Free Gentlemen Prefer Nerds by Joan Kilby Page A

the plate glass window. A news van emblazoned with the logo of a national television station had just pulled up. A cameraman and a female reporter got out and started filming outside the store. Maddie’s empty stomach churned. Instead of the positive publicity they’d hoped to get from displaying the Rose, Grace Jewelers would forever be known as the site from which the largest fancy pink diamond in the world had been stolen.
    Willa’s phone went to voice mail and Maddie was asked to leave a message. “It’s Maddie.” Her voice was high-pitched, stretched tight with anxiety. “Call me as soon as you can.”
    She hung up and stayed at the window rather than face what was going on in the shop. Her gaze drifted over the crowd, across the street. Beneath a bare-limbed tree stood Fabian. His charcoal gray suit fit as if it was custom-made, as she had no doubt it was. A gold cuff link glinted in the pale morning sun as he pressed buttons on his phone. As annoying as he was, Maddie found it hard to take her eyes off him. He was, quite simply, gorgeous. Elegant yet intensely masculine, sophisticated yet dangerous.
    And he’d been right. Someone had stolen the Rose.
    Fabian’s gaze lifted and he looked straight at her. The phone in her hand began to ring. Maddie jerked back, out of sight. “Hello?”
    “What have you told the police?” Fabian asked.
    At the sound of his voice, her heart began to race. “Nothing about Rolf, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said, instantly defensive. “I don’t know who stole the Rose but it wasn’t him.”
    “The detective in charge of the case will suspect you.”
    “You mean the doofus with the googly eyes?” Maddie asked scornfully. While the detective spoke to Grace he idly twirled a rack of costume jewelry necklaces. There was something creepy-scary about his mild expression.
    “Don’t underestimate him,” Fabian warned sharply. With a click, the line went dead.
    Maddie tucked the phone into her pocket and wiped her damp palms on her dress. Fabian had accused Rolf of being the Chameleon but hadn’t wanted to go to the police. Why? Had he changed his mind now that the Rose had been stolen? Oh, what did she care what he thought?
    The plainclothes detective left Grace and ambled over to Maddie. He flashed a badge and identified himself as Detective Sergeant Billson. “Madeline Maloney?”
    On the other side of the store Grace was being led away by two policemen.
    Maddie yelped. “Where are they taking my aunt?”
    “Down to the station to help us with our inquiries.” The detective’s big-eyed gaze bobbed around a bit then came back to her. “There’s no sign of forced entry. According to your aunt, nothing else has been stolen. And the security around the diamond’s display case hasn’t been tampered with.” His large eyes widened as he studied her face. “Do you have any idea who could have substituted the fake diamond for—what do you call it—the Rose?”
    Over and over again in her mind she’d replayed the previous evening in the workshop. The lighting had been too dim to tell the Rose from a synthetic but she’d only taken her eyes off the diamond for a moment when Rolf kissed her. And he’d been occupied too, with his hands all over her. He’d have to be a magician to make a substitution under those circumstances.
    Fabian Montgomery, on the other hand, had somehow overridden the alarm system. What was to stop him from doing so again and entering her workshop undetected after she and Rolf had left? The words he’d used to describe the Chameleon’s modus operandi came back to her. Right under her nose. A chill crawled up her spine. She glanced out of the window and across the street.
    Fabian was gone.
    “Well, Ms. Maloney?” Billson tore open a stick of gum and folded it into his mouth. He gazed at her placidly, chewing steadily in a bovine manner. The sickly sweet scent of fruit-flavored gum emanated from his breath.
    “Sorry,” Maddie