“Maybe there was more to it,” Jude suggested.“Who lost the most when they stole those diamonds?”
“The investors of the mine.”
“Who were the investors?”Jude’s question drew the attention of all of them.
Damien watched Eve find the information.“It looks like there was a team of five people.”She exhaled a laugh.“One of them was Stuart Smith.”
“He stole from himself?”Damien asked.
Eve shook her head.“I don’t get it, but maybe he was cutting out his partners.Wanted all the profits for himself.”
“And then he brings everything back here and?—”
“Guess who the biggest clients for Pickens Systems Inc.are?”Jude asked.
“Who?”Damien asked.
“The other four investors,” Jude said.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”Rhett laughed.“Have any of them reported being blackmailed lately?”
“Do people report that?”Damien asked.
“Not if what you’re being blackmailed with isn’t exactly legal,” Eve said.“Are we really saying Grant Pickens invested in a diamond mine, stole a fuck-ton of diamonds from his partners, then blackmailed them to fuck them again?”
“There has to be a reason.”Rhett stared at his screen, trying to piece it all together.
“Isn’t being a murderous fucking asshole enough?”Jude asked.
“Sure, but what set him off?Why did he go from investing to stealing?There’s something else there,” Eve said.
“Whatever it is, Harmony stepped in the middle of all of this,” Rhett said.
“Harmony seeing the break-in meant the cops were there too fast.They didn’t have time to do everything they planned,” Eve said.
“And now they have her.”Damien’s phone trilled with a new message.Before he could pull it out of his pocket, his computer showed the new message.
From an unknown number.
Damien clicked on it before he could stop himself.It was a picture of Harmony.Tied to a chair.Blood soaked her clothes.There was an obvious bullet wound in her left leg and right upper chest.
Damien pushed away from his computer, unable to look at it for another second.
“What?”Jude asked, turning the screen to see what Damien saw.“Jesus Christ.”
“Is she alive?”Rhett asked.
“Shut up,” Eve hissed.
“She’s alive,” Jude declared.“The message says time’s ticking.He wants you to find her.”
“Where is she?”Damien demanded.
Jude clicked a few buttons, then pulled up a location for the phone that sent the message.“There.Looks like an old farm?There’s a barn.That has to be where she is.They didn’t do anything to hide where they are.”
“We found Pickens,” Walker said, pushing away from his desk.“He was with another man at lunch when Harmony saw him.We think that’s his buyer.The guy is at the casino.”
“Damien just got a text with a picture of Harmony,” Jude said.
