Page 36 of The Diamond Thief
16
Jade
I’m so angry at Jacob Holt I could spit in his eye.
“If we’re not going after the payoff,” I say evenly, “then let me out of this van.”
Jacob takes me in with a penetrating gaze. “Our target has strayed from the plan. A pattern has been disrupted. It is the mark of a quality thief whether or nothe,” and he emphasizesheto clearly indicate that he discounts the women on the job, “ismanenough to adjust to the circumstances and pull it off anyway.”
Elliott turns in his chair. “Jacob, nobody’s challenging you. If the job is going rogue, we’ll make a calculated decision about what has changed and whether it is still worth the risk.”
“The job was always worth the risk,” he says darkly. “The question is whether everyone here can still take the risk.”
Elliott shakes his head. “All right, fine. The plan was always to intercept the truck when they change drivers. Unless he’s going to offload the critical elements of the payload prior to that first changing of the guard, there’s no reason why we don’t wait for that.”
Jacob watches his phone. “Eighty, eighty-five, ninety.” He shakes his head. “He’s taking huge risks with the way he’s driving. Either that armored truck has extra tech on it to evade police, or —”
I butt in. “Or getting pulled over is the least of his worries.”
Elliott pulls a large tablet from a pocket near his seat. He fires it up, the screen lighting his face.
“Identifying his new objective?” Jacob asked.
Elliott nods. “We’re headed to a small town. A few houses on the route. No targets there. No banks, no jewelers. He has to be offloading.”
“What makes you think he’s doing anything?” Elena asks. “Maybe he has to pee.”
“You don’t risk losing your commercial license over a piss,” Jacob says.
I realize I’ve looked over at him again, and he meets my gaze. “Maybe it’s simply a good old-fashioned romance,” he says. “He wants to meet up with a girl en route.” He lifts his glass to me, and I look away.
But now Elena is watching us. She gets my attention, then runs her eyes back and forth between me and Jacob. She turns her phone back on.
I receive her text.
You said you slept with him. Is he in love with you? Did you blow him off?
I pause, looking down at my phone, but also at Jacob to make sure he is not decoding my text from my finger movements. This is an area of specialty, and he might be trained.
I type and backtrack multiple times.
No. He’s just an ass.
When I look up, Jacob is smirking. I knew it. I wonder if he is able to see any communications that are made in this van. It’s possible.
I peer out the window. “We can’t keep following him at this speed without him noticing.”
“I’ll have the guard tail him in my car,” Jacob says. “We can back off.”
Elliott nods. “You think he’s running scared from us? Or just running scared?”
“There is no telling what he’s gotten into. A double cross or a treacherous love affair.” He glances around the van, resting on my face for a moment. “We have to agree that this job just got interesting.”
This job has been more interesting than I wanted from the moment he arrived. I glance over at Elena. She has concern all across her face. I get it. I feel it too. And she doesn’t even know the half of it. She may be the only one in the van who doesn’t know that I took the swords from Jacob.
No doubt Jacob let his friend in on it, and possibly Elliott is charming Elena just to help keep her away from me as necessary.
Dammit. She might not see it. She might be putting her heart on the line for that scoundrel.
