“Then I’m taking you on a date. Even though you’re a pain in the ass, but evidently that’s one of the things I like most about you. So get ready to be wined and dined,” he said, giving her an order.
She clicked her bare heels together and saluted. “Yes sir. May I have the lotion now? And a full report on your findings from the gallery, sir?”
“I’ve only been trying to tell you about it since I left, but you had your mind on other things.” He handed her the hotel lotion.
“I did, but now you’ve satisfied me, so I’m ready,” she said, even though she knew sex wasn’t what he’d meant.
As she rubbed lotion into her legs, he explained what he’d found at the gallery. “Here’s what happened. As soon as I got into Isla’s office, I knew Penny’s tip was wrong about the diamonds. I’m not saying she lied or anything. Just that whatever knowledge she had no longer applied. There were clearly no gems in Isla’s office at all.”
“I think she worked there a while ago, so maybe her info was out of date,” she offered.
He squirted toothpaste onto a brush. “Yeah, that’s probably what happened. Because the walls were completely bare. Not a damn thing on them. But, being the brilliant private-eye-slash-bounty-hunter that I am,” he said, tapping his temple, “I wasn’t going to squander my chance and cry in the chicken soup over the absence of frames. I did some digging.”
“Naturally.”
“Looked through some drawers. Pawed around the desk. Made sure she wasn’t hiding the diamonds elsewhere. And fortunately, Isla is quite organized. Did you know that?” he asked, then began to brush his teeth.
“No. I haven’t been debriefed on her organizational skills. Please, do share all you know about how she sorts her drawers.”
He smirked, brushed, and spat out the toothpaste. “She’s a dream to investigate. She has nothing. Her office is like a shrine to simplicity. I think she’s one of those people who hates things.”
“Except for sex toys and olives.”
“Well, obviously. Sex toys are awesome, and olives aren’t so bad. In any case, she has one of those sleek metal desks with one drawer. Only pens in it and a Moleskine notebook. She had some nuts on her desk.”
“Nuts?” She arched an eyebrow.
“They usually grow on trees, they’re high in protein and fat, and you eat them. You’re familiar with nuts?”
She tapped her chin as if deep in thought. “Ah, yes. Nuts. Now I understand.” She rolled her eyes. “Point being, that’s an unusual thing to have on your desk.”
“Maybe she keeps nuts around for a quick protein hit. Anyway, she also has only one file cabinet. And it’s not even the metal kind. It’s one of those fancy, cloth-drawer thingamajiggers that women like.”
“We all like fancy cloth file cabinet drawers?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Was that an overgeneralization?” he asked drily.
She held her thumb and forefinger together.
“Anyway, so on the top of it I found some paperwork and that’s what I took. Basically, it’s a document saying Isla donated fifty grand last month to a charity that builds schools in Africa. It’s in one of the countries where there was a ton of diamond mining with child labor, and kids were affected by it. This charity was set up to help them go to school and earn an education.”
“Is it the one where she’s listed on the website as being a major donor?” she asked, then gave him the name of the charity.
He nodded. “Same one.”
She dropped her towel and enjoyed the way his eyes followed her naked body even as she left the bathroom and headed to her suitcase. “Do you think she’s cashing in diamonds for charity? You said before you thought they might be converting some of the diamonds bit by bit,” Steph asked from the room, focusing on the notion of Isla and Eli, not just Eli pulling off this con solo.
“That would be an interesting twist, wouldn’t it?” Jake said as she pulled on panties and a bra, then hunted for her blue dress with slim white stripes. “First night I was here, I saw at her gallery that the Lynx paintings sold for five thousand a piece. Today, when I peeked in the drawer in her gallery, the records show that she’d sold ten of them.”
“Maybe she’s putting the proceeds from her gallery into this charity. Do you think it’s connected?” Steph asked as she shrugged on the light cotton dress.
Jake emerged from the bathroom, and it was her turn to enjoy an eyeful of his naked glory, and my, was he glorious. She frowned as he put on boxers. “Makes me sad to see you in clothes.”
“Speaking of clothes, you need to add a bikini,” he said, gesturing to her dress.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Something you want to tell me?”
He fixed her with a stare. “Yes. That something is bring a bikini for tonight.”
She smiled, grabbed one, and stuffed it into her purse. “Done.”
“Excellent. And to answer your question, there seems to be some kind of connection. There has to be,” he said as he grabbed a pair of cargo shorts.
She clasped her hand over her mouth as an idea slammed into her. “What if they cashed out all the diamonds, Jake? What if there is no more missing money? Maybe it’s a lost cause,” she whispered, frowning, as the possibility of coming up empty-handed clanged in her brain. No justice, no chance to do the right thing. What if the thieves got away with it?
“It happens,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone as he snagged a shirt from the closet and put it on. “Not every job is solvable. Sometimes people move on and the money is gone, even when there’s proof, like there is here. We don’t know what they’ve done with the diamonds they bought from the Frayer mine. All we know for sure is a few were stolen, and they’re supporting a charity for those affected by the diamond economy,” he said.
“And what if we find them? You’re not going to turn him in, are you?”
Jake shook his head. “I work for clients. My client wants this handled as quietly as possible.”
“Will Andrew turn him in?” she asked, quaking with worry.
“I don’t have that answer, but he seems more focused on restoring the money than on turning him in.”
That’s why it was even more important for her to get to the diamonds before the thieves did. Besides, if the diamonds went back to Andrew’s company, that wasn’t a bad option, either. They certainly didn’t seem to belong to Eli, and the thought that her stepdad might be a thief was like an injection of pure sadness in her bloodstream.
“I need to see him again,” she said, swallowing thickly, fighting back the kernel of worry camped out in her. This was the hard part. Confronting him. But if she was ever going to get to the bottom of this, she had to stay ahead of the others who were after his stones. She had to use her advantages. “I’ll give him a call in a few minutes. Set something up. See what I can find out.”
“Maybe another breakfast at Tristan’s.”
That name jogged her memory. Tristan. Tall. Gray-haired. “Tristan.”
He nodded. “Right, the guy who owns the restaurant.”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “But he’s also tall and has gray hair.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “Go on. Does he own a green Honda?”
“That I don’t know. But what if he’s going after the diamonds? He works near the bank, and remember that time I saw him on the diamond merchant street when I grabbed you and made out with you so he wouldn’t see me?”
“I could never forget a prelude to the first time you came screaming my name.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes. It’s true. You came hard in the back of the car and you were absolutely calling my name.”
“Fine. Yes, it was epic. But back to Tristan. Could he be after them? Do you think he’s our Mr. Smith?”
“It’s possible,” he said. “What’s his motivation, though? Usually, there’s a specific one.”
She snapped her fingers. “Eli said Tristan wanted to do business with him, but he didn�
�t seem too interested. Maybe Tristan is pissed because Eli turned down a business deal?”
“Nice work, Sherlock. Let’s make him suspect number one.”
She nearly jumped in place when another idea slammed into her. “Wait. There wasn’t any art in the gallery office, right?”
“Correct.”
“But Penny said Eli was always checking out the frames in the gallery office,” she said, making a rolling gesture with her fingers as the words spilled out of her lips, coming as quickly as the clues added up. “And Isla told me as I was leaving today that they moved the diamonds. And if the walls are bare in her office, but there’s art hanging in the nightclub in oddly shaped frames . . .” She knit her eyebrows, letting him reach the same conclusion.
“You think they’re in the frames at Sapphire?”
She nodded, and a wide smile spread across her face. “I think Isla and Eli have some weird obsession with that art and that artist, and it’s because they think they found the perfect hiding place for their jewels. Inside the frames of his art.”
He quirked up one corner of his lips and shook his head. “I doubt he’d put diamonds in artwork in the hallway.”
“No, but didn’t you say he had some art on the walls in his office the night you scoped it out? But his manager walked out of the office so you couldn’t check it out?”
He stroked his chin and nodded approvingly. “I’m beginning to think we need to plan a return visit to Sapphire.”
“Yes,” she said as she adjusted the straps on her dress. “Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this Sapphire affair.”
As Steph called her stepdad and finished doing those things women do before dates, Jake wandered along the stone path that edged the hotel property. Time to update his client, and it was best to have this call out of earshot of other guests.
“This case is getting crazier, Andrew,” he said into the phone, his flip-flops slapping across the cobbled path on the way to the beach. “I’ve got to hand it to the guy. Eli knows how to hide things.”
Andrew heaved a sigh, but then tried to remain chipper. “But all the evidence points in the right direction. He did turn the stolen money to diamonds via the merchant, and it’s in the Caymans. So we can’t be too far off.”
Jake laughed and scoffed at the same time at his client’s optimistic attitude. It wasn’t that simple. Good jobs never were. “On the surface, yes. But I honestly don’t know if we’re going to get the diamonds because I don’t know if he still has them,” he said, slowing his pace as he rubbed a hand against the back of his neck.
Andrew grumbled something that sounded like a string of curse words.
“Sorry, but it happens,” Jake said.
“I know, but I want to do everything I can to find the diamonds and return them to the fund. We have the proof, and if we can get them back, we can restore the fund more quickly than if we have to go through lengthy legal battles. I want to do it before we have to go to the SEC and make this more public. I’ve got customers talking about pulling out their money. Others are stressing about what was lost. I need to do everything I can before this gets out and our fund starts to go under.”
“I hear ya,” Jake said, but he highly doubted Eli would be moved by any sort of confrontation. The man was impervious. “And don’t think for a second that I’m throwing in the towel. Just want you to know the score.” Jake stopped to lean against a palm tree, staring out at the water. “We’ve narrowed it down from art to jewels, and we’ve got a few leads, but now some of the diamonds are being stolen. We’ve got someone else after them, since one of the diamonds was taken from Steph and one from Eli’s fiancée.”
“Steph’s still involved?”
“We ran into each other and figured out we were after the same thing. So we’re teaming up on this one,” he said, resuming his pace along the path, keeping the Steph details simple. No need for Andrew to know they were sharing both a room and orgasms.
“She’s a lovely lady. She got her good looks from her mother.”
Jake startled at the odd remark. “Not sure what that has to do with anything, but be that as it may, we’re working on this, and, evidently, so are others. I’ll go the distance, but I need to know if that’s what you want.”
“Do what you can do. My shareholders are breathing down my neck. But please don’t commit any crimes to get there,” Andrew said, nerves pocked in his voice.
“Like breaking and entering? That sort of thing?” Jake asked wryly.
“Exactly.”
“I’ll do my best to stay above the law.”
Andrew cleared his throat, and Jake expected him to say good-bye. “Listen, I’ll offer you a bonus if you can pull this off,” he said, then rattled off a healthy number.
Jake blinked and stopped in his tracks. That would cover a lot of summer school. It would pay down a big chunk of law school. It would make life a hell of a lot easier. All he’d have to do would be to beat the competition and do it before Steph left for her tour in three days.
“You’re on,” he said, and returned to his room and his date. The next few hours were a reprieve from the hunt for jewels, and he intended to enjoy them to the fullest.
And her.
CHAPTER TEN
Later that evening, Jake glided across the sandy bottom of the seafloor at Eden Rock, sweeping a flashlight along the caves by the sand gully, drinking in oxygen from the regulator. The grottos underwater made for a perfect dive at dusk. As they explored a craggy cave, a school of silvery grassy sweepers darted past, stirring the cool waters forty feet below the surface.
Jake had gone on many dives in Key Largo, since his hometown was one of the top scuba destinations in the world. But Steph was the pro here, and her ease in the water was evident as she slipped through the rocky tunnels. He hadn’t told her in advance this was on the agenda for their hastily planned date, just to bring a bikini. That surprise factor worked, and it made her delight when they arrived at Eden Rock Dive Shop an hour ago all the more fun to witness. She’d bounced on her toes when she found out what they were doing—a thirty-minute sunset dive.
The site was so close to shore that they’d walked into the water, then swum one hundred and fifty yards to the buoy that marked Eden Rock.
A tarpon slipped past, nearly smacking him with a fin. Sea plants swayed in the ocean. But with air running low, it was time to say good-bye to the ocean. They rose up. As they broke the glassy surface, shades of vibrant pink and bright orange streaked across the sky. The sun raced toward the edge of the earth, flaring its final rays of the day in a radiant sunset.
They treaded water and watched the brilliant orb descend below the horizon in a burst of colors, then a glorious fade to dusk. He shifted his gaze to his date. He said nothing because words weren’t needed. The natural beauty said it all and so did her eyes—they sparkled as she stared into the distance. This was her happy place and he was lucky to share it with her.
Fifteen minutes later, they emerged from the water and reached the dive shop. He returned their equipment and they headed to his rental car. The air-conditioning in her Jeep had been on the fritz, so they’d driven in his car.
“Thank you for taking me on a dive. It was perfection,” she said as he opened the passenger door for her.
“You’re welcome, but I’m pretty sure you were the one taking me,” he corrected. “You’re the pro. I’m just along for the ride. I will, however, finally take you to dinner. Seemed like you were making googly eyes at the panini shop earlier today.”
She swatted his leg. “I was doing no such thing. At least, no more than you were,” she said, lowering her voice to a tease. “Which means—I was absolutely, positively lusting over a sandwich.”
A laugh shuddered through him. “That’s what I thought, Happy Turtle.”
“Let’s do it, Tommy. Sounds like a perfect dinner spot.”
While he’d happily take her to a fancier joint if she wanted, he was digging the fact that she was casual. She
was easy. She didn’t seem to require much when it came to creature comforts. He liked that in a woman. He wasn’t a man who owned a tux. He didn’t swirl wine or hit the links at a country club. He preferred beer, baseball, and boats, as well as sandwiches. After they arrived they ordered: Caribbean chicken for her and a spicy grouper sandwich for him, and beers for the both of them.
The faint tinkle of island music and the plink on the kettledrum wafted through the eatery, drifting onto the patio where they enjoyed a view of the inky black sea in the distance. She spread her napkin on her lap. “I’ve been thinking of something we talked about earlier on your deck. When you asked me earlier if I knew you,” she began.
He nodded. “Go on.”
“And I want to know more, Jake. Seems only fair. You’ve been to my happy place with me,” she said, gesturing to the ocean that hugged the island. “Tell me more about your happy place.”
He arched an eyebrow. “My happy place? You mean seats along the first baseline for the Marlins?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Your family. They’re your happy place, aren’t they?”
He shot her a grin. “Yeah. They absolutely are.”
She placed her hands on the table and leaned forward, listening. “Tell me about them.”
This was easy. This was the easiest conversation in the world. Even though Kylie was a handful, and Brandt had been a wild child, they were his. He loved that she knew already that they were to him what the water was to her. His magic. He began with Kate, telling Steph about how it was his older sister’s idea that he start the retrieval business when he returned from his stint in the army, then about how she liked to give him a hard time about anything and everything, including women. He liked to give her a hard time about her tabby cat, dubbed Inspector Cat, because he liked to knock mugs, flowers, pens, papers, earrings—anything he could get his paws on—off every surface in the house. “He’s kind of an asshole, but then again, he is a cat.”
“My mom has a cat like that. A tuxedo cat. She rips the toilet paper to shreds and eats the plants.”
“Oh, she has an asshole cat, too?” he said drily.
The Sapphire Heist (A Jewel Novel Book 2) Page 6