“We were just coming from knitting club when we saw someone new and thought we’d see if you needed any help,” the chicken said as the warning bells went off in his head.
Danger, danger, danger flashed through his mind. Dear God, they had knitting needles and he smelled a chicken and cheese casserole.
“That’s very nice of y’all, but I have to get going. Have a nice night, ladies.”
Paxton faked to the right and rolled to the left before slamming into a lady with a blouse embroidered with cats all over it.
“I’m so sorry,” Paxton muttered.
“He’s new, Mitzi,” the chicken lady called out.
“Oh, you’re new!” Mitzi said, her eyes lighting up like a cat that spotted a little red laser dot smack in the middle of Paxton’s forehead.
Paxton looked up and saw more old women, a hulking mountain of a man, and was that America’s Sweetheart stepping out of the church’s front door? The granny gang was growing. He was out of time.
“Lovely to meet you,” Paxton said and then he ran.
He zigged and zagged like a professional running back, outmaneuvering the defense until he slammed through the front door of the art gallery. He was breathing hard as he turned to look out the door. They were all shuffling toward him like a mob of zombie grannies. Paxton felt no regret at flicking the deadbolt closed, turning off the lights, and racing to the back room.
“Is everything okay?” Tinsley asked worriedly when he shut and locked the door behind him.
“Yeah, didn’t want the food to get cold.” Paxton set down the bag and moved to the Bluetooth speaker. He turned up the music to hide the sound of the granny gang knocking on the front door. “Love this song,” he said with a bright smile when Tinsley looked questioningly at him.
Tinsley unloaded the bag of food as he blared the music. Once the song was finally over and he didn’t hear any more knocking, he turned the music down.
“There have been some robberies in Charleston,” Paxton began to explain as he sat across from her at the artist table covered in smudges of old paint.
“I’m guessing art was the target since you’re here,” Tinsley said sarcastically.
Paxton smiled before biting into his sandwich. Sassy Tinsley was his favorite so far. “Ding, ding, we have a winner.” Tinsley rolled her eyes and Paxton placed pictures of the art stolen in front of her as he explained their dead ends. “I’m hoping you know of some connection that we’re missing.”
Tinsley took the pictures and studied them closely. Paxton finished his sandwich and tried to guess what she saw in the pictures. “Can I see pictures of the houses and crime scenes?” Tinsley asked finally.
“Sure,” Paxton said, handing her the photos she’d asked for.
He watched as she leaned forward and nibbled on her bottom lip as she examined the photos. Then she nodded to herself and sat back in her chair. “They were targeted art thefts. The jewelry was just a bonus. This was all about taking these specific paintings.”
“What? How do you know that?” Paxton asked, looking down at the photos again. How did she know that?
“These are quality paintings worth a lot of money, but they’re not the only paintings these people owned.” Tinsley picked up some of the photos and turned them around. “You can see where the stolen art was, but look around. There’s other art left behind. The pieces that were taken are worth over ten thousand dollars each. The paintings left behind were between two and five thousand. Also, see this Manet here?”
Paxton looked at a Manet painting and then looked up at Tinsley. “Are you sure it’s not a Monet?”
Tinsley reached across the table and punched his shoulder. Paxton couldn’t keep the laugh in. He tossed his head back and laughed out loud. “I’m sorry, beautiful, but you’re just too cute when you’re mad so I couldn’t resist.”
He watched as her mouth dropped open and her eyes went comically wide. “Oh my gosh. You’ve been teasing me this whole time, haven’t you? You knew the difference between Monet and Manet.” Paxton grinned and Tinsley punched him again. “I can’t believe you!”
“If you want to touch me, you’re more than welcome to. You don’t have to keep hitting me. Now, what were you saying about the Manet?” Paxton looked down at her small hands. What would they feel like running over his body?
“It’s a reproduction. A very good one as I’m sure you know, but what’s interesting is that they knew it, too. They specifically targeted the high-value paintings and left everything else behind. So, the question I would be asking is, who knew these three couples had these three very valuable pieces?”
“That is a very good question, Tinsley.”
He had been teasing her. Unbelievable. Tinsley sat back as Paxton began looking over the case file. “Why did you tease me?”
“Hmm?” Paxton murmured as he looked back up at her. She hadn’t meant to ask the question out loud, but now she was curious.
“Why did you tease me? Is it because you don’t like working with me?” Tinsley’s heart pounded as she waited for Paxton to answer.
His gray eyes locked onto hers and he frowned. “I did it at first because I didn’t think we’d work well together and I wanted to put an end to it.”
Tinsley’s stomach dropped at the same time her temper soared. “Why would you think that? I can work with anyone!”
“But I can’t,” Paxton admitted. “I worked on violent gang cases. I don’t play nice. I do what it takes to get the job done. I thought I’d send you running off in tears, but you stayed. You challenged me. I respect that about you, Tinsley. I respect more than that. I respect all of you. Plus,” Paxton leaned forward as if sharing a secret, “you’re really sexy when you’re fired up.”
Tinsley felt herself blush from head to toe. When she looked into his eyes, it was like everything she thought she had known had been turned upside down. She realized that what she’d seen in his eyes wasn’t annoyance. What Tinsley saw in Paxton’s eyes was desire.
“Understand now?” Paxton asked. His deep voice seemed to reverberate through her whole body, sending off delightful sparks of lust.
Tinsley nodded before awkwardly clearing her throat. “So, what can I do to catch this art thief?”
4
Paxton had nothing on the thefts. The insurance investigators hadn’t found anything either. That’s why Paxton was in the office at six in the morning trying to figure out what these families had in common. They were all wealthy enough to afford expensive artwork. They had all been on vacation at the time of the thefts. But how did the thieves know about the art and the vacations? There were no common connections. They didn’t attend the same churches, they weren’t in the same charities, and none of them worked in the same industry.
Paxton pulled up the social media accounts for the owners of the first house. The husband’s account was private, and Paxton couldn’t see anything except for some photos he’d been tagged in. Okay, maybe he could find a connection between them there? Paxton opened tabs on all the homeowners looking for common friends or photos.