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She smiled at her colleague.
“And off the record, for what it’s worth, I like the new guy better.”
“Me too.” But there was a time she was wild about Nolan. In fact, head over heels if her pride would let her admit it.
“Hey, guys, call it off!” Brice yelled to the agents. “We found the cabin.”
The agents swarmed toward them with Nolan in the lead.
“Either my eyesight is gone or…” Nolan said, looking around.
“It’s been torn down, and the gold is gone along with it,” she told everyone. “This is all there is.” She kicked her toe against the piece of stone and wood.
“Son of a—” Nolan raked a hand through his hair. “You’ve got that meeting with that shithead in two hours. We need the gold.”
She bit the urge to counter with something smart likeThank you, Captain Obvious.“We’ll figure something out. We make some fake gold, make sure it looks and weighs just as much as the real thing. If anyone knows how to pull this off, please, I’m open to suggestions.” She looked at the agents clustered around her. Nolan was quiet and appeared deep in thought. It was a surefire sign he was troubled. Otherwise he was always quick with something to say, whether it be sharp, cutting, or intelligent. He had his moments.
“We get tungsten steel and gold-plate it,” Agent Gabe Radcliffe said. “It looks and weighs like the real thing.”
“Let’s make it happen,” she said. “We need nine bars weighing twenty-seven-point-four pounds apiece.”
Gabe nodded. “We’ll also need to find out how those gold bars were hallmarked and their serial numbers. Every real gold bar needs both by law.”
“I can find out,” Brice said and got on the phone.
“I’ll get started too,” Gabe said.
“Thank you. Remember, I need it fast. Within the hour,” she added.
“I’ll make it happen.” Gabe left with his phone to his ear.
The rest of the agents filtered out too, and she was left with a quiet Nolan. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”
“I just want our girl back safe. That’s all.” He met her gaze, and it was moments like this that had her trying to make their relationship work all those years ago. He could be kind and gentle. Too bad it was often smothered by his overbearing personality and ramrod mentality.
“I know. So do I.” She stood there with Nolan for a few more minutes. Any composure she might have projected was a lie. Inside, she was freaking out. They didn’t have the gold to give Jennings, and there were a million ways the exchange could go wrong.
FORTY-FOUR
Before setting out for the park, Sandra was back in the WFO. Nolan was researching the history of the fishing cabin, while she was getting prepared for the meet. She tucked a bug in with the underwire of one cup of her bra and a tracker in the other, in case things veered sideways. Then she got dressed in fresh clothes. She also powdered on some makeup and headed to her desk.
Nolan looked up at her. “Got some info on the cabin. Its demolition was ordered three years ago, and the contract to do so was awarded to GetRGone.”
“Someone on that crew netted a good payday,” she said.
“If the gold was there in the first place.”
“Patton’s my least favorite person, or at least one of.” Jennings was vying for top of the list. “But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“That’s a first. That never worked for me.”
She wasn’t touching that. “Let’s find out who worked on that job and have a talk with them.”
“I’ll take care of it. You have someplace to be.” He nudged his head toward the clock that was circling way too fast. There wereonly forty-one minutes left before the meet. She still needed to get in place and confirm where everything stood.
“You’re right. But don’t let that go to your head,” she quickly added with a smile. “I just need to confirm that Radcliffe has my ‘gold.’” She was going to call him when he walked toward her desk.
“The nine bars are ready, totaling two hundred and forty-seven-point-six pounds. It’s all fake, but we want the weight to feel real.”