Redemption (Colorado Crimes Book 4)

Chapter 3

They pulled in the parking lot and Adi squealed before Summer could reply. The girl practically bounced out of her seat and in the doors of Dairy Queen.

Asher walked by Summer, "She doesn't get ice cream much?"

"Not really. I try not to spoil her. This is a good occasional treat." Summer walked into the restaurant.

"Which means you don't get ice cream all that often either."

She hiked a brow, "Um, yes...?"

"All the better for you to get a banana split."

Summer shook her head, "Oh no no no. I could never eat one of those."

"Not all by yourself. We'll split one. See what I did there?" He winked.

Summer blinked, turned red, and shook it off. "Ha. Funny."

Adi popped up next to Summer. "Come on, let's go." She grabbed her mother's arm and tugged.

Summer pretended to be dragged against her will and Asher caught himself smiling at it. So much for trying to stop the sudden attraction.

After receiving their ice cream and taking a seat at a booth in the corner, Adi dug in. Three bites down, she already had ice cream splotched on her nose.

Asher ate the banana split with care, secretly giving Summer the bigger share. She didn't notice and that was fine with him.

"Adi, you've got ice cream all over your face, let's get you cleaned up." Summer pulled some wipes from her purse and wiped her child's face. Adi resisted at first, but gave into it.

"Can we go back to Grandma's now? I want to play." She whined.

Summer gave Adi a look, "Excuse me?"

Adi blinked, the realization hit. "Thank you for the ice cream Asher."

"You are very welcome. Let's go back now so you can play."

Adi nodded and hopped out of the booth. Summer's phone rang just as they were exiting the building. She looked down at it. "It's my art manager, I need to answer."

Asher picked up Adi and held her on one hip, "Sure thing, we'll be over here." He watched out of the corner of his eye as Summer spoke on the phone. His nerves jangled when her face went from scrunched up, to eyes widened, to ghostly white.

~~~~~

"What did you say, Clark?" Summer managed to spit out.

"I said that your paintings have all been stolen."

She laughed dryly, "This is really funny. Did Miriam set you up to this?"

Clark, her manager, said, "No. I am dead serious Summer. The custodian was cleaning the museum and when he was cleaning your area, he noticed that the paintings that were there yesterday weren't there anymore. He called me and I came over. You don't work on Sundays so I knew you wouldn't take them. I asked around, then eventually called the police. They've looked for evidence. The paintings are gone, Summer. I'm so sorry."

Summer sunk onto the ground. This could not be happening. "Do I still have the reservation for the auction? I worked so hard to get it."

"You do. If you could provide enough art in time-"

"I can't Clark! That art was my livelihood. Months of work! Gone! Are the police even looking for them?!"

Clark sighed, "They are. The museum had good security. I'm not sure what went wrong. For now, just take a deep breath."