Page 84 of Diamond in the Rough

Sienna’s mouth bobbed open and closed. “I dunno, I haven’t tried.”

Jake forced a shiver. “I wouldn’t want to talk to a murderer.”

“No, me neither.”

“I’ll tell you what, check my company. It should be under Mr. Henley’s approved contacts.”

Jake tapped his badge, and Sienna typed the fake company name into her computer and frowned. “There’re no approved contacts as such, but I can see your previous visits…”

“There might not even be a leak. I’ll be able to check as soon as I get up there.”

“What happened to your arm?”

“Sprained my wrist. Don’t worry, I can still do my job, but it is kinda sore. That’s why I wanna get this over and done with as quickly as possible.”

Sienna closed her eyes and released a sigh. “Go on up.”

She passed him a key card, and he pressed it to his chest, over his heart. “You’re a saint.”

The elevator doors opened, and Jake mouthed ‘Thanks’ across the room. As soon as the doors closed behind him, he laughed.

The doors opened on Maddox’s floor, and Jake stuck the key card inside. The apartment still looked pristine, but without Maddox in it, dominating it, it looked plain wrong.

Jake rushed into the bedroom, scanned the room for a safe, but it wasn’t anywhere obvious. He slid the hanging picture frames aside to see behind them. He lifted the mattress, pulled out all the drawers, and searched through the wardrobe, but there was nothing.

He huffed before moving his search to the bathroom. There were no loose tiles and nothing in the cabinet. The bath was freestanding, and the base of the shower was solid.

“Where the fuck…”

Jake pulled off the sofa cushions, overturned the coffee table, searched every piece of furniture, and moved every ornament on the wall. He searched the cupboards in the kitchen, under the sink, in the fridge, but he couldn’t find it.

Jake gripped his hair. He’d seen the safe. It wasn’t small, wasn’t easy to hide, but it was gone.

His eyes sprung open at the sound of the elevator. He rushed into the bedroom and pushed the door to, leaving only a crack to spy through.

The front door opened, and Antonia stepped inside. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the trashed apartment. “What the hell…”

She shook her head and strolled over to the kitchen. Jake scrunched his face, certain he’d searched everywhere, but Antonia walked straight up to the oven and yanked it open.

Jake closed his eyes and cursed himself. Carl had been involved in the hiding place, so of course it would be food related. He’d tried the fridge but hadn’t even thought to look in the oven.

Antonia reached inside, removed a few panels, then dropped it to the floor.

She pouted, and a soft laugh breezed past her lips. “Bingo.”

****

Jake was trapped, watching Antonia break into the safe. The longer he stood doing nothing, the heavier the gun felt in his pocket. She was taking Maddox’s most valued possession, wanting to humiliate him, and Jake had a means to stop her, but he couldn’t do it.

Antonia froze, and Jake thought he’d been caught. He held his breath and waited with wide eyes, but instead, Antonia tugged her phone from her jeans and pressed it to her ear.

“When you said you’d gone over the place, I didn’t expect this…”

Jake couldn’t hear the reply, but Antonia snorted and turned back to the oven.

“What maintenance man?”

Jake squeezed his eyes shut and reached into his pocket.

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