Risking It All

by Stephanie Harte

  I had to admit I was nervous before my visit to the Diamond Pavilion, but once my adrenaline started pumping, I let the rush take over. I never realised stealing something could be so exciting. I racked my brain to find a logical explanation for why I’d found it so appealing, but there wasn’t one. It wasn’t as if I’d even get to keep the items I’d stolen, so it had to be for the thrill of it. I’d been completely seduced by the experience. It didn’t even feel like I’d committed an offence. I was just working for Alfie, wasn’t I?

  Not knowing much about the personality traits of people who carry out violent crime, I couldn’t be sure whether I fitted the typical profile of an armed robber, but my love of risk-taking and thrill-seeking helped me carry out the job. That was for certain. I’d had no intention of hurting those people, even though I was armed. But I had to admit, I found the fear of getting caught as exciting as winning a high-stakes poker game. Gemma always maintained I was an adrenaline junkie. She was right.

  Even as a small child, I’d liked exciting games. I’d had no interest in doing jigsaws or being a bookworm, and if my mother was to be believed, I’d been a daredevil from the moment I became mobile. Cot diving was an everyday activity for me as soon as I could crawl. Pretty soon, I progressed to tree climbing and sliding down the stairs in a cardboard box. It was the danger element that made it so exhilarating.

  As a result of my mum working long hours, I’d spent a lot of time unattended, which allowed me the freedom to hone the risk-taker within me. I developed a thrill for taking chances and loved to push the boundaries. I wasn’t afraid to take myself out of my comfort zone. I saw it as a challenge. By the time I was a teenager, I was fearless, but my mum often accused me of being rebellious. I preferred to use the word ‘independent’.

  Thanks to the non-existent father figure in my life, I’d become the man of the house at an early age. It was a role I’d acquired by default after he rejected me. When I was a child, I hated the fact that my home life was different to that of my peers, but as I grew up, instead of blaming myself for my father’s absence, I started blaming him. Holding on to the pain, anger, and resentment was toxic and I ended up hating my dad. He’d abandoned me when I was a baby, so I’d had to negotiate life’s hurdles and make my way in the big wide world without him. That was a difficult lesson to learn.

  30

  Gemma

  As soon as Tommy and Nathan arrived back, Knuckles expertly steered the yacht through the calm water of the harbour, and it glided out to open sea.

  Nathan cupped my face in his hands, before kissing me passionately in full view of the others. Feeling self-conscious with all the pairs of eyes watching us, I pulled away, embarrassed by his public display of affection.

  ‘If you can bear to put her down, I’d like to know how the job went,’ Alfie said with a look of distaste on his face.

  ‘It was a piece of cake,’ Nathan bragged, holding up the case.

  ‘Let’s go below deck,’ Alfie replied.

  Nathan emptied out the contents of the bag. The stash of pink and yellow diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies spilt across the large cherry wood table. Alfie picked up the gems and began inspecting them.

  ‘You’ve done well. It takes balls to walk into a museum in broad daylight and walk out with a case full of jewels.’ Alfie slapped Nathan on the back.

  ‘It was easier than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting there to be cameras following my every move and security guards stalking the corridors. But the place was deserted,’ Nathan said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  Even though the museum was open, tourists don’t normally visit that early in the morning, so the security was lax.

  ‘I made my way to the room where a man and woman were setting up the exhibition display. They didn’t take any notice when I walked into the room, so I went up to them, pulled out a gun and told them to fill the bag with the jewels. I left through the emergency exit a few minutes later. I’d gone before anyone had time to raise the alarm.’

  My mouth fell open in shock. The weight of Nathan’s news felt like it was going to crush me. How could he pull a gun on two innocent people? Carrying out an armed robbery was in a completely different league to anything we’d done before. I didn’t want to hear what Nathan had to say. Right now, locking myself in my cabin seemed like a good option, but I stood rooted to the spot. I felt compelled to listen, even though I knew I wasn’t going to like it. I needed to know what had happened.

  Nathan sat on the edge of the table with his arms folded across his chest, telling us about the experience. His revelations made me feel sick. I was disgusted that Alfie had made him do something like that. He’d been put in such a dangerous position. What if something had gone wrong? I stood dumbstruck, letting the reality of the situation wash over me.

  ‘I was surprised how little security there was,’ Nathan said.

  The corners of Alfie’s mouth tilted up in a smile. ‘The temporary exhibitions are always like that. You’d think the organisers would have learnt by now: if they’re going to put high-quality gems and diamonds like these on display, without anyone guarding them, they’re going to attract their fair share of thieves.’

  Alfie seemed keen to share his extensive knowledge of burglary with us. When executed correctly, a robbery only needed to take a matter of minutes. The longer you hung around, the more likely you were to get caught, he informed us. But I couldn’t help noticing that he never seemed to be the one who got his hands dirty. That job was always left to somebody else.

  ‘Is the jewellery insured?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, which is just as well for the exhibition because once the stolen diamonds enter the supply chain, they’ll be virtually impossible to trace.’ Alfie beamed. ‘If they’re very high profile and too recognisable, Terry might have to re-cut the stones into smaller pieces. But then they’ll be sold on, never to be seen again.’

  31

  Gemma

  Alfie had given Nathan and me a glimpse into his very dangerous world. He had us dangling from a thread, and at this stage, there was no escape for us. I hated the idea of being on the run from the police until I was old and grey.

  ‘The exhibition job was a big step for you. I know you’re a risk-taker, but I wasn’t sure you’d be able to do it. I shouldn’t have doubted you. You’re a chip off the old block.’ Alfie congratulated Nathan on his meteoric rise in importance in the firm.

  Nathan stared at Alfie while he contemplated his words.

  ‘Private collectors approach Terry all the time looking for particular pieces. He’s a gifted jeweller, so he provides me with very convincing copies. I steal the original item, give it to Terry, and he sells it to the buyer, job done.’

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hadn’t realised I’d been stealing to order; I thought I’d just been mindlessly shoplifting. I glared at Alfie, then folded my arms across my chest. My disdain was obvious.

  ‘Is something the matter, Gemma?’

  I threw Alfie a look of contempt, and he smiled back at me. ‘You didn’t steal the jewellery, I did!’

  Alfie shrugged his shoulders then dismissed me with a wave of his hand. ‘That’s just a small technicality. The bottom line is, the buyer knows the jewellery’s stolen, but they don’t give a shit.’

  My body stiffened at his remark. I was so angry with him; I could almost feel steam coming out of my ears. I don’t know what pissed me off more, the way Alfie waved his hand at me or his attitude. ‘Of course they don’t give a shit. It isn’t their head on the block; it’s mine.’

  Nathan squeezed the top of my shoulder.

  ‘You really need to learn to relax, Gemma, or you’ll give yourself premature wrinkles.’ Alfie winked.

  I felt my cheeks flush as fury bubbled up inside me. I was tempted to slap him around the face, but he turned his back on me, picked up an exquisite pink diamond ring and held it up to the light.

  ‘Luckily for us, they don’t follow regulations c
losely in Tel Aviv, so I’ll get Terry to try and shift some of this stuff. They never ask questions about the source of the stones, but the price on the black market isn’t always good. If that’s the case, we’ll hold on to the gear. Diamonds make excellent underworld currency,’ Alfie said as a slow smile curved his lips.

  Not wanting to appear like the new kid on the block, Nathan nodded implying he knew exactly what Alfie was talking about, but he didn’t have a clue. He was as puzzled as I was. We didn’t have long to wait before we found out what underworld currency was. Since the crackdown on money laundering, instead of dealing in cash when buying and selling, criminals sometimes used diamonds. They could be transferred from person to person, almost entirely anonymously. It was the easiest way to move large amounts of money around the world because police sniffer dogs weren’t able to detect the smell of diamonds.

  Alfie flashed me another smile as he explained the process in great detail. He should consider writing a beginner’s guide to the principles and practices, I thought. I’m sure Illegal Diamond Trading For Dummies would be hugely successful.

  ‘It’s probably a stupid question, but why do you want to move large amounts of money around?’ Nathan asked, tilting his head to the side.

  ‘You’re right, it is a stupid question. I feel like I’m on fucking Mastermind.’

  ‘Are you going to tell us?’ I asked.

  Alfie flashed me his white smile. ‘You’re a clever girl, Gemma. You should be able to work it out for yourself. Why do you think?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ I replied, locking eyes with Alfie.

  ‘Drug distribution is an expensive business.’ Alfie grinned.

  My mouth fell open, and Alfie’s words bombarded my brain as they swam around my head. I didn’t think things could get any worse, but I was wrong. He’d just confirmed my worst nightmare. We were in so much trouble. A feeling of dread came over me. I was so stressed, I couldn’t think straight. I tried to convince myself to stay calm. But I was on the verge of hysteria as several possible outcomes to our situation started to form in my mind.

  The first was of Nathan and me, locked behind bars with no chance of parole, for the rest of our lives. The next involved us being chased from country to country, pursued by Interpol agents. But the one I didn’t want to consider was having notched up criminal records as long as our arms, we ended up being gunned down and didn’t survive this nightmare. The frightening thing was, that was a real possibility.

  This wasn’t how I’d imagined my future, and with my ever-diminishing fertility window constantly in my thoughts, I was determined it wasn’t going to turn out like this. Not if I had anything to do with it. I’d never been a quitter, so I’d have to devise a strategy to break free. I wasn’t going to let Alfie control us any more.

  We didn’t fit into this brutal environment. We needed to get as far away from Alfie as possible. Otherwise, we would spend the rest of our lives running scared. We must have paid off our debt by now. I hated having to work for Alfie. I was at war with myself over it. What we were doing was against the law, and it was playing on my conscience. I constantly felt guilty about what I’d done.

  *

  ‘I can’t believe you pulled a gun on two innocent people and threatened to shoot them,’ I said when we were alone in our cabin.

  I was genuinely shocked that my husband was capable of behaving like that. Nathan didn’t try to justify why he’d terrorised those people with a weapon. Instead, he stared at me like I was the one with the problem.

  ‘What do you want me to say, Gemma? I didn’t pull the trigger, did I?’ Nathan fumed.

  ‘Sounds like there’s trouble in paradise.’

  When I heard Alfie’s voice, it made me see red. I flung open our cabin door and glared at him. ‘Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to eavesdrop?’

  Alfie stared back at me, as a look of pure delight spread all over his face. ‘I was hardly listening in; the whole yacht can hear your conversation. If you two don’t pipe down, people will hear us coming before we get anywhere near Boulogne.’ Alfie winked a blue eye at me.

  Why were we going to France again? I thought Alfie had said we needed to stay away from there.

  32

  Gemma

  You could cut the atmosphere in the cabin with a knife, so I turned away and looked out the window at the endless blue view as I tried to get my head around the situation. Nathan didn’t like being given the silent treatment, but right now staying quiet was the best thing I could do. He was impossible to talk to when he was in a mood like this, so I’d realised over the years that sometimes my silence was more powerful than any words I could say to him. He knew I was angry with him. I felt he’d gone too far when he’d stolen the exhibition jewels. It scared me to think how easily he’d slipped into the role of an armed robber.

  I’d never seen this side of my husband before, and I didn’t like it. What the hell had got into him? The man I’d married was kind and generous and wouldn’t hurt a fly. I felt an unexpected urge to cry and struggled to hold back my tears. I suddenly realised how isolated I’d become. I no longer had any contact with my family. Nathan and I had spent so many years wrapped up in each other that I’d lost touch with my friends as well. As I stared at the huge expanse of water before me, I’d never felt more alone.

  Nathan meant everything to me, but the nightmare we were trapped in had put us under so much stress, it was driving a wedge between us. I was very aware that if I lost Nathan, I would have nobody left in my life that I truly cared about. The thought of being alone terrified me.

  As a child, I was never deprived of material things. My parents were wealthy, and I came from a privileged background. But growing up without their love and affection made me constantly crave it. Despite being born into the same family, my sister and I were treated completely differently. I don’t think she ever realised how toxic our parents were, mainly because she wasn’t on the receiving end. When something went wrong, it was always my fault. I shouldered the blame for everything. Being the favourite, Rebecca could do no wrong. I always wanted to be idolised the same way. It wasn’t much fun being second-best. The experience left me with low self-esteem, but since I’d met Nathan, I’d battled to overcome it. If the experience had taught me anything, it was to be resilient.

  I’d closed the door on my relationship with my family years ago, and I had no desire to open it again. In fact, I’d rather go over Niagara Falls in a barrel than make contact with them. We hadn’t just become estranged overnight; it was a gradual process. We’d never had a good relationship and the older I got, the more strained it became.

  It went seriously downhill when I started going out with Nathan. They had no time for the man I adored. I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I never thought they’d make me choose between them. I didn’t want to be put in that position. We weren’t close, but they were my parents. Giving me an ultimatum felt extremely manipulative. It showed me that they didn’t care if I was happy or not, so it made the decision easier for me. It wasn’t a tough choice. I chose Nathan and even though things are rocky between us at the moment, I don’t regret it for a minute.

  33

  Gemma

  When Alfie summoned us, Nathan and I made our way to the saloon. The social area of the yacht housed the dining table and a plush U-shaped white leather settee.

  ‘The police have just released some CCTV of the theft at The Diamond Pavilion. They’re hunting for the armed robber.’ Alfie grinned.

  My hands flew up to cover my mouth as I tried to take in what Alfie was telling us. Nathan stared into the middle distance with a blank expression on his face.

  ‘Have you seen the footage?’ I asked, hoping he wouldn’t notice the panic creeping into my voice.

  Holding my breath, I waited for Alfie to reply. Why was he stalling? There could only be one reason: the net was closing in on us.

  ‘There’s nothing to worry about; the image is grainy.’

  ‘Can you
see Nathan’s face, and more importantly, can he be identified from the footage?’ My upper lip beaded with sweat.

  ‘According to the police report, they are looking for a male suspect who threatened two staff members with a gun during the robbery. He’s described as white and in his early twenties.’

  ‘Early twenties,’ Nathan repeated before his face broke into a huge grin. ‘I’m thirty-two!’

  ‘The only other information the police have is that the man fled the scene on foot. They’ve asked international diamond houses to be vigilant in case any of the items are offered for sale,’ Alfie continued.

  I knew this would happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time. I bit down hard on the pad of my thumb and wondered if the police were looking for me. The shops I’d robbed had cameras running twenty-four hours a day. I felt on edge knowing there was footage of Nathan committing the robbery being circulated on TV.

  ‘Don’t look so worried, Gemma. All the cops have got is a poor quality clip that lasts a couple of seconds. That’s why they’re appealing to the public for help,’ Alfie said.

  ‘But the witnesses gave a description of Nathan.’

  ‘I can’t believe they thought I was in my early twenties! I must be doing something right.’ Nathan’s face broke into a huge beam then he ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. He was delighted by the compliment.

  I shot him a disapproving look.

  ‘Don’t you just love the public?’ Alfie laughed. ‘Witnesses always get the facts wrong, and in this case, they got it very wrong. Anyway, the description they gave could fit half the population. The cops might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack.’ Alfie winked, and a huge smile spread across his face.

  *