Page 40 of The Diamond Thief

17

Jacob

Ipace the room, startling every time Jade draws a breath. She’s been out longer than I thought she would be. She’s going to be pissed as hell. But I don’t think her anger can be any greater than mine.

We’ve been playing a little game across three states, and I’m done with it. When she wakes up, she will tell me what I want to know or she will suffer for it.

I communicate with Elliott to ask about Antony and the condition of Jade’s friend.

Elena is angry too, but he has her calm enough that they can ride in the van together.

Antony bugged out when we pulled over. I’m not sure what his game was.

Nobody is doing the heist now. Not that it matters. The contents were of no real interest, and if Antony or some other ring is going after it, let them have it.

A small moan from the bed makes me whirl around again. This time Jade actually stirs, bringing her hand to her forehead.

I’m sure she has a killer headache. I have a remedy for that, but first I want to speak to her.

Her first words aren’t at all what I expect them to be.

“You’re stupid,” she says, her voice hoarse.

I sit down on the corner of the bed, not too close, but close enough.

“And why is that?”

“You should have…” Her voice falls to the barest whisper.

I scoot closer. “I should have what?”

She whispers something again, and I lean close to her face.

This time, she shouts. “You should have tied me up!”

She grabs me by the neck and jerks me down. In an instant she’s rolled behind me, jumped on my back, and pressed my face into the pillow.

This amuses me. I laugh into the pillow, then lift my head.

“You think a tiny mite like you is going to subdue someone like me? That was the clumsiest takedown I’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t have to be better than you,” she says. “I just have to be smarter.”

It’s at that moment that I feel the barrel of something at the back of my neck. Does the girl have a weapon?

Would she shoot me?

Frankly, I don’t know. Nothing about what I’ve seen from Jade tells me that she is a cold-blooded killer. But I haven’t survived this long by underestimating an enemy with a gun to my head.

“I did not bring you here to hurt you,” I say.

“I wish I could say the same.”

I lie there with her on top of me for another tense few seconds.

“So what is your endgame here?” I ask. “What do you want?”

“I don’t like guys who knock out girls with drugs,” she says. “If you want me to come somewhere with you, just fucking ask.”