Kiss an Angel(37)

Heather fell into step next to him, struggling to keep up as her forehead wrinkled with anxiety. “It wasn’t very much money. Only two hundred dollars. That’s not much.”

He slipped his arms around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I want you to stay out of this, Heather. Do you understand me?”

She gazed up at him, her eyes dark and troubled. “You’re not going to whip her, are you Alex? That’s what my brother said. He said you were going to whip her.”



Voices woke Daisy. She raised her head from her bent knees and realized she had dozed off as she sat on the ground in front of Sinjun’s cage. As she stretched, she remembered the pain she had experienced and her eerie sense of identification with the tiger. How bizarre. She must have dreamed it, but everything had seemed so real.

She looked over at the cage. Sinjun’s head was raised, his ears turned so that their white marks showed. She followed the direction of his gaze and saw Alex storming toward her, with Sheba and Heather trailing. Slowly she rose to her feet.

“Where is it?” Sheba demanded.

“I’ll take care of this,” Alex snapped.

Daisy felt a trickle of dread as she saw the cold, set expression on his face. Sinjun began to pace restlessly in his cage. “Take care of what? What’s wrong?”

Sheba regarded her with chilling contempt. “Don’t bother to play innocent. We know you took the money, so hand it over. Or did you already hide it someplace?”

Sinjun growled.

“I didn’t hide anything. What are you talking about?”

Alex transferred the coiled whip from one hand to the other. “Two hundred dollars is missing from the cash drawer, Daisy.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s true.”

“I didn’t take it.”

“That remains to be seen.”

She couldn’t believe this was happening. “I wasn’t the only one working there. Maybe Pete saw something. He took over while I was trying on costumes.”

Sheba moved closer. “You’re forgetting that I stopped in to check the money drawer right after you came back on duty. Everything reconciled. The two hundred dollars disappeared after that.”

“That’s not possible. I was there the whole time. It couldn’t have disappeared.”

“I’m going to search her, Alex. Maybe she still has it on her.”

Alex didn’t raise his voice, but the note of command was unmistakable. “You’re not going to touch her.”

“What’s happened to you?” Sheba exclaimed. “Since when did you start keeping your brains in your cock?”

“Not another word.” He turned to Heather, who was taking in the exchange. “Go on now, sweetheart. This’ll all be sorted out by morning.”

Heather moved away reluctantly, but Daisy noticed that others were beginning to gather. Neeco Martin, the elephant trainer, came over with Jack Daily, and Brady approached with one of the showgirls.

Alex also noticed they were attracting a crowd, and he turned back to Daisy. “If you hand the money over now, we can keep this from getting any uglier.”

“I don’t have it!”

“Then I’ll have to look for it, and I’m going to start by searching you.”

“No!”

He grabbed her arm, and Sinjun emitted a great, barking roar as Alex began marching her toward their trailer. Sheba walked just off to Alex’s left, making it clear that she intended to come along.

Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy saw the stern, unsmiling expressions of the others, the same people who had been gathered around the wedding cake the night before. Jill was there, but this time she refused to meet Daisy’s eyes. Madeline turned away, and Brady Pepper glared at her.

As Alex’s fingers bit into her flesh, she felt a sense of betrayal that went all the way to the depths of her soul. “Don’t let this go any further. You know I’d never steal.”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t know anything of the sort.” They were at the trailer, and he reached around her to open the door with the same hand that held the whip. “Get inside.”

“How can you do this?”

“It’s my job.” With a push, he propelled her up the step.

Sheba followed them into the trailer. “If you’re innocent, you don’t have anything to worry about, do you?”

“I am innocent!”

He tossed the whip down on a chair. “Then you won’t mind letting me search you.”

Her gaze flew from one of them to the other, and the cold purpose she saw in both sets of eyes made her feel ill. Regardless of their past history, the two of them were now united against her.

He took a step closer, and she backed against the kitchen counter, the place where only a few hours ago he had kissed her with such passion. “I can’t let you do this,” she said desperately. “We spoke vows, Alex. Don’t turn your back on them.” She knew she was making herself look guiltier in his eyes, but marriages were built on trust, and if he destroyed that, they wouldn’t have a chance.

“Let’s get this over with.”

She moved sideways along the counter. “I can’t let you touch me. Please take my word for it! I didn’t steal the money! I’ve never stolen anything in my life!”