hugh said, lifting his hands in surrender. “Tell me what you’re lookin’ for. If I don’t have it, I might be able to get it for ya. But why’s a young thing like you lookin’ for old jewelry?”

While he was misogynistic, he seemed genuinely friendly. Could this really be the man who wanted to eliminate James and take over the Fenton County criminal kingdom? In my vision, Jed hadn’t set eyes on Wagner. What if someone else was planning the attack?

I needed to have a vision of Hugh Wagner. It was the only way I could know for sure.

“I’m just an old-fashioned kind of girl,” Neely Kate said. “Some of my favorite memories are of wearing my grandmother’s jewelry. I’m going to a fancy dinner, and I need a necklace to wear with my dress. Besides, older things have better stories.” She gave him a once-over. “Do you know anything about the jewelry you got here?”

“Some of ’em,” he said. When she didn’t protest, he continued, “What are you looking for? Something light and dainty or something big and gaudy?”

Neely Kate snorted as though he was ridiculous. “The bigger, the better.”

Wagner chuckled again. “You got something in mind?”

“I’m looking for something with real stones. My new man says that a real woman deserves to wear real jewels.”

His eyes lit up. “You don’t say. Your man sounds like a keeper.”

She gave a half shrug as she examined the jewelry through the case. “I like to keep my options open, but I ain’t gonna say no if he’s offerin’ to buy me jewels.” She stopped and pointed to a necklace with a large center stone that looked like a ruby. “How much is that one?”

He turned all business. “Anything with stones that big is gonna cost ya.”

“I don’t care as long as it’s what I’m looking for,” she said as she began to peruse the cases. “But I’m wanting something with clear stones. Like diamonds.”

“Something with diamonds that big would run in the thousands. Tens of thousands.” He paused. “And I ain’t got nothin’ like that here. People in Henryetta don’t wear things like that.”

---