“And now you’re in trouble, just like me.”
“Yes.”
A thick silence settled over the room. The tension hanging in it felt less like it was going to snap the air in half, like it had at the park, and more like cautious curiosity.
“Tell us more about this diamond,” Sandra said. She stroked her hand over her belly and tucked her leg in closer. She’d kicked off her shoes and had her socks pulled up over her leggings. The scene looked like girlfriends having an afternoon chat, not four criminals plotting a heist.
I nodded. “The night my father got arrested, we were in the middle of an attempted jewel heist. The dealers also got bustedthat night, long story, but the diamond went missing. Everyone thought I had it because I also went missing that night, but I really went undercover with the DSA. The head dealer—a real nasty criminal, trust me—just got released from prison early, and she’s out for revenge because she thinks I have it or I know where it is.”
Three pairs of eyes blinked at me in disbelief. As if I’d led them to believe I’d be showing them a PG movie and just turned on something rated R.I’ll see your crate of cocaine and raise you jewel heists and prison.I could sense the silent conversation they were having. Their eyes darted back and forth. A tiny smile played at Melanie’s mouth.
“So, youdoknow where it is,” Melanie stated.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. There’d be no turning back after I told them; nothing to stop them from staging their own heist and cutting me out. But I needed them. “Yes. It’s on display at the San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Culture. It’s the centerpiece of their gala tomorrow night. If we get our hands on it, I have a dealer—the same guy my father and I were going to sell it to that night ten years ago—waiting for my call. I trust him completely. I’ll sell it to him and wire you a cut to cover your debt.”
The silence that filled the room nearly suffocated me. I had no idea what they were thinking. No idea what they were going to say.
“And what will happen to you?” Jana asked.
“I’ll disappear,” I said. The words filled me with helium. I was so close to finally being free. I just needed them to say they’d help.
Sandra let out a skeptical groan. “You want us to help you steal a five-million-dollar diamond so you can disappear with it? How do we know you’re telling the truth? You just told us how you grew up a grifter, and then worked undercover, basically as a professional liar for a decade. How do we know thisisn’t just the DSA’s new attempt to corner us? We agree to this job, and you walk us right into their waiting arms?”
My throat closed up with a nervous lump. I had nothing to offer them but the truth. “Because I promise you it’s not. I have no loyalty to the DSA. I was coerced into working for them, and they’ve done nothing but exploit me for the past ten years.” My voice wobbled with tears as I thought of Wallace’s letter. He’d had the diamond the whole damn time. Keeping me trapped for his own benefit and not my protection. “I want nothing more than to be free of them, and this is my only chance. You three are my only chance.”
The honest emotion in my voice, the pain, had them all looking at me with sympathy, but Sandra still didn’t look convinced.
“How do we know this isn’t an act right now?” she asked.
Her doubt snapped something inside me. “Because I would never lie about this. Yes, I’ve spent most of my life deceiving people, but it was never by choice. I was forced into it, first by my father, and then by the DSA. I’m tired of being used by the men in my life. The woman after me, the trafficker from that night, had her hitman hold a gun to my head. They tried to kill me again three days ago. I want out and the only way to do that is to get the diamond.” I hadn’t realized genuine tears had filled my eyes until one rolled down my cheek. I dashed it away. “Sorry.”
Jana stood and grabbed a tissue from the coffee table. She handed it to me.
“Thanks,” I said through a nasally hum.
She nodded at me with a soft smile and went back to her perch on the chair.
Another silence filled the room. The weight of my emotional confession sat heavy on the air, and I worried I’d lost any upper hand I’d had.
Melanie startled me when she moved. She reached for hertrackpad and brought her computer to life. “Tomorrow night is a tight turnaround. We’ll have to move quick if we’re going to do this.” She began tapping her keyboard. “Jana, didn’t your PR firm host events at that museum? Do you still know someone who does security there?”
Jana remained frozen for a few seconds, as if she needed time to register Melanie’s words. When she finally moved, she reached into the diaper bag she’d carried with her and pulled out a slim laptop. “Yes. I have a contact there.”
“Good. Learn what you can about the gala from them and see if you can get a map of the building.”
A small smile bent my lips. They were actually going to help. In that moment, I was supremely thankful for Melanie’s Queen Bee status, since the other two seemed to be following her lead.
“Are we for real going to do this?” Sandra said, taking one final stand.
“What choice do we have?” Melanie said over the sound of her keyboard. “You know our one-off jobs are not going to cover the debt, and our guy inside Montrose is more pissed off every day. I can’t lose my house, and you two can’t afford this to drag on either. I see a solution right in front of us, don’t you?”
“I thought we weren’t in this for the money,” Sandra said.
Melanie shot her a glare. “Yeah, well that was before some douchebag overseas mixed up his crates and screwed us over. It may have started as a way to gain some control back in our lives. Between the diapers and doctor’s visits and playdates and snotty noses, we got a little bored with the monotony of mother hood. We wanted some adventure, some action, something that wasours, where we called all the shots. Thatiswhere all this came from, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of this type of adventure for now.”
Her words rang out with the power of a speech made forhistory books. It broke my arms out in goose bumps. Part of me longed to tell Bray I’d uncovered the truth; he’d been right, and it wasn’t about money for them, at least not until they got into trouble. It was so they had something of their own they could control. So they could have some agency in their own lives, which had become so focused on caring for others.
Melanie rounded her desk and pointed to me. “Yes, she may have been dishonest with us, but I see a young woman who, not unlike us, has lost control of her life and is trying to take it back on her own terms. She’s trying to break out of the role she’s been assigned. I can respect that, and I would think the two of you could too.”
