6. The Color of Her Money
6
The Color of Her Money
T he time spent away from conning made Nicole forget how boring stakeouts were. She avoided them as much as she could when conning was her full-time job. Spending her Saturday following Kennedy around reminded her why. Her daughter’s girlfriend was doing nothing to prove her suspicions right. It was making Nicole feel uneasy.
There were two possible outcomes. 1) Kennedy wasn’t doing anything wrong and Nicole was wasting her time. 2) Kennedy was up to something and she was hiding it well. For Maya’s sake, Nicole hoped it was the former, but she couldn’t risk it being the latter.
And so the stakeout continued into the next day, pushing her actual work back. After getting up early, Nicole trailed Kennedy from Eric’s house to a coffee shop. There she completed freelance work. She then went to the Arden, Maya’s place of work, for lunch.
The fact Nicole’s first full day of being a con artist in a year was boring didn’t bother her. It was never the destination, rather the journey that gave her the rush. She learned early on there was no such thing as an exciting con.
They all required the same skills: patience, attention to detail, and the ability to improvise. Spying on Kennedy’s and Maya’s lunch date was no different. At least, it didn’t require the use of the last two skills. All Nicole had to do was sit and watch.
After an hour, Kennedy returned to her car, but Nicole clocked the route she was taking was not her usual one. At every red light, she looked at her phone and around at her surroundings. It was as if she was confirming she was on the right track. When the drive ended, Kennedy came to a stop in front of a bank and took a backpack with her inside.
When she returned, her backpack was noticeably fuller. It was not a question of what was inside. The question was, who was it for and why?
Nicole didn’t have to wait long for the answer. She followed Kennedy to a nearby restaurant and watched her as she sat out on the open patio. A pair of sunglasses now donned her eyes. Whoever she was meeting had not yet arrived, giving Nicole a chance to study her.
A black bomber jacket over a plain white tee, a backpack full of cash, tinted black sunglasses. A look Joe Goldberg would approve of. An attire for a covert mission. One involving a lot of money. Blackmail was Nicole’s first thought. Kennedy was the daughter of a rich doctor. The granddaughter of even richer grandparents who left everything to her father. She was an easy target for someone who knew about the skeletons in her closet.
That was the thing, though. Kennedy was clean. Once upon a time, Nicole went looking for the woman’s dirty laundry and came up empty-handed. She had expected to find something to use as leverage if she ever needed it. But there was nothing in Kennedy’s closet that would tarnish her reputation. So what could anyone blackmail her for?
As Kennedy sat sipping a glass of wine, Nicole noticed a man approaching the table. He was hard to see from a distance, especially with his sunglasses and out-of-place baseball cap. It didn’t help that Nicole couldn’t eavesdrop from where she was. She got out of her car and headed inside.
“Ma’am, you have to be seated by one of our staff,” the hostess stopped her.
“My daughter-in-law is already sitting with a friend. I want to surprise them,” she explained, gesturing in the general direction of the table.
“Okay, well, they’re sitting on our patio. Would you like me to take you to them?”
“No need, but thank you,” Nicole replied, dismissing her with a smile before walking over.
The closest booth to them would allow her to have her back to them so she could observe them without them seeing her. As she approached the area, the man began to look more familiar. It wasn’t until she was in earshot of them and heard the name “William” that she became sure.
William grinned, leaning back in his seat. “I can’t believe it. The money I made over the course of a decade, you retrieved it in a few weeks.”
“It’s not like you gave me much of a choice.”
“We both made choices. Yours happened to have more expensive consequences.”
Nicole hadn’t heard William’s voice since her wedding shower to Eric. Where he crashed to accuse her and Maya of being gold-diggers. He disappeared without proof, leaving Nicole to believe she was safe. Now she knew she wasn’t.
Her heart was racing, her blood boiling. William was the last person she expected Kennedy to be meeting with. She didn’t have time to contemplate what their transaction meant; Kennedy was getting up to leave .
“You have what I owe you,” she stated as she stood. “Now leave me alone.”
“And if I don’t?”
Kennedy was on the verge of responding when Nicole beat her to the punch. “Then you’ll have me to deal with. And we both know how well that worked out for you last time.”
William and Kennedy both turned to see Nicole standing there. For a moment, there was only silence as they tried to process the turn of events. William was the one who broke it. “The deal was I wouldn’t go after your dear girlfriend if you got me the money Nicole stole from me. Why the hell would you tell her about this?”
“I didn’t tell her,” Kennedy shot back before turning to Nicole. “Why are you here? Did you follow me?”
“The next time you don’t want to get caught keeping a secret, don’t be so obvious.”
William stood, more impatient than she had ever seen him before. “Keep your money, Kennedy. The deal is off. It’s clear I can’t trust you any more than I can trust Nicole.”
“Oh, please.” Nicole scoffed. “Like you were ever going to hold up your end of the deal. I’m willing to bet you were going to take her money and keep blackmailing her. Do I have that right, William?”
“You were always a piece of work, Nikki, and nothing’s changed. It’s about time someone knocked you down a peg, don’t you think?”
His towering stature didn’t scare Nicole. Little did. “You don’t care about Kennedy’s money. That’s just a bonus. What you’re after is revenge. For what I did to you.”
It wasn’t a surprise William still held resentment toward Nicole. He was the only one of her marks to find out the truth of her cons. To see half of his life’s savings disappear and have no proof he was the one screwed over. Well, it would make anyone angry.
“For what you and your daughter did,” he corrected .
The mention of Maya was like a knife through Nicole’s armor. “Leave my daughter out of this.”
“You made her a part of this when you made her an active participant in your criminal activities. It’s your fault what happens next.”
With the last word, William walked away. Nicole shook his threat off, facing Kennedy’s death glare. “So, this is what you were hiding? You were paying William off to protect us?”
“I was protecting Maya. She shouldn’t have to go down for your crimes.”
“Something we can both agree on, but paying William off wasn’t the way to go. Even if he took the money, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t come back for more. He’s not the type to forgive and forget.”
“I was desperate and Maya is worth more to me than however much money he wants.”
“That’s what William was betting on. He would’ve bled you dry until there was not a cent left to your name.”
“I wouldn’t have cared because what’s the alternative? Him going after Maya?”
“William has no proof of what we did to him. If he did, he would have turned us in to the police already. He’s bluffing.”
“And what if he’s not, Nicole? What if he has more evidence than we know?”
The possibility of William having concrete proof of their cons was a reality she wasn’t prepared to face. It should’ve scared her to think their facades could come crashing down at a moment’s notice. It would’ve if Nicole was the type to cower in fear.
Empty threats didn’t scare her. The product of being served them one too many times. In her bones, she could feel William was trying to intimidate her into making a move. To catch her slipping so he could pounce. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of seeing her blink first.
Nicole would not be responsible for bringing William back from the ladder she had kicked him down. It didn’t mean she would ignore his warning. If William felt he had a shot at getting payback, he would do everything in his power to make it happen. He could try to get to her however he pleased. But like the men who came before him, he would meet the same fate.
“I haven’t gone unscathed this long without covering my tracks,” Nicole replied, no trace of worry in her voice. “William has nothing on us. He might sling accusations and threats, but without hard evidence, his bark is worse than his bite.”
“I hope you’re right. Otherwise, what happens next really will be your fault and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”
Nicole watched Kennedy take her backpack and leave the restaurant. She stood there, alone on the patio, the breeze making her shiver. At least, that’s what she told herself was the reason why her skin was crawling.