Jack chuckled. “You’re welcome, but I was just doing my job.”
She’d been right about him not wanting to get involved with someone like her and she couldn’t blame him. Jack was more suited to a woman like Monica Blaze. Women like Monica seemed to marry nice men who didn’t have a clue what cows they really were. The nice women always got stuck with the abusers.
Jack didn’t stay long after his tea. She spent the night alternating between worrying she’d been too forward and flirty with Jack, and worried whether Ryan would try to kill her again.
Chapter 20
The next morning, Gretel woke before her alarm and stretched her arms over her head. There was a certain reluctance to move from her bed—one of the few places where she felt safe. Just when she was seriously contemplating spending the day there, her cell phone sounded.
When she looked around for it, she realized it was next to her under the covers. She grabbed it hoping it wasn’t Ryan. The caller ID told her it was Jack.
“Hello.”
“Be downstairs in twenty.”
She had just opened her mouth to tell him she couldn’t possibly be ready in that short amount of time. It took her twenty to do her hair, but he’d already ended the call. By now she knew him well enough to know something was up. If she tied her hair back in a ponytail, that could save her time, and if she could persuade him to stop for a takeout coffee that would have to do for breakfast.
She pulled out some clothes—black pants and a cream and black blouse—not knowing if she should be wearing casual or dressy. Hopefully, she’d pass for either in what she had chosen. While she changed her clothes she thought of endless possibilities for the latest developments. They would’ve found out for certain it was Ryan’s car that had tried to run her down and hopefully they had footage of him in the driver’s seat. Attempted murder was something they could add to his charges. Did they also have the ID of those men who were killed at the lake house?
As soon as she slid into the front seat of his car, he said, “Did you trash your boyfriend’s apartment while in the process of looking for something?”
Her blood ran cold. They thought she had done all that? “No. I told you yesterday that I found it that way. And, Ryan Castle is definitely not my boyfriend. He’s tried to kill me twice now, possibly three times. You really have to stop calling him my boyfriend. It’s jangling on my last nerve.”
“When you told me about the state of his apartment yesterday, I made no comment until I checked with the people keeping it under surveillance. It wasn’t like that earlier in the day and it was like that after they saw you leave.”
“It’s obvious the ones who trashed it were there at some time in between. Why would I …”
“Why go there at all?” He started the car and pulled into the traffic flow.
“I just felt like I couldn’t stand around, or sit around, and do nothing while he was getting further away. I was looking around his apartment among all the rubble. I was looking for a clue to his true identity and a clue to where he might have gone.”
He glanced over at her. “You were breaching our agreement, and we now know who he is.”
“We don’t have an agreement in writing. That’s what I’ve been asking you for.”
“You’re not supposed to go rogue and go off by yourself. Regarding the agreement, it’s not going to happen if you do stupid things like this. I thought you were more sensible, level-headed, calculating even.”
She could tell he was annoyed by how he was clutching the steering wheel, so she remained silent. When they were nearly at his office, she said, “I won’t do it again.”
“Good.”
“What’s happened?”
“I’ll tell you once we’re in my office.”
She decided not to mention she was badly in need of coffee.
Soon, they were sitting in his office and he began, “I’ve got a few things to tell you. They managed to get a plate number from your photos of the car that tried to run you down. The car was registered to Ryan Castle even though we know that’s not his real name.”
“Good. I thought as much.”
He looked at her skeptically as though he could see right through her. Did he know she already knew that?
She cleared her throat to cover the sound of her empty tummy rumbling. “What about those men killed at the lake house? Do we know who they are yet?”
“No. They’re still working on it. We canvassed the surrounding businesses where you had your incident with Castle and we ended up getting CCTV footage of it. We now have a warrant out for his arrest.”
She clapped her hands. “Finally!”
“Would you like to view it?”
“The warrant?”
“No.” He frowned at her. “The CCTV.”
“No thanks. I lived it. I don’t need to see it again.”
He gave a curt nod. “The other thing is, we have a development. A piece from the Welch jewelry collection has surfaced in London. Do you know what this means?”
“Wonderful! We’re going to London? I could do with getting away from here.” She was envisioning all the shopping she could do while she was there, and all the places they could visit.
“No.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I love London. It’s brimming with history and there are so many things to do and see. The shopping is the best. I’d love to go back there soon.” When she saw his disapproving face, she straightened in her chair as she focused on the job at hand. “Ah, the wife isn’t guilty? Is that what you’re thinking?”
“It’s looking more like she didn’t take the jewelry. Or has she leaked a piece to make it look like a robbery, thus strengthening her cover story?”
“Could be. Which piece of jewelry are we talking about?”
He adjusted his computer keyboard and turned the monitor allowing her to see. “It was traced back to a dealer right here in New York. A pawnbroker no less.”
An image appeared on the screen. “It’s the Cleopatra bangle. The collection of diamond-set Egyptian-styled jewelry was commissioned in the fifties by a certain member of the British royal family for his wife’s private collection. They were made by Serita, a famous jewelry brand. That bracelet and the other two pieces of the collection they bought at Sotheby’s were the only pieces to make it into this country.”
“Correct. You’ve done your homework.”
“I have. It wasn’t hard to find out.”
“We traced the origin back to a local pawnbroker. His records show the bracelet came to him the day after the robbery. He then sold it to an English gentleman, who was here on holiday. From there, the bracelet traveled back to England where the new owner tried to put it into auction. It was a staff member at the auction house who knew from our alerts that the piece was stolen.”
“Good. Very thorough.”
He showed her another picture on his computer. “This is the ID that was given to the pawnbroker.”
She stared at the name. “Boris Stackovich. I don’t recognize that name.” She looked up at him. “Do you?”
“No. It’s a fake ID, but good enough to fool the dealer. It’s in their best interests not to look too closely at these things.”
“That’s true and have you talked to the pawnbroker who did the deal?”
“That’s where we’re going right now. The police are trying to find a facial recognition match for the man posing as Boris Stackovich.”
She inhaled sharply. Did she want to go along to meet with this dealer? What if she knew him? “What is the name of the person we’re going to talk to?”
“Blackburn. David Blackburn. Do you know him?” With piercing eyes he studied her face.
She forced a smile, and then shook her head. “No.” It was the truth and she was relieved.
“He claims he didn’t know the bracelet was stolen, but it’s a unique piece. He’ll most likely be charged for receiving stolen goods. They’re questioning him now. Then we’ll have our turn.”
“Good. I can’t wait.”
He looked at her curiously.
“I need to know what happened that night at the Welch household.”
His lips turned upward. “You and me both.”
Gretel excused herself for a quick trip to the bathroom.
When she was drying her hands, the door was flung open and Monica Blaze walked in and stood over her.
She looked at Monica. “Yes?”
Monica’s gaze dropped to her quilted black Channel. “Nice bag.” She ran her fingertips over it.
It was an awkward moment. “Thanks.”
When their eyes locked again, Monica said, “Jack got hurt and that’s your fault. You took him on a wild goose chase after your boyfriend. I have no idea what you told him, but I want you to know that I’m watching you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“You might’ve fooled everyone else including Jack, but I know you haven’t reformed. When you slip up, I’ll be right there to take you down.”
“Good luck with that.” Gretel moved to the door, but Monica stepped in front of her.
“Leave Jack alone. He’d never be interested in a criminal like you.”
“So you think he’d be interested in you?”
“Already is.”
“Just move aside.”
She lowered her face so it was one inch from Gretel’s. “I’m watching every move you make.”
It took every ounce of self-control for Gretel to keep her hands by her sides. If she were back in prison and another inmate had done this to her, that would be a whole different story with a very different outcome. “Jack’s waiting for me. Maybe I should tell him we were having this conversation and that’s what took me so long, hmmm?”
“If Jack gets hurt again, you’ll pay.” She then moved aside, and Gretel wasted no time in getting away from her.
As she walked back to Jack’s office, she wondered if Jack and Monica did have something going on. If they did, it made perfect sense to keep it a secret since they were working together.
Jack and Gretel walked into the interview room to see a nervous-looking, balding, middle-aged man sitting down at a small table.
“Hello, Mr. Blackburn. I’m special agent Jack Fletcher from the FBI and this is my assistant.”
Blackburn clasped his trembling hands on the table in front of him. “I’ll tell you what I told them. I didn’t know it was stolen. How could I possibly know? I’m not a mind reader.”
Jack and Gretel sat down in front of him.
“The jewelry has been on the news and in the papers. You would’ve got an email from us. They were sent out to all dealers and pawnbrokers in the vicinity.”
“I work all the time and don’t look at those things. Am I going to be charged?”
Gretel had thought from what Jack said that the man had already been arrested.
Jack leaned forward. “I’m only interested in the man who brought the bracelet in. Did he say or do anything out of the ordinary?”
“No. He said he had something to sell. Said it belonged to his maiden aunt who’d just died. Said she died in an old people’s home and this was fresh out of her bank safe deposit box. He said he wasn’t married so he had no wife to give it to. All he wanted was enough money to get a set of golf clubs. I gave him enough to get a top of the line set.”
“And you got it all on tape?” Gretel asked.
“Yes. It’s all there on the footage. The woman who works for me downloaded it and gave it to the cops.”
Jack handed over his card. “If you think of anything else, no matter how small, please call me.”
He took the card and looked at it. “I will.”
They left the police station after Jack was given a USB stick with the footage of the Cleopatra bracelet transaction. They also had footage of the seller getting into and out of a vehicle.
When Jack and Gretel arrived back at his office, he put the stick into his computer with Gretel looking over his shoulder.
“He’s got a hat on so it’s hard to see his face. But the interesting thing is what the police got from across the road at the bookstore. He gets back into a taxi with a woman.” He froze the shot of the woman.
“Can you see a clear view of her face?”
“No, I can’t. I’ll have to send it off and see if they can enlarge it up and make it less grainy. Still, this is the best lead we’ve had so far. They’re trying to lift fingerprints off the document he signed.” He downloaded the file to his hard drive. “I’ll give this to the IT guys in person. Back in a minute.”
She quickly sat in his seat, opened his drawer, pulled out an empty data stick and started to download the file onto it. “Come on, come on, come on.” She calmed her nerves the best she could. If he caught her, he’d never trust her—with good reason. Kent would be better than anyone on the FBI IT team, or just as good as, she knew.
The instant she saw the words, 'download completed,' she heard footsteps and saw the door handle move. Her heart felt like it was jumping right out of her chest.
Jack was back.
Chapter 21
Gretel pulled the USB stick from the computer, stood up and shoved it in her front pants pocket a millisecond before Jack walked back in. She looked up at him. “How long did they say it would take?”
“We should have something by tomorrow.” He frowned at her being around his side of the computer.
She brushed dust off the top of the monitor hoping it would look like that was all she’d been doing. “Good.”
Once she was sitting down on her usual chair, he sat back down at the computer. “Want a copy?”
“Sure.” She had to smile, seeing the funny side. All that stress she’d just been through for nothing.
He pulled open his drawer and pulled out a USB stick from a packet. After he pushed it into his computer, he said, “Maybe you’ll see something if you study it better. Take another look with me. I’ll play it again while it’s downloading.”
She got up and walked back around to his side of the desk.
They both watched carefully, and Jack paused it on the woman in the taxi. Gretel said, “Sure is grainy, but the impression of that woman is that she’s wealthy. Her clothes don’t look cheap. That’s for sure. The sunglasses are designer, too.”
“How can you tell?”
“Instinct. All that dark hair isn’t her own. She’s making an attempt to disguise herself.”
“Which leaves us where?”
“Someone, a female, has good taste in clothes and sunglasses, and she may or may not have black hair.”
“We’ll have to hope they can pull a fingerprint from the paperwork. Not likely, but we can hope. This is the best lead we’ve had so far,” he repeated.
“Isn’t it the only one you’ve had?”
He grinned. “That too.”
He took the USB stick out of the computer and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” She sat back down on the chair in front of his desk.
“There were no prints at the Welch household that shouldn’t have been there. Staff, family. The staff didn’t benefit from his death and they weren’t even there that night. I’ve got surveillance tape of them at the hotel they’d been sent to by Mrs. Welch.”
“Very convenient to get them out of the way. She stands to gain the most. If she did it, then she gets the insurance payout for the jewelry she probably still has, and his life insurance. And she doesn’t have to go through a divorce and the scandal that would’ve gone along with it. She’d get a widow’s sympathy and get to keep all her friends. Those who divorce lose half their friends, I’m told.”
“Is that right?” He smirked.
“I used to listen in to my father counseling people. I got to hear all the gossip and all the tales of woe.”
“How exactly did you hear that?”
“In the next room. It was a spare bedroom and my sister and I used to each put a drinking glass up against the wall and stand th
ere with our ears pressed against them. It works. Sometimes we heard some things we didn’t want to know.”
“I can imagine. Well, that’s all I have for you today. For homework, study that tape and see what you see.”
“Thanks. I’ll find my own way home if you’re through with me today.”
“I’ll have someone drive you. We can’t take any risks.”
“I’ll do my best.” She stood. “Just as well I have protection.”
“Protection from what?” Monica breezed into the room.
Gretel saw Monica was clutching two take-out coffees. “Oh, that’s so nice of you to bring me a coffee, Monica, but I was just leaving.”
“Oh, you’re leaving? Too bad. One’s for Jack anyway, and one’s mine.”
The whine in Monica’s voice was annoying. Gretel tried her best to control her urge to slap her. Not in front of Jack. Gretel looked back at Jack. “Bye.”
“Wait. I’m organizing you a ride home.”
She didn’t want anyone but Jack to drive her. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. I’ll get a taxi straight home and lock my door.”
“Call me the moment you’re in your apartment so I don’t worry.”
“I will.” Gretel saw Monica was upset over that last bit. Gretel gave her a beaming smile before she walked out.
Monica showing up like that had been rotten timing.
Jack was right about her having to be careful. Ryan wanted her dead, and those men at the lake house did, too.
Once she had gotten home and let Jack know she was there, she downloaded the footage of the man selling the Cleopatra bracelet and then emailed it to another of the emails she used. Any activity on her emails would trigger Kent’s attention. In the body of the email, she wrote a 'note to self,’ ‘Find out who this man is and the woman in the car.’
Then being impatient, she disregarded Jack’s warnings about staying home. If Ryan Castle really wanted her dead he would’ve shot her. Perhaps he was merely trying to warn her off—scare her off.
Shiny Things Page 11
