Page 116 of A Real Good Bad Thing

The man I loved.

The man who’d come back for me.

* * *

A few minutes later, we sat on the bed, looking ahead, planning when we’d see each other. Life was good. So damn good.

I might not have accomplished all that I’d come to Flamingo Key for. I hated that I hadn’t found a way to help my mom. Maybe slowly, little by little, I could use some of the revenue my business was gaining to assist her with her new shop.

Since my business had improved.

But I’d gained something else too. I’d learned business was better when I had someone I loved and trusted by my side. I rested my head on his shoulder, ran my finger across the bright, shining gem on my necklace.

A symbol of his love.

I loved that it was my birthstone. I loved that the gift was integrated with my mother’s jewelry. I loved that he’d remembered which chocolate I liked—

Realization hit me like an anvil dropped from a ten-story building. All at once, Iknewthe answer. Iknewhow to crack the case.

“Jake,” I whispered, afraid to speak too loud and chase this brilliant, crazy idea away.

“Yes?”

“I know where the diamonds are.”

58

THE PREP

Jake

“Are you sure you want to?” she asked one more time, her voice pitching up with excitement.

My answer remained the same. “Abso-fucking-lutely.” I was as fired up as she was. Hell, I craved this chance, and somehow it was even sweeter because my brilliant woman had connected the dots.

“We’re only going to have a few minutes,” she warned me.

“Well aware of that,” I said, wholly unafraid of the time limit or the dangers.

“And just the one shot,” she added, like we hadn’t gone over the plan and over it again in the last thirty minutes. We were racing around town, rounding up supplies before shops closed. We had a small window to pull this off, and we had to do it tonight. A quick Google search had taken us to a boutique in Georgetown, then another one near Sapphire, and now we were parking outside a little souvenir shop. Her shoulders tightened, perhaps with worry that she wouldn’t find the Trojan horse.

I had faith in her. Completely. “Like a lunar eclipse. Only happens once every few years,” I said as I opened the car door for her.

“But it could come up empty. I don’t even know if I’ll find what I need,” she said.

“Any plan can come up empty,” I said, squeezing her hand, giving her all the reassurance I could. But then, she didn’t need much. She was damn good at detective-ing. “Correction: Anything could come up empty except this,” I said softly, brushing a kiss on her cheek.

She shivered against me.

“Couldn’t resist,” I added.

“Don’t even try.”

In the shop, she made a beeline for the mermaid trinkets and hunted through the shelves for what she wanted.

“What about that little mermaid?” I suggested, pointing to a red-haired one.

“Not sparkly enough,” she said.