The Diamond Affair (15 page)

The garage door
closed and a light went on upstairs in the apartment. Frankie came into view in
front of the window. He looked straight down at Jake's car. Jake's heart
skidded to a halt, but then Frankie continued to sweep the street and close the
blinds one by one.

It must be Frankie's
habit to survey the area when he returned home. It was something Jake did
himself these days. The odd thought struck him like a blow. They weren't so
different. They were both hired to keep their employer safe. Jake liked to
think his clientele was more respectable than Frankie's but in truth, he couldn't
be entirely sure. Did he really know if the strongbox he'd been hired to transport
was filled with cash from a legitimate business deal and not from something
more sinister?

Did he care?

A few days ago,
he'd have said no. Now...

Damn Ruby. She
wasn't only getting under his skin, she was getting into his head and messing
about with his mind.

Just as long as
she stayed there and kept away from his heart.

He'd soon be free
of her, and then he'd return to normal. The first step in putting that plan
into action was to talk to Fat Frankie and find out what he knew about Sinestri
and Sonya. He glanced up at the apartment.

The element of
surprise is the greatest weapon in any arsenal.

The signal on the
transmission equipment crackled to life. He listened as Fat Frankie ordered a
pizza. Ten minutes later, Jake donned a red cap and headed for the warehouse. He
rang the doorbell and stood close to the spy hole. If Fat Frankie looked
through he'd only see a cap.

"Who is it?"
Frankie said through the door. Clearly he didn't trust red caps.

"Pizza."

The door opened. "That
was fast."

"We aim to
please." Jake swung his fist and hit Frankie in the nose.

The big man
toppled backward to the floor, his head bouncing twice before settling
unconscious on the carpet. Damn. Jake hadn't meant to knock him out, but he'd
taken one look at that ugly mug and all the anger he'd felt since Frankie had
kidnapped Ruby welled up and burst out through his fist.

It was the most
satisfying thing he'd done in a long time.

Frankie murmured
something unintelligible and turned his head from side to side. Jake pulled out
his gun and aimed it at the asshole's head. Frankie's eyes fluttered open,
closed again, then suddenly opened wide. He scampered back across the floor. Jake
followed him.

Yep, definitely
satisfying.

Frankie's head smacked
into the wall and he stilled. "What do you want?"

"I want to
kill you."

Sweat made Frankie's
slick-backed hair even shinier. He swiped at his lip with the back of his shirt
sleeve. "Kill me and the cops will pin it straight onto your girlfriend."

Jake struggled to
say nothing and keep his fists to himself. Showing this guy any emotion, any
weakness, could be his downfall. He needed to remain cool and keep his head if
he was going to get what he wanted out of Fat Frankie.

"Everyone
knows the boss is after her because she stole his diamond." Frankie
shrugged as if he didn't give a damn that a gun was pointed at his brain. "So
if I die, who're they going to blame?"

Jake relaxed his
grip but kept the gun aimed at Frankie's head. "You might be right." He
took a step closer. "Then again, you might be wrong. Want to take that
risk?"

Instead of
looking intimidated, Frankie looked like he was enjoying himself. As if this
was all a game to him. As if he didn't care. His top lip curled up but whether
it was a smile or not, it was difficult to tell. "I know all about you,
Forrester," he said.

"This isn't
about me."

"No, and it's
not about me either and yet here you are." His lip curled higher. "Seems
you and I are in the same game."

It was the
dumbest thing he'd heard come out of Frankie's mouth yet. "No, we're not."

"You've got
yourself a pretty good name in the business already." Frankie sat up
straighter and leaned against the wall. "But you have a problem." Jake
didn't even bother to acknowledge that statement. "You're too...nice. Too
honest. To get the really big contracts, a man's got to be prepared to get his
hands dirty. His conscience too."

Jake gave him a
sardonic smile. "Care to test that theory?" He aimed the gun at the
deep wrinkle connecting Frankie's eyebrows.

Frankie winced. "Fine,
I get that you're here to talk. So let's talk. What do you want to know?"

"Why were
you breaking into Sinetri's office last night?"

"I wasn't
breaking in, you were."

Enough of this. Jake
leaned over and grabbed Frankie by his shirt. He yanked him to his feet and
slammed him back against the wall. Then he pressed the gun to his temple. "I
said, what were you doing there?"

Frankie held his
hands up in surrender. "I was doing my job. The boss suspects his missus
and Sinestri are having an affair. He asked me to check it out."

"Why check
it out at the office and not his house?"

"I already
turned the house over and found nothing."

Jake frowned. "Sinestri
didn't mention that."

"You've
spoken to him?"

Jake let him go. "We
had a chat earlier."

"Then he
must have thought it was a regular burglary. Jeez, I don't know." Frankie
rubbed a hand through his greasy hair, messing up the smooth slick. "He's
cagey, that Sinestri. Always working one side off against the other, usually to
his advantage. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Seems the boss
doesn't either. He's suspected for a while that his misses and Sinestri have
been at it."

"What gave
him that idea?"

"He read a
text message from Sinestri to his wife, setting up a meeting time and place. The
boss went along and saw them together, getting all cozy."

"He didn't
confront them?"

"The boss
likes to be careful when it comes to some things. He likes to gather evidence."

"He didn't
with Ruby. He jumped straight to the conclusion that she stole the Florentine."

Frankie's smile
was as slick as his hair. "You seem to think he hasn't thought it through,
hasn't gathered all the evidence."

"He hasn't. Not
enough. I know she didn't steal it. If he'd done his homework, he'd know that
too."

Frankie held up a
palm in a shrug. "All I can say is, the business with Ruby is just that,
business. The other matter is personal. And the boss won't do anything to upset
his wife unless he's real sure about it."

"Why? They
didn't strike me as a loving couple. In fact, I'd have thought they'd be glad
to be rid of each other."

"Maybe, but
most of the assets are in her name. He divorces her, she gets a huge chunk of
his empire."

Jake nodded.
That
he understood. "Has he considered the possibility that Sinestri and Sonya
are meeting each other for business reasons, not personal?" When Frankie
cocked his head to the side, he added: "She stole the diamond and needs
his help to get rid of it, or he stole it and is using it to get her into bed."
He shrugged. "I have a number of other theories if neither of those work
for you."

Frankie's eyelids
sagged, half-closing over his muddy eyes. He was so still for a while that Jake
thought he might have fallen asleep. Then he tilted his head to the side. "It's
possible, but not likely. Neither of them knew the whereabouts of the diamond. Ruby
Jones did. She overheard the transport guards talking about the route they were
going to take."

"Pretty dumb
thing to do if you ask me," Jake muttered, "discussing the route in
the building's foyer."

"Yeah, well,
we won't be hiring them again, that's for sure. The boss has made sure that
business is about to go into receivership."

The iphone on the
hall stand bleeped. Jake picked it up. "You got an email." He checked
it out, keeping one eye on his prisoner. "Hot Bod?"

Frankie clicked
his tongue. "Damn woman. Always busting my balls. Women are bloody
annoying, don't you think?"

"No."

Frankie snorted. "You
going to read it out to me? Might as well since you've already violated my
privacy."

"I'd like to
keep my lunch in my stomach." Jake returned the phone to the table then
slowly, deliberately, aimed the gun once more at Frankie's head. He could kill
him now. No one would know it was him. He'd left no fingerprints, no evidence
of any kind, and he could provide Ruby with an alibi if the police came
sniffing around.

It would feel
good. It would feel damned good to see the thug's brains splattered all over the
nice white walls.

But he couldn't
do it. He'd only ever killed when his own life, or that of his fellow SAS
colleagues, had been in direct danger. To kill a man in cold blood, no matter
how much the world would be a better place without him, went against the grain
of his being.

For now, he would
have to be content with instilling a little fear into Frankie's miserable
heart.

"Speaking of
violating someone's privacy, if you ever harm Ruby," he said, "I
promise I'll kill you. As you've already pointed out, I'm an honest man, and an
honest man keeps his promises."

"Yeah,"
Frankie said, his voice calm. Too calm. "And as you've pointed out, I'm
not an honest man. So any promise I give you about not harming your precious
Ruby won't be worth the breath I use to speak it."

Fury exploded
behind Jake's eyes, momentarily blinding him, and he suddenly knew what the
expression ‘seeing red' meant. He lunged at Frankie and caught him round the
throat. The gun lay limp at his side as he squeezed with his other hand. Fat
and skin and sinew bulged between his fingers and Frankie's throat made a
strange gurgling sound as he tried to breathe.

God, it felt
good. Felt real and
effective
. Talking be damned, this was much better.

If he killed the bastard,
no one would know it was him.

The iphone
bleeped again. Someone wanted Frankie desperately. Hot Bod maybe. Jake let go
and Frankie collapsed onto the floor, coughing and gasping and rubbing his
throat.

Jake holstered
his gun, opened the door and left before he did something he couldn't undo.

CHAPTER 13

He'd been gone forever.
Ruby checked the clock again. Maybe not quite forever. Jake had left three
hours ago, but it was still too long to be visiting a father he didn't seem to
like.

She sat on a
bench seat in the bay window with the lights off so she couldn't be seen by any
unwanted visitors, and waited.

Her fingernails
were all gone by the time a car's lights swung into the driveway half an hour
later. She jumped up, then promptly sat down again. She didn't want to seem too
eager, too anxious, so she curled up on the window seat and pretended to be asleep.

When Jake walked
in, he didn't make any noise, not even a rattle of the keys. The only way she
knew he was there was by a strange sense of wellbeing that infused her.

Most people would
turn on a light when they walked into a dark room. Jake didn't. Nor did he pass
through to get to the hallway beyond or even approach her. Did he even know she
was there?

She cracked an
eye open but saw nothing. She opened the other. Still nothing. Where was he? She
knew he was there. Her body had gone into high alert, tingling all over. She
frowned into the darkness.

Then the
silhouette of a man split from the other shadows, his shape achingly familiar. She
smiled, relieved.

"What's so
funny?" the shadow asked.

"How did you
know I was smiling?" She sat up. "Are you wearing night vision
goggles or something?" It wouldn't surprise her if he could see in the
dark without them. Just another skill that put him up there with Superman.

"The
moonlight is angled perfectly through that window. It's falling right across
your face."

"Oh. So why
didn't you say something when you first came into the room?"

He hesitated
several beats. "I thought you were asleep," he finally said, turning
on a light.

She squinted at
him. "What's with the red cap?"

He removed it and
threw it on a chair. "Just felt like wearing it."

"You've been
out somewhere," she said, standing.

He grunted
softly. "Good observation, Einstein. I went to my Dad's, like I told you."

"They didn't
teach you how to lie in the SAS, did they?"

He cocked a brow.

"Matt can't
lie to save himself either."

The brow lowered.
He swung round and left the room. She followed him into the kitchen. "If
this has anything to do with me, I want to know about it." She felt like a
hen pecking a brick wall and not making so much as a dent.