Dangerous Ladies Read Online Free PDF Page B

Alan had paid ten thousand; he’d
made sure she saw the bill of sale. In fact, he’d demanded she appreciate the bill of sale.
    The asshole.
    As Tiffany’s jewelry had had to be sold to support them, Brandi had gained experience with pawnshop owners. They never paid more than twenty-five percent of appraised value, and then they acted as if they were doing you a favor. And they never, ever appraised the jewelry wrong.
    Haggling was a fine art in a pawnshop, and Brandi had been prepared to bargain. But maybe while she’d had her head down studying in law school, diamonds had taken a hike in value. Hastily she said, “Sure. Eight thousand. It’s a deal.”
    “That’s good,” Kim said appreciatively.
    Mr. Nguyen slipped the diamond into a box and slid it into the case. “A pretty girl like you needs jewels to decorate your neck and ears. Yesterday I got in diamond earrings—”
    “I don’t care if I never see another diamond as long as I live.” Brandi had never meant anything as much in her life.
    “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” Kim gasped in simulated dismay.
    “Shaddup,” Brandi said into the phone.
    “Sapphires to match your beautiful eyes.” Mr. Nguyen smiled at her, but he had white lines around his mouth and a birthmark on his cheek . . . or a bruise.
    She glanced at the two guys. They’d moved to the computer counter. They were chatting in low voices, seemingly focused on the array of iPods in the case. They weren’t standing close, and they seemed unconcerned about her transaction, but both had their scarves wrapped over the tops of their heads and over their mouths. A niggling unease worked its way up her spine. It almost looked as if they were trying to disguise themselves.
    “Kim, hold on a minute. . . .” She leaned across the counter. “Sapphires might be just what I need.” In a lower voice, she said, “Do you need help?”

    “What’s happening?” Kim spoke softly in her ear.
    Mr. Nguyen smiled even more broadly as he placed a small white box on the counter. “No. I’m hiring no one right now. It’s too cold and business is not good.”
    “What’s wrong?” Kim repeated.
    “Nothing. I think.” Brandi picked up the box and asked Mr. Nguyen, “Those guys aren’t bothering you?”
    “They’re in the neighborhood all the time. They came in to get warm and to see what I have in electronics.” He shrugged. “They’re hackers.”
    “Hackers?” That wasn’t good.
    “Maybe I said that wrong. They’re computer geeks.” Leaning across, he flipped open the lid.
    What met Brandi’s eyes made her catch her breath. Held upright on the tiny white velvet showcase, the sapphires blinked in a glorious shade of blue.
    “Whoa.” They must have been a carat each, set in yellow gold. Brandi forgot how to haggle, how to play hard to get. She was almost salivating on the counter when she said, “Gorgeous.”
    “I swear to God, Brandi, if you don’t talk to me . . .” Kim sounded pissed.
    “Sorry. I got distracted. There are these sapphires—”
    “Good ones?” Kim liked her jewelry and had been a willing student when Tiffany taught the girls how to tell the real from the dross. “No, wait! You can’t divert me. Is there something wrong in that place?”
    Brandi glanced at the guys again. They were pointing down at an antique tiara and laughing. They looked youthful and carefree, and one laughed hard enough to start coughing. He sounded sick, like he had bronchitis, and the other pounded on his back. Brandi supposed the scarves might be because they were cold or ill. She didn’t know why Mr. Nguyen wouldn’t tell her if there was a problem.
    And the sapphires drew her gaze like hot coals. “Everything’s fine. Now let me look at these stones.” Brandi accepted Mr. Nguyen’s
offer of his jeweler’s glass. She wiped it carefully, then held it to her eye. “Cornflower blue,” she pronounced.
    “From Kashmir,” Mr. Nguyen said.
    “From Kashmir,”