Page 81 of A Real Good Bad Thing

“I do,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows as I met his gaze in the mirror.

“Then I’m taking you on a date. Even though you’re a pain in the ass. Evidently, that’s one of the things I like most about you. So get ready to be wined and dined,” he said, giving me an order.

I gave him a cheeky salute. “Yes, sir. May I have the lotion now? And a full report on your findings from the gallery, sir?”

“I’ve been trying to tell you, but you had your mind on other things.” He handed me the hotel lotion.

“I did, but now you’ve satisfied me, so I’m ready,” I said, even though I knew sex wasn’t what he’d meant.

Jake caught me up on his gallery visit as I rubbed lotion onto my legs. “The obvious thing first,” he said. “No art. The walls were absolutely bare. Kalila’s tip was wrong or just out of date.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “I think she worked there some time ago. She wouldn’t know if they’d moved things recently.”

“And she didn’t say the stones were hidden inside the frames. That was our theory based on what she’d told us. The art could be unrelated.”

Two bits of info connected in my head with a spark. “Except Willow told me they’d recently moved the diamonds out of the gallery. It would be too coincidental if they removed the art from the office and it wasn’t related.”

“That would definitely support our theory about where the gems are hidden,” he agreed. “So, anyway, I figured if I couldn’t leave with precious stones, I’d have a quick snoop for valuable information. And fortunately, Willow is quite organized.” He squeezed a dollop of toothpaste onto his toothbrush. “Her office is a shrine to minimalism. Her desk held nothing but pens, a Moleskine notebook, and some nuts.”

I scoffed. “Nothing like a little high-protein snack between grueling hours of walking around an air-conditioned gallery, selling paintings of straight lines.”

“Well, not everyone is cut out to be a brilliant private-eye-slash-bounty-hunter,” he said, tapping his temple with humor in his eyes and a smug grin on his lips.

“What was the document that you took with you?” I asked.

“Why, I’m glad you asked, Ms. Ashley. Basically, it’s a document saying Willow donated fifty grand last month to a charity that helps kids affected by child labor in diamond mines go to school and get an education.”

“Is it the one the Frayer mine supports? She’s listed on their website as a major donor.”

He nodded. “Same one.”

I headed to my suitcase for fresh clothes. “We’ve been focusing on Eli, thinking he might be converting the diamonds to cash bit by bit. But could Willow be cashing in the stones for charity? Or maybe laundering them through a charity? Either way, both Willow and Eli could both be involved.”

Jake followed my every movement as I dropped my towel and pulled on panties and a bra. “That would be an interesting twist, wouldn’t it?” he asked while I rifled through my suitcase for my blue dress with slim white stripes. “When I scoped out her gallery the first night I was here, I noticed that the Lynx paintings sold for five thousand apiece. Today, a peek at the gallery records showed that she’d sold ten of them.”

“Then maybe it’s the proceeds from those sales she’s putting into this charity? Could there be a connection?”

It was my turn to stare as Jake emerged from the bathroom in all his naked glory. I sighed as he put on boxers. “Makes me sad to see you in clothes.”

“Speaking of clothes, you need to add a bikini for our date,” he said.

I smiled, grabbed one, and stuffed it into my purse. “Done.”

“Excellent,” he said as he grabbed a pair of trim shorts. “And to answer your question, there are too many coincidences here for things not to be connected.”

I gasped and clapped a hand over my mouth as a terrible thought slammed into me. “What if they’ve cashed out all the diamonds, Jake? What if there is no more missing money? Maybe it’s a lost cause.” The awful possibility of coming up empty-handed clanged in my brain. No justice, no chance to do the right thing, just thieves getting away with thieving.

“Not every case is solvable,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone as he snagged a shirt from the closet and put it on. “Sometimes people move on and the money is gone. We don’t know what they’ve done with the rest of the diamonds they bought from the Frayer mine or who stole the two Eli gave as gifts to you and Willow. We only have evidence that Eli moved thousands of valuable items and his fiancée has donated a large sum to a charity for those affected by the diamond economy. The rest is circumstantial.”

“What if we find the gems and prove Eli bought them with stolen money? Are you going to turn him in?” I asked. We’d talked about this topic before, but still it nagged at me. Thieves should be held accountable. But if Eli was arrested, I could say goodbye to recompense for Mom.

Jake shook his head. “Andrew wants to keep this as quiet as possible. He seems mainly focused on restoring the money to the investors rather than turning Eli over to the authorities. So that’s my goal too.”

Conflicting feelings swirled inside my chest, making a whirlpool that threatened to draw me under. If the diamonds went back to Andrew’s company, he could put things right with the defrauded clients, and I would have leverage to hopefully make Eli treat Mom fairly. But that only worked if we got the gems before “Mr. Smith” could steal any more. The thought that I might never make this right for my mom weighed heavily on me.

“I need to see Eli again,” I said, swallowing thickly, fighting the pull of anxiety. It would be hard—confronting him one more time. Pressing, pushing, trying harder. But I had to stay ahead of the thieves, and my access to my stepfather was an advantage I couldn’t ignore. “I’ll give him a call in a few minutes. Set something up. See what I can find out. Surely this time he’ll give me some more intel.”

“Maybe another breakfast at Tristan’s,” Jake suggested. “I have fond memories of that street in the diamond district.”

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