Page 26 of The Woman with the Wallet

“Age?” I asked.

“My age? Mid to late twenties.” She took another sip, then sat back and exhaled hard. “It’s not much,” she admitted.

“No,” I agreed, “but it’s something. I’d be more worried if this was just a normal home invasion where he just happened upon the stash of diamonds. But since he was watching me, it narrows shit down a bit.”

“I’m down for looking at pictures, if you need. The least I can do.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna need you to do that.”

A silence fell for a second as the crowd toward the front of the bar got rowdy enough to make conversation difficult.

“I was planning to bring them back in the morning,” she said when things died down again. “I know that probably isn’t convincing, but I was.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because a… friend of mine and I concluded that you were probably in the mob. And that you’d track me down eventually, so it would be better for me to find you before you found me. My mistake was falling asleep. I’d been awake for well over twenty-four hours. I figured a few more hours wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Could that friend have—“ I started, but Max was shaking her head before I could finish.

“No. She deals in stolen merchandise. Jewelry, specifically. Takes apart distinctive pieces and creates new ones that can be sold. I just brought one diamond to her to check to see if it was real. She was the one to urge me to get the wallet back to you as soon as possible.”

“But if she’s into…”

“Honestly, she likely has, easy, a million or two worth of loose gems around her place. Not only does she not need your diamonds, but she really doesn’t give a shit about money.”

“Everyone gives a shit about money.”

“Okay. Maybe it’s more appropriate to say that she has more than she needs. She lives very… humbly.”

“I get wanting to protect your friend’s identity, but I’m gonna want to talk to her.”

“Not without me, you won’t.”

She squared up a bit at that, chin lifting. Even beat to shit, she was going to stand up and try to defend her friend from any threat I might present.

“Yeah, you can tag along. I’m just gonna talk to her. But she might also be someone who has a finger on the pulse of underground diamond sales. I want her to keep an ear out for me.”

“Okay,” Max agreed, but her eyes were still hard.

They were prettier than I’d anticipated. A hazel that kind of flirted with both green and brown. Logically, I knew it was likely the lighting in the bar, but I couldn’t help but think maybe her mood had something to do with it.

Max’s phone started to ring, making her reach for it.

“Your worried roommate?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, picking up. “I’mfine, Megs. I will be home in a few, I promise. Keep the door locked. I’ll text when I get there.”

“Guess we should go get you those ice pops before your roommate calls the cops, claiming I abducted you.”

Max finished her drink. I dropped cash on the table. Then we both headed out to find Venezio had found a spot half a block down.

There was a bodega between us and him, so we dipped in, going right to the freezer section. “This place has a milkshake machine,” I told her. “Want one? Chocolate?”

“Vanilla,” she corrected, perusing the ice pop options. “I don’t like chocolate.”

“Really?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure my sisters would chew through my arm if it was in the way of a chocolate bar.” But I went and got her the vanilla shake.

“Wait, no,” she said when she put two boxes of pops on the counter next to the shake and the bottle of throat spray I’d found, and I passed the guy behind the counter some cash from the clip I’d had Venezio bring me from my place.

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