To Have and to Heist(27)

“Ladies.” As if on cue, Jack joined us at the table. He was wearing a perfectly fitted gray button-down shirt beneath his leather jacket, a pair of vintage jeans that hugged his hips, and brown Blundstones that had seen better days. On another man, the look might have been too casual. On him, it was thirst trap sexy.

“He’s just missing the hat and the whip,” Chloe whispered under her breath after I’d introduced them.

Jack had also brought along a friend he introduced as “Gage.”

There were only two words to describe Gage: deadly and dangerous. He had military-short dark hair above a wide forehead, glacial blue eyes, and a chin so square, he could have been a model in geometry class. The dude was all lean hard muscle poured into black jeans, black boots, and a Hellraiser graphic T-shirt. He was raw and rugged, and he drew attention through the force of his presence alone.

“Does this mean you’re in?” Jack asked after we’d ordered a fresh round of drinks.

“We’re collecting facts.” I looked over at Chloe. Her gaze was fixed on Gage and his gaze was fixed on her. There was too much gazing and not enough talking so I gave her a nudge.

“Chloe? Facts. Remember?”

She shook herself and took a big gulp of her Tequila Sunrise. “Facts. Yes. Risk assessment. Where is the necklace?”

“At the home of Joseph Angelini, a real estate and casino mogul who has sold and developed some of the largest undeveloped tracts of land within the city limits.” Jack steepled his fingers. He had nice hands—strong and tanned with just enough hair to give them a decidedly masculine finish.

“I read about him,” Chloe said. “He was indicted on charges alleging bribery and corruption in the rezoning of an industrial site last year.”

“The DA dropped the case when the key witnesses all died in unfortunate accidents.” Jack shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. I stirred my drink, ogling his exposed forearms in a circumspect way. He wasn’t trying to be sexy, but I suddenly understood why the Victorians got excited at a forbidden glimpse of an exposed ankle.

“Why would someone like that take the risk of acting as a fence?” I asked. “It’s not like he needs the money.”

“He trades in favors. This is one of them.”

“So he’s an amateur fence, not a professional.” I didn’t want Jack and Gage to think we were totally naive about underworld crime.

“Does it make a difference?” Jack’s lips quivered at the corners, like he could see right through me. Given we seemed to have some kind of rapport, I had suspected he would.

“Less risk if he’s an amateur.” I leaned against the banquette and examined my fingernails, all chill and relaxed like I had experience meeting shady characters in poorly lit bars to discuss heists and different kinds of fences.

“Why haven’t we heard about the reward?” Chloe frowned. “Or the theft, for that matter? It hasn’t been in the news.”

“The museum director pulled a few favors to keep it out of the papers because he was concerned that the other donors would pull their pieces before the exhibit opened,” Jack said. “The provenance of the necklace is also in question and the owner didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention. He arranged with the insurance company to offer a reward to people who are in a position to locate and retrieve the necklace and discreetly arrange for its safe return.”

“You?” I asked.

“Among others.”

“If you could retrieve the necklace, why would you return it for a reward? Why not just sell it?” Chloe proved once again her super smartness and I was proud to be her friend.

“It’s not easy to sell jewelry on the black market,” Jack said. “You have to know people. You also have to be able to keep it secure. There are people who would kill to acquire something of that value.”

He spoke with the confidence of a man who dealt in stolen jewels and murderers every day. I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation. Me. The “good girl.” Talking about heists, fences, dirty real estate moguls, the criminal underground, and secret rewards. That’s when it really hit me. Jack was from another world. A forbidden, exciting, dangerous world. A world I’d only ever watched on TV. A world where people died for real.

“I’m not signing up to get murdered,” I said.

“That’s why Gage is here.” Jack tipped his head in Gage’s direction. “He keeps people safe.”

I could imagine. Intense masculinity seeped from Gage’s pores. His arms were like twin pythons, intricate tattoos covering his smooth, tanned skin.

“How do we know the reward is real?” Chloe asked. “You could just be using it to lure us into helping you, and the minute you get your hands on the necklace, you’ll disappear into the ether.”

“Fair point.” Jack glanced over at Gage. “You want to show her?”

Gage’s voice was a rough rumble that emanated from deep in his chest. “You got a Dark Web ID?”

Chloe snorted a laugh. “What hacker doesn’t?”

They exchanged the kind of information non-computer-literate people like me don’t understand. Moments later, Chloe was scouring the dark side of the Internet on her phone. “He’s not lying. The reward has been posted on several Dark Web forums. But this just means we won’t be the only people after it.”