Family Jewels Read Online Free Page B

growing huge behind his glasses. “Good, good. I think there are numbers, too. Can you see them?”
    When she’d examined the stone’s girdle, she’d easily read a series of numbers there. Not unusual at all since many diamonds were engraved for easy identification. But these made her frown with curiosity.
    “Yes, I can see them. But they’re irregular. Not like any I’ve seen for GIA or EGL certification. It’s almost as if someone took meticulous care to engrave them by hand and not with a laser. These numbers look like they were made with a diamond-tipped stylus. Which means the cutter must have been endowed with extraordinary skills. It’s just not done like that these days.”
    “And?” he encouraged, stepping so close that she’d caught a whiff of his sandalwood-based cologne. It smelled warm and expensive. “What are they? Read them to me.”
    Again she’d gazed through the magnifying loupe. “They’re really hard to decipher, Mr. Andrews. The best I can do is guess.”
    “Please,” he urged, “tell me what the numbers are now? Exactly, the way you see them.”
    Cynthia had started to argue but he stood poised with a pen and small spiral notebook, a look of total hope shining from his eyes behind the thick lenses of his glasses. Reluctantly she’d read off the numbers and he’d taken great care to copy them down, repeating each one.
    His eager demeanor evaporated. He clicked off his pen and pocketed the spiral notepad. “Thank you, Miss Lyons. I shall go now.”
    “Oh. Okay. You can return tomorrow morning at eight. I’ll have the certificate for your insurance then, as promised.”
    “Yes, of course. Tomorrow morning. Goodbye.”
    Staring at the clock now, she wondered if he’d forgotten about his diamond. Very strange. It was midnight and Mr. Andrews was officially eight hours shy of three days late.
    Determined to start fresh in the morning, Cynthia slid off her chair and stretched through the exhaustion that claimed her entire body. Picking up the little box and paper certificate from the shelf, she flicked off the studio lights, closed the door and walked down the darkened hall to the bathroom.
    Her safe was hidden in the wall behind the medicine cabinet over the sink, tucked well out of sight. When she’d first moved into this apartment two years ago, she’d had to chisel through brick to make the ten-inch-square, hardened steel box fit inside. She was confident it was the best solution. According to the magazine, Jeweler ’ s Insider , that was one of the least likely spots for common thieves to search out.
    She put the boxed diamond and certificate inside the safe, reset the lock and replaced the mirror. Then she washed her face in the sink and brushed her teeth.
    “Mo?” she called out down the hall as she closed the bathroom door. “C’mon, baby boy. Time for bed.”
    There was no answering meow . Moses usually came running when she called him, unless the hedonistic animal was already snuggled on her pillow. More than likely she’d find him there.
    Entering her bedroom, she closed the door and armed the motion detector for her apartment from the wall panel. The little light flickered red for a split-second before it steadied on green. She blinked, uncertain of trusting her tired eyes. Had she really seen that red flash? It was most certainly green now. Shaking her head, she decided she’d imagined it.
    Light from the city spilled past her window, casting her bedroom in a soft purple glow. She liked the muted night color and tugged the curtain only partially closed. When she turned to undress for bed she noticed her cat’s absence from his usual spot on the pillow. That wasn’t normal.
    “Moses, where are you?”
    A low, throaty growl sounded from under the bed. Cynthia dropped onto her hands and knees and lifted the dust ruffle up. Hidden in the far corner by the wall were two glowing, green cat’s eyes. His white fur was fluffed out in alarm, making him look twice as big