Adam whistled. “It’s a pretty ingenious plan, actually. He’s sent members of his own team, probably ones he knows he can trust, to the region under a completely legitimate cover. No one will look twice at college kids traveling with a conservative University’s long-standing study and missionary programs. I didn’t Knoll was so creative.” He snorted. “If he’d put half as much thought into his last business, maybe it wouldn’t have failed.”
Jess wondered what would happen now that she’d handed over most of her information. There was nothing stopping him from walking away; she wasn’t sure what else she could contribute to the partnership.
“Have you ever been to Vegas before?”
She blinked at the change of subject. “Once. Three years ago. For my sister-in-law’s bachelorette party.”
“Good.” He nodded. “You know what to expect then.”
She supposed so. “Booze, gambling, half-naked women with fake tits, good restaurants, pool parties, Britney Spears, conferences, and Carrot Top.”
“Exactly.” He grinned at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. Something about the crinkles at the edges of those bright blue eyes. They made her want to be funny, to make him laugh, to impress the hell out of him.
Dangerous ideas, all. She was in over her head here. She needed to worry about herself, not about impressing him. Or, maybe that wasn’t a bad idea. She needed him more than he needed her. But if he liked having her around...hmmm.
“You have the strangest smile on your face,” he murmured. “What are you thinking about right now?” He reached over and traced a finger along her bottom lip. She wondered what he would do if she sucked the tip into her mouth. “Whatever it is, it’s making me extremely nervous.”
Jess just gazed at him with her lips curved. She could work with that.
Chapter Seven
Jess was glad Adam wasn’t with her as she checked into the Wynn Las Vegas. If he’d been standing next to her, she would have felt required to act cool and collected, as though she was accustomed to staying in suites at luxury resorts.
On her own, however, she felt free to stare as long as she wanted at the five-star surroundings. The fresh bouquets of rainbow-colored flowers on every surface, the huge parasols that hung over the lobby bars, the eight different fine dining restaurants. She took her time wandering through the casino dotted with high-stakes tables, the sumptuous gardens in the lobby, the esplanade of shops like Cartier, Dior, and Prada.
Wandering outside, she strolled next to pool after turquoise pool where tan women in itsy-bitsy bikinis and straw fedoras stood chatting and checking their phones. She peeked into the private cabanas that boasted mini-fridges, plasma TVs, and plush sofas. She even found a secluded, adults-only European pool that allowed topless sunbathing.
When she finally pushed her keycard into her suite door, she felt like she’d taken a stroll on another planet. Yes, she’d been to Vegas before. But for heaven’s sake, she traveled on a budget. Growing up in a family of five kids with one working parent, one learned a pretty frugal way of life.
She decided to take a shower. The glass-enclosed cube with eighteen different jets looked a little too good to pass up. Especially since her neck had a four-hour-flight crick in it, and her mind was fuzzy from the mimosas.
As the plane had rolled to a stop, Adam said, “When we land, we go our separate ways. I’ve booked a room in your name at the Wynn. Go check in and I’ll meet up with you later.”
“Why?”
She didn’t much care for the condescending expression that crossed over his face. “When you’re in the hunt, you always act in the present while planning for the future,” he said. “Let’s say that in two months, Knoll or law enforcement decides to investigate the missing diamonds. Maybe Knoll remembers that he felt like he was being in watched in Vegas. Maybe he remembers what I look like. Well, lucky him. There are more security cameras in Vegas than practically anywhere else in the world. If we’re captured together on the footage, now we’re linked. You’re traveling under your own name. If they put all the pieces together, Blondie, for the rest of your life, you’re associated with a theft.”
While she felt lame for being so naïve, she had to appreciate the foresight. She just wished he’d been more detailed. What did “later” mean? Tonight? Tomorrow? She was completely disoriented about time already. It was just after noon, Vegas time, which seemed impossible, but their flight had been early, and they gained a few hours flying here.
The pulsating jets in the steamy shower did wonders for her muscles and state of mind. After a decadent twenty minutes, she forced herself to get out. Should she try to nap? Save her energy for later? What was her part on the surveillance of Knoll and Sedarno? Wrapping herself in a lush white towel, she walked out of the bathroom.
And shrieked when she saw the large stranger sitting on her sofa.
Of course, she immediately felt foolish when he grinned. “Easy, Blondie, just me.”
His disguise was very Vegas. His brown hair was styled into spikes with frosted blond tips, and he wore crazy-large sunglasses with purple lenses. Tan pants and a strangely shiny purple golf shirt completed the look.
“You look like an aging boy band member about to play the US Open,” she said.
He laughed. “Good. Exactly what I was going for.”
“I’d ask how you got in here, but that would be silly.” She wrapped her towel a little tighter around her body, acutely aware that while it was thick, it wasn’t long. She was showing a hell of a lot of bare, wet leg. She couldn’t see his eyes behind the ridiculous shades, and she wondered if he was looking at her legs. Wondered what it said about her that she hoped he was.
“Sorry for the intrusion,” he said. “But I got some news. Things are moving faster than I anticipated. My contact on Knoll’s staff told me that he and Sedarno are meeting this afternoon. They’re playing golf here. Tee time is 1:30.”
“Golf? Where?”
Adam stood and stretched. Sometimes she forgot just how tall he was. She was 5’8” in her bare feet and he still loomed over her. “The Wynn has the only golf course on the Strip. It’s astronomically expensive, but you can’t beat the convenience of an 18-hole course without leaving your hotel. Sedarno plays it often.”
He sighed. “It’s bad news for us, actually. It’s just the two of them playing, so this will undoubtedly be when they discuss business. We probably won’t be able to learn much.”
“What do you mean? What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to bug their golf cart,” he said matter-of-factly. “My equipment will make a recording of their conversation. If they discuss Knoll’s repayment in the cart, we’ll be golden.”
“Ah,” she said, finally understanding. “But if they talk about it on the tee or the green, we’ll hear nothing.”
“Exactly.”
Jess started to pace, making sure she had a firm grip on the towel. “If they’re just playing in a twosome, why don’t we try to join them for the round? They won’t want to discuss business around a couple of strangers, so they’ll more likely discuss it in the cart and then we’ll have it captured.”
He shook his head. “No.”
She tried not to feel upset that he so instantly dismissed her idea. “Why not?”
He sighed. “It would be a terrible move to spend all afternoon with them. They’d remember our faces, voices, body language. Remember—we’re trying to stay anonymous. Also, even if we could possibly disguise ourselves to an acceptable degree, they’d never agree to let us join their group.”
Really, she wasn’t pouting. “Why not?” she asked again.
Adam rolled his eyes. “I’m a younger, more athletic man than either of them. Both of them are hyper-aggressive and competitive. They won’t want to put themselves in a position of being embarrassed on th
e course in front of one another.”
He looked at her from head to toe. A little more thoroughly than was necessary. “And you’re, obviously, a woman.”
She knew what he meant. Hell, she’d dealt with the sexism inherent in golf for most of her life. But she couldn’t resist snipping at him. “What does that mean?”
“They won’t want to play with a woman. They’d think you’d slow them down.” When she glared at him, he held up his hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s just how it is.”
She took a deep breath. “So what should I do while you’re planting the bug?”
He shrugged. “Whatever you want. Go lay by the pool and relax or something. Do some gambling.” He threw a bunch of casino chips on the coffee table. “This’ll get you started. I’ll probably hang out in the clubhouse for a few hours, make sure the bug is transmitting.”
Adam pointed to the phone on the nightstand. “Check your room messages every couple of hours. When I’m done, I’ll let you know our next steps.”
He stood and walked out of the room. “Have fun!” The door shut softly behind him.
Jess sat at the edge of the bed, eyebrows furrowed. Why did she feel so annoyed? Shouldn’t she feel grateful that he wasn’t involving her in setting an illegal recording device on a mobster’s golf cart? Shouldn’t she feel happy for a little free time to relax in the sunshine?
Hell no. She’d been rotting on the beach in Florida for months. She didn’t want to sit around and wait for him to leave a message with next steps. She wanted to act, to be part of the solution.
Especially in this scenario. For God’s sake, this little twist was practically hand-crafted for her. She picked up the chips and counted them. Whew—almost $1,500.00. He sure wasn’t stingy, she’d give him that.
Smiling to herself, she picked up the phone and dialed the concierge. “Can you please tell me how to find the pro shop?”
* * *
Adam dumped a bucket of balls on the practice tee and took a few swings with his rented seven iron. Knoll and Sedarno were each hitting their own buckets, preparing to tee off in ten minutes. Idly, Adam watched them hit a few balls. For overweight men in their 50s, both of them were surprisingly good golfers.
Or, maybe not surprisingly, considering that a lot of business for wealthy men still took place on the golf course.
Taking another swing, he wondered why he felt off. Not guilty, exactly. He knew exactly what guilt felt like. He’d been wallowing in it for close to eight years. But maybe he could have handled things better with Jess. While he stood by everything he said to her, he also knew she wasn’t a “do nothing” kind of girl, and that she’d been pissed by her relegation to the bench. Maybe he should have found something for her to do.
He shanked the ball. It shot straight to the right, past all the other golfers practicing. Knoll looked back in annoyance.
Damn it, this is why he didn’t do partners. He did teams, led teams. His success was entirely dependent on the quality of his teams. But he didn’t do partnerships. He couldn’t be distracted worrying about how a partner felt, for God’s sake.
Knoll and Sedarno each had half their buckets of balls remaining; they wouldn’t be moving for at least five more minutes. Casually, Adam strolled back to where all of the carts were parked. His contact on Knoll’s staff told him that Knoll’s golf bag could be identified by obnoxiously large Chicago Bears golf club covers. He spied the navy and orange covers on a cart parked directly behind Knoll’s place on the practice tees.
With the bug in his left hand, he paced slowly toward the cart, doing hamstring stretches. It took three long seconds to get the bug in place under the steering wheel. Then he hamstring-stretched his way back to his own spot and hit the rest of his bucket of balls.
Another reason he’d left Jess’s room so abruptly was that he could barely speak calmly to her while she was standing there in an indecently short towel. He’d lost his breath when she came out of the bathroom. Wet, tan skin. Miles of perfect leg. Her long hair was combed away from her face. Those eyelashes had actual droplets from the shower on them.
He’d gone as hard as a spike. He’d never been a monk, but damn, he didn’t even know he was capable of being that hard. He’d long thought that the true measure of a woman’s beauty was how she looked soaking wet, free of all makeup and artifice. Now he knew what Jess looked like soaking wet. Jesus Christ, he was toast.
Knoll and Sedarno got into their cart and drove to the first tee. Adam followed from a safe distance, putting a headphone bud in one ear. The men weren’t speaking, but he could tell the receiver was working just fine when Sedarno coughed. Good enough. He didn’t really need to wait in the clubhouse all afternoon. He shouldn’t be seen with Jess, but maybe they could—
“Hi there, gentlemen. I have a proposition for you.” A familiar voice in his ear. Adam froze, and his heart began to pound. Fuck, no. She did not.
Sedarno responded in his raspy voice. It sounded like he was smiling. “I always enjoy a proposition from a charming young lady.”
Adam pulled his cart over and climbed out. From here, he had a clear view. Knoll and Sedarno sat in their cart next to the first tee. Jess stood next to their cart in the tiniest pair of golf shorts he’d ever seen. On top, she wore a sleeveless collared shirt with a zipper. Which was currently pushed all the way down. Her breasts, on the other hand, were pushed all the way up. Holding a driver in her hands, a visor was perched on her head, and her hair dangled in a high ponytail down her back. If she’d been blonde, she would have looked like Golf ’’Course Barbie. As she was, she looked like she’d walked out of a beer commercial.
Either unaware or unconcerned with Adam’s open-mouthed scrutiny, she said, “I’m a last-minute single.” She grinned at Knoll and Sedarno. “The starter told me you’re a pair. I was wondering if I could join you.”
Before they could answer, she said, “Drinks on me, all day long.”
Knoll and Sedarno exchanged glances. Then Knoll answered exactly as Adam would have predicted. “Sorry, sweets. We’re on the clock here. You seem sweet, but the answer is no.”
Adam was so angry at her that he couldn’t wait to yell “I told you so” in her face. He waited for her to walk away. Christ, he was going to wrap his hand around that ponytail and—
She didn’t walk away. Instead, she licked her lips and raised one eyebrow. “What if we made it interesting?”
Knoll raised a hand like a fly swatter, as if he were about to flick her away. But Sedarno said, “What do you mean?” Knoll dropped the hand. Sedarno was unquestionably the boss.
Jess pointed to the first tee. “Let’s all go tee off. If I outdrive both of you, you’ll let me join you. If not, your first round of drinks is still on me.”
Sedarno’s raspy voice was wry. “It’s not that big a deal for you to outdrive us from the ladies’ tees, sweetheart.”
She laughed then, and it was such a sexy sound that even through his anger, Adam had to shift in his seat. Damn pants were getting way too uncomfortable. “I’ll use the men’s tees,” she promised.
“Well, I can’t resist seeing her outdrive you, Maurice,” Sedarno teased. The men climbed out of the cart, and the three of them walked up to the tee, away from his bug. Since he couldn’t hear anymore, Adam carefully walked closer. There weren’t a lot of things to hide behind, but he just had to see what happened next.
What the fuck was she doing? Exposing her face—and her entire freakin’ body—to the eyes of the two men they were supposed to be discreetly following? Clearly, she had no clue as to the long-term consequences of this impromptu decision. He never should have brought her along. She was only thinking about the short-term goal. And she’d exposed herself for no good reason! Adam was a fairly good golfer, but he never would have challenged them to a driving contest. Both men were solid, experienced,
strong players. But, of course, she wouldn’t know that.
Ugh, he was going to kill her. It was unlike her to be so stupid. She didn’t know their golfing skills. She couldn’t. She could only know her own.
She could only know her own.
The thought echoed in his head as Knoll went first, striking the ball hard and straight. It landed on the left side of the fairway, about 230 yards away. Both Jess and Sedarno clapped. “Not terrible, Maurice,” Sedarno said.
Fumbling for his phone, Adam Googled “Jessica Hughes Chicago golf.” The reception on the course wasn’t great. He looked up from the spinning pinwheel in time to see Sedarno take a great swing, sending the ball careening past Knoll’s. It had to have gone at least 250 yards.
Knoll chortled. “Get out your wallet, girlie. I’m thirsty.”
Jess made a show of wiping sweat off her brow. Then she bent over, straight-legged, to stick her tee in the ground. Adam would have enjoyed the view except he noticed how much Knoll and Sedarno were enjoying it.
He glanced down at his search results—and almost groaned aloud. The first article was from thirteen years ago, entitled “Hughes does it again.” For fuck’s sake. He should have known. In high school, Jessica won the Illinois state golf tournament two years in a row. The article cited her unusual power and mental toughness as the key secrets of her success.
Ignoring Knoll and Sedarno’s stares, Jess got into position, squatting behind the ball, straightening her arms. Adam held his breath, not sure if he hoped she’d do it or not. Without even taking a practice swing, she nailed the ball into the center of the fairway.
Ten yards past Sedarno’s.
The two men stared at the ball and then at her face. Back and forth, like it was a tennis match. Jess just raised her eyebrows and smiled pleasantly. “Shall we, gentlemen?” She gestured to their carts.
Caught in the Act: A Jewel Heist Romance Anthology Page 25