Midnight in Ruby Bayou

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Book: Read Midnight in Ruby Bayou for Free Online
Authors: Elizabeth Lowell
the shop and a lot of the time I’m here.”
    â€œComplain to my boss.”
    â€œIt wouldn’t do any good. Besides,” she said with a shrug, “I’m not fighting it. The cops can’t be everywhere.”
    â€œThe muggers can. The last one was two doors down and twenty-one hours ago.”
    She grimaced. It was the rash of muggings, robberies, and assaults that had made Archer decide to assign a Donovan International security guard to Timeless Dreams, and her. Today he had informed her that Walker was her new shadow. When she had retorted that she couldn’t see how much good Walker would do leaning on a cane, Archer had just looked at her and then gone back to trying to sort out Donovan International contracts in a world where national boundaries changed with the six-o’clock news.
    â€œAbout that insurance,” Walker said again.
    â€œI’m checking out the cost of separate insurance for the necklace, just for the Savannah show and the travel out there.”
    â€œNo one will handle it without an appraisal. A real one, from a GIA-certified lab or one of equal reputation.”
    Silence.
    â€œAre the stones with an appraiser now?” he asked.
    â€œNo.” Reluctantly she added, “I haven’t found a qualified appraiser who could guarantee getting them back to me in time to set them in Mel’s necklace for the Savannah show.”
    â€œArcher wondered about that.” So had Walker, but he wouldn’t earn any points mentioning it.
    Faith’s mouth flattened. Her brother had done more than wonder about it. He had quizzed her almost as thoroughly as Walker and a lot less patiently. “I told Archer I’d take care of it.”
    â€œNo problem. I’ll appraise the rubies for you.”
    â€œYou’re a certified appraiser?” she asked, surprised.
    â€œI know rubies. If I say they’re worth a million, Archer will insure them for a million with Donovan money.”
    â€œI didn’t know you were a ruby expert.”
    â€œThere’s a lot about me you don’t know,” Walker said neutrally. And thank God for it. “Where are the rubies now?”
    â€œRight here.”
    As she spoke, she opened one of the belly drawers in the long workbench and pulled out a small cardboard box. It held a bunch of slim, neat little paper packets stacked on edge. Each jeweler’s packet held a single gemstone.
    â€œJudas Priest,” Walker muttered. “No wonder Archer told me to practice being your skin until you handed the necklace over. You don’t even keep the damn rubies in a safe.”
    â€œI have to work with the damn rubies,” Faith pointed out with transparent sweetness. Her smile was a double row of hard white teeth. “That’s what I do. Design and execute jewelry. Contrary to what my brothers think, I’m a big girl who is quite capable of running her own business. Handling valuable gems is part of that business.”
    â€œMost people with a million in loose gems have an armed guard at the door.”
    â€œI have a man with a cane.”
    â€œSure enough, you do. Ain’t it grand.”
    This time Faith didn’t miss the steel buried in his gentle drawl. “I’m glad it’s good for someone,” she said under her breath.
    Walker heard. “And that someone isn’t you?”
    â€œIt’s not the first time the man had all the fun.”
    â€œAre you comparing me to a certain pile of road apples?”
    â€œRoad apples don’t have lapis lazuli eyes.”
    Walker opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head. “Help me out here. I’m pretty sure I just lost the direction of this conversation. What does lapis have to do with horseshit?”
    â€œExactly. You’re not lost at all.”
    Suddenly he laughed, enjoying her quick, slightly skewed sense of humor.
    Despite having promised herself that she would keep Walker at a coolly

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