Free Can't Keep a Brunette Down by Diane Bator Page B

track it down and give Thayer a hand. At least that was her official reasoning. Unofficially, she still had no idea to whom the ring belonged, and Fabio wasn't likely to keep her in the loop.
    She turned away from Mick's office and sat at her computer to begin her search. An hour later, all she had was a throbbing headache. No leads. No photos.
    Gilda clicked her pen in frustration until something pulled her focus away from the website. She glanced up from the monitor and frowned. A sound. A movement. Probably something small and light, like a rat. She hated rats as much as Mick hated cats.
    She stood behind her desk and did a visual search. The dojo was dark, and the lights were still out in the changing room. After blowing out a breath, she chalked it up to a hallucination brought on by stress, and then finished adding the details of Walter's funeral to the karate school website until another sound sent a shiver down her back.
    Then someone moved across the mats. Someone who'd either come in while Razi was there or snuck in later while she was alone. Had Razi let someone inside to lie in wait?
    Heart racing, Gilda reached for the nearest weapon: a pair of long, sharp scissors. Despite the two years of karate training, she might never be able to hold her own against a black belt intent on killing her. Not that scissors would help much against someone with serious weapons training.
    She skirted the desk, careful not to knock anything over, then headed for the dojo door. Whoever was inside must have come through the back and known she was working. She paused and listened. No footsteps. Nothing. "Is somebody here?"
    Like anyone would answer and look even more suspicious.
    "Mick? Razi?" Either would have answered by now. "Who's there?"
    Bare feet squeaked on a mat as the figure in the shadows turned on their toes and ran. Gilda caught a glimpse of bare feet, smooth legs, and muscular calves. A man. She gave chase anyway. Turned on his toes. A black belt would turn that precisely. An outsider would likely turn on his heel or the balls of his feet.
    Shadow man ran for the back exit. When he opened the door, a brief explosion of sunlight blinded her. A fuzzy dark shadow was visible before the door slammed shut. By the time she pushed through the door seconds later, the back alley was silent and still. No barefoot ninjas. No vehicles burning rubber down the alley. Nothing.
    Gilda cursed over and over as a mantra until she'd locked the back door and retreated behind her desk. Who broke in and what were they looking for? Walter's murderer after his missing ring?
    "Gilda? Is that you?" Mick called from the front door.
    "Yes." She tightened her grip on the scissors. If he walked in with bare feet, there was no telling what she might do.
    "What's going on?" Mick strolled in sweaty and naked from the waist up.
    "I didn't think you'd be here," she said.
    He paused in front of her desk. "Whoa. Are you okay, Sherlock?"
    Hands shaking, she set the scissors on the desk and collapsed into the chair. "Someone was in here while I posted Walter's funeral information on the website. They ran out the back door, but I didn't see who it was."
    He paled. "You can post stuff to the website?"
    "Mick."
    "Sorry, I'm kidding. You looked like you were going to pass out." He smoothed back his hair with both hands. "I'll go take a look around. What are you doing here anyway?"
    "I came to order flowers for Jade and sent out an e-mail to the students," she said. "Razi was here. He washed the mats then left."
    "Lady Macbeth." Mick grinned. "Except I can't picture you as the sort of woman to drive a katana through a man's chest. Verbally maybe. Not physically."
    "Why would you say that?" She set her pen down. Thayer had said he could picture her stabbing a man through the heart.
    "Like I said before, you're too nice." He disappeared down the hall. "Sit tight and catch your breath. I'll check things out."
    He walked around to the back room and flipped on every light