Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
I walked in that direction as if I knew where I was going, but patted my pockets as if searching for something. “Ah hell,” I muttered.
The guard turned his head to look at me. “Can I help you with something, sir?”
“Not unless you’ve got the spare key to my safe deposit box back there?” I nodded to the door where Eli had disappeared.
The guard smiled faintly. “No, sir.”
“I’ll be back, then. Must have left it on the darn counter.”
“See you when you return.”
I added up circumstantial evidence as I left the bank and picked a spot to wait for Eli to come out. Eli had taken something from his home and gone to his safe deposit box in the bank. He couldn’t have had the entire stash of gems in his pocket. Was he transporting them to his safe deposit box a handful at a time to avoid attracting attention? If so, Ruby had been right, guessing the gems were perhaps in Eli’s home.
And Ruby had access to that very home. Working with an inside woman was a big advantage.
At least, that was what I was supposed to be doing. Working. Not dreaming up new ways to make her cry out in pleasure.
I distracted myself from thoughts of Ruby and the tedium of a stakeout by grabbing a cup of coffee from a street-side vendor. Then I grabbed a spot on a bench, positioned where I could see the bank doors. Fifteen minutes after he’d gone in, Eli emerged from the bank just as a taxi pulled up to the curb and his fiancée, Willow, stepped out. Eli walked over and wrapped her in an embrace that became a kiss. Then he draped an arm possessively around her as they started down the street.
Still sipping my coffee, I followed at a moderate distance, and a few blocks later, the pair darted into a local realtor’s office.
My head spun. There was property involved too?
22
UNEXPECTED
Ruby
I tapped in the new combination to my hotel room safe. H-A-P-P-Y-T-U-R-T-L-E. The door popped open, and there was my diamond, nice and secure. If I accomplished nothing else on this quest, or if Jake and I discovered no further details, at least I could sell the jewel and give the money to my mother. It was a fraction of what she’d invested in Eli, and what Eli owed to his investors, but ten thousand dollars was nothing to scoff at.
Closing the safe, I took my phone out to the tiny balcony, where I could soak in the glorious morning view of the crystal-blue ocean. I inhaled all that blue, from the gentle waves in the water up to the clear, endless sky, and closed my eyes to enjoy the warmth on my skin.
When I opened them, I checked in with things at home. There was an email from Cole telling me the video we’d shot was up and running. And it was working already—I had two new inquiries for scuba tours.
I responded to the messages right away, grateful for my brother’s work and my mom’s support. The business would never have had a chance to turn around without them.
While family was on my mind, I gave Mom a call.
“How are things?” she asked.
“They’re great. I’ve been prepping for my tour, and I ran into some old friends.” Though, mostly I’d been busy with Jake and snooping on my stepdad. “And I saw Eli,” I said, not sure how much to tell her. Would she want all the details? It was hard to say.
“And his Rolex?” Mom’s tone could have etched glass.
“Ostentatious,” I assured her. “Obnoxious. Overrated.”
Mom sighed. “Thank you for that.”
What could I ask her that would help the cause? About his interest in jewelry? Was he already doing business with the Canadian mine when they were still married? Was he always ten-thousand-dollar generous with gifts?
Something he said at brunch came back to me, and it seemed important enough to run past her. “He mentioned something about focusing on his charitable endeavors these days. I never knew he was a big charity guy.”
Her mother scoffed. “Ha. As if. Getting money out of him was like getting blood from a rock.” But then she made a pfft sound, dismissing him. “Enough about Eli. What about you? Are you finding time to relax? Maybe meeting a sexy guy for an island tryst?”
Island tryst.
Sounded fantastic in theory but dangerous in practice. Jake was sexy and clever and wickedly talented, and we were good together when our goals aligned. But in the big picture, we didn’t see eye to eye. We were coming at the diamonds from opposite angles.
I wanted to find out the truth about what had happened to the money. I wanted Eli to return what he’d stolen and return my mother’s investment.
Jake wanted justice too, but he also wanted Eli’s head—and since Mom’s money was a gift, if it was returned to the Eli Fund as he’d stipulated, she wouldn’t get a cent of her investment back. Eli would go to jail. He couldn’t exactly repay her from there.