But Jake wasn’t thinking about the machines anymore. He was thinking only about why a vehicle would ride so low. There was one reason, and one reason only. Something was in it. A kernel of hope resurfaced in him, rolling through his veins, picking up speed.
He tugged at the waistband of Steph’s tank top, gently pulling her out of earshot under the awning. Lowering his voice, he whispered, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Her eyes twinkled, but a hint of nerves shone through. “I’m not sure. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking about what might be so heavy in the trunk that it makes a car ride that low . . .” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to say it. Wondering if this changed her mind. Hoping it did.
Hell, he wanted to crack this case wide open with her by his side.
“Let’s look inside.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
As he pulled back the heavy trunk cover, she gasped quietly, covering her mouth.
Holy shit.
He was right.
With the car now parked at the back of the car-wash lot, and the attendants vacuuming the mats, Steph was free to peek. And what an eyeful it was. Her stepfather had built a safe into the trunk of his car. Her mind scrambled with possibilities. Her brain lit up with far too many options. She’d abandoned the hunt yesterday. It had become too dangerous, but it had also stirred up too much guilt for her. The lunch with Eli had left her swimming in a sea of doubt.
She was still treading water. Only now there was a safe before her eyes, a safecracker by her side, and the potent possibility that he could finally have what he was hunting.
Talk about a dilemma.
Her gut twisted. She didn’t want to find diamonds. She wanted Eli to be the guy he was becoming, the man who was changing.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, nerves threading through her voice. Her stepfather had given her use of this car because he trusted her. She was one of the few people he trusted. To paw through his private property seemed wrong now. He might have done some shady stuff in his lifetime, but she didn’t have to do the same.
“It’s right here,” Jake pressed. “What if, Steph? What if?”
“What if it’s another trick?” she pointed out in a low tone.
“We’ll never know unless we check.”
Her eyes floated closed for a second. Her worries gnawed at her. This just felt . . . wrong. She opened her eyes. The noise from the vacuum grew louder, but she kept her voice low. “I won’t stop you, but I don’t know if I can do this.”
He sighed heavily. “Seriously?”
“I know Eli’s made mistakes, but he’s trying to change, and it seems wrong of me to look for diamonds now.”
He scrubbed a hand across his jaw. “You said you weren’t going to stand in the way,” he muttered, sounding irritated.
“I’m not,” she said insistently. “You can go ahead. Look.”
“Shit,” he said as the attendants moved to the backseat now, pressing hoses to the floor of the car. “I can’t look now. You’re making me feel bad for trying to finish this.”
She pointed at herself, and her jaw fell open. “I’m making you feel bad? It’s all my fault now? C’mon. Take a little responsibility for your own emotions.”
He straightened his shoulders. “Oh, excuse me for having some. Excuse me for wanting something.”
“Oh, don’t get all worked up about it. You’re a grown man. You can deal with feeling bad, and you can also deal with trying to do your job. Doesn’t mean I have to.”
He crossed his arms. “I can’t do it. I just can’t. It’s your stepdad’s car, and if you don’t want to, I’ll have to go along with you,” he said, blowing out a long stream of air. “Gotta respect my girl.”
Something about the way he said that rankled her. It wasn’t the use of girl. That didn’t bother her. It was the way he tossed the decision back on her. That was wholly unfair. Frustration rushed through her, driven by the need to put a fork in this once and for all. “Look, if you won’t man up, I’ll do it. I’m sure it’s an obvious combo like his birthday,” she said, bending her head into the trunk and pressing numbers into the dial pad. But the door wiggled before she entered the last number. It wasn’t even locked.
She grabbed the handle and yanked it open as the sound of the vacuum shut off.
Holy mother of jewels.
Diamonds. Everywhere. Handfuls of them. Gobs of them. Her throat went dry, and her pulse spiked. There they were. A towering pile of priceless gems, glittering in the sun. She froze, gawking at the glory before her.
She dared tilt her head an inch to catch Jake’s gaze, and he was staring into the trunk in amazement, too.
“Gorgeous,” he whispered in a stunned voice.
“It wasn’t even locked,” she said, surprised, as a door nearby slammed shut. Steph raised her face out of the trunk, looking for the source of the sound.
The click of an engine turning over blasted through the air, and the Audi took on a life of its own.
“Thanks for the help. You’re the best,” a woman wearing an Island Shine T-shirt shouted, and Steph raced around the car. Clarissa poked her head out the window and grinned madly at Steph. With one hand on the wheel, she peeled out of the parking lot and drove off with the car, the stash, and the keys that had been left in the ignition as the attendants cleaned.
Jake tore off after her, running like a track star, sprinting on a mad dash for the car. He ran like a bullet, powered by adrenaline. Out of the lot, down the street, chasing the black automobile.
But Clarissa and the Audi were far faster. She sped through the light by the car wash, leaving Jake in the dust. He parked his hands on his thighs and bent over, panting.
A green Honda drove by next, following the Audi. Tristan was at the wheel.
He ate his scream of frustration. Clenching his fists, he brought them to his eyes and just cursed everything and everyone under the sun. He was ready to stomp his feet, to bang his head against a door, to yank out his hair.
Because . . . fuck.
The diamonds had been in his grasp. Inches away. He’d been reaching for them when Clarissa had torn off in Steph’s father’s car.
It was Venice all over again. He had his hands on the goddamn prize and it was stolen from under his nose.
By Clarissa. Who was joining Steph’s tour. Who Steph said was super sweet. Followed by Tristan. Steph had dined at his restaurant twice.
His chest burned. His jaw clenched. Déjà vu descended on him and gripped him hard.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
He knew better, and he’d gone in anyway. He’d taken the risk for the woman, letting his stupid heart lead, and look where it had landed him.
Straight into His Dumbass Romantic Decisions—the Sequel.
“Did you know?” he asked, and he wasn’t even sure where the words came from or what he was trying to say.
“What?” She looked at him like he was crazy.
He pointed in Clarissa’s direction, though she was long gone, and so was her accomplice. “Did you know she was going to do that?”
She parked her hands on her hips. “How would I know that?”
“How else would she know to be here?”
“She was following us,” Steph said, as if it were obvious.
But was it? Was it crystal clear? Or was it muddy? “You said she was joining your dive tour. You said she was nice. You said you liked her.”
“And that means what, Jake?” she asked, her tone cool and even.
“How can you be so casual about her taking the diamonds? Unless you’re—”
She held up a hand. “Think real hard before you say it. Ask yourself if you want to go there.”
“Go where?” he volleyed back.
“You’re about to suggest I’m in on it, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what the fuck to think,” he spat out, frustration eating away at every bit o
f common sense, spitting out every cell in his brain. He mimed holding something precious. “I had them. We had them. And then she just took off. In your stepfather’s car. I’ve been there before, Steph, and you knew it. I told you what happened in Venice.”
“And somehow that means I’m in on it? What the hell? You think I plotted that with my stepdad’s assistant manager, who I just met a few days ago?”
“Did you, though? Did you just meet her? Or have you known her for years like you know everyone else on this island?” he said, because he didn’t know what the hell to think anymore. For all he knew, he’d been played a fool from the start. What if she’d backed out last night for this very reason? To set up this moment? To make herself appear more unlikely as a thief? That’s what Rosalinda had done.
He’d thought he knew Steph, but what the hell did he know about anything? This was his Achilles’ heel—he fell too hard and too fast for the wrong women.
Women who crossed him.
“I don’t know her. She’s clearly the thief. She’s clearly been after the diamonds all along. She clearly followed us,” Steph said, her chin raised high. She stabbed her finger against the side of her skull. “How is this not clear to you? How is this not getting through your head? I did not plan a diamond heist with Clarissa. She was just going to join me on a dive.”
“Maybe a celebratory tour?”
“Are you crazy?”
He couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t see straight. Nothing made sense anymore. He’d run into dead ends every damn step of the way. He’d been thwarted everywhere and none of the clues had added up. She could have been using him as her front man to break into places and chase down leads ’til she got closer. Hell, she might be working with Monica, too. Maybe Monica had staked him out for Steph.
He didn’t know.
But he knew this—there was no proof her own diamond had been stolen. Only her word.
“Where’s your diamond, Steph?” he asked, his tone low and accusing. She’d pointed fingers first. She was certain he’d pilfered her rock. But maybe it had never been stolen. “How do I even know for sure it was stolen? How do I know you haven’t been playing me from the get-go?”
Her eyes widened. “I thought we’d gone over this already, but just in case it’s not clear. I like you, Jake. I’m crazy for you. I did not play you.”
“But how do I know for sure? How do I know if any of this between us is real? Or just a setup to take the diamonds?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Just a low hiss of breath.
Then, words came. Measured. Focused. Sharp as a blade. “One, you know because of the time we’ve spent together. Two, it’s not a setup because I’m falling for you. Three, in case the first two weren’t clear”—she paused and waved crisply at him—“that hurts more than you can know. Good-bye.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
His. Hers. Stolen. Owned. Doctored. Legit evidence. $10 million or $10,000.
None of those specifics mattered right now. Steph had spent enough time trying to figure out what was up with the diamonds and who’d taken what from whom.
But right now, she wasn’t an amateur private detective, a treasure hunter, or a Robin Hood. She was a daughter who’d taken her father’s car and lost something precious.
That was the only truth, and that’s how she had to behave as her cab pulled up to Eli’s house thirty minutes later.
He hadn’t even freaked out when she’d called and told him why she was taking a cab. That his car and millions in diamonds were stolen by Clarissa. He’d simply said, “Not to worry, my dear. I’ll take care of it.”
She dug into her purse to pay the driver, hunting for bills in her wallet. When she raised her face, Eli was at the window, handing the driver a fifty.
She unbuckled, opened the door, and got out of the car. He gave her a peck on the cheek. “You are a sight for sore eyes,” he declared, and his grin seemed to stretch to the moon.
“Your car was stolen. Your diamonds are gone. Why are you in such a happy mood?” she asked, knitting her brow together.
He placed a hand on her back and gestured to the stone path. “Come inside. Let’s have some champagne with Isla. We have lots to celebrate.”
Once inside, Isla practically pummeled Steph with a hug. “You’re a superstar.”
Perhaps she’d waltzed into a fun house. Down was up, right was left, and her stepfather was celebrating having been robbed. Steph furrowed her brow. “How am I a superstar? Somebody needs to explain what’s going on.”
“First, champagne,” Isla said, her voice as bubbly as the beverage that she poured from a bottle of Dom Pérignon.
Eli handed her the flute. “A toast. To you.”
Steph raised her glass, succumbing to the topsy-turvy world she’d entered. Clearly, Eli would tell her when he was good and ready.
“Isla and I promised that we’d only open this bottle when we cracked the case,” he said, lifting a glass to his lips and taking a sip.
“What do you mean? The case?”
Isla’s eyes lit up. “The case of who’s been trying to steal the diamonds.”
“Oh. So you knew that . . . ,” Steph started, letting her voice trail off. No need to admit she’d been hunting those jewels, too. Her motive was different, after all. She’d been trying to help him, in a roundabout way—to save him from others.
“A few weeks ago, it became clear that someone was sniffing around for our precious gems,” Eli said, leaning against the marble kitchen counter, draping an arm around his fiancée. She lifted her hand and laced her fingers through his.
“This started a few weeks ago?” she repeated. That was well before she and Jake had arrived on the island.
He nodded. “We’ve done everything we can to try to catch a thief. And now we have. Seconds after you called, I contacted my friends on the police force about the stolen car and the stolen gems, and Clarissa is already under arrest.”
Isla squeezed his arm. “Don’t forget Tristan is, too,” she said.
“He was such a dunce,” Eli said with a laugh. “That chocolate drink was awful, wasn’t it? He knows how to make great food, but he can’t seem to stop there. Keeps trying to become some bizarre mixologist as well.”
Steph made a timeout sign. “Back it up. You’re telling me that Clarissa and Tristan were working together to steal your diamonds?”
“Seems they were. I had a hunch it was her,” Eli said, stopping to drink some of the champagne. “I’ve been trying to catch her. That’s why Ferdinand put nuts in the back of the frame in my office, and then dropped hints all over the club that the diamonds were in my frame. Clarissa must have been so shocked when she sliced open the frame the other day and found nothing but nuts,” Eli said, cracking up, clutching his belly.
Isla joined in. “Oh my God, I would pay good money to have seen the look on her face.”
Steph’s cheeks flamed bright red, and she stared at her feet, hoping, praying they wouldn’t notice that she’d become a beet. But they seemed to believe Clarissa had been the one to take the nuts from the frame, not her. That presumption made sense. Clarissa was indeed the thief, and Steph was right, too, that her stepdad had been one step ahead, planting fake clues all along. But why? Some details didn’t add up.
“What about Ferdinand?” Steph asked. “The guy with the snake tattoo? I thought you were concerned he might have taken your necklace, Isla?”
Isla shook her head. “He’s lovely.”
“Ferdie is my right-hand man,” Eli chimed in. “I pay him well, and he uses it to support his family. He wouldn’t bite the hand that feeds him. He’s been helping me all along to lay the groundwork.”
“But Marie said something to me the other night,” Steph began, then stopped talking because she didn’t want to get Marie in trouble.
“Oh, Marie is involved with him. They’re dating,” Eli said. “So she helped to plant the possibility that it was him. We figured if the real thief
thought it was Good Ol’ Ferdie, he or she might be more cavalier, and she was.”
The sunlight streamed through the kitchen window and splashed its rays across Isla. A glint of blue flashed on her throat. “Your necklace. It’s back. Was that returned?”
Isla placed her hand on it, then stage-whispered. “It was never missing in the first place. I just pretended it was stolen by wearing a fake.”
“But you said everyone at your gallery party was looking for it?” Steph asked, still trying to process the scope of their cleverness.
Isla rubbed her thumb and forefinger across the gem. “I loosened it in the casing before the party. When I freshened up my drink, I leaned over the glass, the gem fell in, and voilà. Everyone went looking for it, but Eli swooped in to take my drink and keep my engagement diamond safe and sound.”
“So you weren’t really calling insurance? Were you lying to me about that?” Steph asked, turning to Eli. She knew she didn’t have the right to feel tricked, given what she’d been trying to pull off.
Still, she sure as hell felt hoodwinked. And that feeling stung like a yellow jacket, since she’d been looking out for Eli. Even when she’d been cloak-and-daggering it, she’d done it all to try to exonerate him, to try to save him from more trouble.
“Clarissa insisted upon it. As soon as she heard about the ‘missing diamond,’ she made a big stink about how I had to call insurance. Probably to make herself seem less likely as the culprit. So I called and reported it missing.”
“And you’re going to call now and tell them you found it?”
He shrugged happily. “Sure, I suppose I ought to do that.”
Something raged inside her over his cavalier attitude. On the one hand, she understood why he was so gleeful. Someone had been trying to take something precious to him, and he’d laid a clever trap. But was that something even his to begin with?
All of a sudden, Isla pointed frantically to the counter. She covered her mouth with her hand and whispered in terror, “Spider.”
Eli leaped into action, grabbing a paper towel and squashing it instantly. He brandished the wadded-up towel with the dead bug. “Victory again.”
The Sapphire Heist (A Jewel Novel Book 2) Page 14