Yours for the Night by Samantha Hunter Page A

other stores before she could attempt to find it. The police hadn’t shared any information with the media about that, and they certainly hadn’t shared it with her. In fact, they had told her emphatically not to reveal what had been stolen from Jarvis’s.
    She knew only the names of the stores from the police blotter, and she planned to visit each of them today. They were all small stores, like theirs, that functioned on a foundation of trust and reputation, much like a bank. Surely the other stores were in similar financial binds as Jarvis’s, having to cover their expenses while waiting for the investigation to conclude before the insurance would pay out.
    If she could find the diamonds, or at least find some clues that she could take to the police, before her parents got back, maybe they would all stand a fighting chance.
    Crossing the Bay Bridge, Tiffany headed south to San Jose, where the first store had been robbed. After talking to management there, she’d circle through Menlo Park, Berkeley and back to the city. It would make for a long day, but at least she felt like she was doing something. And who knew what she would find; she had to start somewhere. Spotting the exit for San Jose, she pulled away from the main highway and followed her GPS’s directions to her first destination.
    The store was smaller than her family’s, dealing more in vintage gems and jewelry, and Tiffany spent several minutes rapt with the beauty of some of the old pieces, loving their classic design and the original settings. These old pieces were about glamour and class, not the flash that was so often the focus these days. There was a green opal necklace she would give her right arm for, but it was totally out of her price range.
    “Would you like to try it on?” the clerk asked, and Tiffany smiled, knowing the move. Trying it on was one step closer to a sale, but as there was no way she could afford it, she wasn’t in any danger of caving to that.
    “I’d love to,” she accepted happily as the clerk retrieved the necklace from the case and attached it around her neck.
    Tiffany looked in the mirror on the counter and sighed.
    “It’s lovely. The orange fire is so intense. I’ve never seen opals quite as color-saturated as these. They’re almost brilliant,” she commented, leaning to the light.
    She’d have to take it off to get a better look, but there were no blind spots—a bad thing in an opal, where the color dulled or disappeared when looking at it directly. She assumed there would be no real defects in these beauties.
    Seduced by the small, iridescent teardrops that hung daintily around her throat, Tiffany found herself mentally calculating the sums left in her savings and credit card balances, but regrettably shook her head.
    “Maybe someday. Thanks for letting me try it on,” she said, taking the necklace off and handing it back to the clerk.
    “Those stones are gorgeous, aren’t they?” a male voice asked from behind her, and Tiffany turned to find a handsome young man watching her admiringly.
    “They are.”
    “You wear them well. They complement your hair and skin tone, also lovely,” he said suavely, and Tiffany found herself smiling. He was probably five years younger than she was, but he had adopted the mannerisms of Clark Gable, she thought with a grin. And he managed to pull it off.
    “You must be Armando,” she said, recognizing his face from the collection of family pictures at the front of the store. His grandfather owned the store, but he was the manager. He reminded her of her younger brother, and was sure he wouldn’t care for the comparison. “I’m Tiffany Walker.”
    “So nice to meet you,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
    Tiffany explained that her family owned Jarvis’s, and had also just been robbed. “I was sorry to see your store mentioned in the paper as the first one in the recent series of thefts. Do you mind me asking what was stolen?” she asked, getting right to