Page 30 of The Woman with the Wallet

“Miko didn’t do it,” I told Lil. “He showed up after it happened.”

To that, Lil exhaled hard and slowly lowered the gun. But she didn’t put it down. It stayed there in her hand as she took a step back to look at me.

“So, you have cameras I don’t know about, huh?”

“I’d be an idiot not to have security measures in place. Saw you coming, looking like that. Him next to you.”

“And decided to blow a hole the size of a cannonball in him for me.”

“Hey, we girls in this business gotta stick together.”

“So, you’re a… courier too?” Miko asked, eyes twinkling. “Side gig, I’m guessing. Precious gem business not paying the bills?” he asked, looking around the room.

“Yep. Me, I just love… delivering shit,” Lil said, turning to shoot me a confused look. “Good exercise.”

“Sorry to drop in on you like this,” I told her as Miko took a step forward, glancing down at the piece we’d clearly interrupted Lil’s work on.

“Is this what I think it is?” Miko asked, piquing my curiosity. When I moved beside him to look down at it, though, I had no idea what he was seeing that I wasn’t. Aside from a gaudy, ugly necklace that was already partially disassembled.

“Two million dollars’ worth of bad taste?” Lil asked as she moved behind her desk. She kept her gun in her hand and I had to respect her suspicion.

“Thought the cops had a lead on that,” Miko said.

“They do. It’s even the right guy. But they have no fingerprints, DNA, or video of the guy. And after a thorough search of his place and his storage locker, they never found the heavily insured, hideous necklace that they think he stole.”

“And now they never will,” Miko said, nodding. “Interesting racket you have going for yourself.”

“Almost as interesting as a mafia guy having half a million dollars of diamonds in his wallet while walking down the street.”

“In my defense, I was on my way to my fence.”

“Who the fuck said they could fence that many diamonds all at once?”

“One who knows they don’t have to worry about the cops. At least not for another week or so.”

To that, Lil nodded. “Okay. Now, why are you here?”

“Well, that’s a me problem,” I admitted, watching as her gaze slid to me, wincing at the look of me again. “I didn’t get to Miko’s place yesterday. And last night, someone broke into my place, did this, and took the diamonds.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, forcing the memories away when they started to replay across my mind. “Then he showed up,” I went on, waving an arm at Miko. “And here we are.”

“Under duress?” Lil asked, grip tightening on her gun once again.

“I mean, I think we’re both feeling a lot of pressure right now. Him, because of his money. Me, because I lost his money. And we’re here because I mentioned you to him when we were talking about what happened.”

“And, what? You thought I needed your money?” Lil asked, brow quirking up. “It wouldn’t be worth the headache of having to deal with you.”

Miko, not offended, shrugged. “So, what kind of cut are you getting on that?” he asked, gesturing toward the necklace.

“Ten to fifteen percent, depending on how big a job it is, or how much heat there is about a certain stone.”

Damn.

I mean, I figured Lil was doing well.

But this one job was netting her a couple hundred grand. And it was just one of many jobs she likely did a year.

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