“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“You almost ready?”
“Just putting on my shoes.” She brushed her hair one more time and popped a pair of diamond studs into her ears before heading out to meet him.
His gaze strayed up and down her clingy outfit. His expression gave away nothing, but her skin prickled as if he actually touched her.
“We should go,” she said, forcing her thoughts to the search instead of her hormones.
Cole stared at her a minute longer. Then he cleared his throat. “Right. Zircon Drive.” He abruptly turned and headed for the door.
“This is ridiculous,” said Cole as they exited from the fourth Oceanside antique store. Despite Sydney’s cleavage and Cole’s sexy baritone, none of the staff admitted having seen or heard of the Thunderbolt.
“We’ve barely started,” Sydney countered, knowing that no matter what they wore or what they promised, their odds of finding information were almost nil. She was feeling guiltier by the hour for keeping him in the dark about the real search.
“We could blow off a year like this,” he said.
“You and I are only one part of the investigation,” she argued. “Gwen is checking Europe, and Kyle is interviewing your neighbors.”
“While you and I are wasting time.”
Sydney skirted around a group of teenage boys who strutted three-wide on the sidewalk in the opposite direction. She hop-stepped in her high heels to catch up to Cole. “Give it a chance.”
“We need more manpower,” he said as the oncoming crowd parted around him. “I’m hiring a P.I. firm. Somebody national, with lots of investigators.”
She ducked in behind him, following in his wake as she fought a spurt of panic. A dozen private eyes? Sticking their noses into the investigation? They’d make it impossible to keep Grandma’s secret.
“Let’s wait and see instead,” she suggested.
“Wait and see what?”
The crowds thinned and she moved back to his side. “Wait and see what Gwen comes up with.”
He peered down his nose at her, obviously unconvinced.
“Before we do anything rash,” she elaborated. “Okay?”
“Hiring a P.I. firm is rash?”
“I think we need to focus our effort.”
He turned his palms up, fingers spread wide in a gesture of incredulity. His voice rose as they angled toward the curb. “There’s nothing to focus on.”
“You’re so impatient.”
Cole glared his frustration while he unlocked the passenger door. “Impatient? Excuse me, but the Thunderbolt is worth half a million dollars.”
Sydney folded herself into the passenger seat, adjusting her dress on the hot leather as Cole clicked the door shut.
She hadn’t quantified it from the money angle yet. But the real Thunderbolt represented one of the first documented uses of diamonds as ornamentation in Europe, and the jewels themselves were dozens of carats. It was impossible to put a price on that.
Cole dropped into the driver’s side and slammed the door. He cranked the engine and turned the air-conditioning up to full. “For half a million dollars, I think I can be forgiven for a little impatience.”
“Fine. You’re forgiven.”
“And we hire a firm.”
“No. Not now. Not yet.”
Sydney’s cell phone rang.
She could feel Cole working up a counter argument as she hunted through her purse. She hoped it was Gwen with something, anything. They needed a bogus lead or a false rumor to distract Cole.
She pushed the talk button. “Yes?”
“Well, well, well,” Bradley Slander drawled through the grainy speaker. “You’ve been holding out on me, babe.”
Sydney stilled, cursing under her breath, eliciting a look of surprise from Cole.
“I’m not your babe, Slander.” Her voice grated into the mouthpiece as she turned toward the passenger door in a vain attempt to keep the conversation private.
“The Thunderbolt of the North?” Bradley continued. “That’s big even for us.”
She flicked her hair back from her sweaty forehead. “There is no us.” How had he found out so fast? Who did he bribe?
“Oh, there’s an us, Sydney,” said Bradley. “We’re inextricably connected, both cosmically and financially.”
“Get over yourself.”
“Where are you?”
She glanced back at Cole. He was watching her intently, his hand poised on the stick shift.
“None of your business,” she said.
“Gwen’s bush league, Sydney,” said Bradley.
“Gwen is brilliant.”
“What’s she found for you so far?”
Sydney clamped her jaw. She wasn’t giving Bradley a thing. Not a damn thing.
“Thought so,” said Bradley with a self-satisfied chuckle. “Team up with me. I know everybody who’s anybody from here to Istanbul.”
“Do the words ‘cold day in hell’ mean anything to you?”
His voice dropped to that reptilian level. “Together, babe, you and I can-”
She straightened, no longer caring if Cole or anyone else was listening. “Get this through your thick skull, Bradley. I will not work with you.”
“Sure you will,” he purred.
“No.”
“You know it’s just a matter of time.”
“Not now. Not ever-”
Cole snagged the phone from between her fingers.
“I think you heard the lady,” he said to Bradley.
Her jaw went slack in amazement.
“Really?” asked Cole mildly, his gaze drifting to Sydney. “Well, I doubt very much you know who you’re messing with, either.”
Then he took the phone from his ear and snapped it shut.
He plopped it back into her palm. “Who was that?”
“Bradley Slander,” she answered, staring at the compact phone, trying to decide whether he was being gentlemanly or controlling. In the end, she decided he was just being Cole. Which was…nice.
She had to admit, she’d experienced a momentary thrill when she pictured Bradley’s expression. But now she was thinking about the possible ramifications. Bradley was unpredictable, and they’d just waved a red flag in his face.
“Old boyfriend?” asked Cole, still watching her closely.
She shuddered at the very thought. “Antiquity snake. Now there’s a guy with contacts in the black market.”
“But you’re not willing to work with him?”
“I’d rather be dragged naked through an anthill.”
Cole quirked a half smile. “Thanks for the visual.”
She fought a grin, the tension finally dissipating. She was letting herself get paranoid here. Nothing terrible was going to happen. Bradley was far way, and he didn’t have a clue about Grandma’s secret.
“So what did he want?” asked Cole.
“He’s after the Thunderbolt.”
Cole’s hand tightened on the shift. “Why? It’s mine.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
“That would make him a thief.”
“I know.” Sydney closed her eyes for a brief second. If Irene Cowan had sold it or given it away, especially if it was overseas, the ownership issue was going to get complicated.
“We need to find it before he does,” she said. “Keeps our life simple.”
Cole’s stare raked over her for a silent moment. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
She tried not to flinch. She couldn’t let him see her fear. “There are plenty of things I’m not telling you,” she said, going on the offensive. “But I am doing everything in my power to find your brooch. I won’t lie to you, if the brooch is already on the black market, Bradley’s a threat.”
“How big of a threat?”
“He’s after it. But we’ve got Gwen. And Gwen is good.”
Cole’s expression turned speculative. “What about you, Sydney?”
“What about me?”
“Are you good?”
“At finding antiquities? I’m very good.”