Page 58 of Renegade

“Raven and I are recovery agents, making fees for recovering lost or stolen items. We were hired to find a pigeon’s blood ruby by Mrs. Flores, the widow of the late Mr. Benedict Flores. Prior to our partnership, we were both trying to recover a diamondbelonging to a socialite by the name of Mrs. Mulberry. So for ease with this conversation, we’ll call the jewels the Flores ruby and the Mulberry diamond. When Mrs. Flores hired us, her attorney, Gregory Aston, asked us to carry guns while working on this assignment.” He glanced at me.

“We normally don’t carry guns,” I said, squirming as I thought about the gun safely tucked into the shoulder holster I’d reluctantly shrugged into this morning. “We usually carry pepper spray and knives.”

“Go on,” Mark said.

“In any case, after spotting John, we gave chase. He jumped into the passenger seat of a car, and someone drove him away before we were able to catch up. The look of surprise on his face told me that he hadn’t expected to see me there. My theory—” He looked at me, gesturing between us. “Our theory is that perhaps he was there to see who was hired to find the Flores ruby and ran when he realized it was me. I honestly don’t think he expected me to be there. You’d agree if you saw the expression of shock on his face.”

“So, you think he was taken by this rogue CIA faction who’s been calling him Sandstorm this whole time?” Thorne asked.

“Yes. And that he’s somehow involved with a cache of stones which were looted as part of recovered goods in the Middle East,” I said.

They all nodded. “That makes sense,” Mac said. “And Mark told us that afterward you were confronted by this mysterious man at the security firm for the Flores family.”

“Yes,” Miguel replied. “Mark has the phone he gave us. He said it was booby-trapped with a bomb and had a single phone number preprogrammed into it. We were ordered to call him assoon as we recovered the jewel because he expects us to give it to him.” He frowned at Mac. “Was it booby-trapped?”

“Yes,” Mac confirmed. “There was an explosive device in the phone. It was just large enough to detonate and maim or possibly kill anyone who might tamper with it. It was programmed to explode if anyone tried to touch any keys other than the single preprogrammed number. I disabled it, then did a little bit of rewiring so that if he ever wants it back, he’ll get his own surprise.” He reached into a side suit pocket, pulling out the phone, holding it out. When neither of us got up to take it, he smiled. “It’s okay. I disabled the feature I just described. It can only be detonated remotely.” He reached into his opposite pocket with the other hand, producing a remote. “I’ve got the remote. You can have both, in case you need them in the future.”

I stared at it and then at Miguel with wide eyes. I didn’t even want to touch the things, but Miguel got up from the couch and walked over to Mac, taking them from him. It made me nervous as hell when he slid them into his jacket pocket.

“Are you sure they’re okay to handle?” I asked.

“Very sure,” Mac said with a grin. “I wouldn’t be carrying them around in a pocket that hangs down next to my groin, if I thought they’d blow up. I like my nuts quite a bit.”

We all chuckled as Miguel sat back down. “Were you able to get anything off it?”

Mac shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. I tried all the gadgets I have. It’s just a burner which has never been used. He wiped it down too. No fingerprints on the inside or the outside, other than yours.”

“Thanks for doing that, Mac,” Miguel said.

“So, what’s happened since then?” Mark asked, obviously wanting to move the conversation along.

“Last night we went to the Getty,” Miguel said. “We’d been invited to attend an art installation by our new client’s favorite artist. She’d promised to introduce us to some of her husband’s business associates, so we went hoping we could get a lead on the missing ruby.” He glanced at me before looking back at the group. “While we were there, we were approached by a striking redhead. She introduced herself as Rosina Cassanova. She chatted with us for a bit and then asked Raven to get her a fresh flute of champagne.” He turned to Damon. “Does that name mean anything to you?”

“No.” Thorne shook his head.

“Let me guess, that woman said somethin’ to you after Raven left the two of you?” Jarrett asked.

We both nodded. “She said the room was stuffy, so she wanted to go out to look at the gardens and get some air. She claimed she was there with someone.”

“Did you meet him?” Thayne asked.

“No. It was a ruse to get me to walk down to the terraced gardens,” Miguel said. “And as soon as we got to the bottom, she pulled out a knife, pressing it to my femoral before I even knew she’d done it. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“What’d she say?” Mark asked.

Miguel frowned. “She called me Trigg, told me she wanted the ruby, and wanted to remind me that she and her friends would kill us if we didn’t give it to her.”

“What’d you do?” Thorne asked.

“I stepped back, drew my weapon, and pointed at her chest,” Miguel said. “She laughed, acting like it was a game to her. WhenI asked who she was, she repeated her name, Rosina Cassanova. She had a broken Italian accent and even though she behaved like an operative, I’m not sure she was one. I’m pretty sure the accent was genuine which means she could be an asset, but I just don’t know.”

“You said she was a beautiful redhead?” Mark asked.

We both nodded. “About five-nine, thirtyish, and spoke with a thick Italian accent, like I said,” Miguel replied.

“She doesn’t sound familiar…but she said she was there with someone else?” Damon asked.

“She was,” Miguel replied.

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