Tequila and Sunrise

by Madison Johns

  Tequila and Sunrise

  Madison Johns

  Contents

  Disclaimer

  Summary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by this Author

  Copyright © 2019 Madison Johns

  Tequila and Sunrise, Madison Johns

  All rights reserved.

  Created with Vellum

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Summary

  I’m Katherine Quinn and an international jewel thief, or I was until I got busted. Now the cops cut me a deal, and I’m working alongside Detective Adam Taney to recover the Imperial Ruby—or so I thought.

  Soon I learned Taney would stay on the sidelines and his grandmother Irma would be the one accompanying me as I searched for the stolen gem.

  It’s not like I need any dead weight, but my focus on recovering the ruby soon takes precedence when we stumble across a body, drawing Irma and me into a tangled web of deception that might just lead to our demise if we’re not careful.

  One

  I ran alongside Bev with alarms blaring in the museum. I didn’t have time to berate myself for doing this job. Jewel thief I am, but stealing the Imperial Ruby—not so much. I clutched a bag of jewels of the like I’ve never beheld before: rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and opals that I plucked from the Egyptian display. Okay, so I might have accidentally tripped the alarm, but in my defense, I thought Bev’s brother Ryan had disabled them for our ten-minute heist.

  I vaulted over a cord pole and landed on the stairs, taking them two at a time to the second floor. I had lost Bev until I caught sight of her with a cord wrapped around her waist. She was then pulled up through a small door on the ceiling and out of sight. This wasn’t no Mission Impossible, and nobody told me about the escape route. Oh, and of course Bev was in possession of the Imperial Ruby. It’s no wonder she hired me as a wingman. I was the one who would be caught and hauled off to prison for daring to even attempt such a heist.

  I wasn’t out yet though as I moved into the bathroom and climbed on the sink. I slid the bag of jewels above the ceiling tile for safekeeping. I might get out of this one after all. I could come back later to get the jewels during normal business hours. I pulled off my upper layer of clothing and stuffed that above the ceiling tile too. That left me wearing a button-up blouse and slacks. I hurried to the third floor where the offices of the museum were, and the door to the tour guide’s office opened easily just as I knew it would. I had been hired as a guide two scant weeks ago, and I had planned for just such an occasion. In case something went wrong. Yah, like if my partner decided to leave without me.

  I kicked over the trash can in front of the door and quickly tied a gag over my mouth and wrapped a rope first around my ankles and then my wrists. I used my teeth to pull it tight and slammed myself on the floor. I pounded my head on the floor hard enough for tears to drip across my face. I needed to appear as helpless as I could, and I was prepared for the acting job of my life.

  Tears flowed easier than I thought. All I could think about was how Bev had used me as her stooge. I wasn’t about to become her fall guy or anyone else’s for that matter, not while I had breath in my body. I had time to berate myself plenty now. Bev had set me up, and I’d be seeing her again real soon.

  At the sound of the alarms finally off and footsteps pounding across the floor in the hallway, I worked the gag down. “Help me. Help me!” I wailed. Over and over again I wailed and then whimpered when the door of the office opened and light flooded in.

  Two guards rushed into the room and untied me and helped me to stand. I weakly walked from the room with their support and winced in pain or at least tried to portray how utterly distraught I was. They opted to sit me in a chair while one of the guards exited the room, presumably to get help.

  “Are you okay, Sarah?” the guard asked.

  Jimmy was a sweet young man who I had intentionally flirted with for the past few weeks. Planning for a job like this took a long time, and I had been willing to put in the hours.

  I simply nodded.

  “I thought you left at closing?”

  “I-I did, but I forgot my lunch bag and came back into the office.” I pressed a hand against my temple.

  Two cops, one in plain clothes and the other in uniform, walked into the office, shooing the guard away. More tears leaked down my face, and my heart was in my throat.

  “So what’s the story?” the uniformed cop asked, the lines on his face deepening. He was in his sixties and it showed, including a beer gut from too many doughnuts. Being a cop was hard work.

  The plainclothes cop wore a black suit under his trench coat, rain dripping off it. It was a cold, dark, dreary night, perfect conditions for power to go off, disabling the cameras with Bev’s brother’s help.

  His dark eyes traveled over me from my shoes to my head. I didn’t mind so much since he wasn’t bad on the eyes with dark, wavy hair and gray eyes. I also imagined he was taking in the situation. Did I look like a victim? He’ll find out soon enough.

  “I’m Detective Taney and this here is Sergeant Nile. Miss, can you tell us what happened tonight?”

  “Well, th-the museum closed, and I had to come back in to get my lunch bag. But that’s when everything went dark. I’m not sure, but I think they hit me with something.” I sniffled. “And when I woke up, I was facing down two people wearing ski masks.” I began to cry. “Th-they made me give them the keys to open the room where the Imperial Ruby display is. I didn’t see the harm. There isn’t a key to open the display case, and it’s quite secure with three levels of alarms.”

  “After they tied me up, they left me in the locker room,” I pointed out.

  Taney walked into the room, leaving Sergeant Nile to give me the stink eye. He returned. “It doesn’t look like you put up much of a struggle.”

  “How could I when I was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey? They had guns and threatened to kill me if I made a peep.”

  “Hard to do wearing a gag.”

  “It… it was.”

  “Now Taney, don’t be too hard on the girl. She’s just had a horrible ordeal, haven’t you, honey? Bet you don’t even work here though.”

  “I most certainly do. Why else would I be in the tour guide’s office? You can ask Jimmy. He’s the guard you told to scram.”

  “How long have you been working here?”

  “I don’t see how that has anything to do with this.”

  “Humor me.”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Plenty of time to stage the whole thing. You know, get a job at the museum the same day the Imperial Ruby goes on display.”

  “Why that’s nothing more than a coincidence. And I suppose it’s my fault there was an electrical storm tonight? I don’t know anything about alarms, but I imagine the museum would ha
ve a generator back-up in place so the alarms wouldn’t go off.”

  “Let me handle this, Sergeant,” Taney said. “I’ll take it from here.”

  “I hope nothing is missing from the museum,” I whispered.

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss that, but it wouldn’t take a genius to know the Imperial Ruby is missing by the very least. Hard telling what else might be missing. I’m sure the curator will do a thorough inventory and let us know. Is there anything else you can tell me?”

  “I’ve told you all I know.”

  “What time does your manager leave for the day?” Taney asked.

  “I’m not exactly sure.”

  “My bet is she leaves for the day before you even punch out. Where do you punch out at?”

  “There’s a punch clock in the other room.”

  “I’d imagine the door to the office would be locked once everyone left the office. How did you get back in to retrieve your lunch bag?”

  “The door wasn’t locked. I imagine it’s locked when the guard does his final check of the museum.”

  “Which is what bothers me. The guard should have checked the office and the room back there if it wasn’t locked. Why didn’t you call out or let yourself be known?”

  “Because I was blacked out at the time.”

  “Can you open your locker for me?”

  “Sure.” I wobbled to my locker and opened the lock and plopped back down in a chair. The detective went through my locker. No problem there because I didn’t have anything incriminating in my locker.

  Sergeant Nile walked into the room and motioned Taney out. They spoke in hushed tones, and Taney walked back in the room. “I’ll need you to come to the station.”

  “Why can’t I answer your questions here?”

  “I’d rather finish it up there. This place is swarming with cops, and the curator is here conducting an inventory. I believe I already told you he’d be doing that.”

  My alarms went off, but they weren’t leaving me any other choice. They might not suspect anything. They couldn’t, or I’d be sunk and quite empty-handed.

  Detectives Taney and Nile walked into the interview room, carrying a box of doughnuts and a bottle of water. Nile set it down abruptly and smiled. “I thought you might want refreshments after your ordeal,” Niles said as he locked eyes with me.

  I popped a glance at the box filled with deliciousness noted by the fragrance of sugar and yeast that wafted in the air. Water bottle too—how precious of them—a tricky way to get my fingerprints.

  “I don’t think we caught your name,” Taney said.

  “I don’t believe you asked me.” I smiled. “I thought by the very least the museum would have given you my name.”

  “How perceptive of you.”

  “I’m Sarah Black.” Or according to my employee file.

  Taney jotted it down, not on a notebook but on a form.

  “I hope this won’t take long,” I said. “I have a pedicure appointment in an hour.”

  Sergeant Nile put his palms on the table and leaned toward me. “Seems strange to me that you’re planning to head off for a pedicure after your ordeal?”

  “You have no idea how long the waiting list is at the nail salon.”

  “What’s the name of the nail salon?”

  “Imperial Nails. It’s in a strip mall near the airport.”

  “Should we call someone for you?”

  “Nope. I don’t plan to be here that long.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have an answer for everything?” Taney said.

  “I get that a lot.”

  “Have you ever been arrested?” Nile asked.

  “I was under the false impression that you were planning to question me about the robbery.” I sighed. “I had a criminal background check when I was hired by the museum.”

  “I meant to take a look at that,” Nile said as he disappeared from the room.

  Left alone with Detective Hotness at last. “I don’t understand where Sergeant Nile is going with his questioning. I truly wished I had more to share with you.”

  “We’re just trying to determine if you’re lying to us.”

  “So you think I’m stupid enough to get a job at the museum and then rob it?”

  “It’s been done before.”

  Nile poked his head in the room and motioned Taney out. My stomach knotted and twisted in apprehension. I knew this couldn’t be good. I borrowed the identity of one Sarah Black. She’s about my age and touring Europe currently. I had no interest in jacking up her credit. All I needed was a clean name for the museum job. Well, as for the fingerprints, they were done at a UPS store in the same mall where the pedicure is located. My fingerprints are normally hard to get, and the clerk had let them slide through the system. It didn’t seem to throw up any alerts, so I was in the clear. I had to be in the clear because if the cops learn who I really am, my goose is cooked.

  Taney and the sergeant rejoined me, and if Nile’s laughing green eyes were any indication, my goose was cooked. Of course he could be using a cop tactic to make me think he knows more than he actually does. At least up until Taney spoke.

  He sat across from me, holding a file so thick it barely contained what was in it.

  “We’re so stoked. We have the international jewel thief Katherine Quinn dead to rights,” Taney said. “Where’s the ruby?”

  “I’m not speaking to you until after I speak with my attorney.” And the dumb cops didn’t even read me my rights. It should be easy to get off. That was until Nile eagerly read me my rights.

  “You enjoy your job too much, Sergeant,” I said.

  “I know, and this is my favorite thing to do.”

  “I can tell,” I said, and that was the last thing I said to either of them until my attorney waltzed in and put his offer on the table.

  Two

  I smiled as the plane circled the airport and approached the runway for the landing in Harper Cove, Florida. I focused on the palm trees on the horizon. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane. What could be better than beach, ocean, and tequila? I’d take in the sights while I was here too despite what Detective Taney has to say about it.

  Taney was seated next to me, wearing a three-piece suit, a little too stiff for me personally, but he smelled great. I don’t consider myself a stalker, but I’m fairly observant and glanced over at the detective’s laptop when he wasn’t noticing. I couldn’t help but read his first name was Adam from the letterhead on his email. It wasn’t highly sensitive; it was his personal Gmail, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.

  “Could you flag down a flight attendant for me?” I asked Taney.

  He flashed his gray eyes at me briefly before nodding. He had to do no more than wave his hand when a blond flight attendant sailed over with a smile. She was hardly making an effort to look at me even as I cleared my throat.

  “Can I help you, sir?”

  “Thanks, Adam. I-I mean Taney,” I stammered. “I asked him to flag you down.”

  “Oh,” the blonde said in disappointment.

  “Is it too late to order a cocktail?”

  “I’m afraid so, the fasten seat belt sign is on.”

  I sighed noisily, earning me a sharp look from Taney.

  “Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” Taney asked as he closed his laptop with a snap of his wrist.

  “I’ll have you know I can handle my liquor, thank you very much.”

  “I’m cutting you off. No alcohol until after our meeting with the feds.”

  “I already heard what they had to say before. I have no intention of going through that again.”

  “Well, according to your agreement, you’ll do as I say.”

  Fat chance of that happening, but I forced a smile. “Whatever you say, Detective Taney,” I mocked.

  “I suppose in some circles men find you clever.”

  I flashed him a smile. “Not only men.”

  “Lucky for me I brought in reinforc
ements. I hope you don’t have any plans to try to slip away from me.”

  “Not with the deal I got. Besides, I have better things to do than spend the next fifteen years in prison.” I sighed. “I can’t guarantee I’ll find the ruby just so you know, but I believe it was brought here to be fenced.” I felt horrible for playing narc, but then again Bev left me holding the bag, leaving my neck in the noose.

  The flight attendants checked that the passengers were all belted in and then disappeared into the back as the plane made its descent.

  I squeezed the armrest of the seat and felt a jolt of electricity ripple through me when I made contact with Taney’s warm hand. I didn’t remove it immediately but eventually did when he shot me a steely gaze.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I’m afraid to fly.”

  “I noticed this isn’t the first time you grabbed the armrest.”

  “A little FYI: the armrests belong to the middle seat.”

  “You have the window seat,” he clarified.

  I closed my eyes tightly as the plane skidded to a stop on the tarmac, and that’s when my nerves kicked in. I hoped I could pull this off and find the ruby. If I can’t find it, they might rescind the agreement.

  Taney and I walked into a conference room of the hotel where two men dressed comfortably sat. They didn’t fit my description of FBI special agents clothing wise. They both wore Hawaiian shirts and khaki slacks.

  “I hope you had a good flight,” one of the agents said. “We’re Special Agent Gunther and Flynn.” Gunther was tall and handsome, and Flynn was shorter than his partner but ruggedly masculine.