Steamy Sisters (13 page)

Jack showed them through to the main lounge where a large stone fireplace - unlit - dominated one wall, and floor to ceiling windows gave stunning views across the mountains from the opposite side of the room.

They sat on a large blue sofa set and Jack poured them each a glass of wine.

Jack eyed Jake curiously. “We haven’t met,” he said, offering his hand.

“Jake. I’m Emily’s boyfriend.” The two shook hands.

Jack looked a little disappointed. “Emily’s boyfriend, huh…well nice to meet you Jake. Jack Keate.”

Jake nodded, and took a drink of his wine.

“Guess you’d like to see the paintings, then?” said Jack.

“That would be nice,” said Emily.

Jack led them over to another wall of the lounge and pointed out the large painting that was hanging on it. “This is one of them.”

 
“The Charles Marion Russell?” said Emily, her eyes lit up.

“That’s right,” said Jack Keate.

“How long have you had it?”

“A few years now.”

“I’ve not seen this one before. Not in a book or anything. Where did you buy it?”

“From a private collector.”

“Anyone I know?”

“He wants to remain anonymous.”

“Wow. I had no idea that these were still available. The big dealers and the museums have got most of them. How did you track it down?”

“I’ve got my contacts,” said Jack, looking a bit too pleased with himself. “Why? Do you want to buy it?”

“It’s well out of my league. Must be worth a million at least.”

“How about your father?”

“He doesn’t really collect. He bought his years ago. He bought it because he liked it,” said Emily. “Of course, the market back then was nothing like it is today.”

“What do you think, Jake?” asked Jack.

Jake was examining it closely. “Looks like a fake.”

“Jake!” said Emily. “What are you saying?”

Jack Keate looked nervous “No. Go on, Jake. Say what you’ve got to say.”

“I don’t know for sure. It’s more of a feeling.”

“So you know about these things do you?” asked Jack.

“Not really,” replied Jake. “But I’m an artist.”

“An artist,” repeated Jack. “Are you an expert on this type of art?”

“Not at all. My stuff is way different.”

“Well I can assure you that it’s been authenticated by the top experts. There’s no doubt as to its authenticity.”

“Yeah. I guess it must be then,” said Jake. “I was just thinking aloud. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Jack shot Jake an evil stare, and quickly ushered them all on to the next painting.

They spent several hours looking at Jack’s collection, discussing art, and drinking wine, before sitting back down on the sofa.

“You’re staying the night, of course?” said Jack.

“Well we don’t want to impose…” said Emily.

“No worries,” said Jack. “There’s plenty of spare rooms and, besides, you’re in no state to drive.”

Jake looked at his empty wine glass and nodded “He’s right. We’ll end up in a cell for the night if we drive back.”

Jack grinned. “I’ll get some more wine, and maybe fix us some food.”

“I can give you a hand if you want,” said Katarina, following Jack to the kitchen.

“That’d be great,” said Jack.

Emily rolled her eyes and looked at Jake. “What was all that stuff about his paintings being fakes?”

“I just wanted to wind the guy up. He was a bit full of himself,” said Jake. “And I don’t think he was too happy to see me here. It’s obvious why he wanted you and Katarina to come up for the weekend. He hasn’t stopped leering at the both of you since we got here.”

“What? So you were jealous?”

“A bit. But the guy’s a jerk. No wonder he fucked up his career with drugs, or whatever it was.”

“He is a bit sleazy isn’t he. Good looking, but sleazy.”

“Katarina seems to like him.”

“She’s just looking for a rich husband.”

“I thought she was a lesbian.”

“She’s bi.”

“But you two have been having a bit of fun together.”

“Occasionally.”

“She’s a looker. Bit of a frosty personality, though”

“She warms up real quick.”

“What’s she like?”

“In bed?”

“Yeah?”

“She knows how to please a girl. But it’s not love if that’s what you’re thinking. Jealous?”

“Madly. But I can live with you having fun with girls. Just please don’t ever get it on with some guy. Especially a creep like Keate.”

Emily laughed, “You’re becoming protective all of a sudden. And a bit more conservative in your old age.”

“Nothing to do with ethics. I’m just in love with you.”

Emily’s face lit up, and she snuggled herself up tight against Jake. “Thank you. I love you too, honey.”
 

“Yeah, well, I’ve been doing some thinking recently.”

“And…?”

“Maybe we should be spending more time together, you know? Perhaps, I’ll move up to Steamy Springs for a while. Maybe spend half of the year here. Half back home. How about it?”

“Sounds okay. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

“Yeah okay. Let’s just get tonight over with. It’s going to be an ordeal.”

“I hope not.”

Jack Keate and Katarina came back to the lounge bringing more wine and some snacks they had rustled up in the kitchen.
 

“I’ve got another collection I’d like you to take a look at,” said Jack, stuffing some potato chips into his mouth.

“More paintings?” said Emily.

“Not paintings,” replied Jack.

“Don’t tell me your knowledge stretches to sculpture, as well?” said Jake, sarcastically.

“It’s not traditional art,” said Jack. “Although I consider it an art form, in it’s own way. Come with me.”
 

They followed him out of the room and down the passageway, up a small staircase, until they came to one of the bedrooms.
 

Jack threw open the doors of a large fitted closet, and stood next to it like a stage magician doing a trick “Ta da!”

The closet was full of the largest collection of sex toys any of them had ever seen. Row upon row of dildos, vibrators, beads, exotic clothing, dolls, you name it.

“One of the world’s finest collections,” said Jack “How about we all try it out?”

Emily spluttered into her wine glass. “I don’t think so, Jack.”

“No way, man,” said Jake. “It’s not gonna happen.”

Jack looked crestfallen. “You sure?”

“We’re sure.” Said Emily and Jake in unison.

“How about you Katarina?”

“I don’t know. It might be fun.”

“Good girl,” said Jack. “One on board. Sure I can’t tempt you two?”

“Quite sure,” said Emily. “You two have a good time. We’ll retire to our room and watch TV for the evening. Won’t we, Jake?”

Jake nodded, still stunned that Jack had even suggested it.
 

“Okay. You don’t know what you’re missing,” said Jack. “I’ll show you your room.”

He led them to a bedroom on the first floor, picking their bags up on the way.

“I’ll see you two in the morning, then,” said Jack. “If you change your mind, you know where we are.”

“We’ll be fine,” said Emily. “And don’t worry, we won’t be disturbing you.”

Emily closed the door as Jack walked back to his sex toy collection and the willing Katarina.

“Can you believe that guy?” said Emily. “I thought
we
were liberal about these things.”

“As I said, he’s a sleazeball,” said Jake.

“I hope Katarina’s going to be okay. Some of those dildos looked awful big,” said Emily.

“You think so?” said Jake. “I got the impression that it’s not going to be her who’s on the receiving end of them.”

Chapter Six

Emily and Jake got up early the next day, and since the other two still appeared to be in bed they made themselves some coffee. It was just about the only thing that Keate had in the kitchen. He was obviously a guy who didn’t like cooking, and ate out a lot.
 

They were keen to leave and get back to Steamy Springs, but they didn’t really want to leave without Katarina, or without at least saying goodbye. But who knew what time they would finally surface.

Jake switched on the TV and turned the volume up, hoping it would be a signal to Keate that his two other guests were up and ready to go.

At last, they heard someone stirring upstairs, and five minutes later they appeared looking bleary eyed.

“You two are up early,” said Jack.
 

“Yeah, we dropped off to sleep quickly last night. Must have been all the wine,” said Emily. “How about you two?”

“We were up a lot of the night,” said Jack, a smile on his face. “Weren’t we, Kat?”

She nodded sheepishly.

“Well we’re ready to go,” said Jake. “Gotta get back to take care of some things.”

“Leaving already?” said Jack. “Stay a bit longer.”

“We’d love to but we can’t. I’ve got some work to do,” said Emily. “Do you want to get dressed quick Kat?”

“Uh, actually, Emily. I was wondering if maybe I could have a few days off work. Jack’s invited me to stay for a bit longer. And the exhibition is nearly over, so it’s not very busy.”

“Sure. Why not, if that’s what you want to do. Can you get back okay?”

“I’ll bring her back on Wednesday,” said Jack.

“Okay then, we’ll be off,” said Emily, and her and Jake picked up their things and headed for the door.
 

Jack opened it for them and they waved goodbye.

“See you Wednesday, Kat.”

“Okay. See you then,” Katarina replied.

They walked over to the SUV, got in, and headed back home.

“I can’t believe she’s staying with him,” said Emily.

“Must have been hell of a night.”

“She’ll be okay, don’t you think?”

“I think she can look after herself, that one.”

They arrived in Steamy Springs around late morning and immediately went to Emily’s house to take a shower and freshen up. After a change of clothes, they took a walk into town to get some lunch.

“I think I’ll just drop by the Gallery for half an hour,” said Emily. “I need to pick up some work to do at home.”

“Sure. I’ll be interested to see this big exhibition you’ve been talking about for the last two months.”

“You’ll love it. There are some great pieces.”

They walked off the street and into the mall, and one of the other shopkeepers who ran a jewelry design business ran over to them.
 

“Hey, Sarah. What’s up?” said Emily.

“You’ve been burgled, honey,” said the jewelry shop owner.
 

“What!” said Emily, feeling like she’d just been punched in the stomach. She looked up and across the courtyard to her gallery where the front door was open, and the security grilles had been removed.

“Oh my God! What happened?”

“Shit!” said Jake.

“The alarm went off during the night, apparently. Eventually one of the Patrol Officer’s from the Sheriff’s Department came down to take a look. There was a detective down here earlier, asking questions. One of them’s still inside. I tried to get hold of you at home but there was no answer,” said the shop owner.

Emily ran over to the Gallery and went inside. One of the Sheriff’s men was sitting behind the desk talking on his cellphone. There was glass on the floor near the door, where it must have been bashed in, but other than that, there wasn’t much mess.
 

Emily examined all of the walls to see what was missing. The Charles Marion Russell painting had gone, as had three or four smaller ones. That was it. She couldn’t really think straight, though. She was in a panic.
 

The Patrol Officer came over. “You the owner, ma’am?”

“Yes. She’s the owner,” said Jake.

He looked at Jake. “And you are?”

“I’m her boyfriend,” he replied. “Look we were out of town overnight. We’ve just got back. What’s been happening.”

“Someone reported an alarm in the night. We came down to have a look. Seems you’ve been burgled. At the moment, I can’t really tell you much else. But one of the detectives will be here again soon. You okay to talk to him?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Good. I’ll stay until he arrives.”

The detective showed up about twenty minutes later, and Emily and Jake repeated what they’d told the Patrol Officer.

“You seen anything suspicious the last few days? Anyone look like they might be casing the joint?”

“There was someone,” said Emily, suddenly remembering. “There was a guy in here earlier in the week. Looking at one of the paintings that was stolen.”

“What did he look like?”

“Dressed in a dark suit. Short hair. Sunglasses. And he was outside on the street on Thursday, I think. He was leaning against a car, smoking a cigarette.”

“You know what car it was?”

“A blue one.”

“Manufacturer, license plate?”

“Don’t know, sorry. I didn’t pay that much attention to the car.”

“You seen him around before this week.”

“Never.”

“Not a local, then.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen him before. But there’s so many tourists in town, it’s difficult to know who’s a resident and who’s just visiting.”

The detective nodded. “That’s the problem in a resort town. Criminals will take advantage of that. Hit a few shops, then move on to the next town.”

“Do you think you’ll catch them?”

“We might get lucky. We’ll see if there’s any video footage anywhere. Any of your neighbours here got security cameras?”

“A few I think.”

“Can you make an inventory of everything that’s missing.”

“I think so. It’s just paintings I think.”

“They valuable?”

“One of them is. Very valuable. The others are so-so.”

“How much we talking?”

“If it was to sell at auction. I
 
don’t know. Maybe a million dollars.”

“A million dollars. That’s some painting,” said the detective, raising his eyebrows. “You insured?”

“Yeah. I’m insured.”

“You better call them. They’ll have questions to ask you as well.”

“I don’t doubt it.,” said Emily, a tear rolling down over her cheek.