by Knight, JJ
Elliott shakes his head. "This is one screwed-up plan you have. So we have to pull off the job while you are trying to pull one over on this girl?”
"Something like that." I smack him on the back. "That's what makes it fun. Otherwise, it would be a dreadful smash and grab.”
Elliott groans. "Why am I positive that I'm going to regret agreeing to do this with you?”
"Because you always do, my friend. Remember Sicily?”
“How could I ever forget Sicily? Half a mil in loose gems down a drainpipe. We made the sewers rich.”
“But you got the girl,” I say.
“For a little while.”
When we reach the van, the girls are already inside. I nod at the driver. Elliott and Elena have already claimed the swivel seats behind them, but that is fine. I shall take to the rear with Jade.
I pick up my wine, no longer chilled, and dump its contents into the bin at the base of the cabinet. I retrieve the bottle from the fridge and pour a fresh glass.
I lift the bottle quizzically to Elliott, and he shakes his head no. The other girl looks elsewhere. She seems distracted, perhaps contemplative about what has conspired in the woods.
This is no business for lovers, that’s for sure. Jade seems content with her warmed over glass. Pity. These are the finer points of living.
The van glides forward, and I consider my next move.
I watch Jade over my glass. She has a nervous tick she should learn to control, her ankle swinging back and forth. Our eyes meet, and hers dart away immediately. She wonders about my game. I suppose she thinks I will kill her. Of course not. That is not my trade. The Den has assassins for that, and whatever we can’t do or prefer not to handle, we contract out with the Vigilantes.
But only the senior members of the Den are aware of that organization. This girl would not know Jax or any of the men and women who fight those causes. They do not approve of us, of course, all wanting their version of justice. But we sometimes find ourselves on the same side of hero versus villain.
I tap my phone and instruct the driver to go ahead and catch up with the armored truck. I might exercise the option to finish the job and take the girl. Or take the girl without the job. Whatever throws her the most off balance, I will do.
“Where did our guard go?” Elena asks.
“He’s following in my car,” I say.
The van subtly increases speed. The tech is not quite Vigilante level but includes your basic scrambling of radar interception by law enforcement.
I watch Jade. Her eyes are lovely and deep. Her makeup is almost a caricature today. Japanese anime perhaps. I don't dislike it, but I vastly prefer her look from the other night. Except maybe the hair. Blond suits her. Long or short, it does not matter to me.
After about twenty minutes, our mark arrives in the field of vision outside the window. Standard armored truck, brown and silver, hugging the inside lane.
"Is it me, or is that truck driving faster than company standards?" Elliott asks.
"It is," I say. “He might be behind schedule.”
“I show him as half an hour ahead,” Elliott says.
“Perhaps he has some reason for his defiance of the rules."
Elliott taps his nose. "If I were a betting man, I would say he's trying to get ahead so that he can make a stop along the route.”
Elena's head pops up. "Do you think he's in on another job?"
"It's always possible,” I say. "This seemed like a minor haul, but it wouldn't be the first time that someone has hidden the most valuable contents of an exhibit to either avoid tempting people like us or because they intend to hit it themselves." I turn to Elliott. "What was the quality of the information you procured about this particular shipment?"
“Average," he says, lifting his eyebrows meaningfully. “Perhaps embellished."
Of course. The Fife tiara is a lie. It was removed from the Kensington Collection last week for a minor repair. But it is most definitely not in an armored truck en route to Seattle. According to the insurance taken out on this collection, the entire value of the truck is less than one million.
We only included the Fife tiara in the presentation to draw out Jade. But what if we unintentionally drove up the value of a job? Maybe there was a leak in the Den and someone else decided to go for the tiara, even though it isn't there.
"Let's speed up this operation," I say. "Or else we call it off."
"No!" Jade cries. "That tiara is the only reason I'm here!"
I raise an eyebrow at her outburst, and she squirms in her seat. "It's not worth the risk without it," she adds.
"Have you thought this one through, boss?" Elliott asks. I know he means that at some point, if we run the job, Jade will realize we've lied about the Fife tiara.
"Of course I have," I say. "I think everything through."
I do not care whatsoever if Jade is upset about the absence of her treasured tiara. My endgame has nothing to do with the contents of that truck. It's only about the swords.
16
Jade
I’m so angry at Jacob Holt I could spit in his eye.
“If we’re not going after the payoff,” I say evenly, “then let me out of this van.”
Jacob takes me in with a penetrating gaze. “Our target has strayed from the plan. A pattern has been disrupted. It is the mark of a quality thief whether or not he," and he emphasizes he to clearly indicate that he discounts the women on the job, “is man enough to adjust to the circumstances and pull it off anyway."
Elliott turns in his chair. "Jacob, nobody’s challenging you. If the job is going rogue, we’ll make a calculated decision about what has changed and whether it is still worth the risk.”
"The job was always worth the risk," he says darkly. "The question is whether everyone here can still take the risk.”
Elliott shakes his head. "All right, fine. The plan was always to intercept the truck when they change drivers. Unless he's going to offload the critical elements of the payload prior to that first changing of the guard, there's no reason why we don't wait for that."
Jacob watches his phone. “Eighty, eighty-five, ninety." He shakes his head. "He's taking huge risks with the way he's driving. Either that armored truck has extra tech on it to evade police, or —”
I butt in. “Or getting pulled over is the least of his worries.”
Elliott pulls a large tablet from a pocket near his seat. He fires it up, the screen lighting his face.
"Identifying his new objective?" Jacob asked.
Elliott nods. "We’re headed to a small town. A few houses on the route. No targets there. No banks, no jewelers. He has to be offloading.”
“What makes you think he’s doing anything?” Elena asks. “Maybe he has to pee.”
“You don’t risk losing your commercial license over a piss,” Jacob says.
I realize I've looked over at him again, and he meets my gaze. “Maybe it’s simply a good old-fashioned romance,” he says. “He wants to meet up with a girl en route.” He lifts his glass to me, and I look away.
But now Elena is watching us. She gets my attention, then runs her eyes back and forth between me and Jacob. She turns her phone back on.
I receive her text.
You said you slept with him. Is he in love with you? Did you blow him off?
I pause, looking down at my phone, but also at Jacob to make sure he is not decoding my text from my finger movements. This is an area of specialty, and he might be trained.
I type and backtrack multiple times.
No. He's just an ass.
When I look up, Jacob is smirking. I knew it. I wonder if he is able to see any communications that are made in this van. It's possible.
I peer out the window. "We can't keep following him at this speed without him noticing.”
“I’ll have the guard tail him in my car,” Jacob says. “We can back off."
Elliott nods. “You think he's running scared from us? Or just running scared?”
�
�There is no telling what he’s gotten into. A double cross or a treacherous love affair.” He glances around the van, resting on my face for a moment. “We have to agree that this job just got interesting."
This job has been more interesting than I wanted from the moment he arrived. I glance over at Elena. She has concern all across her face. I get it. I feel it too. And she doesn't even know the half of it. She may be the only one in the van who doesn't know that I took the swords from Jacob.
No doubt Jacob let his friend in on it, and possibly Elliott is charming Elena just to help keep her away from me as necessary.
Dammit. She might not see it. She might be putting her heart on the line for that scoundrel.
The tiara is not worth this. I'm not getting Elena hurt over my mistake.
I should've laid low longer. Not involved anyone else.
The van slows down, blending back into traffic. We turn off the highway for a bit, taking a secondary route, I suppose.
After a few minutes, Elliott asks, “What's the news from your other car? Did he calm down when we backed off?"
“No," Jacob says. “He’s still hurtling toward a destination."
“What are we going to do?" Elena asks.
Jacob drops his phone in his pocket. “We are going to watch and wait. Let's say there is someone else trying to pull a job," he says. “Who's to say we don't let them do the dirty work, and we take it right from them? It's a thing that is done fairly often."
He stares at me meaningfully.
“Are you gonna start a blood war with another theft ring over something this small?" I ask.
He doesn't take his eyes off me. It's like we’re the only two people in the van. “Who's to say that it is small? Maybe it’s bigger than anyone realized."
I break his gaze. Perhaps he doesn't know that I have looked up the swords and know the value. We’re not talking straight about this issue. Maybe it's time.
"Jacob," I say, “I know the swords are worth one hundred and forty million."
Elena gasps and Elliott smacks his hand to his head. But Jacob keeps his gaze directly on me.
“I assume that’s why you took them.”
“No,” I say. “I took them because you’re an asshole to all the women of the Den. Someone needed to set you straight."
“Interesting tactic, posing as a call girl,” he says. His face is menacing now, no longer a placid mask. “So you were willing to trade your body for the heist?"
“I was. Some of us are willing to do anything for the job. We don’t quit when it gets hard. Or when our dick does.”
His expression is murderous. I risk a glance over at Elena. Her mouth is open. I hope she doesn’t hate me for not telling her about the swords. She’s just now realizing she may be in over her head. Elliott appears somewhat amused, waiting for this to play out.
Jacob’s voice is like thunder. “Where are the swords, Jade?"
I cross my arms over my chest and refuse to answer.
“How hardball do you want to play this?” he asks. His eyes glitter. “How hardball do I need to go?”
“So we’re back to how hard you are?”
Elliott strangles on a laugh.
The van falls silent for several long moments.
Then, from the front. “Boss, you should know that we've got a bogey at five o'clock. Stuck to us at ninety, and still sticking to us at sixty-five."
Jacob turns to look out the window. A sleek black Mercedes limo drives alongside us. It’s not trying to be subtle. There's no one in front of it or to the side.
Elliott moves toward the window. “Who the hell is that? The windows are all blacked out.”
Jacob turns back around. “We have a supervisor," he says. His voice drops with derision. “He thinks I aim to cut him out of his deal."
“Antony?" Elliott asks. “Why would he have any interest in this pissant job?"
Jacob turns his phone over and over in his hands. “I have a deal with him currently.”
Elena finally speaks up. “Is anyone going to fill me in on what this is all about? I thought we had a grab-and-go with an armored truck, and now we have the head of the Den tailing us and a rogue driver moving like a bat out of hell. And what the fuck is going on between you two?" She turns to Elliott. “And why did you get me naked in the trees just to take off?”
No one answers any of that. Elliott’s face is grim. Jacob maintains his neutral expression.
She's my friend. I should explain at least my part of it.
“I stole something of Jacob’s a week ago," I say. “He's trying to get it back."
“What the hell did you take?” Elena asks.
“Swords,” I say. “Actually, the hilts of some swords. They’re really old."
Jacob snorts. “They’re really old," he mimics. “Enough of the buying public believes that they are swords from King Arthur's Round Table that it has to be taken seriously."
“Do you really believe that?" I ask.
“I will believe that aliens control the White House if it gets me one hundred forty million,” he says.
“Are you going to call Antony or just let him drive alongside us like a college road trip?” I ask.
“Yes, I’ll call,” Jacob says.
The driver looks back. "You want me to catch back up to the armored truck?"
"Yes," Jacob instructs him. “Might as well."
His eyes hold mine as he dials Antony's number. He waits, listening, then abruptly kills the call.
"Not answering?" Elliott asked.
"Apparently not."
"What does that mean?" Elena asks. "I came on this job to get some crappy Egyptian gold and hang out with this hottie here. I do not want to be on the bad side of Antony."
Elliott grins at her. "So now you think I’m a hottie?"
She glares at him. “I’m not talking to you right now.”
Elliott leans forward, still grinning, bracing his elbows on his knees. "Should we call off the job?" he asks. “I can just take Elena here on a date instead.”
“As if!” she cries.
"This is my first crack at that tiara!” I say. If I am already stuck with this boorish man, I at least want the Fife tiara out of it.
Elena bangs her fist on her armrest. "Stop it with your dang tiaras! They are what got us into this whole mess."
I want to shout out my real goal, but that isn’t going to get me anywhere. So I shut my mouth.
“We will go along as if nothing has changed for now," Jacob says. "I don't see what dropping out of the chase will do for us. We don't have to engage, ultimately."
I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Even if you all drop out of the job, I'm staying in."
Jacob’s eyebrows lift. “You can't pull it off alone."
“Watch me,” I say.
Elliot waves to get my attention. “You know, all this was before we knew Antony was involved. And pissing off Jacob’s calls.”
"I don't care," I say. “I don't even have dealings with that man. He can't be here because of me." But even as I say it, my eyes dart to Jacob, as if to confirm that this might be the case.
When nothing about his expression confirms or denies my concern, I ask, “Did you speak to him about our situation?”
"He's the one who gave me your name."
Unlike Elena, I have zero cause to worry if Antony hates me. “If you are so good at your job, why don't you know where I put the swords? And how did I get in your vault in the first place?”
Elena covers her eyes. “Just give him his damn swords back," she says. "All this is happening because of you."
“No, it’s happening because Jacob Holt is a sexist ass working in a misogynistic Den.”
“Enough!” Jacob roars. He snatches up his phone. “Arthur, bring the car,” he hisses into it. Then to the driver, “Pull the hell over. Now.”
“What?” I cry. “After all this? No. This job goes on.”
He stands up in the van. “Without you.”
<
br /> I unbuckle and stand next to him. “The hell it will.”
“Watch me.” He grabs my shoulders and turns me around. Before I can react, he jerks my arms behind me and secures them with something I can’t see.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s time that you and I had a little reckoning.”
The van pulls over. I can barely breathe, I’m so angry. “You can go fuck yourself,” I spit out.
“Such lovely language,” he says, and I sweep my leg to kick his shin.
He doesn’t flinch.
“Let go of her, you big bully!” Elena says. She jumps from her seat to pull at me.
“Time for this job to end,” Elliott says. He takes a small bottle from a pouch attached to his seat. What is it? Chloroform?
“Going real old school, aren’t you?” I hiss.
He tosses the bottle to Jacob. “Hardly. This is advanced stuff. You’ve never seen it.”
“What is it?” Elena asks.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Elliott says smoothly. He puts his arm around her, but she throws it off.
“Antony is not going to be pleased about this,” Elliott says to Jacob.
Elena lunges for me, but Elliott holds her back.
My nose fills with the burn of chemicals, and I sink into oblivion.
17
Jacob
I pace the room, startling every time Jade draws a breath. She's been out longer than I thought she would be. She's going to be pissed as hell. But I don't think her anger can be any greater than mine.
We've been playing a little game across three states, and I'm done with it. When she wakes up, she will tell me what I want to know or she will suffer for it.
I communicate with Elliott to ask about Antony and the condition of Jade's friend.
Elena is angry too, but he has her calm enough that they can ride in the van together.
Antony bugged out when we pulled over. I’m not sure what his game was.
Nobody is doing the heist now. Not that it matters. The contents were of no real interest, and if Antony or some other ring is going after it, let them have it.