The Sapphire Heist (A Jewel Novel Book 2) (11 page)

“Sure beats the crummy AC in my rental,” she said as she relaxed in the beige leather seat as they drove toward the club.

“What did you rent?”

“A Jeep.”

At the light, he slowed, then turned to her. “Take this one.”

“What?”

“Yes. Take it. I have another car. Use this while you’re here.”

“Eli, I can’t do that.”

“You just said the AC isn’t working well.”

“It’s not, but—”

“And this AC works swimmingly, right?”

“Yes,” she muttered.

“So drive it while you’re here. There’s absolutely no reason not to,” he said as the light changed and they cruised along the strip of concrete, the ocean hugging them on one side.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to. But I want to,” he said, patting her thigh in a fatherly way. “Look, I know I wasn’t a model husband, or even always a good man, when you were younger. But I’ve always thought of you as my daughter, and I’ve always liked the idea of helping you. Maybe I haven’t done enough to make that clear over the past few years, but I’m trying to be more giving now. To stop being so focused on Eli Thompson and to focus more on others. And if something as small as letting you use my car for the next few days helps you, then it would mean the world to me if you said yes.”

The heat of the sun warmed her shoulder through the closed window, and the vents piped cool air. There was no point saying no, especially if this was part of the amends. She said yes. When they reached the club, Eli parked the car out front and told her he’d be right back. “Just need to grab my extra keys from my desk drawer for you,” he said.

“Thank you again.”

She got out of the car and leaned against the passenger door as she waited for him. The security guy was there, like a sentry. He nodded at her, a flicker of a smile at the corners of his lips. She flashed back to something Isla had said at her house party.

“Oh, Eli got called away into the club. Had to check on a security issue there. You can never be too careful, you know.”

As the man guarded the door like he was the last line of defense in a war, Steph wondered what sort of security matters the club had faced a few nights ago. Come to think of it, the evening Eli was called away happened to be precisely one night after Jake and Steph had scoped out the club—during that stakeout, Jake had spotted the manager eating nuts while leaving Eli’s office.

Her spine tingled.

Ferdinand had been at Isla’s party. He’d been at Happy Turtle during one of her visits. Had he also slipped into Steph’s hotel room?

She wrapped her arms around herself even though she wasn’t cold. A minute later, the security guy opened the door for Eli. He wasn’t alone. The inked man joined him. Steph tensed, moving away from the car.

“Steph, I want you to meet Ferdinand Costello. He manages this club like a pro,” Eli said and clapped him on the back. “He was out running some errands for me, but now he’s back.”

Ferdinand shot her a closed-mouth smile and offered a hand to shake. She took it, nerves storming through her as she searched his brown eyes for any sort of clue that he might be Mr. Smith.

“Good to meet you,” he said, clasping her hand longer than needed. “We’ve all heard so much about you. You’re the adventure tour superstar.”

“She is indeed,” Eli said, stepping next to her to squeeze a shoulder.

“What are your favorite spots? Eden Rock? Stingray City? Happy Turtle Cove?”

The little hairs on her arms stood on end. Happy Turtle was the combination to her safe.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Two could play at this game.

Oh, yes, they could.

Jake left the beach in a huff. Because Jake did the spying. Jake did the investigating.

He did not like it one bit when someone tried to turn the tables. That woman was not going to beat him. On his return to the diamond district, he rang International Diamonds.

“Hey, I’m calling to see if Monica Smith will be working this afternoon.”

“She’ll be here. Shall I give her a message?” the woman on the other end of the phone asked.

“Nope. I have a new stone and I need her keen eye. I’ll just head over shortly with the rock.”

“Wonderful. We look forward to it.”

He laid in wait outside International Diamonds. Nothing broke his focus. He kept watch at the end of the block. He sat at a café across the street with a view of the shop, eyes on the door the whole time. But Monica never showed up. She didn’t return to the store. She didn’t return to Tristan’s, either. She was nowhere to be seen. He waited, and waited, and waited, and finally had to call it a day. At least he’d been relentless. He’d been on his game, even if the game hadn’t been on.

When he returned to the hotel, Steph was pulling into the parking lot in Eli’s gleaming black Audi.

“Nice new wheels,” he said, arching an eyebrow in question, and she told him her stepdad had given her the car. But her voice was flat, a note of sadness to it.

He’d seen her mad, he’d seen her happy, he’d seen her feisty. But he’d never witnessed listlessness from Steph Anderson. Energy and passion had always unfurled from her.

Until now.

He gripped her shoulders and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. Work had ruled the day, and now it was time to help her. “You need a piña colada and you need it stat.”

A hammock hung between two palm trees at the edge of the hotel pool, beckoning. The branches of the tree canopied it, shading out the harsher rays of the afternoon sun. The waves gently dusted the shore, and the splash of teenagers in the hotel pool crackled in the background.

“This hammock has your name written all over it,” he said, holding a drink in each hand. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t touch a froufrou drink with a ten-foot pole, but when in Rome . . .

Or more likely, when your woman is in a funk, sometimes you have to go for the full tropical-drink treatment, complete with red paper umbrellas and swirly straws in each cup.

Steph flopped onto the crisscross ropes of the hammock and made a clawing gesture with one hand. “Drink. Now. Please.”

“One fruity, over-the-top drink at your service. The best medicine I’ve ever known for a crappy day,” he said, handing her the drink.

She took a long, thirsty gulp.

“Careful of the brain freeze,” he said as he joined her on the hammock so they were facing each other.

“I honestly wouldn’t mind my brain being frozen right now. Then I could stop thinking.”

“Talk to me. Tell me what happened. I know you’re bummed about the nuts,” he said.

“At first it was the nuts,” she said with a scoff that turned into a deep, incredulous laugh. “It felt like I’d gotten a pie in my face at a carnival. But then he told me at lunch about how he’s trying to change, and he’s trying to do right by my mom and make up for how unfair he was in the divorce,” she said, her voice softening. “And that’s honestly all I wanted in the first place. I didn’t come here hunting diamonds. I came here early for a personal family reason.”

Jake nodded slowly, taking his time to process. As her lover, he wanted to be supportive and respectful of the family matters, even if they didn’t see eye to eye. But as her partner in un-crime, he wanted her by his side.

“I get it. You feel torn,” he said, keeping his response simple and straight down the middle. He knocked back more of his beverage, brain freeze risks be damned. Stretching his arm to the grass, he set his drink on the grass under the hammock and reached for her leg. He rubbed her calf, enjoying the warmth of her skin. Then he focused his words on the greater good. “I know you feel pulled, and I know you’re frustrated, too, that we’re coming up empty. But we’re close, so close. And I know we can set things right. The diamonds are somewhere here on this island.”

She shot him a helpless stare. “The diamonds could be anywhere.
Anywhere.
That’s the problem. We’ve turned over every possible stone, and they’ve come up empty,” she said, then under her breath she added, “and maybe they should. Maybe we should leave well enough alone.”

“I’m not ready to give up,” he said, trying to stay upbeat for the both of them. He had the big carrot of Andrew’s incentive dangling in front of him, but that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to soldier on. He didn’t believe in giving up. He wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. Sure, some cases went cold, but this one felt crackable, and he didn’t want to lose his partner.

“What if he didn’t even take the money from his company? What if someone else is the Bernie Madoff in this situation? What if it’s Andrew?” she asked, her voice thready with doubt as she shared something Eli had said to her at lunch. Seemed her stepdad was trying to cast blame back on his former business partner, and nothing could be more suspicious than that, in Jake’s mind. “And then he told me that Andrew has been in love with my mother for years,” Steph added with a
what’s-the-deal-with-that
look.

“He said that?” Jake furrowed his brow.

She wrapped her lips around the red straw and drank. “Yes. It seems like a strange thing to say out of nowhere, doesn’t it?”

Jake sighed and slid his palm down his face. “Actually, it’s not completely random. When I talked to Andrew on the phone yesterday, he mentioned out of the blue how pretty your mom is.”

Steph crinkled her freckled nose, then set her drink on the ground. “Really? Ugh. That just kind of grosses me out right now.”

“I have to admit, I thought it was a little odd to mention it. Not that your mom isn’t gorgeous, because,” he said, stopping to gesture to the evidence in front of him in the form of the woman’s beautiful daughter, “obviously she produced you, but it was strange to say.”

“Jake,” she said softly, pushing up on her elbows. “Do you trust Andrew? How do we know for sure what he’s told you is legit?”

“Kate vetted everything beforehand. I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t believe his info was solid and checked out,” he said, squeezing her calf for emphasis and putting his drink down, too.

“What if Kate made a mistake, though?”

He blinked, looking at her like she was crazy. “Excuse me?”

“What if your sister missed something? What if those documents and e-mails were doctored?”

He shook his head, his jaw set hard. “No. I saw them myself, and besides, Kate specializes in document analysis. She doesn’t make mistakes,” he said, his tone firm.

“But everyone makes mistakes,” she said softly.

He cocked his head to the side, not liking this new direction. “Then by that rule of thumb, what if you made a mistake? What if you were wrong?”

“What are you saying I’m wrong about?”

“I’m saying you’re wrong in stating that the evidence is false. I think maybe,” he said, taking his time with the next words, “you’re letting these gifts he gives you sway you from the truth.”

“What gifts?”

“The car,” he said matter-of-factly. “He gave you his car to use. No wonder you’re believing the lie he served up about Andrew.”

Her eyes blazed with anger, but her voice was menacingly quiet when she spoke. “I don’t care about material things. I don’t care about the car. I care about my family. OK? I’m just like you, only
excuse me
that we’re not above reproach. I get that Eli isn’t perfect. I know that as well as anyone. He’s made a ton of mistakes and he’s hurt people. But he’s the only father I’ve ever had, and even if he’s less than perfect, I would hope you of all people would understand the ties that bind,” she said, sitting up straight, anger radiating off her.

Shit.

He was hitting below the belt, and it wasn’t fair. He couldn’t even pretend to know how torn she must feel. “Steph,” he said softly, running his fingertips down her arm. She shirked away. “I’m sorry I said that. I do understand the pull. I just don’t want you to be blind to what’s going on,” he said, then tried once more to touch her. Selfishly, he couldn’t risk fighting with her like this. There was too much at stake, and he couldn’t jeopardize the case just because he disagreed with her. She might tip off Eli. She might turn her back on him. She might cross him.

But he also hated to see her hurting.

He ran his fingers down her bare skin once more. This time, she let him. “I know it’s hard,” he whispered.

“It is hard. It’s really fucking hard,” she said in a broken whisper, devoid of anger now, laced only with sadness.

That he knew. That he understood. And that he could comfort as a man who cared deeply for a woman. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, petting her hair. “I know, Steph. I know. And I know how important family is. Trust me, I do.”

Trust.

That’s what this all came down to. He still wasn’t entirely sure if they trusted each other, but she fit so damn well in his arms that it was almost impossible to fathom that they might still doubt each other.

She pulled away a few inches. “And on top of all of that stuff in here,” she said, tapping her heart, “I feel like we’re being set up. Everywhere I turn, we hit a snag.”

“That’s the nature of a case like this. Three steps forward. Two steps back.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the diamonds are in Africa at this point with the charity. Or with Ferdinand. He made the strangest comment when I left today that made me think he knew the combo to my safe. Or maybe Tristan has them. He’s trying to do a deal with my stepdad to carry some new drink.”

“Or with the diamond saleswoman,” he said, then described Monica to her, down to the details of her glasses.

Steph’s big blue eyes blinked. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. I’m not,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because that woman was at Isla’s house party. She sounds exactly like the same Monica.”

“Holy shit,” he said, the wind knocked out of him in surprise. “It’s got to be her. She has to be the one who took your diamond. She was the one who told me the value of it when I went to International Diamonds with you. I bet she followed us that day. Remember, we heard a car peeling out in the garage where I . . .” He let his voice trail off to remind her of their afternoon in the back of her Jeep.

She rolled her eyes playfully, and that one light gesture from her in the midst of her frustration hooked into his heart. He wanted to be the one to lift her up, to whisk her away from a crappy day. “Yes, I remember. Anyway, you think she was following us?”

“It’s entirely possible that she wanted that diamond of yours from the second I showed it to her at the store. She could have followed us to figure out where you were staying.”

“See? This is my point. I’m being followed. People are stealing from me. My stepdad’s manager makes odd comments. I just want to do my job. But there’s still this one big, fat issue for me,” she said, stopping to take a beat and meeting his gaze. “What if Eli is telling me the truth?”

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t know what to believe. It’s not even about the jewels anymore, Jake. Or who they should or shouldn’t belong to,” she said, dragging a hand through her hair. “I don’t know what to believe about him.”

He didn’t know how to reassure her or if he even could. He didn’t have to grapple with the same issues. Eli had helped raise her, he’d lived with her, he’d taken her to kiss stingrays. That bond wasn’t easily dismissed, despite his sins and omissions on other fronts.

But to Jake, Eli was simply the target. He didn’t have to divorce his emotions; there were none.

He ran his hands down her legs, reaching for her foot. Her eyes drifted closed, and she moaned softly as he pressed his thumbs against the ball of her foot. A contented sigh fell from her lips as he massaged her heels, her arch, her toes, all the way to her little pinkie. He wiggled it. She laughed, a sweet sound, like bells.

He rubbed his way up, digging his fingers into the strong muscles of her legs. Her legs had hooked him that first night. They were one of the things he noticed about her in the bar. How strong and athletic she was, making her his type physically. But in the last week he’d learned she was much more than that. What started as physical had morphed into something more. Into the kind of something where he wanted her to be happy, where he wanted to bring that sparkle back to her eyes.

He reached her thighs, and she let one knee fall to the side.

Oh hell. He wasn’t strong enough. He didn’t possess enough restraint to rub her legs in a hammock in public. He wanted her too much.

He reached for her hand and took her to their room.

Once inside, he lifted her dress over her shoulders, then slid off her panties. She took off his clothes. They didn’t say anything. Only sighs. Only murmurs. Only touches. Words weren’t needed. He wanted to comfort her with his touch.