I did what I said I was going to do. I drove the ATVto cabin ten and talked to the guests about their dishwasher and what it wasdoing. I could see Sayer’s Jeep up a short hill at the end of this driveway.And when I left cabin ten, Gus’s Subaru had joined it.
They were both there. Now was my chance.
I hurried back to the office and got it ready for therest of the week. I wasted precious seconds organizing and scheduling andwriting To Do Lists for Maggie and making sure she had access to all of ourdifferent passwords. I just wanted her to be set up for success. I didn’t wanther to lose me and flounder because she didn’t know our social media passwordsor how much we paid the paper goods delivery guy.
When all was said and done, I pressed a kiss to mypalm and laid it on the tall, worn counter. This place had been a second hometo me for five years. I was going to miss it as fiercely as I would missMaggie.
Driving back to town with the mountain in my rearviewmirror felt like a death, like I was watching someone die. So I focused on thedrive ahead, refusing to watch the life behind me fade.
I got back to town near six o’clock. The sun washovering low over the peaks of the distant mountains and the sky was darkeningquickly. The temperature was dropping too, giving the air a bite, smelling of possiblesnow.
After driving around the block three times, I parkedin an alley between two resort hotels just off Main Street. I left my Muranounlocked and circled around the block so I could walk down the main road andenter the DC Initiative through the front door.
I was dressed for work, but not sloppy, so I hoped Ididn’t draw too much attention in my black, distressed skinny jeans and thickgray cardigan. The hostess seemed to turn up her nose at me, but I didn’t getthe vibe that she was watching me in particular, at least no more than she wasjudging the world around her as a whole.
“I’m just going to have a drink at the bar,” I toldher, flying by without slowing down.
Cass was bartending again and I was grateful to seeher. I should have been ducking from any people that could spot me, identifyme, testify against me, but there was something about seeing a familiar facethat calmed some of my frantic nerves. Besides, I’d only been in here once, Ididn’t exactly have the place perfectly cased.
“Hey, mama,” she greeted me as I slid onto a barstool. “What brings you in tonight with no date and no kids?”
I smiled weakly. “That exact reason? I need some metime.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Can I get an amen?” Sheheld up a bottle of gin and a bottle of vodka. “Pick your poison?”
I pointed at the gin. “Lime and tonic please.”
“You got it.”
Fiddling with my purse straps, I made a show ofpulling out my phone to check it and then tucked it away when there wasnothing. “Hey, Cass?” She raised her eyebrows indicating that she was listeningeven though she was in the middle of my drink. “Last time I was here, Sayer andGus took Jesse and me to the basement. Is it only the office down there? Or arethere other rooms? I was so like, shocked by their office, I can’t seem toremember anything else of what I saw.”
She laughed. “Right? I can’t believe they have allthat stuff just lying around. But I guess it’s secured and neither of them havepermanent homes right now. So maybe it’s the safest place for them? Who knows.”
“You’ve seen everything?” Great, all I needed weremore witnesses that could place the Leighton to a specific place, city, statewith me.
“I mean, I didn’t get a special tour…” She lifted hereyes and gave me a poignant look. “But I’ve been down there to have meetingsand talk to them and whatnot. There’s a diamond necklace that I’m fairlyconfident weighs more than me that belongs in the Tower of London.”
The diamond necklace had once belonged to an Austrianempress. I’d lifted the shiny bobble from a Russian ambassador during a job. Ithad been very dangerous and very secured. It had taken months of planning and ahuge amount of luck. We’d been sent in for documents. I came out with anecklace, a matching pair of earrings and tiara. I remember feeling entitled tothem after nearly getting caught and extradited to Russia. “No way,” I feignedawe. “I didn’t see a diamond necklace! I was too overwhelmed to take any of itin.”
Her smile turned conspiratorial. “I’ve heard rumorsthat there’s an entire drawer of expensive jewelry. It must be worth millions.”
It was in fact, worth millions. Millions and millionsand millions. But most of it was too dangerous to fence. There were only a fewpieces that wouldn’t be tied directly to me and in those, there were only a fewpieces that would get their actual value in cash.
Austrian diamonds were pretty and fun to brag about.But the street value for them was atrocious. Nobody appreciated historyanymore. But more than that, there was greater risk with getting caught. Onlinedatabases and technology advances in CSI made everyone a little more cautiousabout getting involved with a hot item.
“Aren’t they afraid someone’s going to steal it all?”I asked Cass.
She shrugged. “Actually, no. They’re maybe the nicestpeople I’ve ever met. I think if you needed money or something, they’d justhand it over to you. You wouldn’t even have to steal it.” She glanced aroundand leaned in. “Last week, I had a really bad day. Get this. My ex showed up intown and tried to take Max away and when I called the cops, he tore myapartment apart and then he stole from me.All of my money.Not only did Gus and Sayer give me the week off, they still paid me.”
“That was nice of them.” I didn’t mention that thisbusiness was probably a money laundering front and they were most likelywashing money through her. Nor did I mention that they probably went after herex and made sure he was never going to come back. Because that would upset her.
I was a good friend like that.
This also explained the gooey stars dancing in hereyes for Sayer and Gus. I would too if they’d cleaned up my mess like they didCass’s. Instead, they showed up and made mine bigger. They took the mess of mylife and tripled it, quadrupled it, fucking blew it up until all I could seewas a mess and all I would have time for was mess.
I laid a ten-dollar bill on the bar. “Where’s yourrestroom?”
She pointed toward the back where I already knew itwas. “Thanks, Cass.”
