“She’s been involved from the beginning. Felt like the right decision. She’s proven her loyalty.”
“Perhaps to you.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end.
“Since she’s here, though, we might as well proceed. You have the package?”
“I do.” The package is small, so I can’t imagine this is the only thing we’re transporting today.
The handoff is easy. Oscar doesn’t give anything away as he unwraps it. The jewelry box is larger than I’m used to. It’s like an oversized ring box, so I’m unsure what it could be.
The moment Oscar opens it, though, the wind is knocked out of me.
The Kor-i-Noor diamond. One-hundred and five point six carats of the most incredible diamond in the history of our world.
“Holy shit.” Nova’s whispered words jolt me out of my shock.
“I see you both recognize it. You understand why we needed things to move quickly.”
“When you said it was a big score, I assumed a mass number of artifacts, not a billion-dollar diamond. Hell, probably more.” I’m flabbergasted.
“That is the perk of running artifacts, my dearChristopher.Small packages are often worth the most. The buyer of this ismeeting us here shortly. Until then, I think it’s time we all had a little conversation.” He gestures to the table in the middle of the room.
I freeze for a minute. The way he said my name is off. The way he’s looking at Nova is a warning.
The scar on my spine starts to itch.
Fuck. Have I been made? My backup should be here soon, but am I able to hold off that long?
Nova looks to me for approval, but I don’t want to give it to her. I want her to run as fast as she possibly can.
A loudthunkdraws our attention to Oscar.
“Now.” His hand is on the gun he just placed on the table.
My only hope now is that Woodcroft and the others get here before shit goes down. If not, the goal is to save Nova.
Nova and I slowly walk to the table and sit down as far away from Oscar as possible.
“You two have been hard to figure out.” He examines his thumb. “I always thought there was something up with you, Chris. You’re too nice. Too …good. Even when you’re being a hard-ass, you’re still too subdued about it. But there really is no information on you. At least not what’s available to my resources. Which is a conundrum because I have plenty of resources to get information. For example …” He gestures to Nova. “Miss Daniels here was much simpler to find information on. Let’s see.” Oscar draws out a piece of paper from his suit coat. “Age: 28. Travel blogger—whatever that is—with a twin brother who is deceased.”
My back straightens as I listen.
“Real name is Claire. Did you know that?” He looks at me. “No? What a shame. You really can’t trust anyone nowadays.”
I hear Nova—no,Claire—whimper, but I can’t look at her. I’ll break if I do, and I don’t have that luxury right now.
“Now, as for you … It took quite a while. As you were playing the part, picking up deliveries and digging deeper into my business, I was digging deeper into you. When all the usual ways to get information dried up, I thought to myself,Why would this man suddenly rise up the ranks?It led me to one obvious conclusion and some lovely contacts within the attorney general’s office. Of course, I went through a few contacts in different departments until I figured that out.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I need to figure out how to get out of here now. Nova—Claire—as well.
There’s no need to ask why he let both of us be involved for so long. We’re not meant to make it out of here. So, telling us everything isn’t really a risk.
He didn’t count on my connection with the woman beside me and how desperately I want to be done undercover.
“Ah, just in time.” Oscar leans forward.
