Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
I nodded, staying in character. “Well, that’s good. Sis and I’d had a bet that it was one of those lab-grown stones.” I’d known it wasn’t, but I also hadn’t expected Eli, the thief and con man, to make such a politically correct choice.
“Definitely not,” said the woman. “This is one of the best-regarded diamond mines in the entire world. And these diamonds with the blue tint are especially valuable. At this size and carat, I would estimate it to be worth at least ten thousand dollars.”
I almost choked at the number. I tried to play it cool, despite my first reaction. “Is that so?”
“It is indeed,” she said, her dark eyes seeming to study me. So much for not being memorable. “I can handle the transaction for you if you’d like. We have handled a few of these diamonds recently and easily found buyers all over the world. I can give you full value today, sir. Are you ready to get started?”
She sounded eager, and I was surprised how quickly she wanted to move. But then, she’d have a big commission if she turned around and sold the gem.
“Let me talk to my sister. We’ll be back tomorrow,” I said.
“Excellent. I’ll be looking forward to helping you. I’m Monica. You can ask for me.”
I bid her goodbye and pocketed the diamond, trying not to walk as if I had a fortune in my pocket. It was a quick stride to Ruby’s rental Jeep, and I climbed in, exhaled, and handed her the five-figure gem. “Your stepdad is generous. That bad boy is worth ten K. You’re going to change the combination on your safe tonight, Ariel.”
Her eyes widened to the size of moons. “Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not.” The afternoon sun heated the Jeep through the windows while I relayed the details of my conversation.
Ruby stared at the gem in her hand like an unexploded bomb. “What’s your theory, then?”
I’d been working out a theory since I started. That little bit of intel from Monica helped me fine-tune my theory further. “Eli buys the stones with the stolen money—probably not directly from the mine, but maybe from a broker. Then he gets on a plane with a pocket full of diamonds and carries them here.”
Her brow rose in doubt. “That sounds like ‘bowl full of diamonds’ territory, Jake.”
But it wasn’t at all. “He could wear them around his neck if he had the whim. The necklace his fiancée sported at Sapphire the other night could be an example of how he does it,” I said, since ferrying jewelry was much more plausible than keeping a bowl like candy on a table.
Ruby seemed to consider my ideas without admitting I was right. But she didn’t say I was wrong either. After a few beats, she sighed, then asked, “What then? He has a go-to stash of birthday presents for the women in his life?”
“It’s kind of sexist for you to assume men don’t like to wear diamonds,” I said, teasing.
“Fine, he gives diamond pinkie rings to his guy friends too. Go on.”
I rolled out more of my theory. “Let’s say he keeps them on ice, so to speak, then sells them little by little for cash, turning them liquid. The clerk told me she’s seen a few of these come through recently.”
That added up too. Eli was cunning. He’d realize selling too many diamonds at once would attract undue attention. A few fit the man.
“Fine,” she said tightly. “That seems plausible.”
“It sure does,” I said, and later in the day I’d update Andrew on the visit to see if the client had anything more to share from the emails his people were still decoding. I’d be able to tell him what we’d found out too. We had a traceable watermark. Now all we had to do was follow that link back to the stolen funds.
“Hey,” I said, looking at the woman at the wheel, who seemed to be deep in her own thoughts.
“Thanks,” I said genuinely, meaning it.
Her smile was curious. “For?”
“For working with me on this. Your help is invaluable,” I said.
No, it wasn’t just her help I was thanking her for.
It was her trust.
She’d trusted me enough to hand her diamond to me, a relative stranger, and let me out of sight with it. Gratitude was an inadequate word.
“Thank you too,” she said, softly.
She reached forward to turn up the AC in the Jeep, but froze, staring out the front window. Her gaze had strayed to a man with salt-and-pepper hair headed down the block toward us. He looked…familiar, but I couldn’t place him. “What’s wrong?”
“Tristan,” she said in a strangled whisper. “Shit.”
In a blur, she unbuckled her seat belt, slid from behind the wheel, and climbed on top of me. “Kiss me so he doesn’t notice me.”
No time to think. Just follow orders. In the military, I’d done a lot of that, but this was the easiest command ever. I cupped her face and sealed my mouth over hers. When I looped my hands in her hair and swept my tongue across the seam of her mouth, she moaned quietly and parted her lips.