Page 100 of Blue Moon

“It’s easy enough to get to the Strip when I need to, and I prefer the peace of the desert and the mountains.”

“How long have you lived in your beautiful home?”

“Five years.” Which fit with the date the Prince of Porn moved to Tampa. “Before that, I lived on the family estate in Colorado.”

“Why did you move?”

“The area my parents live in is boring as hell. Full of retirees, nothing going on. You ever been to the US?”

“No, never, but I hope to visit soon.”

Elene served up a saucy smile, and Ryder was confident she’d fallen for the pretence.

“How much vacation time do you get?”

She claimed to work as a personal assistant at a marketing firm, although that was probably a lie like everything else.

“Four weeks, but I think I’m going to leave my job.”

“Why’s that?”

Something to do with the ten million bucks she stole?

“I started making jewellery.” She tapped the necklace she was wearing, ornate swirls of silver wrapped around rainbow-hued opal. “This is one of mine.”

“Very nice. Where do you sell them?”

“In craft stores, mainly, but I started a website, and then some of my videos blew up on social media, and now I can’t make pieces fast enough.”

Mack spoke in the background. “Got it. We’ll start searching for wire-wrapped jewellery. If we can find her store and buy a piece, hopefully it’ll give us a return address.”

Ryder smiled at Elene. “That’s a good problem to have.”

“Do you think I’d be crazy to leave a secure job?”

Now she was asking him for career advice?

“How much does a necklace go for?”

“It depends on the stone and the amount of work, but this one would be thirteen hundred lari. About five hundred US dollars.”

“And how long do they take you to make?”

“I can make two like this in a day.”

“Profit margin?”

“The stone and the wire cost just over two hundred lari. The metal is priced by weight.”

“If sales are stable, you’d be crazy not to quit your job,” Ryder said, and he meant it. Elene came across as smart and confident and passionate about her side hustle. If she enjoyed making shiny things and had plans to continue doing so, what was the motive for stealing a small fortune? Not for the first time, Ryder wondered whether they had the right woman. But Hill had watched the video and was absolutely certain that Irina and Elene were the same woman, plus there were the little lies Elene told, such as the one about the weather in Tbilisi.

The server came over. “Can I interest you in dessert?”

Ryder studied the menu. “I’ll have the churros.”

Elene followed suit. “And I’ll have the same.”

Over dessert, Ryder promised to take Elene to see the Strip, a promise he’d feel almost guilty for breaking because her fake persona was more likeable than he’d imagined it would be. Hands down, she was the most capable swindler he’d ever met. He’d always thought Ron Hill was a gullible fool for falling for her shtick, but now he felt a modicum of sympathy for the man. Not much, because the motherfucker had still stolen Luna’s money, but he’d been hoodwinked by the best.

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