Perhaps Deidre had, as Emily warned, been keeping an eye on the security footage. We all heard the click click click of her heels coming toward us. Des made for the door, her gold earrings clattering as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Clara stepped toward me, crooked a finger, and beckoned me to lean forward. She cupped her hand around my ear, her breath warm on my earlobe as she whispered, “You’ve suffered a reversal in fortune. You’ve been through a tremendous amount of pain. You’re lost, and you like having plans, knowing your way. I can help.”

The jolt started in my tailbone, zinged up my spine. I tried to tell myself that it was just a good guess, that everyone could look at their lives and point to loss or pain. She could have said the same thing to Emily, who would have found her own truth in the—what? Prophecy? Even supplying that word in my head made me feel foolish. But what she had said seemed personal. I felt pulled between naïveté and skepticism—an arrow shot in two directions at once.

She backed away and the corners of her mouth tugged up into a smile. “Come to the shop and we can talk some more. The address is on the card. Boardwalk and Baltic.” She turned away just as Deidre rounded the partition of frosted glass. Her mouth hardened when she saw Clara skipping away and Des slipping through the door. From the other side of the glass, Des blew Deidre a kiss and leaned over to exaggerate her cleavage. It took all my effort not to smirk.

Deidre made a sound of displeasure, cleared her throat. “Emily, I take it you’ve let Lily know about those two? Shrinkage has been quite high in this location in particular, and I would guess that they account for approximately half of it.”

“I have,” Emily said. “I don’t think they managed to make off with anything this time. I kept my eyes on them. It helps to have two of us up here.”

“Good. Lily, why don’t you come with me to my office and we can review the manual and go over any questions you have regarding what you’ve learned so far.”

“Sure,” I said. My voice came out quiet, faint. I was surprised to feel a tear leak from my eye, and I hurried to wipe it away before Deidre could see. It was only then that I noticed that something felt different, lighter, and I pulled at the sleeve of my blazer to confirm it.

My bracelet was gone. Clara and Desmina were even better thieves than Emily gave them credit for.