“Who was the one that left everything open?” I wanted to get to know more of the story. I knew she was going to leave bits and pieces out.
“That’s none of your business. I got what I needed and we’re going to deliver it.” She laughed, a soft laugh.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see that she was reaching down for the bags that she had carried out.
“I don’t think that its wise that we do that. Check what you have first.” I shook my head back and forth firmly.
“Are you in control of this?” She whipped her head around and glared at me.
“It’s obvious that you can’t even get out of a jewelry shop without getting caught. Almost getting caught. Whatever. I know what I’m talking about. You should check it first.” I shrugged my shoulders.
It wasn’t up to me to tell her how to run the show that she was caught up in. I shouldn’t have cared to help her. I shouldn’t have gotten involved at all.
“How do you know so much? For someone that I don’t know you’re going to sit there and tell me you’ve never done something like this?” She hesitated, putting the bags down on the floor between her feet.
“It doesn’t matter how I know.” I grunted, seeing that she was catching on slightly that I wasn’t just a random man coming to her rescue that I wasn’t just someone who wanted to see her go to jail.
“You’re a thief yourself, aren’t you?” Ginger gasped, I imagined her blue eyes growing wide and I laughed lightly.
“We’re not discussing that.” I shook my head, I was going to tell her as little as possible about myself. There was no way I was going to be open like she was.
If I had been Ginger I would’ve kept my mouth shut. If she had before I met her than she wouldn’t be in the predicament that she was in. I could already tell that she wasn’t a listener, that was something that would have to change.
“I deserve to know what you do for a living.” Ginger faced me, pressing her back against the door and just staring at me.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business. You need to sit there and figure out what you have in those bags.” I pointed down at them.
I was getting ready to take one of them since she wasn’t going to do it. She snatched them away from me quickly.
I pulled into a small driveway and pulled the Jaguar around the back of a big building with all the lights on in the inside.
From the outside you could see the swimming pool, the bar, and the game room. The house was made from glass. Bullet proof glass.
“Yeah, there’s something you’re not telling me Anthony. This is an amazing house in the mountains and you’re going to tell me that you get this on working at a store in town? That’s something that I would never believe.” Ginger gasped when she looked at the house.
I could tell that she was amazed at what was in front of her. I laughed, got out of the car, and made my way up the stairs to the house.
I wasn’t going to wait for her, I’d been nice enough to her for one day. I wasn’t the type of guy was nice to people. I wasn’t going to make it a habit.
Ginger slammed the car door and hurried after me, I stopped to unlock the door, leaving it open for her she shut the door behind us.
It was getting harder and harder to keep the secret that I had inside of me. I didn’t know who she was but the more she looked around the house the more the light shined brightly.
“Your name isn’t Antony. It’s Jesse Franklin.” Ginger whispered, standing in the kitchen I thought she was going to faint where she stood.
“You’re catching on. Now dump out those bags and see what you have. Before tonight is over you’re going to learn a few things about the game.” I chuckled, shaking my head.
It wasn’t that I wanted to help her because who I was. I didn’t want to help anyone but being the biggest boss in the game I was disgusted that she would even call herself a jewel thief.
If Ginger played her cards right she might even get out of the game alive. Only if she listened though. I was almost sure that she wouldn’t hear a damn thing I told her. It was a game, a war, of who could get the rarest gems and stay alive before either the cops found them, or someone bigger came along and ended the game.
“Are you going to kill me?” Ginger asked, her voice shaking as she put the bags down on the table and we began to dump them out.
Chapter 2
Ginger
I couldn’t believe what I had gotten myself into. I was at Jesse Franklin’s house. The man that I had heard about but never met. With every second that passed in silence my heartbeat grew faster and faster. I didn’t know what his intentions were.
I took the black mask off my face, showing my young innocent face to him in hopes that he would show mercy on me and just let me leave with what I had.
“I’m not going to kill you. I have no intentions of doing that. Whoever wanted you to get caught is either in the game or after revenge of some sort.” He sighed, shaking his head.
I felt my face grow red. I could see that we were going to butt heads more than a few times. I wanted to run. I wanted it to be game over already, I would take my chances with the police or with my boss.
My boss! I had to tell him what had happened, I searched for my phone. Panicking I knew that it wasn’t on me. I had left it there on the counter.
“What’s the matter?” He asked, looking concerned.
It wasn’t hard to tell that I was worried. It wasn’t hard to see that I was thinking about what had happened over the night.
“My phone, I don’t know where I left it.” I sighed, seeing the look of disappointment in his eyes.
I wasn’t going to ever amount to the thief that he was. He was right about one thing. It was a game. A game of high stakes where it could anyone’s life at any time.
“Does it have all your contacts?” He asked calmly.
For a man who knew what he was doing he didn’t look mad and he didn’t act it.
“No, it was just a throw away phone. I had one number in it and the other one was ditched when the job was done.” I shook my head.
“At least there’s an upside to it. No one can track where you are, and no one knows who the other person was.” Jesse shrugged.
I watched him lay out the bags on the table that was made of smooth blue and white marble. I watched them slowly slip out and knew that I had something good when his eyes almost popped out of his head.
“What?” I asked, feeling my heart pounding so hard in my chest that I could barely hear my own voice.
“I wouldn’t get a hold of your boss just yet.” He cleared his throat.
I could see that he was impressed with one of the gems. I didn’t know which one, but I was dying to know.
“He’s going to want me to call him. I have no way to get a hold of him.” I sighed, rolling my eyes. He was just like every other man he didn’t listen.
“This one right here. Alexandrite. It changes colors. It’s one of the rarest and one of the hardest gems to find. I don’t know what it was doing in the bags with the rest of the jewels, but I’ve only seen these in pictures.” Jesse stated, giving a low whistle.
By the look on his face and knowing how popular he was, it meant the gem was a big deal.
“Do you know how much this is worth? It’s cut but uncut it’s worth even more. One carat is worth over fifty-thousand dollars. It changes color too. It will change a different color in the morning then a different one at night. It’s a sight to see.” Jesse gasped, searching through the jewels to see if there anymore.
“I thought that you’ve never seen one before?” I frowned at him, knowing every man lied and I didn’t want to let my guard down at any time.
“I have, online. Never in real life. I can’t wait to see the change in the morning.” He grinned at me.
Jesse’s sandy brown hair shined under the kitchen light, his light brown eyes were filled with wonder and surprise. I could see that he was happy. I don’t think that anyone had ev
er seen the man happy.
I’d always been warned that Jesse wasn’t someone that you would want to cross. He wasn’t the man that you wanted to piss off. I wasn’t scared of him, not even before I knew him.
Jesse was taller than I was, at least six feet while I only stood almost five feet tall. It wasn’t funny, but it was, I was a midget compared to him.
He picked out three more of the same gem and I saw that he was shaking with happiness.
“You have no idea how much you have here in this little bundle. There are three here and I’m telling you if you can sell these without anyone knowing you’re going to be one of the richest women alive.” Jesse explained to me.
I smiled, I couldn’t help but think of all the things that I could buy with all the money that he was talking about.
“Don’t tell anyone about this. I know you can’t, I’m just saying no one. They will hunt you down and kill you without batting an eyelash. Your best bet is to stay here with me until we can get the heat off you and make our way out of the country. I know a dealer.” Jesse explained to me, putting the Alexandrite in a separate bag.
I didn’t want to be stuck with Jesse. I didn’t want to be there even overnight. I wanted to get out and get the money now. I had no time for patience.
“Look, I can already see what you’re thinking. If you were to leave tonight you wouldn’t make it out of the city let alone out of the state. I’m not going to take it. You’ve stolen it fair and square but there is one thing that I don’t understand.” Jesse scratched the back of his head.
I could tell that he was puzzled. I sat down at the kitchen table and stared up at him. He put the rest of the jewels away and tied the black velvet bag so that the smaller gems wouldn’t fall out.
“What?” I sighed, hoping that he would’ve just told me.
I didn’t want to keep waiting. I didn’t like his pauses. I could see a lot of flaws in him already. I didn’t know how long he wanted me to stay with him, but I knew that it couldn’t be long.
“Who hid them there? There’s no way that someone just found them and decided to put them in the shop. No one has that kind of money around here to buy them. So why would they be in the safe, ready to go on display? Even I couldn’t get a hold of those.” Jesse grumbled.
“I don’t know.” I looked away from him quickly.
“Ginger if you know something now is the time to tell me. You’re sitting on a gold mine and I can’t help you if you’re not going to tell me everything that you know.” Jesse sat down across from me.
Staring into his eyes I thought that I saw a hint of fear in them. Why would he fear anyone? I didn’t think that he was the type of man that feared anything.
“My boss’s name is John Henny. I have worked for him on small jobs. He has taken me out on stealing gems from others not just shops. I don’t know who brought them into the shop. I was told to get into the safe and I did. I did my job and got out.” I didn’t want to give out too much information. I was always told no matter what I wasn’t supposed to.
“John Henny. I know that man, he’s almost as good as me. You mean to tell me that he didn’t know that those were in the safe?” Jesse chuckled.
I wasn’t playing him for a fool. He might have thought I was, but I had no intentions on doing something stupid and getting myself killed.
“If he knew, he didn’t tell me. I was only told what my mission was, and I didn’t ask questions.” I shook my head.
I didn’t want him thinking that I was part of anything other than taking the gems. I wasn’t the type to try and kill anyone. I could’ve been one that got killed. I was at the bottom of the food chain. If someone was going to get killed it would be me. I knew that, but I was desperate for money. I was desperate to climb that ladder.
“You have no idea how much danger you’re in. My bet is that he knew what was in that safe. I want to know who put it there. I want to know where they got it. They should’ve put the gems in the bank. In a box and thrown the key away. If word gets out about this there are going to be so many people on our tail.” Jesse warned me.
He got up from the table, the worry on his look had disappeared long before I could ask him if he was scared.
“Where are you going?” I asked, getting up quickly.
I watched him as he took the two bags of gems and headed out of the kitchen. I wasn’t going to let him take off with what I had stolen. It wasn’t his.
“I’m going to put these in a safe place. I’m not trying to take anything from you Ginger.” He laughed, walking into the living room.
The living room was huge with white tiles. The furniture was pure white and there were three flat screens around the room hanging on the walls. Pictures in frames of where he’d been and there was a set of stairs leading upwards. No walls, just a staircase that had been framed in plated gold on the tips.
I followed him out of the living room and up the stairs.
“If you don’t want anyone knowing where you are why would you have a glass mansion? I’m not understanding it.” It made no sense to me, I wasn’t one for asking too many questions, but I was curious.
“I’m not going to live my life in fear.” He looked over his shoulder at me.
When we reached the top of the stairs I looked down the hallway and saw that there were three guards outside the doors to each room.
“Those men get paid good money to make sure that I stay alive. I am on my own when I leave those doors down there but while I’m here there’s no one that can touch me. No one.” He pointed at the men that lined the wall.
They were standing tall with their guns ready for anything. They didn’t look at us as we walked by them. The men were all masculine some were nicely tanned, and some were so white they looked like ghosts, but they were all ready for battle.
I felt safe with them there, knowing that it wasn’t just Jesse and me. I felt secure. I was starting to feel as if no one could touch me.
We went into a room and it looked like a small den. I was feeling trapped and I didn’t like the feeling.
“I don’t go in this room often. It looks like a regular room sure.” He stated, not looking at me.
He went over to the other side of the room which wasn’t far and took a remote. Pushing a button, the wall spread open just a little.
He put the bags into the wall and sealed it back up. I was impressed that he would think of something like this.
“That’s amazing.” I gasped, shaking my head.
Jesse was full of surprises. He was kinder than what people made him out to be. He talked like a normal human being. I knew that he could be a killer when he had to be. If it came to life or death I would want to be on his side. That was the only things that he had going for him.
“How long are we going to be staying here?” I asked him.
“However long it takes. I will have men out scouting the grounds at the break of day. If the coast is clear, we will be out of here without a problem.” Jesse was already thinking about that. I could see it in his face. I could see it in his eyes.
He was a serious man when it came to business.
“Stay alert. Stay alive.” I muttered under my breath.
He nodded his head. Gave me a small smile. I didn’t think he had heard me.
Chapter 3
Jesse
She didn’t know how lucky she was to have gotten the Alexandrite. I had been searching for something like this since I had started selling and trading gems. She had no idea how I was feeling about it.
Helping her was helping me. Whoever knew that she had the Alexandrite was out to kill her. It didn’t matter if it was John or not. I had to keep her alive. I knew how important it was. I wasn’t looking out for anyone but me though. That Alexandrite could help me in so many ways. It would take me higher on the ladder. I just had to make sure she stayed alive long enough to get them out of the states to get them to my seller.
“You need to get some sleep tomorrow could be a very busy day
.” I cleared my throat. Seeing that she was still wearing her black suit.
“I have nothing to change into if that’s what you’re asking. I went on the job thinking that I would be at my own place right now. I had not come prepared.” Ginger gave me a look that told me that she hadn’t planned on sleeping in the black suit.
“I can fix that for you.” I nodded my head.
We headed out of the room and I locked the door behind me. There was a guard on either side of the door and I nodded at them, they nodded back at me letting me know that they knew I was there.
Going down the hallway I went into another room. I was always prepared. The women that came to see me. The ones that were there for me. There had been plenty of them.
Checking her out for her size I did have to say that she was very attractive.
“That closet over there, that’s where you will find clothes that will fit you.” I pointed to the other side of the room.
“Thank you.” She nodded her head.
“If there is anything else you need please let me know. I will wait outside while you get the clothes you need.” I cleared my throat.
Even though I was the famous for my job, even though I was one of the toughest men out there I was also a gentleman. Only when I had to be.
Closing the door behind me I stood outside the door and waited for her. I had to watch her every minute. I had to be her guard while I watched my own back. If she died it meant that the jewels were gone. I knew that I could take them out from under her but there would still be a price on her head. I couldn’t live with that knowing that she was just starting out. Knowing that she didn’t have the experience.
I could kill a man without a problem, I could kill someone when backed in a corner. Though everyone thought that I killed for the gems that I wanted I didn’t play the game that way. I took them with ease. I was thief in the night and I was good at it.
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