Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “Oh… well, there was an incident that happened the first time we were there. The jeweler sort of offered my friend a stolen ring… uh… he didn’t say it was stolen, but it was kind of obvious.”

  Uncle Joey’s eyes narrowed with realization. “The friend you’re talking about is the cop, right?”

  “Uh… yeah. But I’m sure Dimples didn’t follow up on it. Because once the jeweler found out Dimples was a cop, he found the right ring pretty fast and offered Dimples a huge discount. That’s the reason I’m pretty sure Dimples didn’t do anything about it.”

  I took a deep breath, hating to insinuate that Dimples could be bribed, since I knew that wasn’t true, and quickly continued before I dug a hole I couldn’t get out of.

  “So when I was there today with Billie to find a wedding band for Dimples, it reminded the jeweler that he was holding a large stash of diamonds. Since they were unaccounted-for inventory, it made him a little nervous. So that’s why he was thinking about it. But, look at it this way, at least he wasn’t thinking of keeping them and double-crossing you. That’s good. Right?”

  “Uh-huh.” Uncle Joey sat with his mouth slightly open. It never ceased to amaze him that I was right smack dab in the middle of things like this. The fact that I had found the diamonds boggled his mind. This whole business with the Russians was a fiasco, but finding the diamonds was the breakthrough they needed, as long as Yuri hadn’t beaten him to it. He sure hoped Ramos got there in time.

  “I don’t get it. Why would Yuri still be watching me? I thought you told him about Anton and the blond girl.”

  He closed his mouth, thinking that the conversation hadn’t quite gone that way. He noticed my widened eyes, and he ground his teeth that I’d picked that up. As much as he liked my skills, he didn’t like that I could hear his thoughts. It made him feel like he had to talk, whether he wanted to or not, and that went against his nature.

  “Uh… sorry. But I’m sure you’d tell me anyway, so it’s not so bad, right?”

  A small smile twisted his lips. I was spunky, and he couldn’t help but admire that. “I’m sure you’re right. So here’s the deal. I talked to Yuri, but only briefly. I mentioned that targeting you was not in his best interests. He acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about.

  “Maybe he didn’t, but I explained that I expected him to honor our agreement. Then I told him I had sources that pointed to Anton as the culprit, and would he do me the favor of questioning him. After that, if the money didn’t turn up, I’d pay him by midnight tonight, but if I had any reason to believe that he had the money all along, he’d wish he were dead long before I got through with him.”

  He thought that went over pretty well. It probably made Yuri mad as hell, but at least it gave him the idea that one of his own might be trying to cheat him, whether he wanted to believe it or not. Uncle Joey hoped that was enough to get Yuri to look into it, even if it was just to prove him wrong.

  “Woah,” I said. “I guess nothing’s ever easy is it?”

  “Not in this business.”

  “But why do you think Zack left the diamonds with the jeweler in the first place? Does that mean he wasn’t trying to double-cross you after all?”

  “Hmm… you have a point. If he wasn’t, that means he must have known something wasn’t right with the Russians, and he was trying to protect my interests.”

  “That makes sense. Maybe he had an idea of what Anton was up to, but didn’t have any evidence to prove it. So he made a contingency plan to give them fake diamonds in case they kept the money. Since that’s exactly what happened, he might have been right all along.”

  Uncle Joey nodded, thinking that’s exactly what it looked like. Now that he knew Zack wasn’t a double-crosser, the first pangs of remorse that he’d lost a good man washed over him, and he wished Zack would have confided in him instead of trying to prove himself. Now it was up to him to avenge Zack’s death and find out what the hell was going on.

  I kept my mouth shut about all that, since I was in way over my head as it was. And agreeing that he was all wrong about Zack probably wasn’t a good idea either.

  Then there was the whole “do you know who Harper is” thing I’d intended to ask Uncle Joey about, but maybe now was not the best time to bring that up. I should probably go back to Chris’ office and talk to Kevin first, and keep Uncle Joey out of it.

  “So, are you excited to see Miguel in the school play tomorrow night?” I asked him instead.

  “As a matter of fact, I am. I want to see how good Miguel really is. You’re planning to be there and you’re bringing Chris, right?” He was thinking about the talent scouts and wanted Chris there just in case they wanted to talk to Miguel.

  “Yes. We wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Good. Be sure to stick around after.”

  “Sure,” I agreed. “Is Carlotta coming with Jack?”

  He hadn’t told them about it yet, and he wasn’t sure he would, thinking it might be better if they went on a different night.

  “Oh, I guess that makes sense,” I agreed. “There’s still the Monday night performance. But you should let them know so they can plan on it.”

  Uncle Joey narrowed his eyes. He didn’t need me telling him what to do.

  “Or not. But I’m sure Miguel would like his mom to be there, don’t you think?”

  “No,” he said, defiantly. “If you hadn’t looked into it, none of us would be there, so I’m not sure you know what you’re talking about. Besides, I think waiting until the last minute to involve Carlotta for either performance is a good idea, since I’m not sure Carlotta can keep a secret. And right now, with the Russians involved in my life, I don’t want anything to happen to my son.”

  “Oh… I hadn’t even thought about that. Of course not.”

  Before I made things worse with Uncle Joey, his phone rang, and I let out a relieved breath. He answered, and I picked up that it was Ramos. “You have them? Good. Yes, take them to the vault. Make sure all the money is there too, in case we need it. Yes. I’ll see you then.”

  Uncle Joey disconnected and glanced at me. “We have the diamonds. Now we’ll have to see how things play out tonight.” He considered asking me to come to the midnight meeting, and my heart rate doubled. Yikes! No way did I want to be involved in that standoff. All those men with guns and huge egos scared me to death. Somebody could get kill ed.

  Taking in my widened eyes, Uncle Joey raised a brow, then his lips turned up in a smile. “I think we can manage without you tonight.” He was thinking that if he or Ramos ended up killing any of them, he didn’t want me to be a witness or, heaven forbid, try and stop him.

  “Oh… good.” I let out a relieved breath. “Yeah… I’m sure you’ll be fine without me, and I’d probably just be in the way anyway. So… okay… I guess we’re done here. Uh… I’m glad you got the diamonds.” I quickly stood and hurried to the door. “Good luck tonight.” I opened the door to leave before he changed his mind.

  “Shelby,” he called, stopping me in my tracks.

  “Uh… yeah?”

  “Thanks. See you tomorrow night.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Bye.” I closed the door behind me and leaned against it to catch my breath. That was close. Thank goodness he decided he didn’t need me, but seriously, he’d handled stuff like this all the time before he knew me, so he should be fine.

  Letting out a deep breath, I hurried down the hall to Jackie’s desk. She smiled, thinking she was sorry her surprise with the cake had been ruined with everyone rushing off so fast. “Hey Shelby,” she said. “I noticed you didn’t get to finish your piece of cake, so I boxed up the rest for you to take home.” She held it out to me, and I took it.

  “Oh… thanks Jackie. That’s so nice of you to remember. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year. Where’s the time gone?”

  “Isn’t that the truth? I was thinking that just a year ago you were wearing a black wig and eyeglasses every time you came in. It was kind of funny.
But now you’re like part of the family. I’m really glad it’s all worked out.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I didn’t add that if it hadn’t, I’d probably be dead. That’s why it seemed a little ironic to celebrate my one-year mark, but what did I know? Maybe it was to celebrate the fact that I wasn’t dead yet. “Well, thanks for the cake. I’ll see you tomorrow night at the play. It should be great.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. See you then.”

  I hurried to the elevator and stepped inside, deciding I’d use the cake to celebrate one year of surviving life in the employment of a notorious mob-boss. That sounded like quite an accomplishment to me. And looking back, I was darn lucky to be alive. Maybe that’s why it had gone by so fast.

  It also made me wonder what was in store for me in the next year of my life. Knowing what I’d been through, and all the things that had happened to me, it kind of gave me a stomachache, so I decided it was better not to think about it and just enjoy my cake.

  Checking my watch, I probably had time to stop by Chris’ office and have a little chat with Kevin Moore about this Harper person. But for some reason, I just didn’t have it in me. So I headed home instead, and saved that little task for another day.

  At home, I changed into comfier clothes and even had time to finish my piece of cake before I had to pick the kids up from school. The rest of the evening passed by pretty fast. Since it was Friday, both Josh and Savannah had plans with their friends, leaving me and Chris home alone for a while.

  That gave me plenty of time to tell him all about Mr. Johnson and what had happened to Riley and Grant. “I hope it was all right to tell him that you’d represent him. I thought it would make it easier for him to turn himself in. You should have seen the poor guy. It reminded me of The Scarlet Letter, you know… how the other guy suffered so much that the letter “A” was burned right into his chest? That’s how guilty Johnson looked. Maybe now he can move on.”

  “Yeah.” Chris shook his head, thinking that I might have gone a little overboard in the helping department, but he was willing to do what he could. “My schedule is really busy, but this is the perfect case for Ethan to take charge of… with my supervision of course. We have a certain amount of hours to do pro bono work, so this will fit the bill perfectly, and Monday will work fine.”

  “Good, that’s a relief.”

  “In fact, the more I think about it, the more this case intrigues me. I wonder how it will play out in court.”

  “Yeah. It’s not so cut-and-dry is it?”

  “Not at all.” He was thinking that, based on how it was presented, there were several ways it could end up, from no time in jail to several years. It would be fascinating to see what happened. He’d need to get Ethan checking on similar cases first thing Monday morning, and he felt sure it would intrigue him as well.

  I sighed and he glanced at me, pulling his thoughts back to the present. From my forlorn expression, he figured there was probably more to my day that I hadn’t told him, so I’d better start talking.

  “You’re right about that.” I explained how I’d found out where the diamonds were while visiting the jeweler with Billie. Then how Uncle Joey sent Ramos to get them, and the whole thing with the cake and my one-year anniversary.

  “They’re meeting with the Russians tonight at midnight, and he didn’t even ask me to go. Well, he thought about it, but figured it was better that I wasn’t there, even though I could tell them if the Russians were hiding something. That’s good, right?”

  Chris huffed out a breath, thinking that even if Manetto had wanted me there, Chris would have stood up to him and told him that I wasn’t going, and he’d just have to take care of it himself. Like he should have in the first place.

  Hearing that made me glad it worked out the way it did, since I wouldn’t have wanted Chris and Uncle Joey to fight about me. “So, do you want some chocolate cake?” I asked, hoping to take his mind off it.

  “Sure, as long as that isn’t the only dessert I get tonight.”

  “Hmm… I’ll have to think about that. I might need some convincing. What else did you have in mind?” He scooted to my side, and I picked up something involving kissing that sent little tingles down my neck. Then he started nibbling on a spot just below my ear and trailed kisses down my jaw.

  “How about we start here first?” he asked.

  “Uh… I think the kids will be gone for a few hours.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  “Oh baby, oh baby.”

  ***

  Later that night, after everyone was home and in bed, I stayed up reading a book, since I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Midnight came and went, and I wondered how things were going with Uncle Joey and Ramos. Had they settled things once and for all? Did they give the Russians the money, or did Yuri find out the blond girl and Anton had taken it?

  Finally, at one-thirty, I put my book away and got in bed. Whatever was going to happen had probably happened by now, and I should stop worrying. Still, it took me a long time to fall asleep.

  I woke the next morning to bright sunshine and clear skies. I got out of bed and checked my cell phone for any messages from Uncle Joey but found nothing. Knowing I’d worry until I found out what had happened, I sent him a text and hoped he’d answer.

  An hour later, I got a short text back that said everything was fine and he’d see me tonight. Relieved, I spent the morning at Aikido with Savannah, then the rest of the day cleaning my house, doing laundry, and going to the grocery store, as well as running several errands. Along with finishing up our plans for Savannah’s birthday party the following Friday, it turned out to be a busy day.

  Before I knew it, the time came to get ready for the play. I’d been to enough school plays to know that I didn’t have to get dressed up, unless they did things differently at a private school. So I happily slipped on my black jeans and black boots, with a tight red eyelet and lace-up top under my leather motorcycle jacket.

  Chris thought I looked pretty hot, but he knew jeans and a t-shirt wouldn’t apply to him if he was going to meet up with some entertainment execs. That meant he had to wear a jacket, but pairing it with a button-up shirt and jeans totally rocked the jacket and made him look like a movie star.

  By the time we got to the school, I was more than ready to sit down and relax for a couple of hours. Plus, I couldn’t wait to hear Miguel sing and find out what Uncle Joey thought about it. Chris wasn’t as relaxed, since he didn’t know much about entertainment law, but he’d spent some time studying up, and he knew enough to get by for now.

  We pulled into the parking lot and noticed a whole slew of security guards stationed around the building. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the President of the United States was coming for a special showing or something.

  After parking, we walked to the entrance and stood in line with everyone else waiting to pass through security. It didn’t take long with two teams set up, but I was still grateful we’d come early and I’d left my stun flashlight at home. But what the heck?

  We followed the hallway to the auditorium to find two more guards stationed outside the double doors. Only this time I recognized them. Ramos stood at one door and Ricky at the other.

  As we came toward him, Ramos spotted us and sent me a little head nod. At my questioning glance, he motioned toward the auditorium and I heard the words in his mind, I can’t talk right now, but go in, and Manetto will tell you what’s going on.

  I nodded, then picked up his unguarded thought that I was in so much trouble. Huh? What did he mean by that?

  Beside me, a surge of jealousy mixed with possessiveness sprang from Chris, along with a desire to remind Ramos that I was his wife, and Ramos better not forget it. Ever.

  Alarmed, I quickly pulled Chris through the doors before he said something like that out loud. Chris knew most of the details about my stay in Paris. Although he was grateful Ramos had not only saved my life, but been my bodyguard during those trying days, it d
idn’t mean that he liked how much time we’d spent together, and I couldn’t really blame him.

  Relieved that I’d averted one disaster, I tried to get a grip on my nerves. What kind of trouble did Ramos think I was in with Uncle Joey? I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I?

  We started down the aisle and a student usher came to my side, holding her hand out for our tickets. As she showed us to our perfect seats in the middle of the auditorium, my stomach clenched into little knots, and I seriously considered turning around. Glancing down the row of seats, I spotted Jackie in the chair right next to our two empty ones, then came Uncle Joey, Jack and Carlotta.

  I picked up a huge amount of tension between all four of them, the worst coming from Carlotta and Uncle Joey. She was furious with Uncle Joey and silently fuming with indignation that he’d accused her of telling everyone she knew about Miguel and the play. She’d only told her best friends, and they’d promised not to tell anyone, so it wasn’t her fault if the wrong people found out.

  Jack tried to be the buffer between them by shielding Carlotta from Uncle Joey’s view and holding Carlotta’s hand to soothe her. Uncle Joey wondered why in hell he’d ever thought they could sit through this play together like civilized people.

  He never should have involved Carlotta in the first place, but that was my fault. I’d convinced him that she should be here, and Miguel would be happy about it. He should have known she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

  Yikes! That sounded bad. I hesitated, ready to turn around, but they all spotted me and Chris at the same time. I smiled and gave them a little wave. Only Jackie’s face broke out into a happy smile, and her relief to have us there hit me like a ton of bricks.

  “There you are,” she said. “This is perfect. Now you can trade us places. Since you got the tickets, you really should have the better seats.” She urged Uncle Joey to stand, and they both moved into the two empty seats, leaving me and Chris with no choice but to take their vacated ones in the middle.

  Since I stood there like a statue, Chris took it to mean he should go first, leaving me to follow and take the seat right next to Uncle Joey. As we sat, Chris greeted everyone, then began a conversation with Jack, whom he knew because he was a judge.