“Oh wow! I can’t believe this place.” I tugged at Harve’s arm. “Look over there!” I pointed to a large statue of a woman decorated in multiple jewels. “Even from a distance, the pieces look amazing! We have to see everything!”

Harve and I had come to a special one day only estate sale at the Nashville King Hotel. There were tons of customers milling around, looking at the beautiful pieces on display.

Harve laughed. “Take it easy, baby. We have plenty of time and it looks like there’s plenty to buy here. Plenty for everyone.”

“Ok,” I smiled. “Oooh…those are gorgeous.” I looked closer at a display case in front of me. At least two dozen vintage rings twinkled back. This was just the first vendor we’d passed. There were a ton of vendors here. Deciding what to buy for Courtland’s Gems was going to be very tough, but I knew I would have to make educated decisions quickly. If I didn’t, someone else might swoop in and snap them up before me. I couldn’t wait to see what all of the vendors had to offer!

After Harve made the decision to leave Eldon’s and join me at Courtland’s, we had decided to take Courtland’s in a different direction. We knew the store could not compete with mass market retailers who were able to purchase and sell jewelry for far less than we could. Harve also recognized how much we both loved the older pieces. It was great to see a unique piece and know it had history that dated back years. So, we’d decided to focus Courtland’s on offering one of-a-kind, unique vintage pieces, instead of trying to compete price-wise with the big box jewelry stores. We also planned to expand Courtland’s business and sell at online auctions, as well as offer pieces on Courtland’s website to be shipped internationally. Customers could come in the store or they could browse the most recent arrivals on the internet. I bent down to see some of the pieces on a lower case. As I peered closer, someone jostled into me.

“Whoa, sorry, I didn’t see you,” a shrill female voice said.

My jaw dropped as I stood up. Dangling from her neck was a vintage blue glass and marcasite necklace. It was either the one that had been stolen from my store, or an exact replica. Then I realized the woman wearing it was Cheryl Collins, one of the soccer moms.

“Sam—hi—so cool to see you here! Don’t you just love this place? They have the coolest jewelry. Sorry I rammed into you like that. I…”

“Where did you get that necklace?”

“Isn’t it gorgeous? I love the shade of blue and I…”

“Yes, yes it’s very pretty…but, where did you get it?”

“Over there,” she pointed to a booth a short distance away.

“Ok, talk to you later,” I replied quickly. As Cheryl stared after me, I grabbed Harve’s arm and pulled him in the direction of the booth she had pointed towards.

“What’s going on, Sam?” Harve asked. “What’s the hurry?”

“That necklace Cheryl was wearing…I’m almost one hundred percent certain that it’s one of the pieces that was stolen from my store. She said she bought it from that booth.”

Harve followed my gaze to where a small crowd of people were standing around a young, twenty-something year old woman who was holding up a multi-strand glass bead necklace.

“That’s also from my shop,” I hissed.  Still holding Harve’s arm, I pushed my way past the small throng of onlookers. Displayed in front of the woman were a number of pieces of beautiful jewelry. I gasped as I realized all of them had been stolen from my shop.

“Where did you get these?” I demanded.

The woman’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “I…I…don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“They’re not mine. I’m…I’m just helping my Uncle out.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Yes, he, um…he said he needed a smoke break. He went out there.” She pointed in the direction of one of the exits.

“Thanks,” I nodded. “Come on, Harve.” I started walking briskly towards the exit, but before we got to the door, it swung open. My mouth fell open as a man entered. I felt frozen to the spot and could hardly believe my eyes.

“Do you know him?” Harve asked.

“That’s Will Allen!”

He shook his head. “Will Allen?”

“Yes, you never met him. He was Courtland’s security guard…well, former security guard. I had to let him go. I just couldn’t afford to keep him any longer. That bastard—how dare he steal from me?”

Suddenly, Will spotted me. He turned, running back towards the exit, but not before I saw sheer panic register on his face. He’d been caught and he knew it.

“He’s getting away, Harve!” I yelled.

We rushed towards the exit, but as we pushed open the heavy door to the outside entrance I didn’t see him. Suddenly, I heard the sound of tires crunching against gravel and a flashy red car roared past us. I could see Will hunched over, clutching the steering wheel for dear life.

“He’s getting away!”

“Like hell he is!” Harve shouted. I’d seen Harve transition before, but never as fast as he did this time. In seconds he’d stripped down, transitioned into his lion, and taken off after the car. I barely had time to think as his powerful, furry body rushed past me towards the speeding vehicle.

“Stop, Harve! Stop! You’ll get hurt!” I shouted. But he’d already run ahead of me and I wasn’t sure he’d heard. I knew how strong and fast Harve was, but what would happen if he caught up to the car—Will might try to run him over! My stomach flopped and started to churn. I couldn’t let anything happen to Harve!

The sound of breaking glass echoed in the air. I quickly ran towards the noise. The sight of Harve running near his car must have unnerved Will, because he’d just slammed the convertible into part of the gate that surrounded the hotel.

“Harve, are you ok?” I shouted.

“Roaarrrrrrr” he rumbled.

As I hurried towards Harve, his massive furry body edged towards the vehicle. He pulled Will out of the convertible’s broken window by his teeth, dragging him outside of the car.

Thank God! Harve was ok.

“You…you …fucking animal, you made me wreck my car!” Will screeched at Harve.

I glanced at the car. It was a mess. And since when did Will drive a flashy car like that anyway? The last time I’d seen him he’d been driving an older station wagon…then it clicked. I was willing to bet he’d bought it with the money he got from selling other pieces of my stolen jewelry. What a creep! And now he was trying to blame Harve for wrecking a car that wasn’t rightfully his to begin with!

“Wrecked your car? He saved your life!” I screamed.

Harve, panting heavily, circled Will.

“What the hell is going on, Will?” I demanded.

“You bitch!” Will shouted as he grabbed his leg. His pants were torn and blood gushed from an open wound. “Ugh! Get that…that—thing away from me!” he cried out, thrusting his head in the direction of Harve.

The anger inside me was uncontrollable. That was my man, my lion man he was talking about. And this loser had stolen from me! “How dare you!” I yelled. “You stole jewelry from my store—a store you’d been hired to guard. This man you call a thing is my boyfriend, and he’s just trying to protect me—and stop you from getting away with what you did! How could you? After all the years you and I worked together? How could you turn your back on me like that?”

Will gritted his teeth, shooting me angry looks as he held onto his bleeding leg. “You fired me. After almost six years of service to you and Courtland’s Gems—you miserable bitch! You knew I needed the money.”

I inhaled deeply, trying to remain calm. I knew Will had been upset when I’d had to let him go, and I’d felt guilty about it. But I didn’t have much choice. I’d been honest with him and explained that the business had been struggling and I just couldn’t afford to keep him on. I told him I was more than happy to provide a reference to help him get another job. I’d even called my friend Tammy, who was in the Human Resources department at the biggest department store in town, Duncan’s. She’d been looking for new security personnel. Last I’d heard, she’d brought him in for an interview and he’d been hired.

“Will, I didn’t want to let you go, but I saw no other option at the time,” I shook my head. “Plus, I thought Tammy had hired you to work at Duncan’s? As big as they are, I’m sure they pay more than what I was able to pay you at Courtland’s.”

“Duncan’s?” Will spat. “Oh, Duncan’s. Yeah, they hired me all right—but then I quit!”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work out, Will,” I said icily, “but that doesn’t give you the right to steal from me.”

Will’s eyes darted from one side to the other. “…yeah…yeah, well, whatever. I’m getting the fuck out of here. You’ll have to prove I stole your shit, but first you’ll have to find me.” He struggled to get up, but Harve let out a huge roar, putting his face right up to Will’s.

Will looked startled, but kept his cool. “You can’t do anything to me!” he laughed maniacally. “If you do, they’ll just throw you in jail!”

Harve shot Will a steely glare; his fur bristling. His eyes were so menacing, and his body so tense, he looked like he was ready to pounce and rip Will to shreds!