Caught in the Act: A Jewel Heist Romance Anthology

by Ainslie Paton

  “Of course. You’re the one person in the world I trust,” she said.

  She spoke softly and sounded sad. Jake didn’t like that. He had to believe that Ana would be happy for the rest of her life without him.

  “Do you have the fake diamond with you?”

  She nodded. “It’s in a secret compartment in my purse.”

  “May I see it?”

  “Uh. Yeah.”

  It took them both a while to find the spot where she’d dropped her purse. It was in the room with the chaise. She hadn’t remembered having it in there at all. Some jewel thief she was turning out to be, she’d almost lost the fake diamond. She rifled through her clutch until finally she pulled out a rather impressive replica of the diamond. She handed it over.

  Jake studied it from all angles. It was pretty good. To someone who didn’t know the diamond well, it’d pass. He would put money on the fact that it’d fool Leonard. But the piece of glass in his hand paled in comparison to the real diamond. It had no luster. No life. The real diamond sparkled with all that it had been through over the years.

  “Not bad,” he said.

  “It’s not the same. I can see it, but the jeweler who made it said that it was as close to identical as he’d ever seen.”

  “Who made it?”

  “If it’s just the same to you, I’d rather not say. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

  He understood, he just hoped that the person would keep their mouth shut. Having a replica made was a ballsy move. Having someone else involved wasn’t something he would’ve done.

  He reached around her neck and removed the necklace. The gem looked pale and lifeless when it was no longer against her creamy skin.

  “You should get dressed,” he said. It almost killed him to turn his back on her. He carried the necklace back to the display stand, arranged it and reattached the security cord so that it looked like it’d never been removed. He debated making the switch now, but hesitated.

  He knew she wanted the diamond. He knew she deserved the diamond, but everything in him was telling him not to let her leave with the diamond. His gut churned. He trusted it to know that soon the shit was going to hit the fan. He didn’t want her anywhere near the necklace or the diamond when that happened.

  When he turned around, Ana had her dress on again. Her back was toward him and she was trying to zip the dress up. He walked over and zipped it up, unable to keep himself from brushing his hand over her soft skin one last time.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  Their time was over.

  He quickly re-dressed himself, stuffing the handkerchief and tie into his pants pockets, along with the fake stone. His phone started vibrating like crazy. He should’ve paid more attention to the pit in his stomach. It wasn’t just telling him that he had to keep Ana safe. It was warning of something worse.

  “I told the jeweler I was sad Leonard would be selling the stone and wanted a replica for my own. Costume jewelry only.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she spoke. Her arms wrapped around her waist.

  He picked up his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders again. “That was a good idea.”

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He hadn’t been out hacked. He was still the only one in control of museum security, but someone else knew they didn’t have it.

  “I think it’s about time for you to go, Princess.”

  She looked hurt for a moment but then quickly hid it with a sad smile.

  “Thanks for everything, Jake.”

  She stepped toward him and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. He knew as soon as their lips touched that it’d be their last kiss. He tried to tell her with his mouth, his tongue, how much she meant to him.

  “Well, well, well, isn’t this interesting?”

  Jake’s gut had never failed him before. Why hadn’t he paid it more attention? Why hadn’t he gotten her out of here quicker? Hell, he should’ve insisted Ana leave hours ago. He held her tight when she would’ve stepped back at the sound of her cousin’s voice.

  Jake showed only calm as he turned and looked at Leonard. On the inside fire burned in his gut. He fisted his hands behind Ana’s back as he held her. The police flanking Leonard were a surprise, but Jake showed no emotion.

  “Leonard,” Jake said, forcing calm into his voice.

  He pulled Ana closer, needing to feel her strength at the same time trying to communicate without words that everything would be okay. He’d make sure of it.

  “Aren’t you two all cozy and comfortable,” Leonard sneered. He turned to the policeman next to him. “Make sure my necklace is there and all in one piece.”

  The policeman rolled his eyes but walked over to the display and examined the necklace.

  “Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Staffordshire.”

  “Excuse me,” Ana said using the tone of voice her grandmother had drilled into her. “May I go get my shoes? They’re in the other room.”

  Jake smiled. They still hadn’t found her discarded panties, either.

  “Just so you’re aware, my weapon is in the other room as well. I’m licensed and it’s all legal,” Jake said.

  Jake had never seen either of the policemen before, and he had little doubt at least one of these guys was being paid by someone other than the NYPD.

  Jake had underestimated Leonard. He didn’t think Leonard had the guts to get in bed with crooked cops. Now Jake wondered how else he’d underestimated the lizard.

  “Mike, take the young woman to get her shoes and bring Mr. Hoffman’s weapon back, too,” the older policeman said.

  Ana looked up at Jake, silently pleading with him not to make her go. The younger policeman seemed uneasy, which soothed Jake’s mind a bit. Hopefully both cops weren’t crooked. Jake gave Ana an encouraging nod, trying to assure her that everything would be okay, even when he knew it wouldn’t.

  She headed back into the other gallery with the policeman.

  Jake turned to Leonard. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

  “I know you’ve been against me for a long time, Hoffman. I’ve just been biding my time. You didn’t think I’d actually let you get away with helping take SI out from underneath me, did you?”

  Jake laughed, though he felt none of the happiness he had when he laughed with Ana. “I didn’t have to do anything. You’re running SI into the ground all by yourself.”

  “Your father would be ashamed of you,” Leonard said.

  Leonard had nothing. Nothing but suspicion. That’s why he hit below the belt.

  “That’s rich coming from you. Your parents, your grandparents, your aunt and uncle, they’d all be ashamed of you.”

  Ana came back into the room quicker than he’d expected. She’d put the red heels back on and carried his socks.

  “I have to say,” Leonard said, turning his ire on his cousin, “this surprises me. I had no idea you would go slumming with the help.”

  “If you’re finished insulting us, I have a plane to catch,” she said.

  Jake bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at the iciness in her tone.

  “I want her searched before she leaves,” Leonard said.

  The policeman closest to her made a move to grab her, but she eluded him. Even Jake wouldn’t attempt to touch her with the look on her face now.

  “Don’t. Even. Think about it,” she said.

  “Sorry, Mr. Staffordshire. We have no probable cause to search the lady. She’s free to go.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t push your luck, Mr. Staffordshire,” the policeman said.

  “Fine.”

  “I’ll see you out, miss.” The policeman moved to grab her again but stopped at her look.

  She crossed the gallery to Jake again. Her
eyes were wide. She knew as well as he did that this was going to end badly. “I...”

  “Shhh,” he said, before she could say something to incriminate herself. “I’ll be okay. You just go do what you were going to do.”

  “But...”

  “Trust me, Princess.”

  He loved her. He didn’t know loving someone this much was possible. He’d gladly endure jail as long as she was free, not that he thought it’d really come to that. Leonard was much too dirty himself to push jail time on Jake.

  “Jake—” she said.

  “If you want to leave, I suggest you go now, ma’am,” the younger policeman said.

  I love you.

  He stared into her eyes, hoping she could see everything he wanted to tell her but couldn’t.

  He couldn’t watch her walk away. He feigned sudden interest in the floor until the click clack of her shoes faded into memory. He smiled when he realized she still had his suit jacket and his socks.

  Ana was gone and Jake was being put into handcuffs. Jake looked at the man he’d known his entire life, his boss, wondering again how Leonard and Ana became two such different people.

  “How long have you had these guys on your payroll?”

  Leonard didn’t smile, he smirked. “Long enough. You’re not as smart as you think you are.”

  Jake smiled when the cop put his hand into the pocket holding the handkerchief he’d used to clean up Ana. He didn’t say anything when the cop pulled the fake diamond out of the other pocket.

  “What’s this?” the head cop asked.

  Jake simply looked at the stone and then up at the man. If he couldn’t figure it out, Jake wasn’t about to spell it out for him.

  Leonard laughed his hyena-like sound. “Just remember, I’m smarter than you. You never stood a chance of getting away with the necklace. Take him away.”

  Jake smiled at Leonard, not the loving smile he bestowed on Ana, the shark one.

  This was so far from over.

  Chapter Six

  Ana couldn’t stop shaking.

  She didn’t know what to do. She left the museum and got into her car and drove to the airport on autopilot. Jake would’ve yelled at her for driving with tears streaming from her eyes. She parked in the private lot but couldn’t force herself to get out of the car. She’d called the charter company and told them she’d been delayed. For a price, they were holding the plane for her until she could make it there.

  How could she let Jake take the fall for something that was her fault?

  The contents of her purse were a mess. More tears came when she found her phone under Jake’s borrowed socks. Her hands shook as she scrolled through her contacts. It was completely obscene to call someone at five o’clock in the morning, but it wasn’t the first time the Hoffmans had been woken up in the early hours by a Staffordshire.

  She climbed out of the car, desperate for fresh air, and paced while she waited for it to connect. The morning was mild and the sun just starting to peek up in the east.

  “Hello?” Tom Hoffman’s voice was husky. Obviously she’d woken him.

  “Mr. Hoffman? It’s Ana Staffordshire.”

  She heard him speaking to someone in the background, she assumed Jake’s mother, and then came back on the line.

  “Ana, it’s good to hear your voice. What’s wrong?” Mr. Hoffman was as much of a staple of her early childhood as Jake. The distinguished older man was always there in the background of her memories.

  “It’s Jake.”

  “What? Is he all right?”

  “He’s okay. I think. Leonard had him arrested. He... I... Leonard may be able to prove that Jake was going to steal the Staffordshire Diamond. But he’s covering for me.”

  Mr. Hoffman was quiet for a moment. Why had she thought calling him would be a good idea? Obviously his loyalty would be to his son, not her. He’d turn her in, which is what she’d do herself if Jake hadn’t told her to “do what she was going to do.” He wanted her gone?

  “What? Wait, that’s not important now. Ana, do you have an escape plan? What were you going to do once you had the diamond?”

  “I had—have—a place to go, but what about Jake?”

  “Did Jake ask you to trust him?”

  She thought back. Had he?

  She did trust him. She trusted him with her life. With everything in her. But did he specifically ask? Her mind had been going so many places before she left that she wasn’t quite sure. “I think so. Maybe.”

  “Good girl,” Mr. Hoffman said. “Then do what he asked. Trust him. Make sure you’re safe.”

  “But...”

  “I’ll take care of Jake. Actually, Jake will take care of himself, but he knows he can call me if he needs help. But he’s not going to do anything unless he knows you’re safe.”

  “Okay. I’m going—”

  “No. I don’t want you to tell me on the phone. I don’t want to know where you’re going, yet. When you get there, send us a postcard to tell us what a great time you’re having, okay? Then wait for one of us to contact you, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She didn’t know how she expected this conversation to go, but this wasn’t it. She was even more confused than before she’d picked up the phone.

  “Be safe, Ana.”

  “I... Please just take care of him for me, Mr. H.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  Ana hung up and pulled herself together. As wrong as it felt, she was going to do what Jake and his father asked of her. She tugged her two oversized suitcases out of her trunk. She’d already signed her car over to the nonprofit she’d worked for. They’d get the papers in the mail, along with instructions on where to pick it up. Everything else she owned was in these two suitcases and the carry-on bag still on the passenger seat.

  She went through the private security and headed out to the small plane on the runway. The pilot and copilot greeted her. An airfield worker took her bags and stowed them in the belly of the plane.

  She had the crew wait another few minutes for her to make another phone call. Thirty minutes later they were airborne. She rested her head on the cool window, watching the city of New York, her old life, disappear behind her. She had no idea what lay ahead and all she could think about was Jake.

  * * *

  The night was unseasonably warm and Jake was uncomfortable in all black. He kept to the shadows as he walked toward the converted brownstone where his former boss Leonard Staffordshire lived. He hadn’t realized until this exact moment that everything he’d done in the past decade led up to this moment.

  He’d been the one to convince Leonard that living in a townhouse was better than living in a high-rise penthouse. He’d been the one to make sure Leonard’s security was state of the art. Hell, he’d even been the one to install the safe under the ridiculously ugly rug in his office.

  Earlier tonight, before he’d set out on this mission, he’d been in touch with Brad. First thing tomorrow morning Brad would begin a hostile takeover of Staffordshire International. Because of the anonymous email that would be delivered to the SEC first thing in the morning, detailing crimes going back at least five years, Leonard wouldn’t be around to mount a defense.

  Jake still didn’t know how he was going to convince Robert Barnes to accept only the necklace, not the Staffordshire Diamond, but he knew he wasn’t giving up the stone. It’d put a serious dent in the amount of money he’d been looking forward to, but he could always farm out his cyber security services to folks who didn’t care that his reputation was no longer sparkling.

  He smiled as he passed a couple, and forced himself not to think of Ana. One of the things he loved about living in New York was that wearing all black and lurking in the shadows didn’t actually make him look suspicious. He was co
mpletely unremarkable in a city of eight million people.

  Because of Leonard’s overconfidence, he didn’t see Jake as the threat he was. Jake still had access to all Leonard’s online communications, so he knew Leonard was out at some charity thing to see and be seen. The cook would’ve been sent home. The butler—who hated being called a butler, not that Leonard cared—who lived on the property would be in front of the TV, watching his favorite show.

  Looking completely at ease, Jake jogged up the stairs of the brownstone and inserted his key.

  “Damn it.”

  He was hoping Leonard hadn’t changed the locks, but any of the security staff that Jake had trained would’ve made sure that was the first thing done. No matter. He pulled out a set of small lock-picking tools and had the door open in under a minute.

  The alarm hadn’t sounded, but that didn’t mean Leonard hadn’t set the silent alarm so Jake very quickly took care of it. The alarm would always look like it was working, but it would no longer connect to anything.

  Jake didn’t need any light to get around the place. He knew his way around with his eyes closed. And he knew where to step on the first-floor landing so that the motion sensor light wouldn’t come on.

  For some strange reason that Jake could never figure out, Leonard had insisted that his home office be on the top floor. Jake liked to sabotage the elevator so it didn’t always work, forcing Leonard to walk up the four flights of stairs. Both the butler and Jake’s second in command security knew about the juvenile game, but they’d never ratted him out.

  Jake was surprised to find the door to Leonard’s office locked. That was new. He wondered whose idea that was and if anybody actually thought it’d work to actually keep someone out.

  Jake had the door open in a matter of seconds.

  This was where his plan got a little murky.

  There were three safes in the room. The floor safe, the one in the bottom of his desk drawer, and the one behind the giant portrait of Gretchen Staffordshire that hung on the wall opposite his desk. The one thing Jake had not been able to bypass was the security alarm that silently sent a text whenever one of the safes was opened. There was no way Jake could get to all three before someone would be alerted.