Page 26 of The Claiming of the Shrew
“My what?” Fawkes asked, in the middle of undoing his pants.
“Your pillow. Do you keep an actual gun in there? Warn a girl first!”
“There’s nothing but a pillow in my pillow,” Fawkes said, baffled, as Leah sat up and opened the pillowcase. It was one of the pillows on the side he didn’t sleep on. “I mean, unless housekeeping put something in there.”
Leah tilted the pillow and held the pillowcase open. From inside, a sparkling mass of gemstones and chains and bits of bright, winking glass slid out in a heap onto the bedcovers.
It was the missing jewelry.
LEAH
Leah was vaguelyaware of Fawkes saying something as she stared at the jewelry spilling out of the pillowcase.
“What?” she asked absently.
“I said, it’s not mine.”
“Well, obviously it’s not yours. I didn’t think you owned a pair of yellow rhinestone earrings with a matching necklace. It’s really not your color.”
Leah spoke on autopilot. She was mesmerized. She had never seen this many sparkling, gem-encrusted items together in her life. Even knowing that a lot of it was probably glass gems or inexpensive lookalikes for pricier jewels, she couldn’t stop staring at it. Suddenly she understood why someone might want to be a jewel thief.
She dipped a hand into the mass of glittering necklaces and bracelets, feeling fine-linked chains slip between her fingers. Some of the gems were green. Were those emeralds? She didn’t know how to tell. She had never seen a real emerald in her life.
And then she began to wake up to the meaning of finding this here. With her hands still buried in the cool, slithery, prickly mass, she looked up at Fawkes.
He was staring at the jewelry, and at her. “I don’t know how that got here,” he said.
“Really?That’sthe story you’re going with?” She was almost disappointed. The least he could do was make up some kind of convincing lie.
“I’m serious. I’ve never seen any of that before.”
“Right.” Leah shook out the pillow and began scooping the heap of spoils into the empty pillowcase. “You got up this morning and when you came back, your pillow was full of stolen jewelry.”
“I know it doesn’t sound very convincing?—”
“It really doesn’t. What am I supposed to think, that housekeeping put it here? That Hester did?”
“Anyone who can break into locked rooms and steal people’s things can break into a room to put something in it,” Fawkes pointed out. “Anyway, why would I bring you back here knowing all of that was there?”
It was a reasonable point, which made her even madder. “You weren’t planning to bring me back here in the first place. And if I hadn’t gone headfirst into the pile of pillows, I would never have found it. I’m the one who told you to put me on the bed. We both know you lose your common sense when I’m naked.”
“Hey!” Fawkes protested.
“Gimme my clothes.” Dragging the jingling pillowcase behind her—all together, the jewelry amounted to a lump the size of both her fists—she scooted to the edge of the bed.
“Leah, no, don’t leave. Where are you going with that? Are you planning to turn me in?”
“No,” she said. “Not yet. I need to think about it. Clothes!”
He’d put her clothes on the floor, and he hastily transferred the pile to the bed, then thoughtfully leaned her crutches up next to them. This was followed by her purse. She opened it andstuffed the pillowcase inside. Even with the purse’s capacious roominess, it barely fit and some of the case spilled out the top.
“We should photograph those,” Fawkes said.
“There is noweat the present time.” Leah hitched up her hips and scooted into her pants. “I said I need to think about this, and I meant it.”
“I did not put that there, I swear. I have no idea where it came from or why.”
“I wish I could believe that, but until I decide whether or not I believe that, I’m keeping this with me.” Leah pulled on her shirt and slid her hips off the bed, swinging upright on a single crutch. She hung the purse over her shoulder. “I’m not going to tell Hester yet,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “But I need to think.”
