She glanced at Roarke. Eve knew something passed between them, but it didn’t show.
“Then the earrings, the bracelet, the ring, the tiara. I bagged each piece up, and I was out and gone.”
“You left the vault open, but closed the window.”
“As instructed. It bothered me to be sloppy, but those were my instructions.”
“What time did you reengage the security?”
“Twelve-forty-two. In and out, and in and out clean. I swear it. I don’t know why they killed that man. I don’t know why they set me up for it. But I got out clean. I was to meet the authenticator at one-thirty.”
“Where?”
“Some warehouse downtown. I’ve got the address. I went back to my hotel and changed out of my work clothes, then I left my room, walked a few blocks, took a cab downtown. I met the authenticator and the security. Security guy let me in. The authenticator went over each piece,gem by gem. Careful, thorough. Took about an hour. A little more, I guess.”
“Name.”
“He didn’t give it, I didn’t ask. Look, he was an old guy, probably has great-grandkids. I don’t want to put him in the sling. The security guy? I didn’t get a good feeling, so I’ll draw you a picture—or I’ll describe him so somebody can. He’s the one who locked them up in a case and took them away. It was about three-thirty, I guess, when I got back to my hotel. I had to come down some, settle, so maybe five before I could get to sleep. I slept most of Saturday. I got up, ordered some food—including a bottle of champagne. I took a shower, and I turned on the screen while I ate. Watched some silly vid, relaxed.
“Then I switched to check the media reports, and that’s when I found out about Nathan Barrister. I panicked. I don’t panic, but I panicked. I was going to run, but… I couldn’t. Finally, I called Steve. I just told him I was in trouble, I needed a place to lie low, to think. And he came and picked me up.”
She looked down at her hands. “I can be sorry I waited so long, and I am. But I was scared, really scared. Too scared to think straight, then I was angry, so fucking angry at what they’d done—I looked him up, Nathan Barrister. A wife, kids, a good life. I thought about that, and about how they wanted to hang that on me even if I poofed. And I couldn’t live with it.
“I told Steve everything, and then Rob when he came, when Steve asked him to come.”
She looked up again. “I don’t want to go in a cage, and I’m not sorry for doing whatever I can not to. But if I do, it won’t be for something I didn’t do. Would never do. I didn’t kill Nathan Barrister.”
“I know that,” Eve said simply.
“You believe me?”
“I already knew you didn’t kill him. You’ve now verified. We’ve already gathered most of the information you’ve just given.”
“But… It’s good info, and I gave it willingly. I don’t—”
“There are a couple of pieces we didn’t have, and some of the verification helps considerably.” She shifted to Reo. “It’s good information and corroboration.”
“So the immunity holds?”
At Reo’s nod, Eve said, “It holds. My advice, since you got this free pass? Find another line of work, because you won’t get another one.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been thinking.”
“Think harder. Now, let’s go over a few points.”
“First? Ah, the Interpol thing.”
“I’ll handle it. It’ll be easier to handle if you know anything about the auction.”
Now Jenna smiled. “I’m not supposed to. Being as I’m not a trusting sort of person, I laid a couple of bugs in the villa. There had to be an auction if they wanted to make anything, and let me tell you, the woman, she’s all about making it. I didn’t like her one bit.”
Points for you, Eve thought.
“New York, that’s the plan. I can’t tell you where, don’t know if they’d decided at that point, but she insisted on New York. He wanted Europe, but she’s the type most men don’t say no to. I can sure as hell describe her for you.”
“No need.”
“I heard you were good. Anyway, big splash. She wanted that. Elegant, luxurious, plenty of security, but discreet so it doesn’t bump too hard against the elegance. She wanted to have it all planned out before the heist, so they could turn it over fast. I know she wanted to set an entrance fee. A cool five mil just to attend. Keep it small, exclusive. Top it off at two dozen at the most.
