Risking It All

by Stephanie Harte

  I had a gut feeling that something was still going on between her and Alfie. You should always trust your instincts, shouldn’t you? Maybe I was being overly suspicious, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. No matter how much Gemma tried to reassure me that they had only had a one-night stand, I wasn’t sure I could trust what she said any more. Alfie’s version of events was so different. I didn’t know who to believe. Up until now, I’d had no reason to doubt Gemma would always be faithful to me. How could I have been so wrong about her? I couldn’t understand how I’d missed the warning signs. It had happened right under my nose.

  I had a tendency to be jealous, so I hated having to watch Alfie openly flirt with my wife. Especially under the present circumstances. He could see it was winding me up. That was precisely why he was doing it. I had to learn not to react and not let him push my buttons. But that was easier said than done. He was getting so much pleasure out of my discomfort. I wasn’t very good at hiding my feelings.

  Knowing that Alfie had slept with the most important person in my life was eating away at me. I still couldn’t get my head around the fact that it had happened. Even if I’d wanted to put it out of my mind, he was never going to let me forget it. I never thought anything or anyone would come between Gemma and me. Our marriage was rock solid or at least it used to be before Alfie came on the scene. What more did the bastard want from me? I had nothing else to give him.

  Alfie was behaving like we were competing for Gemma’s affection. That made it hard for me to keep a lid on my temper. But if I lost it with him, who knew what would happen? It wouldn’t be a fair fight. Alfie didn’t venture far without one of his suited thugs.

  I was in turmoil. My brain was trying to talk me into giving up on Gemma to protect myself from the pain I was going through. Maintaining a relationship that was causing me so much distress would do more harm than good in the long run. It would be best for my mental and emotional health to get out now.

  I knew that was the sensible thing to do. But sometimes it was hard to let go of a relationship. Gemma and I had been a couple for years. We had so much history. Part of me thought, no matter what she had done, I didn’t want to accept we weren’t meant to be together.

  77

  Gemma

  The atmosphere inside the car was as frosty as the weather this morning. Alfie, Nathan and me sat side by side in silence in the back of the Audi, staring straight ahead like the three wise monkeys. When we drove over a bridge spanning the River Seine, I looked out of the window and saw the soft, subtle colours of the sky reflected in the water. Once again, we were saying goodbye to the city of Paris.

  About an hour into our journey, my curiosity got the better of me. ‘Where are we going this time?’ I asked.

  ‘Antwerp,’ Alfie replied without making eye contact with me.

  I looked out the window and managed to hold in the groan that tried to escape from my lips. The prospect of sitting next to Alfie for the next three hours filled me with dread. I hoped he wouldn’t mention the texts on the long car journey. So far he hadn’t. He seemed content with giving me the cold shoulder instead.

  *

  Finally, my ordeal was over. The Audi stopped outside the ultra-modern Hyllit Hotel, situated in the centre of the Diamond Quarter.

  ‘Meet me in the rooftop restaurant in twenty minutes,’ Alfie said after we’d checked in.

  In contrast to everywhere else we’d stayed, I was surprised to find our room was compact and quite basic this time. It was very different from the sprawling, luxurious suites we’d become accustomed to.

  A smile spread across my face when I put my bag down on the nearest of two single beds. Alfie was so transparent; it was so obvious that this was his way of punishing me for not leaving Nathan. The funny thing was, the downgrade didn’t bother me in the slightest. I’m pretty easy to please.

  *

  When Nathan and I entered the rooftop restaurant, we could see Alfie was talking to a man of Middle Eastern appearance. He had greying hair and a large, prominent nose. We made our way across the solid wood flooring to where they were sitting. Breaking eye contact with him, Alfie looked up at us, swirled his drink around the glass then downed it.

  ‘Glad you could join us. Sit next to me, Gemma.’ Alfie patted the chair to the side of him.

  I felt myself inwardly groan before I pulled out the cream leather chair and reluctantly took a seat. Alfie gestured with a wordless wave of the hand to the waiter, who quickly approached our table.

  ‘Bring us another round,’ Alfie said. He didn’t bother to ask any of us what we’d like to drink. That was just another way for him to exercise the power he had over us.

  Alfie’s companion stood up and reached a hairy arm across the table towards me. ‘I’m Avraham. Pleased to meet you.’ The dark skin on his face crinkled and his mouth stretched into a broad smile when he offered me his hand.

  ‘I’m Gemma.’

  Avraham’s hand was covered with thick black fuzz, and when I shook it, I couldn’t help noticing how each of his knuckles had little islands of black hair springing up from them. They almost camouflaged the large, gold ring he was wearing on his little finger.

  The short, stocky man sat back down next to Nathan but didn’t bother to introduce himself. Instead, his dark beady eyes fixed on me, as he began slowly rubbing his hands together. His interrogating stare had me fidgeting in my seat. That made him smile, and when he did, he exposed his small, stained teeth. I’d only just met this man, but within seconds, I’d formed an opinion of him. I didn’t like him. He made me uncomfortable; mistrust seemed to ooze out of him.

  ‘I thought it was about time I introduced you to my good friend, Terry,’ Alfie said, clinking glasses with him.

  Nathan and I looked at each other. Avraham, or Terry as Alfie liked to call him, was the fence, the dodgy jeweller who’d been making the replicas we’d used in the robberies.

  78

  Gemma

  Nathan and I were exhausted and were just about to go to bed when a text came through from Alfie.

  Both of you need to come to my room straight away.

  Alfie’s tone was abrupt, no please or thank you, I noted.

  Tommy, Johno and Terry were already sitting around an enormous table, studying a drawing, when we arrived at Alfie’s spacious suite. I was glad to see he wasn’t being affected by the same budget cut as us. The level of his childish behaviour brought a smile to my face.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ Alfie asked. He was clearly annoyed by my cheerful disposition.

  ‘Nothing,’ I said, breezing past him. ‘I’m just admiring your room.’

  I cast my eye over the luxurious interior before I took a seat at the end of the table. Alfie walked behind me and ran his fingers through my hair. His touch made me jump and then I felt myself stiffen. I scanned the room for Nathan. He was looking out of the full-length windows, so he had his back to me. Thankfully, he hadn’t seen what was going on. Alfie began stroking my arm; I couldn’t stifle my body’s involuntary shudder. If he thought it was acceptable to paw me like I was a piece of meat, he could think again. I wanted to confront him over it, but it wasn’t the right time. For Nathan’s sake, I let it go. Alfie sat down next to me and leant into my face. For a horrible moment, I thought he was going to kiss me in front of everyone. Panic attempted to rise inside me, but I knew I had to stay calm.

  ‘So I take it you’re not satisfied with your accommodation. Perhaps you’d prefer to see what the inside of a prison cell looks like?’

  How the hell was I going to answer his question without making the situation worse? Nathan turned to face us. I caught his eye. Without saying a word, my gaze intensified. He realised I was warning him to watch his step.

  ‘You’re not so lippy now, are you, Gemma?’ Alfie said, moving his face to within inches of mine. He was so close to me; I could almost taste the Jack Daniel’s on his lips. Then to my relief, he straightened up and turned his attention away from me. ‘Gentlemen,
tomorrow we are going to carry out our biggest job to date. Terry will be assisting us.’

  With his rat-toothed smile planted firmly on his face, Terry put his hand up and waved at each of us in turn, like he was an A-list celebrity.

  ‘This will go down in history as the biggest heist of all time,’ Terry bragged in his thick accent.

  ‘It certainly will, my friend.’ Alfie squeezed the top of Terry’s shoulder. ‘After we pull this off, we’ll have enough money to last us a lifetime and Gemma will be able to afford to upgrade her room.’

  Peals of laughter erupted around the table. Only Nathan and I stayed silent. I looked up at Alfie, and our eyes met.

  ‘In the morning, we’re going to strip the Antwerp Diamond Centre of its contents.’ Alfie flashed me a confident smile.

  My eyes widened. But there was so much security, how were they going to manage that?

  ‘We have inside information,’ Alfie continued.

  Surely they would need more than that to pull off a robbery of this size and get away with it.

  ‘This drawing shows the layout of the building,’ Alfie said.

  ‘I’ve been passing myself off as a jewellery dealer at the Diamond Centre for a long time now, so everyone trusts me.’ Terry beamed.

  Maybe I was being cynical, but I highly doubted that. I knew you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but Terry’s beady eyes were shifty, and I hated the way he kept rubbing his hands together like the evil villain in a pantomime. Everything about him seemed untrustworthy. It suddenly occurred to me that people tended to remember dishonest-looking faces, didn’t they? That probably wasn’t ideal if he was going to be involved in the job.

  ‘There’s also one other thing, but I’ll let you in on the secret tomorrow.’ Alfie smirked.

  I hated it when Alfie held back details to keep us in suspense. ‘Can’t you tell us tonight?’ I asked, trying to keep my tone light and the irritation out of my voice.

  ‘You need to learn to be patient, Gemma.’ Alfie moved behind my chair and began slowly massaging my shoulders.

  The feeling of his hands on my skin made me shudder and made my muscles tense more. I had a sudden urge to jump up and slap him around the face. But instead, I stared straight ahead, and my eyes met Nathan’s. He stared back at me with a haunted expression. I found it unbearable to see him like this, but Alfie was enjoying every minute of his suffering. When he moved his hands from my shoulders and began running his fingers through the length of my hair again, like he was stroking a cat, I couldn’t take any more.

  ‘I’m going to call it a night.’ I stood up from the table and began walking towards the door. If Alfie was surprised by my sudden departure, he didn’t show it.

  *

  I wanted to forget about this evening and go to sleep, but my mind was too active. So instead, I spent the night tossing and turning, worrying about the latest job. I was just dropping off when the screen on my phone lit up as a new message came through from Alfie.

  The two of you need to come to my room now.

  Getting up, I walked over to the other bed where Nathan was asleep on his side, facing the window. Reaching towards him, I traced my fingers across the five o’clock shadow covering his strong jawline, and he stirred. Opening his dark brown eyes, he smiled at me.

  ‘Sorry to wake you, but Alfie’s summoned us.’

  ‘What time is it?’ Nathan groaned and stretched out his neck.

  ‘Six-thirty.’

  *

  A make-up artist was inside Alfie’s suite when we arrived ten minutes later. Having already undergone his transformation, Tommy opened the door. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He was unrecognisable. Prosthetics had been applied to his face to alter the shape, and his skin tone had changed.

  We took a seat and watched Céline add the finishing touches to Johno’s disguise.

  ‘Don’t get too comfortable, you’re next, Nathan,’ Alfie said.

  ‘OK, I’m ready for you now,’ Céline said.

  ‘I want you to add a distinctive tattoo to the side of his neck. The collar of his shirt needs to partially cover it,’ Alfie said.

  ‘No problem.’ When Céline had finished, she fitted Nathan with a professional wig and added a bushy moustache to his face.

  ‘I hope the photoshoot goes well,’ Céline said, placing her things back into her silver trolley case.

  I locked eyes with Nathan. He looked as confused as I was.

  ‘Thanks for everything – you’ve done a great job,’ Alfie said, paying her with a wad of cash before showing her out.

  Just as Céline was leaving, Terry arrived. ‘You guys look fantastic.’ Rubbing his hands together, he nodded his approval.

  ‘Did you get the uniforms?’ Alfie asked.

  ‘Yes, they’re in here.’ Terry gestured to the suit carrier he was holding.

  When was Alfie going to tell us what was going on? None of this made any sense. I didn’t want to have to ask, but couldn’t think of a feasible explanation. ‘Why are they doing a photoshoot?’

  ‘They’re not.’ Alfie rolled his eyes at me. ‘But I had to tell Céline something, didn’t I? I could hardly say, do us a favour, love, make them look extra convincing because they’re going to be robbing the Diamond Centre in broad daylight, could I?’

  ‘Their disguises don’t fit the stereotypical ones you usually go for. There’s not a balaclava in sight.’

  ‘That’s because we want witnesses to give the police descriptions of the robbers, which will be inaccurate. That way they’ll end up searching for the wrong suspects. Johno and Tommy are going to dress as women to throw the cops off the trail, and some beady-eyed member of the public is bound to notice Nathan’s tattoo. It looks good on him, don’t you think?’ Alfie grinned.

  Now I understood why Johno had a blond ponytail and Tommy had a brown plait. But I wasn’t so sure the police would be fooled that easily. Although both the brothers had slight builds, neither of them were remotely feminine, and if you asked me, Nathan’s bushy moustache was ridiculously over the top. He looked like a Colombian drug baron or one of the Village People. I made a mental note never to let him grow facial hair; it did absolutely nothing for him.

  ‘You guys should go and get changed,’ Alfie said, passing them each a suit carrier.

  When Nathan, Tommy and Johno returned from the dressing room, they looked much more convincing. It was amazing what a uniform, hat and badge could do for a person.

  ‘Let’s get started,’ Alfie said. ‘We’ll do a quick run-through of the plan before you leave. As soon as you arrive at the centre, make your way over to Terry. He’ll be in the lobby waiting for you.’

  ‘Won’t people wonder what’s going on when three officers walk in off the street?’ Nathan asked.

  ‘They won’t give you a second glance as long as you act with confidence. But if you’re nervous, you’ll give the game away,’ Alfie said.

  ‘The police come into the centre all the time, so nobody will take any notice of you,’ Terry agreed. ‘Anyway, as it’s Saturday, the place will be almost deserted, and only skeleton staff will be on duty.’

  ‘Nathan, you’ll have to do the talking. You two keep quiet,’ Alfie said, turning to face Tommy and Johno. ‘Otherwise, your voices will blow your cover. There’s no point dressing like a woman if you sound like a man.’ Alfie laughed, then turned back to Nathan. ‘Speak to the security guard in the foyer and tell him that you’re responding to a call. Then find out how many others are on duty. Don’t mess that up.’

  ‘I won’t.’

  ‘It’s important that all the guards are accounted for. Round them up and get them to follow you. Then separate them and handcuff them in the basement. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Terry’s going to escort you through the building, to where the vault’s located. Remember the whole place is rigged with heat and pressure sensors, and high-spec cameras will be filming from every angle.’ Alfie looked at Nathan
, Johno and Tommy, in turn, to make sure they were paying attention. ‘Once you’ve emptied the vault, get out as quick as you can. Gemma and I will be waiting in the car.’

  ‘What if somebody tries to stop us?’ Nathan asked.

  ‘Nobody’s going to challenge you. You’re police officers. But if someone does get in your way, threaten the fucker with violence. That should be enough to make them stop in their tracks, and if it doesn’t, give them a slap. Then they’ll know you mean business.’

  ‘Are you OK?’ I mouthed to Nathan.

  Nathan fixed me with his eyes but didn’t answer. His silence said it all.

  Alfie made everything sound so simple, but I knew stealing the contents of the Antwerp Diamond Centre was going to be almost impossible. I tried not to think about what would happen if something went wrong. For Nathan’s sake, I’d have to keep my concerns to myself; it wouldn’t be fair to air them now.

  Terry looked at his watch. ‘It’s time we got going. Give me ten minutes to get into position.’

  79

  Gemma

  Alfie and I got into the Audi. We couldn’t park immediately outside the Diamond Centre because metal barricades prevent unauthorised vehicles from entering the area, so we got as close as we could and waited. The atmosphere in the car was tense as we sat inches apart, staring through the windscreen.

  ‘My dad’s a patient man. He knew he’d get her back at some stage,’ Alfie said, breaking the silence.

  I hadn’t got a clue what he meant. He was talking in riddles again. I arched an eyebrow and eyed him suspiciously. Alfie had a habit of half telling you something. It was infuriating. When he turned to look at me, he could see from the look on my face, I wasn’t impressed.

  ‘I wonder what Rosa would think if she knew Nathan was about to rob the Antwerp Diamond Centre.’ Alfie smiled. ‘Like father, like son.’

  Alfie’s words turned my stomach. Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I couldn’t help myself: I was going to kick off. Alfie Watson was about to get a piece of my mind. ‘So everything you’ve put us through was to get back at Rosa, was it?’ I couldn’t control the anger in my voice; it was rising up inside me.