A Dog and a Diamond Read Free

more than capable of holding the fort for a couple of hours. Enjoy your mystery rendezvous.”
    He snorted. Hah! If only she knew what he was really up to. “Thanks, Soph. I owe you one,” he said as the traffic lights in front turned amber. Breakup girl zoomed through and, determined not to lose her, Callum pushed down on the accelerator and just scraped through the intersection before the light went red. He checked the rearview mirror in case there were cops, then let out a puff of breath. He could just imagine the look on a police officer’s face while they asked him why he’d gone through a red light. Admitting to stalking the car in front could get him into all kinds of trouble and his father would turn in his grave if he garnered any bad publicity that could sully the McKinnel name.
    As they drove past the boundaries of town and headed onto the highway toward Bend, Callum glanced at his fuel gauge, hoping he had enough gas to get to wherever she was going. Thankfully it was near full. He supposed he should call Bailey, if only to clarify that the woman he was currently trailing wasn’t some kind of lunatic. She’d seemed legitimate but one couldn’t be too careful these days.
    Bailey always answered her phone but today the number went straight to voice mail. “Hi there, you’ve reached Bailey Sawyer, event planner extraordinaire—leave a message and I’ll get back to you soon. Bye.”
    â€œBailey, what the hell is going on? Call me.”
    He’d been acting on some sort of adrenaline until now, but as he followed the little red car, navigating the country roads between Jewell Rock and Bend, realization dawned on him. What would he tell his mother if his relationship with Bailey had actually ended? She’d been so pleased when he and her best friend’s daughter had announced their engagement...and annoyed that they’d taken years to get to the stage of almost tying the knot. This, so soon after the loss of her husband, would devastate her. Anger surged inside him at Bailey and he almost missed the moment when breakup girl turned down a street on the outskirts of Bend.
    He slammed on the brakes and swerved to follow. He’d been a teenager with a brand-new license the last time he’d driven this recklessly and he was out of practice. About three minutes later, she swung into the driveway of a little house that looked in dire need of renovation.
    Callum parked on the street out the front. Should he confront her now or wait until she was done with the next lucky recipient of her “work”? He waited and watched a moment, but when he saw her unlock the front door and go straight inside instead, he realized she must live here.
    In that case... He climbed out of his SUV and beeped it locked, all psyched up to confront her, to demand more of an explanation. And, if he were honest, to tell her what he really thought of her career choice. But his bluster cooled the moment he stepped into her doorway. Either her housekeeping skills were dismal, or while she’d been delivering him the breakup speech, some scumbag had broken into her house. The smashed glass panes on her door indicated the latter.
    Standing in the middle of the disarray, she bent down, grabbed some kind of vase off the floor and then spun around and held it as if she were about to hurl it at him. “Stay right there!”
    He froze and held his hands up in surrender.
    Recognition dawned in her eyes. “You! What are you doing here?”
    â€œI...um...” For once in his life he was lost for words. Now didn’t seem the time to pay out on her.
    â€œNever mind.” She shook her head, threw the vase onto the couch and headed down a hallway, wailing “Muffin, Muffin!” as she went.
    Frowning, Callum stepped inside and surveyed the mess. Whoever had done this had left no stone unturned. What a violation. He dug his cell out of his pocket, about to call the