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“It’s a black ring, right?” he said. “Yeah, the other gal you were here with came back right after dinner and took it. She said it was hers, but I’m sure she meant it was yours.”
“Which gal?”
“The young, pretty one.” The waiter looked immediately embarrassed. “Not that y’all aren’t young and pretty, but—”
“Thanks,” Eliza said. “So she definitely has the ring?”
“I watched her put it on her finger.”
“Great, thanks,” Eliza said. “I’ll give her a call then. She’s probably already left me a message, and I just didn’t see it. I was in such a rush to get back here.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. It’s in safe hands.”
Is it? Eliza wondered dryly as she returned to her vehicle. She sat in the driver’s seat and pulled out her phone, looking for a message from Penny. It wasn’t there. Not entirely surprising, since the two women had had an entire car ride to discuss things such as lost rings.
No matter, Eliza mused. Penny could easily have forgotten she’d grabbed the ring, considering the rigmarole with Anne and Mark. A simple misunderstanding—that was all it was.
Dialing, Eliza ignored the impatient valet as Penny answered.
“Hey, hon,” Eliza said. “Any chance you found my ring at dinner?”
There was a beat of silence as Penny paused.
“I was wearing this black ring,” Eliza said. “You probably didn’t even notice. It wasn’t expensive, just a little sentimental. Roman bought it for me in Italy is all. Anyway, I thought I’d call both you and Anne to see if it’d turned up.”
“Gosh,” Penny said finally. “I haven’t seen it. I’d try Anne if I were you.”
“Will do,” Eliza said. “I’m sure she’ll have it.”
To the valet’s relief, Eliza hung up and drove away from the restaurant for the second time that evening. She headed home, her mind occupied with intriguing new thoughts.
Had Penny stolen her ring? Eliza’s knuckles gripped the steering wheel tighter. Why in the world would Penny steal her ring? It wasn’t as if there was a huge diamond on it that she could pawn off for lunch money. It made no sense.
As she drove, Eliza found herself doubting everything. She’d assumed Penny had been the one taken under by Roman’s charms, but what if it was the other way around? What if Penny took what she wanted, stealing freely, then played the innocent card? Was it possible she’d latched her pretty nails into Roman and gone in for the kill? Had she tried to get pregnant?
Preposterous, Eliza assured herself. That was ridiculous. No sane woman would go that far, ever. Full stop. And Penny wasn’t insane. Over the last few months, as Eliza had gotten to know Penny, she’d determined that the young woman meant well; she was just a little lost. Now, she wasn’t so sure.
Eliza was halfway to Beverly Hills when she reached for a water bottle and caught sight of a darkened glint against it in the cup holder.
Look at that, Eliza thought. Her ring had found its way home.
But Eliza wasn’t foolish enough to think Penny had softened between her theft at dinner and her apparent change of heart on the car ride to her apartment. Why hadn’t she just told Eliza about the ring? What was Eliza missing?
Feeling more befuddled than ever, Eliza decided she’d have to be a little less careless around Penny moving forward, and a little more attentive. Something about Penny Sands wasn’t quite right, and Eliza wasn’t going to be fooled…again.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice…
TRANSCRIPT
Prosecution: Ms. Sands, it was established during Mrs. Wilkes’s testimony that you have what you call a “little hobby” of stealing things from others.
Penny Sands: I wouldn’t say it’s stealing. It’s… it’s adopting certain items that other people no longer need.
Prosecution: That’s stealing. Taking something from another without permission.
Penny Sands: Technically, that might be correct. But I never hurt anyone. And I mostly took stuff that didn’t matter to other people.
