Chapter Thirty-One
Thirty-One
“W hat the fuck took you so long?” Gage greeted us at the warehouse with an impatient growl. “Jack came back from the dead over three hours ago. We made it here in record time, tied up Clare, Milan, and Vito, handcuffed Anil to a post because Emma still doesn’t trust him, and Simone had her chauffeur bring us food from some five-star restaurant that serves burgers the size of walnuts. We’ve got less than three hours. We’re on the clock.”
“We had to fill in the ‘corpse revival’ paperwork to get back our deposit. Apparently, this wasn’t their first corpse awakening.”
“She also took the time to punch Clare in the face.” Chloe laughed. “I don’t think she’s anti-violence anymore.”
“Being locked in a shipping container and left to die does that to a girl.” I walked over to Clare, who had been expertly tied to a metal chair. “I need that necklace and I’m prepared to do what it takes to get it.”
Clare didn’t respond to my threat. Instead, her gaze was fixed on Jack as he made his way toward her. Relief flickered across her face so quickly I wondered if I’d seen it. “I thought you were dead.”
“I was. Almost.” He forced a laugh. “Remind me to take puffer fish off the list of exotic foods I want to try.”
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll put this in simple terms.” I held out my hand to Jack and he gave me the diamond Anil had returned to us. He’d studied it for the entire Uber ride to the warehouse, at one point using the flashlights on both our phones and the Uber driver’s emergency flashlight. “You need this, and we need the necklace. We trade and everyone goes home in one piece.”
“Do you really think I’d fall for that?” Clare’s voice was curiously flat. “It’s a fake. I have the real diamond.”
“You have a piece of glass,” Anil called out. “I didn’t have time to make a second replica, so I ground down a piece of glass that was a similar size and weight and swapped it out for the diamond when you were otherwise occupied. You were keeping it in your bra if you don’t believe me.”
“Anil, you dog.” Cristian gave a low whistle.
“Enough.” I held up a warning hand. “We’re not here to socialize. Anil was working as a double agent, so someone free him from the cuffs.”
“Someone needs to search Clare,” Chloe pointed out. “We need to make sure she doesn’t still have the real diamond in her bra.”
“Let her do it.”
Gage released one of Clare’s hands and she fumbled around in her shirt. Finally, she pulled out a piece of glass about one inch around. “Dammit.” She flung the glass on the ground.
“Where’s the necklace?” I held up the real diamond. “And the money?”
“If I wait it out until midnight, Angelini will hunt you down and kill you,” she said with a shrug. “Then I get to keep them both.”
Axel put one hand on each arm of Clare’s chair and leaned in until he was so close their noses were almost touching. “Emma is my woman. She is under my protection. That means her friends are Hell’s Fury friends. The fucking Chicago Outfit is not going to touch them. They’ve seen what happens when they mess with us.”
“He had one of his men draw the Hell’s Fury logo on the wall of the house where they kidnapped Cristian using the blood of one of the mob guys they’d just pumped full of lead,” Emma explained. “He did a great job, even though he usually paints with watercolors.”
“I take back all the mean things I said about being friendly to strangers,” I whispered to Jack. “You should go ahead and menace as many strangers on as many isolated mountain roads as you like.”
“I’ll require more than a quick apology,” Jack said, cupping my neck gently with his hand. “When this is all over, get ready to grovel.”
“Xavier isn’t going to stop,” Clare said to Jack. “He’ll keep coming after you.”
“Not if he thinks I’m dead.”
She studied him for a long moment and said, “Why would he think that?”
“Because you’ll tell him you went to my funeral. I’ve paid off the funeral director so he’s not going to talk. I’m getting out of the business, Clare. I’m done. You won’t have any more competition. You won’t have to keep looking over your shoulder. I won’t get in your way. This was always going to be my last heist. I want to live a normal life. Just like we talked about when we were kids.”
I didn’t know Clare very well, but I could see in her face the unspoken part of Jack’s dream. It wasn’t just something they’d talked about when they were kids. It was something they had planned to do together. “What’s in it for me?”
“You’ll get all Xavier’s attention. He’ll put you on the big jobs instead of wasting your talent chasing after me.”
Her mouth twisted. “It won’t be as much fun.”
“It stopped being fun when you decided that winning was more important than friendship.”
Clare let out a long sigh. “It’s in the biggest safe in the corner. I had Vito put it in there on the first day we got together, but he changed the combination from the one stuck to the side.”
“Oh my God.” Chloe shook her head. “I can’t believe it’s been here all along.”
Jack got the new combination from Vito and retrieved the necklace, holding it up for all of us to see.
“My goodness.” Simone gasped. “I’ve seen some beautiful pieces, but that is really something.”
“You’d better check it to make sure it’s real,” I said to Jack. “We’ve been fooled before.”
Jack took the necklace and held it up to the light, then examined it with his phone. “Without the proper equipment, I’m not 100 percent sure, but—”
“I had it checked,” Clare said. “It’s genuine.”
“What about the cash?” We were running short of time. We still had to call the number on Angelini’s card to get the delivery location before midnight. “We have to pay the interest, and you promised us each a little bonus.”
“Freight elevator.” She lifted her chin in that direction. “There is a loose board under the operating panel. Milan put it under the floor.”
“The money, too?” Emma tipped her head back and groaned. “We could have saved ourselves weeks of pain and heartache, murders, funerals, road trips, heists and hospitals, kidnappings, shootouts, fake deaths and resurrections.”
“But then you wouldn’t have met me.” Axel grabbed her by the neck and pulled her in for a long, hard kiss.
“Damn,” Emma said, coming up for a breather. “It was worth it. Every single second.”
Jack and Gage pried up the elevator floor and pulled out a duffel bag. I vaguely remembered Clare bringing it with her the first time we got together, but I hadn’t paid attention to what had happened to it when she left.
“It’s all here,” Jack said after a quick check. “Text Angelini.”
“You’ve got what you wanted from us,” Clare said as we waited for Angelini to respond. “Give me the diamond and cut us loose. Our business is done.”
Gage and Axel cut their ropes and I handed over the diamond before Emma escorted them to the door. Clare paused on the threshold and looked over her shoulder at Jack.
“I hope it all works out,” she said. “It would be good if one of us got to live the dream.”
After the door closed, Jack grabbed the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Give me the necklace. As soon as Angelini sends the address, I’ll hit the road. Alone.”
Nausea roiled in my belly. I’d been dreading this moment since Angelini had come into my office. He didn’t just want the necklace and the money. He wanted Jack. My Jack. And I wasn’t prepared to lose him.
“I can’t let you go.”
Jack’s mouth opened and closed. I saw the moment understanding dawned. “He wants me.”
“The way he sees it, you have to pay for setting up his brother and sending him to jail.”
“His brother put himself in jail by being corrupt, stealing people’s homes, and sending his thugs to push old ladies down the stairs.” A pained expression crossed his face. “How long have you known I was part of the deal?”
“From the beginning.”
Anger, so rare in easygoing Jack, kindled in his voice, making me feel sick inside. “Why didn’t you tell me? What about yesterday or the day before? How about when we were locked in the container? Or do you still not trust me?”
“I didn’t trust you at the start,” I said honestly. “After you ghosted me and then I saw you with Clare, I was worried you’d just run away if you knew your life was on the line.”
“Is that the kind of man you think I am?” His voice hitched. “After everything we’ve been through together, did you really think I’d leave you to face this alone?”
“I didn’t know what to think. You were there and then you weren’t and then you showed up with Clare. I was afraid, Jack. Afraid I’d made a mistake. Afraid to trust myself and my feelings. Afraid of getting hurt all over again.”
“And you wanted me to stay, why?” he asked in a frigid voice. “So, you could give me up and meet the terms to save yourself?”
“No. Of course not.”
“What else do I have to do, Simi?” He was shouting, his voice echoing in the warehouse, where the rest of the crew watched in stunned silence. “Why can’t you believe I’m a good man? I would never hurt you, never leave you, never make you feel the way your parents made you feel.”
“I do believe you.” I drew in a shuddering breath. “I think I even knew in my heart that what I saw with Clare wasn’t real. But I needed time with you, time we didn’t get when you were away, time to see the kind of man you were through your actions and not just your words.”
Still his expression didn’t change. I’d hurt him as much as he’d hurt me. “When I got over that fear and saw you for who you really are,” I continued, “I knew in my heart that you would give yourself over to Angelini. I couldn’t let that happen. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to find a way to save you before you ever had to make that choice. I did come close to telling you twice, but both times we were interrupted and I’m glad we were because you would never have let us do this…” I nodded and the entire crew moved to block the door. I’d sent a message to them from the Uber, letting them know about Angelini’s demand and my plan to save Jack.
“We’re in this together,” I said. “I would rather go on the run from the mob than lose you, and I think everyone feels the same. We didn’t abandon Cristian or Anil, and we won’t abandon you. No one gets left behind.”
Anil took the bag from Jack’s shoulder, and Emma took the necklace from his hand.
“Sorry, bud.” Gage yanked Jack’s arms behind his back and snapped a pair of handcuffs on him. “I don’t always agree with Simi, but this time she’s right. He’ll shoot you where you stand.”
“He’ll kill you all if you show up without me.” Jack yanked on the cuffs as we made our way to the door. “Simi. Don’t do this.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Cristian called out. “I know you’ve got bikers outside, but someone should be here to free him in case you don’t come back.”
“Gage, you bastard,” Jack hollered as we walked away. “Simi…come back. Chloe, you know it’s dangerous. Think about Olivia. Emma…take these cuffs off me and let me go. Simone…it’s not the adventure you think it is.”
He was still shouting after I closed the door.