Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 05 - Gems & Gunshots Read Online Free Page A

while. Instead of getting a big sales commission, they killed her for her kindness.” Amelia sniffled and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
    “How do you know that’s how they got in?”
    “Security cameras.”
    “So the police know what they look like?”
    Amelia sighed. “Unfortunately no. The video feed went out on our camera a few days ago. The company who fixes those for us was scheduled to come out tomorrow. So we only got the audio. The police think it might be an inside job; that someone knew the cameras were down.”
    “What did they take?”
    “Some cash and a few of our higher–end pieces of jewelry. Nothing important. I just can’t stop thinking of poor Nicole. She’s the girl who was killed. She worked for us almost three years and was our top sales girl. For this to happen…I don’t understand why they couldn’t just take what they wanted and leave. Why did they have to kill her?”
    I patted Amelia’s hand for reassurance. “It’s not your fault.”
    She straightened up and looked over my shoulder. I followed her gaze to see the guys coming back.
    “Do me a favor and don’t mention we had this conversation, Presley. Greg didn’t want me to bring it up tonight, and I don’t want to upset him.”
    Since I didn’t have a burning desire to have Cooper know we were talking about it either, I quickly agreed. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Amelia alone the rest of the night, which was disappointing, but the evening was fun. I got to meet a lot of people Cooper worked with and it was nice to put faces with names that I had heard over the last few months.
    “You’re awfully quiet,” Cooper said as we were driving home from the award’s dinner.
    “Too much dessert and wine. I’m sleepy,” I said, smiling at him.
    “Did you enjoy yourself?”
    “Yes, I did. I enjoyed meeting people you talk about.”
    “You look deeper in thought than that. Anything else on your mind?”
    “Just thinking.”
    “About?”
    “How incredibly handsome you look in your suit,” I said, in a flirty tone.
    Cooper just looked at me. “Don’t think I don’t love your compliments, but something tells me you’re thinking about more than that.”
    “Okay, fine, but you are handsome. In or out of that suit,” I teased. “I was thinking about Greg and Amelia. They seem like nice people.”
    “And…”
    “Well, Amelia didn’t want me to say anything but she told me a little bit about what happened today at Gemstone’s Unlimited.”
    “Presley, I told you…”
    “What a minute; I didn’t bring it up. She did.”
    He gave me a look that signaled he didn’t really believe me.
    “I promise. She brought it up and told me the police thought it might be an inside job because the security cameras were broken and that maybe someone knew that. She then told me not to mention she was talking about it so as to not annoy Greg. So, please don’t tell him.”
    “I won’t, but he’s right. She really shouldn’t be talking about it. The police need to handle it.”
    Ignoring him, I continued on. “Amelia said cash and a few pieces of jewelry were taken. Do you think that it was just a robbery gone bad?”
    “Personally I think there’s more to this than what meets the eye.”
    “And that would be?” I questioned.
    “None of your business,” he said with a smile.
    “I can’t help but feel bad that someone was killed. How can people do that? Kill someone over a few pieces of jewelry? Amelia felt really bad about it, too.”
    “Yeah,” Cooper sighed. “It is a shame to see such a young life taken.”
    “Oh, she was young?”
    “Early twenties. Sweet girl.”
    “You knew her? Personally?” My interest level went up. Cooper didn’t usually refer to other women as sweet. I couldn’t help but feel a little of the green–eyed monster. Cooper was a fantastic guy. I was sure women were always falling all over him.
    “I knew her.”
    “How?” I pressed.
    “That’s not important,” he said in such a