“I didn’t have a chance. You see…” She hesitated, tears glittering like diamonds in her blue eyes. “I misplaced my ring. I’ve been looking for it all day.”

Ryan had known she was going to tell him about the ring. He snapped back, “You lost it at the gym?”

Ashley slowly shook her head. “No, I tried to work out to get my mind off things, but I kept thinking about the ring.”

“I saw it on the counter last night when you were cleaning up.” He tried to sound helpful yet slightly aggravated, the way he normally would.

“I guess I must have picked it up, but I don’t remember. You know how you do things automatically.” She sucked in a sharp breath, then slowly released it. “I looked everywhere-even in the trash. It was picked up today. I went to the garbage collection center but they said finding anything as small as a ring would be next to impossible.”

He couldn’t stand to see Ashley in pain. He tossed her a lifeline. “Let’s take a really good look, starting in the kitchen. Your ring could have fallen on the floor and rolled off where you can’t see it.”

“I looked,” she protested.

“Let me get into my jeans and we’ll both check again.”

Of course, nothing turned up in the kitchen, but Ryan had them down on their hands and knees, peering under everything. He insisted on opening every drawer in case the ring had fallen in and gone unnoticed. From the kitchen, they went into the dining room and living room, crawling around and inspecting every inch of the house.

“It wouldn’t be in my office,” he said when they finished checking the entry hall.

“No,” she assured him. “I never go in there.”

He had cautioned her several times about his office. He’d told her that he had documents on his computer and research information on new surgical techniques that he didn’t want disturbed. Whitney would have questioned him, but Ashley left his office alone.

“Let’s try the master bedroom. You’re in there most often.”

Of course, a search around and under the bed yielded nothing. They removed the covers and shook out the spread and shams and every shitty toss pillow the decorator had insisted “made” the room. Nothing.

“The bathroom’s next,” he told her. “Or should we look in your closet? Isn’t that where you keep it?”

“Yes, but I’ve already looked in the closet. It isn’t there.”

“Come on. Let’s take another look. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”

They went into the closet, and he started checking under the hanging clothes. He wanted Ashley to be the one to find the ring. Come on, come on, he kept thinking. His knees were killing him.

“Oh, gosh!” screamed Ashley. “Here it is!”

Ryan jumped up. “Are you sure? Where?”

Ashley held up the ring. Tears sprang into her eyes, making her look just like a little girl. He hated making her cry, but what choice did he have?

“It was under the dresser. I must have knocked it off.” Ashley slipped it back on her finger and gazed down lovingly at the diamond. “I’m sure I checked under there. How could I have missed it?”

Ryan put his arm reassuringly around her and kissed her cheek. “The light changes during the day. You just didn’t see it.”

“I guess,” she replied doubtfully.

“It doesn’t matter. You have it now. Just be more careful. When you’re cooking, take it off in here first.”

He heard his cell phone ringing in his closet just steps away. “I’ve got to get that. It could be the office.”

When he picked up the phone, Ryan didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID. It was Domenic Coriz. His bowels loosened and he swore his balls actually ached. He walked out of the closet and down the hall before answering. The last thing he wanted was Ashley overhearing him.

“Heard you won some money.”

Unfuckingbelievable! Where did Dom get his information? Ryan had purposely gone to a casino owned by another Indian tribe. “A bit,” Ryan conceded. “I need to make a house payment or I’ll be out on the street.”

“My heart bleeds. Now listen up, shithead.”

He listened, his knees nearly buckling. “All right. I’ll do what I can.”

Money.

All his troubles came down to cold hard cash. Ryan put his hand on his back pocket. He had nearly ten thousand dollars. Once it would have sounded like a lot, but now he knew it wouldn’t go far. All it could do was buy him a little time with the bank.

Or he could turn it into real money at the craps table.

He told himself to resist the urge to gamble. What had a few dollars gotten him? He needed megabucks. Plotting his next move was much more important. Taking your enemy by surprise was the key to victory. He was pretty sure someone famous had said this, but he couldn’t remember who. It was the thought that counted. Do the unexpected. Take your enemy by surprise.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“WHAT DID THEY say?” Adam asked Whitney.

After finishing dinner, Adam had gone upstairs and checked an Internet reverse directory for the address they’d seen on Crystal Burkhart’s books. A man’s name had been listed at that location. He’d asked Whitney to call because people were more likely to volunteer information to a woman than a strange man.

“Crystal Burkhart still lives there. Guess where she works?”

“Saffron Blue.”

“Exactly. She’d just left for the club.” Whitney thought a moment. “I wonder if Crystal met Miranda there.”

Adam had his doubts. “It’s more likely that the two met at college, considering the books we found. College girls often strip to earn money. People don’t realize it, but most strippers are college girls or young housewives who need cash.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

Adam checked his watch. “It’s early yet. The big tippers don’t come in until after ten. Let’s go out and talk with Crystal.”

“Right,” Whitney immediately agreed. “I’ll lock the dogs inside my bedroom. That way I won’t worry about them.”

Followed by all the dogs, she trotted off in the direction of the maid’s room. He mentally kicked himself for making her obsessive about the dogs’ safety. He should have told her that Ashley had taken-

“Where did all those bags of clothes come from?” Whitney asked as she rushed back into the kitchen.

Adam had forgotten all about the shopping bags he’d put on her bed. “They were at the front door when I came home. A friend must have left them for you.”

“I can’t imagine who.” She headed toward the back door and he followed. “I didn’t get much of a chance to look at them, but the things on top were my size.”

He led her to his uncle’s Lexus. “Didn’t you have friends where you used to work who might have brought by the clothes?”

“No, not really. I hardly knew anyone because I worked on a computer in my own space at a cube farm. I spent the day inputting sales data. I was the last to go when the entire department was outsourced to India. I haven’t spoken to anyone there in months.” She thought a moment. “I guess it could have been Trish, but I don’t think so. I saw her at lunch. She would have mentioned it.”

They drove toward Saffron Blue in silence. He’d considered going to the club alone, then decided having a woman would make it easier to get backstage and have a little talk with Crystal Burkhart. Besides, Whitney had a vested interest in this. She had every right to come along.

Over dinner, Whitney had told him about the house-sitting job that Trish Bowrather was trying to line up for her. He hated the thought of her moving out, but he didn’t have the right to tell her what to do.

“Is something bothering you?” he asked when he realized she seemed to be staring out the window into the dark.

“I’m just thinking. I was offered a new job today. I’d like to take it, but I can’t just give up Miranda’s business. Clients are counting on me.”