Chapter 16 The Alarm Rang
Wasn’t that basically a confession? Tina was getting worked up over nothing. Anne hadn’t even claimed the items were fake.
“Oh, I must have been seeing things!” Anne’s smile faded as she shot Alicia a quick glance. She lifted her chin and walked away with perfect poise.
Alicia was practically vibrating with anticipation, waiting for Anne to make a fool of herself. Her eyes stayed glued to Anne’s back as she headed for the exit. Any second now, the alarms would start blaring… except they didn’t. Anne just walked right out of the jewelry store without looking back.
“What the hell?” Alicia thought. “What’s wrong?”
Alicia had watched Tina slip that diamond ring into Anne’s bag with her own eyes. How did Anne just waltz out like it was nothing?
It didn’t make any sense.
Tina was just as shocked. She’d done the deed herself and had been ready to watch Anne crash and burn. But the security alarm. remained silence. Forget about alerting the whole mall–there wasn’t
even a peep.
“That woman took the ring-” Tina blurted out, but Alicia yanked her back before she could finish, cutting off the rest of
Chapter 16 The Alarm Rang
her sentence.
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Tina suddenly realized what she’d almost done. She had nearly incriminated herself. After all, how could she possibly know Anne had taken the ring?
“Can I help you find anything, miss?” A sales associate approached with a friendly smile. “I’d be happy to recommend some pieces based on your style preferences.”
Tina was fuming. Anne’s stunt had left her absolutely livid. She could barely contain her anger. Sure, the Brooks family might not be at the very top of Celestine’s social ladder, but they still commanded respect. She’d never been humiliated like this before.
Shooting a dirty look at the store clerk, she grabbed Alicia’s arm and pulled her aside, whispering urgently, “I don’t get it, Alicia. I swear I planted it on her myself. Why didn’t the security alarm go off? This makes zero sense!”
Alicia’s face was already clouded with annoyance, and Tina’s words only made it worse. “Are you absolutely sure you didn’t mess up?”
“Come on, Alicia, you watched me do it!” Tina protested,
gripping her friend’s arm tighter. “That witch can’t have gotten far. Let’s follow her. Maybe the alarm only triggers when you leave the mall completely.”
The idea made sense to Alicia. She nodded quickly, and both girls turned to hurry out of the store.
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“Ladies, would you be interested in seeing this piece? It’s quite a collector’s item-“The clerk had pulled out an extravagant necklace from the display case, but Tina and Alicia were already rushing out, not even bothering with a goodbye.
The clerk frowned at their suspicious behavior and turned to put the necklace back. Suddenly, a piercing sound cut through the air–the store’s anti–theft alarm was blaring. The exact alarm that was supposed to go off when someone tried to steal jewelry.
“What’s going on?”
The store clerk hastily locked the necklace back in its display case. She had spotted Tina and Alicia just as they were leaving the same moment the security alarm had gone off. Without hesitation, she rushed to block their exit.
“Excuse me, ladies.” The clerk’s voice had lost all its previous warmth, replaced by an icy professionalism. “I believe you may have taken something that doesn’t belong to you.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied both women with obvious suspicion.
The store had a zero–tolerance policy for theft.
“Please hand over whatever you’ve taken.” The clerk extended her hand while catching her coworker’s eye. Within moments, the entire sales staff had converged around Tina and Alicia, effectively blocking any escape route.
The two women stood frozen in place, completely stunned by the blaring alarm.
Chapter 16 The Alarm Hang
Alicia stared at Tina in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief as security
alarms blared behind them the moment they stepped out of the jewelry store.
Tina looked equally bewildered, furrowing her brows as she exchanged glances with Alicia.
It didn’t make any sense–Anne had walked out without triggering anything, so why had the alarms gone off for them?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tina snapped as a crowd quickly formed around them. Curious shoppers were already gathering to watch the scene unfold.
A store employee stepped forward, her voice stern and authoritative. “Ladies, are you carrying any merchandise from our store? I strongly suggest you hand it over now. Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to call security.”
Another employee was already on the phone with security, reporting the suspected theft and requesting immediate backup.
“Excuse me?” Tina’s voice rose with indignation. “Are you seriously accusing us of stealing? Do you have any idea who I am?”
“If you didn’t take anything, why did our security system go off?” the clerk countered. “Just return whatever you took, and we can handle this quietly. Once security gets here and finds something during their search, things won’t be so simple.”
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“Excuse me? Do you have any idea who I am?” Tina stormed up to the store clerk, her voice rising with indignation.
As the heiress to the Brooks family, she’d never been treated with such disrespect in her life. The very idea that she’d need to steal anything was laughable–she could buy anything she wanted!
The clerk stood their ground. “I don’t care who you are. As an employee of this jewelry store, it’s my job to account for every single piece that leaves this building. The alarm wouldn’t have gone off if someone hadn’t taken something.”
“Well, actually-” Tina said, but caught herself mid–sentence. She’d almost let it slip about Anne taking the ring. But when Anne left earlier, the alarm hadn’t gone off. The fact that it was going off now when they were leaving… it had to be a delayed response from a faulty security system.
“Yes, that must be it,” Tina thought.
“You better look me up,” she sneered, jabbing her finger at the clerk. “My father could buy out your entire inventory without breaking a sweat. You think I’d need to steal your cheap trinkets? What a joke!”
Her voice dripped with contempt as she continued, “I could have your store blacklisted from the entire jewelry industry. You want to accuse me? Please! Your security system is obviously malfunctioning. Someone else probably walked out with something earlier, and now your delayed alarm is going off just as we’re leaving!”
