Queen of Diamonds (10 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“Hello, Mr. Brown, I’m Logan Hunter. I really appreciate you working me in. I know running a place like this takes a lot of time.” He made a vague motion encompassing the elegant entryway with its tall windows and expensive paintings before he shook hands with the suit.

“Oh, Mr. Hunter, this is such an honor. Would you like me to show you around?”

“That would be great.”

They walked down a long well-lit corridor, whose sleek designer carpet and discreet wallpaper reminded him of some high-end hotels he’d stayed in.

“Do you have a loved one who may be joining us? We have quite a waiting list.”

“I can certainly see why. From the little I’ve seen, it would be a perfect spot for a senior to spend his or her remaining days.” Through the window was another manicured garden, the walks made from soft-colored sea shells, lined by pink tea roses, still in bloom. Benches, under crape myrtles, were dispersed along the walk.

His grandmother would have liked it here. She loved her crape myrtles. Nostalgia hit him, she was the only one in his family he’d ever been close to and she’d passed when he was ten. He still missed her.

Mr. Brown followed his gaze. “Lovely isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is.” He turned his attention back to Mr. Brown. “I hear you have special grants for this place.”

Mr. Brown gave him a shocked look. “I don’t know where you heard that, sir, but no indeed. Rose Manor is very exclusive.”

A tingling started at the base of his skull and wound its way through his system.

“So none of your current patients are on grants?”

“If they were I couldn’t tell you. But no they aren’t. “Do you mind if I ask your interest in grants for our patients?”

He smiled and shrugged. “Writer’s curiosity.”

The stiff look on Mr. Brown’s round face subsided. “Of course.”

The administrator continued to show him around pointing out areas of interest. It was an amazing place, everything one would want for their parents’ declining years.

“Too bad everyone can’t afford to stay at a place like this.” Logan stared at the big screen TV with a row of theatre chairs and an empty row for wheelchairs surrounding it.

“Yes it is. Although, if that were the case, I’d be out of a job,” the administrator laughed.

We wouldn’t want that
. “Okay, if I stick my head in and say hello to Mrs. Theron? I’m a friend of her daughter’s.” Friend might be fabricating a bit but fabrication was what he did for a living.

“Oh, of course. Her daughter is absolutely amazing isn’t she? She always contributes heavily to Alzheimer’s research. Her mother has been given every experimental drug that has come out, but unfortunately it has only managed to slow the inevitable.”

The base of his neck was tingling again. It prickled every time a story started coming together. Only this time the tingling was followed by dread scuttling through his system like the skin-crawling sensation of spider legs. Surely, she wasn’t Queenie, wouldn’t run that risk, not with Caroline. But how else was she getting the money?

He turned to Mr. Brown and held out his hand. “Thanks for showing me around. It’s a wonderful place.   I think I’m going to have to put off my visit to Mrs. Theron until later.”

“You never did say, Mr. Hunter, is it a parent you’re looking at Rose Manor for?”

“A distant aunt. But at the moment she’s still doing okay on her own. I just want to be ready when the time comes.”

Mr. Brown’s face fell. “Of course.”

“Well, thanks again.” Logan trotted down the steps and hurried to his car. Maybe Kendall was a pathological liar. He ticked the list off in his head…again: lied about a husband, lied about doing research for him to her family, lied about having an affair. And add to that, lied about the grant. Regardless, he still couldn’t believe Kendall was Queenie. The idea was too farfetched. But then again farfetched was his bread and butter. He had to find out, once and for all whether Kendall was the Queen of Diamonds.

Chapter Fifteen

Kendall stared at the back of her boss’s sleek head. Unease danced in her stomach and had her shifting in her seat. Logan had just been too damn nice lately.
No that wasn’t it
. She tapped her finger against her desk, noticed what she was doing and stopped. He’d been more politically correct than nice. It’d been three weeks since that sizzling lip lock and he’d made no attempt to repeat it, quite the opposite. That should make her happy, right? It did, she assured herself.

Unfortunately, he had also stopped coming by the house to play poker or spend time with her dad. And while that was a relief, of sorts, for her, it hadn’t made her dad or daughter happy…at all.

She heaved a deep sigh and put her hand on her belly, hoping to stop the jumping around in her gut and relax.

“Are you okay, Ms. Theron?” His voice polite, he didn’t turn around just kept pecking at his keyboard.

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“That heavy sigh.”

“I’m fine. Everything okay with you? How’s the writing going?” She wanted to head slap herself for the babble but couldn’t seem to help herself, which unnerved her even further. She could heist a diamond without a qualm but became a jabbering idiot around her boss.

He turned around and grinned. “The story’s going great. It may be my best ever. I found something I think Queenie would appreciate. Come take a look.”

She forced her stiff limbs up. “You are still going on the diamond heist angle?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m going with the idea I previously mentioned: everyone thinks the famous female burglar, who hasn’t been heard of for the past five years, has come out of retirement and is stealing again, when it’s actually a young man. The readers will eat it up.”

She rubbed her arms to calm herself and forced her uncooperative legs to move forward ’til she was staring over his shoulder at the computer screen.

He had pulled up a diamond that was at a boutique jewelry store in Savannah that she’d heard of but never hit. Saliva pooled in her mouth. The stone was exquisite, a six carat asscher, set in platinum with a hefty price tag. More expensive than anything she’d stolen before.

“What do you think?”

“It looks nice.”

He snorted. “Obviously, Ms. Theron, you are no expert on diamonds.” He glanced at her ears, throat and hands. “In fact, I’ve never seen you wear a diamond.”

She shrugged. “Just not into jewelry.”

“Too bad. You’ve certainly got the neckline for it.” His manner was more offhand than admiring.

She fought back the spurt of irritation. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

“Do I have anything on my calendar for Friday?” His gaze was still on the picture of the diamond.

“Nothing that can’t be shifted. Why?”

“Bambi wants me to meet her in New York.”

Her hands clenched and her skin tightened but she kept her voice even. “I didn’t realize you and Bambi were back together.”  There hadn’t been any mention of other women or any overnights, except for the ‘friend’ since they’d kissed.

“Oh you know me.” He winked at her.

Fire burned behind her eyes. “I certainly do.”

His eyes dropped. “So we’ll hit it hard the rest of the week then both of us take an extended weekend. Unless you have something pressing there’s no need for you to come in.”

“Thanks.”

~*~

Somehow Kendall made it through the rest of the week. She was angry with her boss and his tomcatting proclivities, angry with herself for caring one way or the other, and she’d been having a running mental battle about heisting the diamond.  It was too soon after her last heist. In fact, the last two burglaries had been closer together than she normally spaced them.

But in spite of that she’d spent hours studying it. She lusted after it, coveted it. Damn him for planting the seed. She’d always had a weakness for asschers. She could make enough on this one to take care of her mother for several months. Maybe after this she could quit. In spite of the healthcare expenses she’d been steadily putting back money. She couldn’t keep doing this forever and at some point her luck was going to run out then where would her daughter be?

Chapter Sixteen

Rain pelted against the windshield as she headed south on US 17 early Friday morning. The continuous back and forth of the wipers was making her edgy. Nerves crawled under her skin. Was she making a mistake? Something didn’t feel right.

For one thing it was closer to home than she liked. Why hadn’t she researched and found an asscher farther north? And why fixate on the one her boss had pointed out? But with unerring accuracy he’d picked a stone that looked unbelievably perfect. Just the pictures of it made her palms itch.

This was going to be the last heist. A good thief knew when to get out of the game. She stared through the rain. It was time. Somehow she’d find another way to support her mother.

By the time she pulled into a rundown motel on 95S the rain had stopped, taking the lingering humidity with it. She put on oversized sunglasses, tied a scarf around her head and went into the office and paid for a room. Once inside she changed quickly then pulled on a wig and studied the effect.

The short dark brown cut, with tousled bangs just above her eyes, squared her face. She added brown contacts and shadow then a dash of blush and lip gloss. The red dress she wore was fitted with a low square cut neck, partially covered by a short red jacket. There was enough cleavage to draw attention to her breasts instead of her hands. She took a deep breath.

“I’m ready.” Nerves gone, she strolled out of the room with her shoulders thrown back, radiating confidence.

She stepped in her car and pressed the gas. Forty-five minutes later she entered the little boutique-style jewelry store. Soft music played as her stilettos sunk into thick carpeting.  Diamonds glittered and flashed against a black velvet backdrop.

A middle-aged woman approached. “May I help you?”

Kendall caught the eye of a young man behind the counter and he hurried toward her.

“Thank you, but I believe this gentleman plans to assist me.”

The woman shrugged and walked away. Clasping her clutch, Kendall waited for him, giving a sympathetic grimace as he tripped in his hurry to reach her.

“May I help you?” He finger combed his hair then gulped when her jacket gaped as she leaned on the counter, studying the diamonds.

Giving him a smile, she straightened. “I believe so. I was told this was the place to come if I wanted to buy a really stunning asscher.” 

“How stunning?”

“At least five carats.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Oh yes. We can certainly help you with that. Over here please.” He motioned her toward the glass case on his right.

Her heart beat picked up, there it was. He pulled out a five carat that sat beside the diamond she’d come for. First she slipped on the five carat and held it to the light. “Beautiful.”

“It looks lovely on your hand.” The clerk hastily turned his gaze from her breasts to her fingers.

“Thank you. It’s a little loose.”

“We can have it sized.”

“Good.”  Ramping up the charm, she gave him her most dazzling smile, slid it off and pointed to the diamond she wanted. “Let’s try that one.”

“What?” He blinked as if coming out of a trance. “Oh, of course.”

He reached in and brought out the six carat asscher. She splayed her fingers and the clerk slid the ring on her.  “It is gorgeous isn’t it?” The light bounced around it with every movement.

“It was made for you.”

“Hmm, I believe you may be right.” She lifted her hand and studied the ring.

“It’s actually 6.56 and has a very good cut. It’s not perfect, it’s VVS1. But the inclusions are so slight it would be difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10x  magnification. If it were flawless we’d be asking much more.”

“I can see that. What’s the price?”

He cleared his throat. “A hundred and ninety-five thousand, but I’m sure my manager would be willing to knock something off.”

“Really? Why don’t you ask him?”

“Don’t go away, I’ll be right back. If you have any questions, Julie is right here.” He nodded to the middle-aged clerk before he hurried off.

Kendall opened her clutch and began to dig inside. The next moment she came out with a tissue. She continued to admire the ring, occasionally tapping her manicured nails on the glass.

A few moments later the clerk hurried back, his features flushed and triumph. “Twenty percent off.”

She pouted. “I was hoping for twenty-five.”

He leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. “I’m sure we can get that for you.”

Reluctantly, she pulled the ring off her finger. “Will you hold it for me? I’m going to bring a friend, who is very knowledgeable about diamonds, back this afternoon. If he approves it’s a go.”

“Of course, I’ll put it back right now.”

“Thank you. See you in a few hours.” She kept her pace leisurely as she walked out. As soon as she hit the sidewalk it became more brisk. She would insist on a higher cut for this one. Her chest warmed and a smile pushed hard at the corners of her mouth.

She rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. Ice coated her veins and froze her muscles. For one moment, she considered running.
No. That would be a mistake.
It was all she could do to force one foot in front of the other as she walked with stiff jerky steps toward her car, her body in slow motion, her heart pounding so loud she was absolutely certain it would disconnect and go flying through the stratosphere. But her head remained cool.

She stopped in front of it and stared at him, every fiber of her body in shock.

“Hello, Queenie.”