Page 82 of A Real Good Bad Thing
He smiled wickedly. Judging by the heat in his eyes, I knew he was remembering the time when I’d grabbed him and we’d made out so Tristan wouldn’t see and recognize me.
“You just want to go to the diamond district to stage a reenactment,” I teased.
He snaked his arm around my waist and tugged me closer to his body. “Why drive all that way? You can pounce on me right here.”
In spite of our serious conversation, I laughed at his moment of playfulness. “Maybe after dinner. I’m too hungry to drag you in for a lip-lock…”
I trailed off, noticing that Jake’s expression had changed. He stared blankly as if he was looking inward at the churning wheels of his brain. Then he focused on me so fast I could almost hear the puzzle pieces snapping together.
“Does Tristan have gray hair?” He ran his hand over his own golden-brown locks. “And is he tall?”
“Yes. Did you glimpse him when he walked by that day?”
“Barely.” His voice rang with excitement, and his words sped up along with my pulse. “But if I’m thinking of the same person, a glimpse was enough for him to look familiar. Any chance he drives a green Honda?”
Now my head was spinning, and I made astop theregesture. “How would I know that and why is it important? You’ve lost me, Jake.”
“Because a tall, gray-haired man pulled up to the gallery in a green Honda this morning, but instead of going inside, he went to the souvenir shop across the street.”
In an instant, I’d whipped out my phone, called up the website for Tristan’s restaurant, and zoomed in on the owner/chef’s photo. “Is this him?”
“Bingo!” Before I could react, Jake swept me up in his arms and kissed me. “You’re brilliant. And impressively fast with a search engine.”
“We amateur detectives are strong in the ways of Google,” I said, glowing with pleasure from the kiss and the compliment. I smoothed my dress when he released me, and my thoughts turned more serious. “Do you think he’s our Mr. Smith?”
“It’s possible,” he said. “What’s his motivation, though? Usually, there’s a specific one.”
I snapped my fingers. “Eli said Tristan wanted to do business with him, but Eli didn’t seem too interested. Maybe Tristan is pissed because Eli turned down a business deal?”
“Nice work, Sherlock. Let’s make him suspect number one.”
The ideas came together faster and faster, and I couldn’t stand still. I paced the room like Jake had the other night. “When we talked about hiding the gems, you said the art at the club had the same out-of-proportion style of frame. What if Eli and Willow moved the diamonds to Sapphire?”
A devilish smile curled Jake’s lips as if he couldn’t wait to infiltrate the club once again. “I believe this calls for a return visit to Sapphire.”
A burst of heat shot down my chest as I remembered what he did to me up against the wall in the bathroom. “I did enjoy our last experience there.”
Heat flared in Jake’s eyes as well. “Let’s make it a double then.”
I was so there.
40
HAPPY PLACE
Jake
“I’ve got to hand it to the guy, Andrew,” I said on the phone. While Ruby made calls of her own in the room, I updated my client while walking the stone path that edged the hotel property. “Eli knows how to hide things.”
Andrew heaved a sigh, but said on the bright side, “But now we know that he turned the stolen money into diamonds, and it’s on Flamingo Key.”
I slowed my pace and rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s not quite that simple. He’s moving things around a lot. We’re closing in on them, but there’s luck and timing involved.”
“Who is ‘we’?” Andrew asked.
I winced. I didn’t intend to hide Ruby’s participation from Andrew, but I gave myself a mental slap for revealing it by accident. “You remember I asked about Ruby, his stepdaughter? Turns out she’s after the same thing we are—following the money and making things right. So we’ve teamed up. Pooled our resources.” I left out mention of anything else we were sharing. That was our business alone.
Andrew made a thoughtful sound. “She’s a lovely lady. Takes after her mother that way.”