Caught in the Act: A Jewel Heist Romance Anthology

by Ainslie Paton

  Her brother Chris had been a total jerk when she asked him for help. She’d been careful not to incriminate herself in any way, but when they’d met for coffee, she hinted at having insider knowledge about shady dealings at the University that may have contributed to her firing and humiliation. Would the cops be willing to look at some data? “Hell no!” Chris had all but covered his ears and run away from her. His last words before he stalked out of the Starbucks were, “Just drop it, Jess. You’ve already embarrassed the entire family.”

  At least he’d done one thing for her, even if he was completely unaware it was related. The day after Adam surprised her in AJ’s, she’d FedEx’d his bourbon glass to Chris. “Can you run the prints for me? I’ve been on a few dates with this guy, but something about him doesn’t feel right.”

  Chris swore and blustered, but at the end of the day, she was still his only sister. He emailed her a few pages the next day, with the short but succinct message: “Dump him.” The data he provided from the arrest record was sparse, and she wasn’t able to find a lot more. Still, for a man whose life depended on disguise and secrecy, she thought she had enough. When the gorgeous Adam Patrick Henry (all those revolutionary aliases made more sense now) came calling again, he was going to rue the day he blackmailed her.

  And...there was the final source of her frustration. He hadn’t contacted her.

  She felt sure he’d reach out after a couple of days when she didn’t email Knoll’s University information. She kept her cell phone at an arm’s reach around the clock. She stopped by AJ’s every night.

  Now, a week and a half after the evening of fried pickles and strangely arousing Cubs trivia, she was starting to think that he’d moved on. Maybe he didn’t need or care about the information she had anymore. This should have been good news. Instead, it was curiously deflating.

  A stitch in her side forced her to slow down. The frustration was causing her to run much quicker than her usual seven-minute miles. She forced some deep breaths in through her nose. The lakefront was beautiful at twilight, the water deep and blue, with a cool breeze blowing west. In another half mile, she’d be able to see Navy Pier ahead.

  “Thank God you slowed down. You were running like someone was chasing you.” The sound of the deep, familiar, teasing tone sparked a flame in her stomach. Finally! She didn’t falter. She just casually glanced to her right, where Adam now jogged next to her. How did he appear out of nowhere like that?

  “Apparently somebody was chasing me,” she answered dryly. And ran just a touch faster.

  He laughed and matched her increased pace easily. “I didn’t expect you to make me,” he said. “But I haven’t received an email from you, Blondie.”

  “How about a deal,” she said. “You call me Jess instead of Blondie, and I won’t say your full name aloud.”

  “Which full name would that be?” He didn’t sound worried, exactly, but there was definitely a little caution in his voice. “Blondie.”

  “Tsk tsk, last warning. Adam Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” She looked over at him just in time to see the amused expression vanish completely. She wondered what would replace it. Coldness? Shock? Anger?

  His face stayed completely blank, which matched the next ten seconds of silence. Still jogging, they hit the Oak Street curve. Ahead of them, the famous Navy Pier Ferris Wheel came into view. Still, she waited for a reaction.

  “I’ve underestimated you,” he said finally. If she wasn’t mistaken, there was a note of grudging admiration in there. “Out of curiosity, what else did you find?”

  Surprised, she slowed to a walk. Normally she could run for hours, but she wasn’t used to matching wits with a handsome thief at the same time. “Not much,” she admitted. “Just two things. Your only living relative is an uncle who has been in prison after being convicted for burglary eight years ago. You own undeveloped property in Aspen, Colorado.”

  He winced. “Those two things are enough.” He gestured to an empty bench along the path, and they left the running trail to sit.

  Jess’s mind raced. What should she do now? Did she give away all of her leverage too soon because she wanted to show off?

  He was silent, and Jess forced herself not to squirm. Why didn’t he say anything? Why were they just sitting there like some normal couple watching the water?

  “Since I haven’t seen any glorious news coverage of Maurice Knoll being arrested with a cache of diamonds,” he said, “I take it you haven’t managed to uncover his smuggling plot and catch him red-handed?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “No. I have some good leads though.”

  “I have some of the puzzle pieces as well,” he said, eyes on the pink sky over the lake. “Can’t see the whole picture though.”

  Jess pulled her long braid over one shoulder and began to unravel it. What was he getting at?

  “What would you say to a temporary partnership?” Adam asked.

  The spark that had ignited in her stomach when he first appeared now grew into a full blaze of warmth that spread all the way through her body to the tips of her fingers and toes. Nonchalantly, she continued to unbraid her hair. “How would it work?”

  “We’d share information, make plans and execute them together—up until the point where our goals begin to differ.”

  Her mind raced to catch up. “And that point would be when we’re certain Knoll is in possession of the smuggled diamonds, correct?”

  He turned to face her now, giving her a smile so dazzling her stomach muscles actually clenched with lust. “Have I mentioned that I dig your wits, Blondie?” He lowered his voice. “I mean, Jess.”

  Thank God for her trademark composure. Because hearing her name in his voice made her knees feel shaky.

  “But yes,” he continued, more seriously. “At the point we determine that Knoll has the diamonds, our partnership dissolves. You do your thing, I’ll do mine. We’ll see where those diamonds end up.”

  Jess broke their eye contact and looked out at the water without seeing it. The word “yes” was already on the tip of her tongue, but her brain told her to bite it back. This was madness. Why would she partner with a man she knew she couldn’t trust? Or a man that she, at this very moment, wanted to climb on top of? He was probably planning on seducing information out of her without sharing anything of his own. Then he’d waltz away with the diamonds and she’d be right where she was six months ago: jobless, humiliated, and nearly broke.

  But what other choice did she have? She had no idea what to do with the information in her possession. No one else seemed to believe in her innocence. Her father and brothers barely wanted to talk to her, and she didn’t want to skulk away to Sarasota again.

  She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He just watched the water, waiting, a serene expression on his chiseled face. Maybe a limited partnership could work. They each had enough leverage on the other to even the playing field. For now. Once they started moving forward, he would undoubtedly have the advantage. She knew nothing about the players in the world of diamond smuggling. Or how to connect the dots between Knoll’s illegal activities and his very legal role as Trustee of the University. Yeah, she’d definitely be the junior partner. This was Adam’s world, not hers. But that’s why I need him.

  “Let’s do it,” she said, holding out her hand to shake.

  “Excellent.”

  He looked down at her hand. Then, before she could even take a breath, he put his hand on the nape of her neck, and pulled his lips to hers. Soft, warm, and utterly delicious, the kiss was over in seconds. Criminy.

  Determined to remain unfazed, she ignored the instinct to put his lips right back where they were, open her mouth, and scratch her nails down his back. Instead she stood and stretched her left quad muscle. “What’s next?” she asked blandly.

  He gave one his barking laughs. The kind t
hat seemed to burst from his chest without him knowing it was coming. “We’re going somewhere you can put that poker face to use. We’re going to Vegas.”

  * * *

  Jess walked ahead of him on the gangway to the 747. He’d purchased first-class tickets for them both. For a moment it looked like she was going to protest, but then he’d mentioned the price and she closed her mouth.

  He wished he’d thought up this partnership weeks ago so that he could have gotten her a solid false identity to travel under. Technically, she didn’t need one. As a fully law-abiding citizen, she was free to fly to Vegas whenever she wanted. And it wasn’t like he was going to allow her into any dangerous situations where her actual identity should be hidden. But it just chafed against every undercover instinct that he had. Today, for the flight, he was Thomas Paine again. By the time they checked into the Wynn Resort, he’d be someone else.

  They took their seats in the third row. He was surprised when Jess accepted a mimosa from the flight attendant. She’d been so quiet ever since he’d met her at the terminal. He felt certain she would be stiff and guarded around him during the trip. Maybe to discourage any more impromptu kisses.

  That had been a truly stupid move on his part. She’d pulled the rug out from underneath him when she knew his true name. When she stuck out her hand to shake on the partnership, he had wanted to take her down a peg. To unsettle her. Hence, the kiss.

  Now he was the one unsettled. Now he had the tiniest idea of what she felt like, tasted like. Heaven. How the hell was he supposed to resist going for more?

  As the plane taxied down the runway and lifted into the air, he tapped her glass with his own. “Here’s to new partnerships.”

  She accepted the toast and took another sip. Glancing around, her face broke into an unexpected, childlike smile. “I’ve never flown first class before.”

  That dimple in her right cheek was damn appealing. “It’s a treat,” he agreed.

  He waited until she’d finished her drink before he said, “Shall we start sharing information? It is a three-hour flight.”

  “You first.”

  He inclined his head. “As you wish. Two years ago, Knoll found himself in severe financial difficulty. The last company he started didn’t do as well as expected, and he sold it at a terrible loss. Then he went through a very expensive divorce. Instead of taking time to recover and properly research a new venture, he borrowed a large sum of money to start a new company—which also failed.”

  “I know that already,” Jess said. Adam raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t have come by that information very easily—or legally. Hmmm. Either she must have decided that hacking into Knoll’s bank was worth the considerable risk—or she was so good at it, it wasn’t very risky. He’d love to know which it was.

  She cocked her head at him. “I couldn’t find where he borrowed the money for the new company though. One day his accounts were almost empty and the next, he was absolutely flush again. The money came from shell companies that I couldn’t trace.”

  “That makes sense,” Adam said. “Because he borrowed the money from Arnie Sedarno.” Finally, finally, Knoll had made the perfect mistake. Adam had been waiting for years for such an exquisite blunder. The error that would open the door to ruin and retribution.

  Jess shook her head. “That name doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  “Arnie Sedarno is the head of one of the largest organized crime families in the country,” he stated. “Allegedly.”

  She blanched. “Oh. So he lost a bunch of the mob’s money. That’s why he turned to diamond smuggling?”

  “Exactly. Knoll needs a quiet and untraceable way to pay back Sedarno. Diamonds can be used almost like cash,” he explained. “The smugglers I spoke to suspect Knoll has connections to some unregulated diamond mines in a West African country, but they didn’t know much beyond that.”

  After a short pause, she surprised him by changing topics. “Why are we going to Vegas?” He’d expected a barrage of follow-up questions regarding the mechanics of diamond smuggling, which made him a bit suspicious that she already knew something about Africa. Interesting.

  But he couldn’t blame her curiosity. The trip to Vegas was a fun little twist. “I have a contact on Knoll’s staff,” he said. “He called yesterday to let me know that Knoll was taking an unexpected trip to Vegas. He had to cancel everything else on his schedule for two days to go.”

  “Which tells us?”

  He liked her use of the word “us.” “It tells us that Sedarno has summoned him, likely to discuss repayment.”

  “You have a contact on Sedarno’s staff too?”

  “No. I don’t mess with the families,” he said seriously. “That’s a good way to get killed. I formed this hunch simply by using Google.”

  It was a well-known fact that Sedarno’s current mistress was a professional tango dancer. This week, the Skylar, Vegas’s new luxury hotel, was hosting the largest tango festival in America. “Sedarno’s mistress will be performing and teaching workshops. It’s a solid bet that Sedarno will be there to watch her. He’s mixing business with pleasure. Knoll borrowed the money almost exactly two years ago. Sedarno probably wants to yank his chain a little.”

  Jess looked out the window, nodding, seeming to absorb the information. Today she wore dark jeans and a fitted white blouse. Her hair was pulled back in a low, neat ponytail. Small silver hoops hung from her ears. This was probably the version of herself she most often presented to the world, he realized, although he hadn’t seen her this way before. He found it disorienting—and more than a little disconcerting—that he was completely turned on by each version of Jess that he’d seen.

  This could get complicated.

  The flight attendant offered Jess a second mimosa. After a brief hesitation, she took it. “What exactly are we doing in Vegas?”

  He smiled at the flight attendant, accepted a glass of champagne, and waited for her to walk away. “We’re going to find a way to listen to the exchange between Knoll and Sedarno. Knoll might offer up details of his plans. At the very least, we’ll probably learn more about timing.”

  She sat back against her seat. He could almost hear the questions piling up in her brain. But he’d shared enough for the moment. Now, it was her turn. “Quid pro quo, partner.”

  * * *

  Jess swallowed, wishing her insides felt as calm as her outside looked. It was one thing to be high on endorphins and agree to a theoretical partnership with a criminal man of mystery. It was quite another to be on a plane with said man, heading to Sin City to try and eavesdrop on a mob boss.

  What in God’s name was she doing? She was supposed to be digging herself out of trouble, not getting in deeper. But she had to admit—there was as much excitement as nervousness swimming in her veins.

  Adam took a swallow of champagne and cocked his head, waiting. She cleared her throat. Too late to turn back now. “I was able to see what Knoll’s been doing with the unlimited system access.

  “He used the student system to admit and enroll four transfer students late last fall. All four are atypical students for Ignatius. They’re older than twenty-three and don’t have good academic records at other institutions. Then, he used the Office of International Programs’ system to admit them into study abroad programs for the spring semester.”

  She went on. “This is in clear breach of University policy. Transfer students are supposed to be at the Chicago campus for at least two semesters before even applying to go abroad. The staff at the Office of International Programs is usually really involved with all the study abroad students. I can’t imagine how they’re not noticing.”

  Adam shrugged. “Bribery is one of Knoll’s most effective methods of getting things done. He probably just paid someone to look the other way.”

  Jess frowned. “Oh. Right.” Clearly, she ne
eded to start thinking worse of people. Hadn’t she learned that much in the past six months?

  He glanced over. “That’s probably what happened with your boss too.”

  She dropped her eyes to her lap, feeling the familiar wave of sadness and humiliation. “Not probably; I know that’s what happened.”

  “You do?”

  She shrugged, eyes still downcast. “After I got fired and Seymour said those things to the press, I dug into his finances. He was absolutely flat broke a year ago. He’d invested his entire retirement portfolio in risky stocks that crashed. Last fall, he was existing paycheck to paycheck.”

  Jess cleared her throat to break up the lump and wondered when she’d stop feeling so sad about Seymour’s betrayal. He’d always been such a kind boss, almost a mentor. His lies and renouncement had shaken her, almost more than anything else about the debacle.

  “What happened next?” Adam asked. She was glad his tone remained conversational. If he’d sounded sympathetic, she wasn’t sure she could swallow back tears.

  “A sudden deposit of $250,000. The week before I was fired.” She shrugged again. “The amount matched a withdrawal from one of Knoll’s accounts the same week.” It was disgusting and fascinating at the same time, to know the exact dollar figure for which she’d been thrown under the proverbial bus. She forced a bitter laugh. “I would have thought I was worth more.”

  Adam didn’t say anything, but he reached over and squeezed her hand, held on to it. She shifted in her seat, flummoxed. She had no idea what to do with the tangible offer of comfort.

  Gently, she pulled away. She appreciated his sympathy, but her entire body had started to tingle at the touch of his warm hand. Rule number one for this trip: no touching.

  “Uh, so, as you may have guessed, all four of the students Knoll admitted are now in study abroad programs in Africa. Ignatius is unusual in that we have so many African locations, but it relates to the missionary history. He’s sent his own smugglers near the countries where the diamond mining industry is not tightly regulated.”