Page 39 of Kiss an Angel

“Where is it?” Sheba demanded.

“I’ll take care of this,” Alex snapped.

Daisy felt a trickle of dread as she saw the cold, set expression on his face. Sinjun began to pace restlessly in his cage. “Take care of what? What’s wrong?”

Sheba regarded her with chilling contempt. “Don’t bother to play innocent. We know you took the money, so hand it over. Or did you already hide it someplace?”

Sinjun growled.

“I didn’t hide anything. What are you talking about?”

Alex transferred the coiled whip from one hand to the other. “Two hundred dollars is missing from the cash drawer, Daisy.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s true.”

“I didn’t take it.”

“That remains to be seen.”

She couldn’t believe this was happening. “I wasn’t the only one working there. Maybe Pete saw something. He took over while I was trying on costumes.”

Sheba moved closer. “You’re forgetting that I stopped in to check the money drawer right after you came back on duty. Everything reconciled. The two hundred dollars disappeared after that.”

“That’s not possible. I was there the whole time. It couldn’t have disappeared.”

“I’m going to search her, Alex. Maybe she still has it on her.”

Alex didn’t raise his voice, but the note of command was unmistakable. “You’re not going to touch her.”

“What’s happened to you?” Sheba exclaimed. “Since when did you start keeping your brains in your cock?”

“Not another word.” He turned to Heather, who was taking in the exchange. “Go on now, sweetheart. This’ll all be sorted out by morning.”

Heather moved away reluctantly, but Daisy noticed that others were beginning to gather. Neeco Martin, the elephant trainer, came over with Jack Daily, and Brady approached with one of the showgirls.

Alex also noticed they were attracting a crowd, and he turned back to Daisy. “If you hand the money over now, we can keep this from getting any uglier.”

“I don’t have it!”

“Then I’ll have to look for it, and I’m going to start by searching you.”

“No!”

He grabbed her arm, and Sinjun emitted a great, barking roar as Alex began marching her toward their trailer. Sheba walked just off to Alex’s left, making it clear that she intended to come along.

Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy saw the stern, unsmiling expressions of the others, the same people who had been gathered around the wedding cake the night before. Jill was there, but this time she refused to meet Daisy’s eyes. Madeline turned away, and Brady Pepper glared at her.

As Alex’s fingers bit into her flesh, she felt a sense of betrayal that went all the way to the depths of her soul. “Don’t let this go any further. You know I’d never steal.”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t know anything of the sort.” They were at the trailer, and he reached around her to open the door with the same hand that held the whip. “Get inside.”

“How can you do this?”

“It’s my job.” With a push, he propelled her up the step.

Sheba followed them into the trailer. “If you’re innocent, you don’t have anything to worry about, do you?”

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