51. Sand and Stones
51
SAND AND STONES
Ruby
All good things came to an end, like our beach escape. But sand? That clung.
When we climbed into the Audi, the floor mats were covered in sand after our morning beach excursion. “I can’t return the car to Eli looking like this,” I said.
“There’s a car wash down the road. Looked it up. Opened recently,” Jake said as he buckled the seat belt. I started the ignition and followed his directions, turning right as we pulled away from the beach. At the light, I glanced in the rearview mirror. It had become a habit, checking to see if we were being followed.
“Tell me more about your tour tomorrow,” Jake said as I drove. “How many people?”
“I’m fully booked,” I said with a grin as the light turned and I stepped on the gas. “Sapphire’s assistant manager, Clarissa, joined the tour. She seems nice, and she adores Eli.”
“He seems to inspire that in women,” Jake said in the kind of neutral tone that wasn’t neutral at all.
“As his many affairs would attest,” I said. I glanced at Jake then back at the road. “I’m not blind to his faults, Jake. I questioned whether he was a thief. I didn’t say he was a trustworthy guy.”
He sighed hard enough to ruffle his hair. “That’s fair enough.”
Fortunately, we arrived at the car wash before awkwardness had a chance to settle in.
We went inside and I handed over the keys and ordered the full deluxe, and the attendant gave us a twenty-minute ETA. Chairs were arranged outside under an awning, and inside, a gift shop offered a long window for customers to watch their car’s progress.
Jake gestured gallantly in that direction. “Shall we avail ourselves of the gift shop opportunity?”
“Yes, let’s,” I said in the same Downton Abbey tone.
He held open the glass door, ushering me through with a hand gently on my back. “This is our first official date, so you just better get used to this kind of fancy treatment.”
I arched an eyebrow. “First date? What about the panini shop?”
He leaned in to whisper, “First date now that you’ve finally come to terms with your elephantine desire to have more of me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are such a cocky bastard.”
He answered by pinching my butt as we walked to the display of car air fresheners. Choose from 170 different and delicious scents! the sign boasted.
“How could anyone choose just one?” I asked dramatically, picking up one of the cardboard shapes.
“I think it’s a party game where you have to guess the scent based on the card.” He reached for an air freshener shaped like a coconut. “Three guesses and the first two don’t count.”
“You would go for that one,” I teased. At his confused frown, I laughed, then explained. “You have a thing for coconut.”
“How did you know that?” He seemed genuinely impressed, so I gave a smug shimmy of my shoulders. “Because of the noise you make when you smell my hair.”
“I don’t do that.” He paused as if reconsidering, quirking a brow. “Do I?”
“Yep,” I said, my skin warming as I imagined that sound. “It’s kinda hot.”
“Only kinda?” Jake grabbed me by my waist and sniffed behind my ear until I giggle-snorted and pulled away, rubbing where my skin still tingled. Our gazes connected and I felt fizzy and flushed as if it really was our first date. He smiled like he was reading my mind.
We wandered around till we found ourselves in the final aisle, with candy on one side, cold treats on the other. “Ghirardelli or Godiva?” Jake asked as we strolled to the end.
“Ghirardelli,” I answered, then added with a wink, “Hold the nuts.”
He chuckled. “Duly noted.”
“What about you?”
“Any and all. I am at the mercy of my sweet tooth.” Once again, he wrapped me in a tight embrace, but when he brushed kisses across my cheek, they were feather-soft and delicate. “No wonder I love your kisses so much. They’re so sweet.” He kissed me delicately, deliciously, deliriously. I was ready to get lost in that kiss but something caught Jake’s attention, and he lifted his head to look over my shoulder.
“Something’s wrong with Eli’s car,” he said, pointing with his chin.
I turned to see what he meant. The movement of the car wash flaps and brushes had stopped, and the whirring of the machine ceased entirely. A pair of car wash attendants stepped gingerly through the machinery, inspecting the gleaming black Audi.
“I should go see.” I spun for the door, Jake following close behind.
As we pushed open the door, I shielded my eyes from the bright sun and walked toward the car wash exit. One of the attendants had slid a long iron hook underneath Eli’s car, working it around until it attached to the chassis. With a grunt, he yanked on the end of the hook, his muscles straining.
“A little more,” the other guy called from the end of the conveyor belt.
“Hey there,” Jake called. “That’s our car. Is it stuck?”
The attendant looked up and flashed us a smile. “Yes. Please don’t worry. Happens once in a while, but we’re getting it out.”
“How did it happen?” I asked curiously but also a little concerned. That was odd.
“It got caught on the rails while it was going through. Sometimes it happens when the trunk is heavy. This one’s riding low to the ground.”
He returned to helping his co-worker, but I wasn’t thinking about the machines anymore. And that concern transformed. A kernel of optimism had resurfaced in me, rolling through my hopes, picking up speed. I looked at Jake, and he looked back at me, a matching twinkle of “what if” in his eyes.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he whispered.
My face split in a wide, never say quit grin. “I’m thinking what the heck is in the trunk of Eli’s car. ”
Somehow I managed not to explode with anxious anticipation as the attendants finished pulling the Audi free of the mechanism and parked it at the back of the car wash lot where they vacuumed the mats. Jake and I stood shoulder to shoulder while I popped the trunk with the key fob I’d kept and he pulled back the bottom liner.
Holy shit.
There was a safe installed where a spare tire would normally be. Maybe there were legit reasons Eli might need to drive around with a safe, but I couldn’t think of any that would apply.
But what if this was another gotcha gift?
“What do you think?” Jake asked, then looked my way. I was afraid to speak, even though he was clearly waiting for me to say something, maybe give the go-ahead.
“I’m afraid to get my hopes up,” I said, voicing the scope of my new concerns at last. “If this is a trunk full of nuts, I might drive this car off a pier.”
“Only one way to find out.” He gestured to the keypad. “Want to do the honors?”
Deep breath. More nerves. Another breath. Even more. “Me? You’re the expert,” I said, and he was, but I also needed him to do this deed. I needed his steady compass.
“But you know how to do this too,” he coaxed gently. “Start with the obvious.”
He was right. I could try to crack this safe. He’d taught me.
With a wall behind us and the trunk wide open, we were hidden from prying eyes. I reached into the cargo space and pressed Eli’s birthdate into the pad, but the door wiggled before I finished. It wasn’t even locked. What the hell?
I grabbed the handle and yanked it open.
Holy mother of jewels.
Diamonds. Everywhere. Handfuls of them. Gobs of them. My throat went dry and my pulse hammered. There they were, glittering in the sun. I stood frozen, gawking at the glorious sight.
“Gorgeous,” Jake whispered in a stunned voice. He was staring with the same awe I felt. It had been right under our noses for the last twenty-four hours. This was wild. After all this time, all these wild chases, all these dead ends, all these tricks, here they were.
I lifted a hand to reach for some, needing to feel the shape of them, the weight of them, but the slam of a car door startled me out of my trance.
Not just any car door.
This car’s door.
The engine turned over and the Audi roared to life. I jerked my head out of the trunk and saw a chestnut-haired woman in the car wash’s uniform, grinning at me through the window.
“Thanks for your help, babe!” Clarissa called. “You’re the best.”
My jaw dropped. No way. No way was she doing this.
But she was.
With one hand on the wheel, she peeled out of the parking lot with the car, the stash, and the keys that had been left in the ignition as the attendants cleaned.
Jake tore off after her, running like a track star, sprinting on a mad dash for the car. He ran like a bullet, powered by adrenaline, out of the lot, down the street, chasing the black automobile.
But Clarissa and the Audi were far faster. She sped through the light by the car wash, leaving Jake in the dust. He bent over, panting, his hands braced on his thighs.
A green Honda drove by next, following the Audi. Tristan was at the wheel.