Page 56 of Frosted and Sliced

They took three steps in and stopped short. There before them sat a man, bound to a chair, a gag in his mouth. Georgette took in the sight of the terrified stranger and turned questioning eyes to Burke, a little bit dazed.

Burke motioned to the man. “Georgette, meet your boyfriend.”

CHAPTER 24

Georgette looked between the two men, waiting for a punchline that never arrived. “You kidnapped Siggy?” she said at last.

“You said you wanted to meet him,” Burke said.

“Somehow I thought there’d be fewer ropes and gags involved,” she mused, staring hard at the man she’d been talking to the past year. She’d wondered what he would look like, and wasn’t exactly disappointed. He was decently mediocre, nothing outlandishly attractive or unattractive about him. An average guy she would have passed on the street without a second glance, but one whom she could imagine falling for on further inspection.

She had also wondered how she would feel seeing him, and now she had her answer to that, too. Maybe it was the lingering effects of the alcohol in her system, but she felt detached, as if viewing a stranger. One who was still very much bound and gagged and terrified, if his panicked expression was any indication.

“You couldn’t have invited him to tea?” Georgie said.

“I didn’t intend to make contact with him at all. I wanted to track him down and check him out, make sure he was okay.But then I began digging and, well,” he reached forward and unbound the gag around Siggy’s mouth. “You tell her.”

“Help,” Siggy screamed, struggling fiercely against the restraints on his arms and legs as he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Burke motioned around the attic space. “It’s sound-proof.”

“You sound proofed it, even though I can’t hear you?” Georgie asked.

“Sometimes I work at night; I didn’t want to bother the guests. Also, stuff like this might occasionally pop up.” He motioned toward Siggy who had started to cry gently.

“Smart,” Georgie said.

“Always thinking ahead,” Burke agreed. He tapped Siggy with his toe. “Tell her. And look at her when you talk. Also, the weeping makes it hard for her to understand you. Stop it.”

Siggy stopped crying and sniffled pathetically a few times, trying to pull himself together. He didn’t want to talk, that much was obvious, but a glance at Burke’s resolute face convinced him otherwise. “I met you on purpose, I planned it,” he finally confessed.

Georgie was shocked. “Me? Why? What could you hope to gain from me? I have no money.”

“What did he tell you he did for a living?” Burke asked.

“He owns a book store,” Georgie said.

Burke toed Siggy, who sighed. “That’s partly true, I sell books. But I also sell other antiques. I saw a video of your inn online, and I noticed something in the background.”

Georgie searched her mind for anything valuable and came up blank. “What?”

“This,” Burke said, holding aloft a mini globe.

“You wanted my globe?” Georgie asked.

“It’s a pocket globe from the mid-nineteenth century. If you open it, it contains an accordion fold illustration of famousastronomers and explorers. A guy I know collects them. I told him about this one, and he went crazy for it, practically began salivating for it and offered me a finder’s fee. I told him I’d get it.” He swallowed hard and broke eye contact, glancing at the ground.

“You did all that, tracked me down and met me online, talked to me for months, just for a globe?”

Siggy looked up. “In the beginning, yes. But I liked talking to you, Georgie. I liked you. I felt really conflicted, that was why I didn’t make a move for so long. But then you sort of went radio silent for a while, and I thought it was over.”

“Tell her what you did,” Burke commanded.

Siggy sighed again, cheeks flushed with shame. “I hired a guy, a thief, to break in to the inn and try to steal it, but he wasn’t supposed to touch you, I swear. It was supposed to be an in-and-out job.”

Georgie remembered the man she saw, how terrified she’d been, and shuddered. She blinked furiously, assimilating the new information. If not for Burke, he might have hurt her, could have killed her. And for what? “How much is it worth?”

“About fifteen thousand dollars. He’s going to give me five.”

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