Watercolor Hearts

by Sutton Shields

  I nodded as pieces of this puzzle began to fall into place. “And if, indeed, it was a competitor, they’d try to get the diamond before it reached its destination. They wouldn’t go head-to-head with the Manx at the party—they’d lose.”

  Ivy nodded. “As things became clearer, Blake came up with another plan, one that would trap Pike. He knew if we could set Pike up as the Manx—”

  “Pike’s new employer couldn’t turn around and try to out us or even blackmail Blake. And, I imagine, with Greg altering whatever he needed to in Pike's history and releasing it to the media, our new nemesis was left without recourse,” I supplied.

  Ivy smiled proudly. “Good girl, that’s right. We had to disarm their smoking gun: the knowledge that Blake is the Manx and the identities of his team. I actually accompanied the bait-and-switch team—in disguise, of course—to intercept the diamond before it ever made it to the truck that would transport the sparkly little stone to the party. However, when I arrived, the other team beat us to the punch. Oh, it was a helluva fight, and my foot still wasn’t one-hundred percent perfect, but I wasn’t about to be beaten by some second rate wannabes. When we finished crushing them, I found their fake next to the body of one of the guys—an interesting turn of events, since I had our own fake.”

  “Blake said Pike’s fake was crap,” I said, remembering Blake telling Pike as much in the diamond room.

  “Oh, yeah, ours was much more convincing. But it was further proof of Pike’s guilt. Only an insider would know Blake’s bait-and-switch trick. He only uses it when recruiting, like he did with you and the egg. This marked the first time he ever planted a fake during a heist, but it was necessary to frame Pike, as you know.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe Pike’s employer just wanted the Manx to get caught while simultaneously swiping the real diamond out from under him.”

  Ivy shook her head. “No, see, it wasn’t Pike’s employer who wanted the Manx caught…it was Pike and only Pike.”

  “Wait. What?”

  “He was on some kind of personal vendetta driven by jealousy of Blake. Yes, money and power drew him to this other guy, but it was Pike’s jealousy that made him try to take Blake down. I’ve been in this business awhile, Maggie. We’ve had competitors before. Key word here is ‘competitor’. None of them have tried to out the Manx. All of them have wanted to outwit him, beat him, force him into submission, thereby relinquishing his territory to the competitor—that’s where the real victory is. The last thing they want is to alert authorities to their presence.”

  “Of course, now the authorities have been clued in due to the fake and missing diamond. I even saw a headline pondering whether or not the Manx had been duped—only a matter of time before authorities start looking into the possible existence of another Manx-like group.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they have already. All thanks to Pike trying to one-up Blake. Maggie, we’re convinced Pike had that fake made and intended to trap Blake. His employer had nothing to do with that. The only thing his new boss wanted was to steal the diamond before us, plain and simple. Pike went rogue and took it a step further, a step too far, as it turned out.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Rumblings underground. Some of the guys who got away from us during the bait-and-switch have been found dead. Only person who’d have them killed is Pike’s employer.”

  “What happened to the real diamond?” I asked, my mind pulling in far too many directions to ask questions in an orderly manner.

  “The real Celestial diamond, dear gnat, is already on its way to its new owner in Dubai,” said Ivy, smiling like a cat. But her smile didn’t last. “Everything worked as planned—Greg made sure the real guards were reassigned and replaced by Blake’s hires; Ty, Blake, Greg, and I acted our parts flawlessly…until the video feeds went out and we lost all communication with you guys and then…”

  “The pawn happened,” I said, referencing the lowest valued chess piece.

  Ivy leaned low over the table. “Pike wasn’t supposed to die, Maggie. Blake had other plans for him, far less barbaric than what I would’ve chosen, but…to each his own,” she said, holding the palms of her hands up. “Whoever killed Pike wanted to keep him from revealing who he was working for.”

  “Ivy…could it be the tattooed man?”

  “No, absolutely not. Whoever attacked you on Halloween was one of Pike’s goons. How you and your past fit into all of this is unknown, but we’re not giving up, I promise you.”

  “Do you think the person who killed Pike was the same one who shot Blake?”

  Ivy looked down, shrugging.

  “Who took Blake, Ivy? Who was in that helicopter?”

  Ivy shook her head, a lost look in her eyes. “Ty.”

  “What!”

  “Blake and Ty had it all planned. Ty shot Blake, at least initially. Ty was supposed to collect Blake in the helicopter. But the second shot…I have no idea who fired it.”

  I couldn’t think straight. “But…how…why…I don’t understand!”

  “And you’re not supposed to.”

  “If Ty swept Blake away, how can you not know if he’s okay?” My voice was borderline shrill.

  “I can’t get hold of Ty and…”

  “And what, Ivy?”

  “I’m no longer certain it was Ty in that helicopter.”

  We sat in silence for a few minutes. “Ivy…am I to blame for everything?”

  “Why would you think that? Have you not listened to anything I’ve been saying? This is likely a rival wanting to take over Manx territory. The tattooed man wasn’t even at the New Year’s Eve party.”

  “Every bit of trouble started when I joined the team. Before then, you didn’t have to deal with dangers like this and Blake would be…” I shook my head. “Blake said the timing of Proller leaving that special ops group coincided with me joining you all. Pike even taunted me before he died, intimating that my past must play a big role in his employer’s game. I’m to blame.”

  “Maggie, I—”

  “Why did Blake not include me in the new plan to frame Pike? Because if I know Blake, he did it to spare me the knowledge that my presence is a liability, as you said.”

  The look on Ivy’s face said everything I needed to know. “He knew you’d bear the guilt in a viciously masochistic way, and he didn’t want to put you through that, especially since I was convinced you were a pawn.”

  “A pawn? Explain.”

  “Blake can talk about his gut all he wants, but I have a rather nasty one of my own, and it’s telling me you were a convenient puzzle piece. Newcomer with a past and a daddy who bought from the Manx makes for an easy fall guy.”

  “Except no one knew about my past until—” And then my dimwitted light bulb finally flipped on. “Until I told all of you, including Pike, about my family history.”

  “Think about it. Everything that happened to you likely happened because you were one of us. The double attack you faced on Thanksgiving was sort of owed, considering Pike got me on Halloween. And I’d bet they went harder on you because of your closeness with Blake. Pike’s boss probably hoped to rattle Blake by hurting you.”

  “Then Pike didn’t do a very good job telling him or her about Blake. Threatening someone he cares about only makes him meaner, steadier, more lethal,” I said.

  “Indeed. Now, that’s not to say your past and this tattooed man aren’t connected to some long-term plan of theirs, but for the purpose of New Year’s Eve, I doubt you were anything more than a pawn to try and shake Blake. Hell, that low blow video roast Blair gave you almost confirms as much. She probably got the information anonymously from Pike or whoever he was working for and ran with it. Such a bitch.”

  “Blair claimed she had nothing to do with it.”

  “Yeah, and I want to decorate my whole place in booths just like these…”

  I smiled. “I didn’t believe her either.”

  “Maggie, I have something for you,” said Ivy, digging in her bag. S
he slid some keys across the table. “Blake was going to give these to you after…anyway, he gave them to me should anything go awry. Finn knows where to take you.”

  “What are these for?”

  “Not my place to tell,” said Ivy gently. “Maggie, we have to go underground, all of us, for a minimum of five months. It’s our policy under the circumstances. There will be no contact between us, unless something major should warrant communication.”

  Translation: We’ll talk if we find or hear from Blake. I was going to miss Greg’s tip-tapping and Ty’s quiet strength. But most of all, I’d miss Ivy, even in all her snarky glory.

  “Looks like you’re rid of me for a while. No gnat to bug you.”

  Ivy shrugged one shoulder. “Turns out I kind of like gnats.”

  That was as good as an ‘I’ll miss you too.’

  We parted right then and there. Once back in the car with Finn, I realized I’d have to go back to a solitary existence. Finn had just stopped at a stoplight. On the corner was a newsstand with my face staring back at me from a number of publications. Ivy and I simply couldn’t chance a lengthy lunch, not with my face plastered all over the place. Let me tell you, there was nothing remotely fun about seeing your face on every paper. I didn’t know how legit celebrities handled it.

  The car finally stopped in front of a familiar building.

  “Well, Maggie, I guess I won’t be seeing you for a while,” said Finn.

  “I guess not,” I said, unable to hide the sadness from my voice. How fitting, I thought, for it was Finn who first brought me into Blake’s life and the last to take me away.

  Finn got out, rounded the car, and opened my door for me. Helping me out, he said, “You ever need me, you just call. My number’s in that phone of yours.”

  “Thanks, Finn. You take care,” I said.

  “This isn’t goodbye…it’s just an ‘I’ll see you in a little while,’” he said, causing the tears to push on my eyes as I remembered Blake saying the very same thing right before he was shot.

  “In a little while.”

  I stood before the building and stared at it, memories of Thanksgiving with Blake flooding my mind. The keys opened the very same apartment where Blake and I spent Thanksgiving. I walked inside, half-expecting him to be there, waiting for me. But he wasn’t. Looking up the hall to where the big silver bed sits, I could almost see holograms of us, laughing and loving. But I guess that was just my heart playing tricks on my eyes. In the living room, I found an envelope on the main table with my name printed on it. It was Blake’s handwriting.

  Picking it up off the table, I sat on the couch and opened it. Inside was a handwritten letter from Blake.

  Dear Maggie,

  If you’re reading this, then loose ends kept me from surprising you today. I did want to start the New Year with you—start a new life…you and I. But we’ll do that soon enough.

  For now, I hope you like your New Year’s gift! Yes, this is your new apartment. And, yes, I’m a rascal. Don’t worry about anyone finding you here—it’s been very well protected. I’ve had Greg busy at work on the tattooed man. We may be close to something very interesting, there. I may be very close to something, Maggie. I can’t wait to tell you.

  Happy New Year, my Feisty One.

  I love you,

  Blake

  Not a single tear fell, though they threatened. As much as I wanted to succumb to the sorrow swelling inside of me, I refused. Instead, I turned to the one emotion that got me through my childhood years: revenge. Someone has been hurting me and my loved ones for far too long. It was time for them to pay and pay dearly.

  Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Foolishly, I ran to the door and swiftly opened it. “Bla—oh, sorry, I was hoping for—”

  “A delivery?” The man was dressed in a top hat and dress coat. Unusual. Definitely not your typical delivery attire. “This is for you.”

  I took the box from his hands and ripped it open on the spot. Inside, was a small wooden steamboat ornament with Lake George painted on the side.

  “Who asked you to deliver this to me?” I asked the smirking man.

  “I think you know…”

  Swallowing hard, I asked the next burning question: “When did this person call to have you deliver this to me?”

  “Why, yesterday, of course.”

  A knowing grin tugged at the corners of my mouth: Blake was alive.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One