Page 37 of The Diamond Thief
The tiara is not worth this. I’m not getting Elena hurt over my mistake.
I should’ve laid low longer. Not involved anyone else.
The van slows down, blending back into traffic. We turn off the highway for a bit, taking a secondary route, I suppose.
After a few minutes, Elliott asks, “What’s the news from your other car? Did he calm down when we backed off?”
“No,” Jacob says. “He’s still hurtling toward a destination.”
“What are we going to do?” Elena asks.
Jacob drops his phone in his pocket. “We are going to watch and wait. Let’s say there is someone else trying to pull a job,” he says. “Who’s to say we don’t let them do the dirty work, and we take it right from them? It’s a thing that is done fairly often.”
He stares at me meaningfully.
“Are you gonna start a blood war with another theft ring over something this small?” I ask.
He doesn’t take his eyes off me. It’s like we’re the only two people in the van. “Who’s to say that it is small? Maybe it’s bigger than anyone realized.”
I break his gaze. Perhaps he doesn’t know that I have looked up the swords and know the value. We’re not talking straight about this issue. Maybe it’s time.
“Jacob,” I say, “I know the swords are worth one hundred and forty million.”
Elena gasps and Elliott smacks his hand to his head. But Jacob keeps his gaze directly on me.
“I assume that’s why you took them.”
“No,” I say. “I took them because you’re an asshole to all the women of the Den. Someone needed to set you straight.”
“Interesting tactic, posing as a call girl,” he says. His face is menacing now, no longer a placid mask. “So you were willing to trade your body for the heist?”
“I was. Some of us are willing to do anything for the job. We don’t quit when it gets hard. Or when our dick does.”
His expression is murderous. I risk a glance over at Elena. Her mouth is open. I hope she doesn’t hate me for not telling her about the swords. She’s just now realizing she may be in over her head. Elliott appears somewhat amused, waiting for this to play out.
Jacob’s voice is like thunder. “Where are the swords, Jade?”
I cross my arms over my chest and refuse to answer.
“How hardball do you want to play this?” he asks. His eyes glitter. “How hardball do I need to go?”
“So we’re back to how hard you are?”
Elliott strangles on a laugh.
The van falls silent for several long moments.
Then, from the front. “Boss, you should know that we’ve got a bogey at five o’clock. Stuck to us at ninety, and still sticking to us at sixty-five.”
Jacob turns to look out the window. A sleek black Mercedes limo drives alongside us. It’s not trying to be subtle. There’s no one in front of it or to the side.
Elliott moves toward the window. “Who the hell is that? The windows are all blacked out.”
Jacob turns back around. “We have a supervisor,” he says. His voice drops with derision. “He thinks I aim to cut him out of his deal.”
“Antony?” Elliott asks. “Why would he have any interest in this pissant job?”
Jacob turns his phone over and over in his hands. “I have a deal with him currently.”
