Chapter Fourteen Phase One, Complete
Adelina
“She’s adorable,” I say as I scroll through his camera roll.
We’re seated across from each other at a small table in the hotel’s breakfast area.
Diana and Joseph have yet to arrive, so we decided to treat ourselves to a few complimentary pastries while we wait.
They’re cold and a bit stale, given that they’ve been out since the morning, but they’re a welcome rush of sugar.
The hotel doesn’t seem particularly busy, and I have to wonder if Diana chose this place for that exact reason.
It’s a far cry from the fancy hotel we met up at in Paris, but it’s certainly comfortable enough.
Without a lot of foot traffic, we’ll minimize the chances of being recognized.
“Jack’s the one I was talking to on the train,” he says. “She’s been a handful for her babysitter. Keeps staying up way past her bedtime.”
“How old is she? Jack, not the babysitter.”
West laughs softly. “She’s almost seven.”
I swipe to the next picture and pause, unable to fight my smile. It’s a picture of West and Jack for what I can only assume is Halloween. West is dressed up as a giant chocolate chip cookie while Jack is dressed as the Cookie Monster.
“We scored a ton of candy that year,” West says with pride. “Though she was very upset when I wouldn’t let her eat most of it.”
“Fear of cavities?”
He shakes his head. “Diabetic. It was hard trying to explain why too much sugar was bad for her. She refused to talk to me for a whole day and it nearly killed me. She came around eventually.”
“You must love her a lot.”
West grins, an undeniable warmth in his green eyes. “That kid’s my whole world. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
“And that includes toppling a maniacal crime boss with anger issues?”
West sighs, stacking his mini croissants into a wobbly pyramid on his plate. It’s almost jarring to see him so…quiet. Unnatural. I’m used to his loud smiles and blinding cheer. I know shit’s real when West is serious.
“Berruci promised me a long time ago that he’d let Jack and me live in peace,” he says. “All I had to do was monitor his mule account. Move money around from time to time. Give him a heads-up if the cops ever came sniffing around.”
“But then I took from it,” I mumble, guilt twisting my guts into tight knots.
“Don’t feel bad. You didn’t know.”
“Did he threaten you? When he realized the money was gone?”
When he nods, I shrink into myself a little.
I’ve spent the last few years stealing from the rich to give to the poor, but at no point have I really stopped to consider who I was hurting.
I try justifying it to myself, of course.
If the people I target have millions to their name, where’s the harm in taking a couple hundred thousand here and there?
Never in my wildest dreams would I have taken West’s money had I known I’d be putting him and his niece at risk.
What are the odds that I wound up taking from him, of all people?
How many others might I have accidentally harmed with my twisted logic?
“Don’t look so sad,” he says gently. “If anything, you did me a favor.”
I look at him, confused. “How so?”
“I’ve been living with an ax over my head for years. Berruci could have come after me for literally anything at any time. He’s always had the power to do so. But when I realized what you’d done…saw what you were capable of…I realized I might finally have a shot at putting him away for good.”
“So you sought me out.”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“You were a little busy throwing dishes at me. And you said you didn’t want things to get personal.”
“Actually, I believe what I said was that I wasn’t going to pry.”
He shrugs. “Tomato, to-mah-to.”
I keep scrolling through his collection of pictures, the pecan tart I swiped from the food display sitting ignored.
The next picture I land on is one of Jack blowing bubbles at the camera, all smiles with the noonday sun giving her hair an almost angelic golden glow.
As I admire her toothy grin, burning questions rattle around inside my head.
What happened to Jack’s parents? And how did West come to work for Berruci in the first place?
“Thank you, by the way,” I mutter under my breath.
“For what?”
“For covering my eyes.”
West regards me warmly and my chest suddenly feels…tingly. “Don’t mention it,” he says.
“Oh, good, you’re both here!” comes the sound of a familiarly low voice, cutting through the delightful haze that’s settled in the air.
Joseph strolls in through the lobby and joins us at our table, plopping himself down in the vacant chair next to West. He helps himself to the snacks we scrounged up for ourselves.
“How did it go?” West asks.
“Didn’t even break a sweat.” He reaches into the inner pocket of his jacket to produce a folded-up piece of paper, tossing it casually onto the table like a discarded hand of cards.
“My second cousin’s wife’s dogwalker works as a temp clerk at city hall.
Had to bribe the guy double his monthly pay, but it all worked out. ”
“You can invoice Diana later,” West says distractedly, already unfolding the blueprints to get a better look at Berruci’s villa. Is it strange that I kind of like the notch between his brows when he’s deep in thought?
“You said you managed to secure a warehouse?” I ask Joseph, remembering Diana’s text from earlier.
“Not yet. Ran into a bit of a snag.”
“What kind of snag?” West asks.
“Nothing serious, old friend. There aren’t very many places that meet your specifications. I’ve still got plenty of feelers out.”
My stomach flips as I look to West, studying his stern expression. “How badly does that mess with our timeline?”
Joseph waves a hand dismissively. “No more than a week, I promise. I might have something. Less of a warehouse and more of a decommissioned airplane hangar, but it’s got plenty of space for us to work with.
Once I track down and bribe the owner for the keys, we’ll be golden.
In the meantime, you can tell me what kind of equipment you need. ”
“Equipment?” I echo.
“You weren’t going to run this whole operation off your cute little laptop, were you?”
I press my lips into a thin line. “It’s always gotten the job done.”
He winks. “Give me a list. I’ll throw everything together for you.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” comes a sultry voice. Diana approaches with several hotel key cards in hand, the sharp click of her stiletto heels accompanying her graceful strides. “For the sake of the job, you better not spare any expense.”
Joseph puts his hands on his hips. “Nice of you to finally join us. Now who’s fashionably late, princess?”
Diana ignores him, setting the key cards down on the table. “Everything went well with reconnaissance, I hope?”
West nods. “We’ve got plenty of pictures, but we’re going to need to get a good idea of his security’s routine. If we keep an eye on him over the next week, we’ll be able to get a sense of his itinerary.”
I observe West carefully, surprised that he didn’t mention anything about Berruci showing up or the altercation he had with his own guard.
Does he not think it’s relevant? Is he still too shaken to talk about it?
He wears the illusion of confidence well enough.
Better than most, in fact. But those few minutes allowed me a glimpse of the man beneath it all.
I had never seen West look so ill before.
Now that I know about Jack, I can understand why.
“Let’s get some rest,” West says, returning to his usual chipper self. “We’ll reconvene in the morning. I want everyone well rested before we move on to phase two.”
I check the time on my phone. It may be just after 10 p.m. here in France, but it’s only around one in Vancouver.
I haven’t adjusted to the time zone change yet, so I’m wide awake and itching for something to do.
The more time that passes is time wasted; we can’t risk Berruci finding out that we’re moving against him.
It could throw our entire plan out the window.
Right now, we’re working with the element of surprise, so it’s imperative that we strike as hard and as fast as possible.
But maybe West is right. We can’t afford to burn out before the finish line.