Whether or not I did, she’s gone now.
I go downstairs to check, already knowing it’s pointless. There are no sounds, and the bed had none of her body heat. She’s not sleeping on the sofa, and her boots and leathers have gone. So has her bike when I check.
That’s that, then. She’ll be halfway back to LA bynow.
Impressive that she snuck out without waking me. I genuinely didn’t think anyone could. But that’s my little hellcat: sneaky and ferocious.
I walk back upstairs, into the main bedroom, telling myself she couldn’t have found the safe. Or opened it if she had.
But Raven is that good. Did she find them? Am I totally screwed?
My heart’s racing as I slide the false wall aside and punch in the code that Mercer gave me.
Then I breathe again. The two bags of diamonds and the black box are just where I left them.
I take them out and carry them into the kitchen, setting them on the table while I make a coffee. Sit down and stare at them.
The plan I came up with on the road to Salt Lake City was already insane. Get the package, interrogate Raven to understand its value, use it as leverage on Renner. Keep Raven close. Decide right then what could and couldn’t be salvaged.
Raven’s punched two massive holes through it.
It won’t work anymore, not with her out of my reach, and able to contact Renner first. And I’ve no idea what the hell I’m going to do instead.
I sip my coffee and take stock. Again. Trying to work out the conundrum that is Hale, Maddox, Mercer, Renner, and Raven.
Simple option first.
If I give Mercer the diamonds and this black box, Hale ceases to exist and Maddox continues. I loseRaven. Renner may or may not go to prison for the rest of his life—and frankly, I don’t really care. I’ll have no choice but to testify. The crew will go down for Palm Springs and Rodeo Drive. The best part of their lives in prison.
And I’ll have done my job.
Raven goes with them. I never see her again, and she hates me forever.
Or I use the wallet to bargain for her protection, shedoesn’tgo to prison, all her crew does, I never see her again, and she hates me forever.
Simple, yes. Palatable? Never.
If I give it to Renner, I’m all-in on this. And I’ll have a lot of shit to figure out.
Even more now that Raven’s left. That was never part of my plan. She’s blown a hole straight through it with her usual flair, leaving destruction in her wake.
I pick up the black box, turning it over in my hand. I don’t know what Renner will do with it. What intentions does a man like him have for millions of dollars in untraceable, instantly liquid cryptocurrency?
Assuming this thing isn’t worthless.
After all the trouble Renner’s gone to, it’s clear he thinks it isn’t. A man like that doesn’t make mistakes, does he?
It’s a hardware wallet. Renner must know it can be replaced with the seed words. His contractor must know that too. Which means either they’re idiots, or the seed is gone. And Renner doesn’t work withidiots.
Shit. That means this box is literally the only vehicle to get to the money sitting behind it.
That’s leverage, after a fashion. Put a bullet through it, and someone loses millions.
Enough to cost Renner his head? Enough to give me somethingto barter with?
I press the button on the side again. The screen asks for a PIN I don’t have, thatRavendidn’t have. In truth, I didn’t think she would, but I thought she’d know why it was significant. Or at least know exactly howmuchwas on it.
She didn’t. After what I put her through last night, I’m certain of that now.
