by Leslie North
Realizing this was a bad idea, she crawled carefully out of bed and slipped her dress from last night back on. Until he let her out of the room, that would have to do. She certainly wasn’t going to parade around the room in just his t-shirt, although it was nice to wear last night. His smell lingered in the fabric, which she made a point of inhaling before she stripped out of it.
She could have easily left his bedroom and returned to hers, but she was not going to give him a reason to be proven right about her. Okay, yes, she had intended to steal the necklace, but it didn’t happen.
Snagging her cellphone, she made her first call, but it proved to be a dead end. After three more tries, she finally found someone who could help.
“Samine. Long time. Let me guess. You need a favor,” a female voice crackled over the receiver.
Samine smirked. “Anna, last time I checked, you owed me a favor.”
“Fine. Fine. What do you need?”
“I need you to review all the cargo shipments that left Paris yesterday. We’re not talking small packages either. Thirty pieces of cargo that would have left by plane. Private companies.”
“That’s specific,” the woman grumbled, but there was clicking on the computer. “I got nothing.”
“Damn. There’s no way it went by port. Any chance you could check freight trains or moving companies?”
“Samine, do you know how many moving companies operate within Paris’ borders? You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
She tapped her finger on the dresser. “This is pretty priceless cargo. What are some of the companies in the area known for skimpy background checks and pricey services?”
Anna chuckled. “There’s only one. Give me a minute.” After a few more clicks of the keyboard, Anna was back on. “Here we go. Thirty crates were shipped to the Strasbourg airport.”
Samine smiled in excitement. “I guess the thief risked too much exposure in the Paris airport. Can you tell me where it’s going?”
“It landed in Venice around midnight.”
“Anna, I could kiss you. Consider your debt to me wiped clean.” Samine disconnected the call and grabbed a notepad. Venice. Was there a buyer for the collection in Venice, or was that just a stopping point?
“I take it you found something.”
Samine looked up to see Adil watching her carefully. “Your collection is in Venice, although I have no idea how long it will stay there. You watched them pack everything for the flight here, which means the swap had to take place once our plane landed. It was moved to the Strasbourg airport and landed in Venice around midnight.”
“You work fast,” Adil said slowly. “Now what?”
“Now we go to Venice and hope the collection isn’t bound for some other place. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to go get my things.”
“You need to tell me what you want.”
“All in good time,” she said softly. There was no way she was going to show all of her cards now. She was so close to getting what she wanted that she could practically taste victory. If she told Adil what she was after, he’d make sure she never got her hands on it. She needed another plan, and she needed it quickly.
“Not all in good time. Now,” he said as he threw back the blankets and stood. “We’re not leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on.”
Samine opened and closed her mouth as she looked at him. Even just out of bed, he looked good with his hair all mussed up from sleep. She was kidding herself; he looked fantastic standing there in nothing but boxers. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she reminded herself that she wasn’t going to let her growing attraction for him sway her.
“Adil, we don’t have time for this. Do you really think what I’m after is worth more than you getting cut off from your family?” He gave her a sharp look, and she chuckled. “Your brother will cut you off if he finds out the truth.”
His expression turned dark. “Who the hell are you?”
“Adil, if we miss out on Venice, I may not be able to track the next location. Now, let me go get my things.”
She made her way to the door, and he blocked her way. “If you’re telling the truth, then you don’t have the means to get to Venice without me. I’ve funded every portion of this trip so far.”
He wasn’t wrong. Just getting to his family had left her broke. “Then I guess you can trust that I’m not going to run. But if you get to Venice without me, and that collection isn’t there, how are you going to find it without me? More importantly, how’s your Italian?”
For a moment, they just stared at each other. Finally, he stepped aside. “We leave in twenty minutes,” he growled.
Samine quickly returned to her room to change and to grab her things. She wished she had time to shower, but didn’t want to risk raising his temper. She didn’t know why, but his disappointment was doing things to her that she really wanted to stop. She never anticipated having any sort of feelings for Adil and he was such a known womanizer, why should he feel hurt? Because he didn’t get his way? But she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt that she had hurt him and now was not the time.
She was too close.
It didn’t take long for her to pack her stuff. As Adil had already pointed out, she hadn’t done much unpacking. Since she hadn’t planned on staying the night in Paris, she wouldn’t have packed anything at all except that she wanted a clean getaway. No need to go back to the hotel. Swipe the crown. Get the hell back to the States. Hope Adil didn’t track her down.
It was a shitty plan, but it was all she had. Now things were more complicated.
It gave her a small slice of satisfaction when Adil came down to the lobby and found her waiting for him. “Took you long enough,” she said cheekily.
“It’s funny. Yesterday you were eloquent and seductive. A woman of the world. Today it’s like you grew up in Brooklyn,” he muttered.
“Pittsburg. But close enough.”
“So the whole story about your family moving from Iran?”
“Truth. Mother was pregnant with me when they came to the United States. I’m a born and bred US citizen. I didn’t lie to you.”
He didn’t say anything else to her until the plane was off the ground, but he didn’t take his eyes off her. On the way to Paris, he had looked at her with lust and interest. Now he looked at her with disgust. It was nothing less than she deserved.
“We’ve got some time to kill,” he said softly. “Do you want to tell me why I should trust you?”
“Because you don’t have a choice,” she murmured as she glanced out the window. Everything looked like little tiny specks down below.
“And when it’s all over?”
She looked at him sharply. “When it’s over, you’re going to give me what I want to pay for my silence. You go back to your posh parties, and I go back to my life. We never have to see each other again.”
Adil leaned forward and shook his head. “See, here’s the thing, Samine. I have a feeling that what you want comes from my collection, and my family isn’t going to be pleased if something goes missing under my watch. I get cut off, and I no longer need your silence.”
She gave him a small smile. “Your family will never know that it’s gone. Trust me. Everything will be fine, Adil.” At least, so long as no one tried to authenticate the replacement.
“Maybe if you gave me a straight answer, I’d trust you.”
Her heart hurt, but she turned away from him. The whole mess was getting dirtier and dirtier. Samine stared out the window lost in thought and was surprised when she felt the tires hit the tarmac as they landed. Looking at her watch, she couldn't believe they’d been in the air for two hours. Where did the time go?
As the plane rolled to a stop, Adil looked at her expectantly. “Venice is a big place, Samine. I hope you’ve narrowed it down.”
Samine rolled her eyes. “While I was waiting for you, I did some checking. Several warehouses in Venice are large enough to house the collection, b
ut the moving company has an intimate relationship with only one of them. I’m fairly certain we’ll find your things there.”
“Give me the address.”
“I don’t think so,” she said with a smile. “I’m not that dumb. You’re going to dump me here and retrieve the collection yourself. We’re going together.”
“Why?”
“Because I could have left you here, taken what I wanted, and left you high and dry. I’m trying to help you, Adil. Show me the same courtesy.”
With a sigh of frustration, he gestured to his men. “Fine. But when this is all over with, I do not ever want to see you again.”
“Fair enough,” she said sadly. Getaway. Not clean, but a getaway nonetheless.
The warehouse wasn’t far from the airport but the ride was tense, and it was only slightly relieved by the seeming lack of security. Leaving the guards out front and after some discussion with the warehouse manager who wanted nothing more than to avoid having law enforcement on the premises, they were granted access to the crates, which were neatly stacked and awaiting pick up.
With a smile on her face, Samine grabbed two crowbars and handed one to Adil.
“Shall we?” she asked excitedly. With a grunt, he nodded and they started at different ends and began prying the crates open. Samine felt as though she were on a treasure hunt as they opened crate after crate; sifting through the packing material to find all the missing collection items. Well, almost all of them.
Three pieces were missing.
Samine held her breath as the last crate was about to be opened when a sudden shout got their attention. Bruce Summers stood in the doorway with his mouth open. “You stole the collection!”
She froze. How the hell did he figure it out?
“Bruce,” Adil growled.
“This is your family’s collection. It’s not yours. You have wealth at your disposal. What could you possibly gain from taking it?”
This time, her jaw dropped. Bruce thought that Adil stole it?
Adil narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that we were here? I didn’t tell you where we were going. I didn’t even know.”
“I knew I couldn’t trust you. I’d already been to Paris before I called you. Imagine my surprise when I found the crates were empty. Since your plane filed a flight manifest, it was easy to track you to Venice. Adil, what on earth were you thinking? Jaymin wouldn’t have cut you off.”
“Bruce, I tracked them down. I used my contacts as a reporter. Adil didn’t do this,” Samine said as she stepped forward. She didn’t have time for the two men to argue; whatever their problem was, they needed to settle it, and quickly.
“A reporter? Really?” Bruce’s derisive tone had her swallowing hard, as he turned to Adil. “Did you ever stop to run her credentials, Adil, or were you more interested in bedding her? Because once I realized that something was up, I did, and no one has heard of her. She’s lied about everything. Were you two working together? Is that it? Police! Police! I have them!” Bruce began shouting as he ran out front when he heard the sirens.
“Shit,” Samine blurted out, as she looked out the window. “Adil, we’re about to be arrested.”
“I didn’t take it. They can’t arrest me. The collection belongs to me.”
Samine shook her head. “It doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to your father, and the police aren’t here alone. Interpol is with them. We can get arrested and hope that we sort things out, or we can leave and figure out who really stole it.”
He gave her an astounded look. “Obviously, Bruce stole them.”
“If Bruce wanted to steal it, he would have done so before it even shipped. He wouldn’t have tipped us off.” She looked around wildly. “Your men. Are they yours or your father’s?”
“My father’s,” he said slowly.
“Fuck. Adil, we need to get out of here, now. If we are arrested, we’ll never know who stole it. We need to go.” She watched as he stood there, as if he didn’t know what to do next. Now was not the time for him to flounder. Grabbing his hand in a panic, she tugged him toward the back of the warehouse, hoping for an easy exit. “Snap out of it, Adil, we have to leave. Now!”
Adil finally groaned. “Fine.” He turned and ran with Samine. There was a truck getting ready to pull out. Adil jumped first and held his hand out for Samine, grabbing her as she jumped. The truck continued to rumble, as it pulled away and they tumbled to the floor where they lay, as the truck exited the parking lot and turned onto the roadway. They had no idea where they were going, but Samine figured that anywhere would be better than a Venice jail.
Rolling to her back, she started up at the blue sky, wondering if these would be her last moments of freedom.
“I’ll call my father. He’ll sort this out,” Adil interrupted her thoughts.
“We’re not just dealing with the local police, Adil. Interpol is a little harder to bribe. We figure out who stole the artifacts, and we bring the evidence to exonerate you.”
As she spoke, she could feel the heat of his stare. “Bruce didn’t accuse you. He only accused me. Why would you help me?”
“I told you. I’m not leaving empty-handed.”
7
The truck slowed to a stop and they heard the driver’s door open and close. “Come on,” Adil muttered, “We need to get out before the truck leaves town.”
They both sat up cautiously. The street was relatively empty and they watched as the driver walked into a nearby café.
Climbing over the opposite side from the café, Adil reached up to grab Samine by the waist and help her down. When she landed, her body brushed against his, and she looked up at him in surprise, her nostrils flaring. Without thinking, he reached out and brushed some dirt off her face before dropping his hand.
Running across the road, they began to weave in and out of streets before finding a small, quiet café. Walking inside, they took turns cleaning up before choosing a table with a view of the canal.
As they ordered coffee, he looked around. He’d never had to hide from anyone in his life, and he didn’t like the feeling. His family was going to be furious with him. Jaymin, he could deal with, but he wasn’t looking forward to his father’s disappointment.
Samine interrupted his thoughts. “We can’t go too far. We need to keep an eye on the collection. Whoever stole it isn’t going to be pleased that Bruce has his hands on it again. We need to figure out what their next move is.”
“This whole idea that Bruce didn’t steal the collection is rather thin. If he’d stolen it before Paris, he couldn’t blame it on me,” Adil grumbled. Bruce had crossed the family before when he tried to sell Solomon’s Diamond. Adil thought Bruce was too loyal to Fleur to do it again, but maybe he was wrong.
“Right. And bringing all the police to the stolen collection makes tons of sense. Why would he steal it just to turn it back over again?” Samine demanded as she sipped her coffee. She shook her head in response as she took up a vigilant watch of the people who walked by.
Adil stared at her. “You didn’t see it.”
Samine glared at him. “See what?”
“Look at that. I’ve got one over on the thief. Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are.” He smirked at her as she continued to glare at him. “The last box was empty. The necklace wasn’t in there.”
She looked sharply at him, and he could see the panic in her eyes. “What? Are you kidding me, Adil?”
“The crown is gone, Samine. This could have been Bruce’s plan all along. He staged the whole thing to look like I did it, and he takes the most valuable piece for himself. Everyone will think that I snagged it when we escaped.”
Samine shook her head. “Adil, I know you want it to be Bruce, but it doesn’t make sense. Your family will suspect him before they ever suspect you. The guards…”
“They didn’t see the inside of the crate; they were outside, remember?”
Samine stared at him in growing horror.
“Use that magic
contact list of yours. If Bathsheba’s Crown surfaces anywhere, we need to know.”
He cocked his head at the strange look in her eyes. “You don’t want to find the crown.”
“It’s not that. I do want to find the crown. This whole thing was for the crown, but you didn’t take it, and if Bruce didn’t take it, then we’re probably facing someone who is seriously dangerous. It’s one thing for us to go after him, but it’s another completely to invite someone else into the danger.”
“Samine Isme? The great thief? Scared of a little jewel thief?”
“The crown is not just a damn jewel,” she snapped. “And I am not a great thief, obviously, or I would have it by now.” She groaned. “Do you have any money on you? They’re going to be tracking our phones, so we need to ditch them.”
Nodding, he reached into his pocket, but she shook her head. She gestured to the store across the street. “Why don’t you go buy a burner phone while I make this call.”
Adil was about to make a remark about her trying to get rid of him, but she was already scrolling through her phone, mumbling about wishing she had backed it up. Realizing that she was right, he tossed some Euros on the table to cover their drinks and left the café. As he walked over to the store, he kicked himself for not seeing it sooner.
He should have figured out when he first saw her flirting with Bruce that something was up. Especially when she kept avoiding his advances. Stepping back out of the store with the bag holding two phones, he watched her exit the café. He jogged over to join her, and they both looked around before depositing their phones into the nearest receptacle.
“I’m going to miss that phone,” she stated mournfully.
“Come on, let’s get away from here.” Taking her elbow, he escorted her quickly down the nearest walkway. “Did you find out anything?” he asked her as they walked.
“No. I didn’t want to risk making the call. I’ll call once we get the burner phone set up. I’m assuming that’s what’s in the bag?” she questioned as she followed along.
