The microwave dinged, and I juggled the hot dish between fingertips as I carried it over to the table. I hadn’t yet found a pair of oven gloves.
“Where do you think the money went?”
“Honestly? I have no idea. And don’t forget, it wasn’t simply stolen—it was swapped for a fake pay-off. Counterfeit hundred-dollar bills and diamonds in an identical briefcase.”
I hadn’t realised that part. “So someone was clearly organised.”
“Highly organised. The briefcase was only out of Alaric’s sight on four occasions. The first came after it was packed at FBI headquarters when he left it in his office while he used the bathroom. That was before he spent the night at Little Riverley. You’re staying over there, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but now I wish I wasn’t. That walk’s the last thing I need after dinner.”
“Nobody’ll mind if you sleep here.”
Nobody except me. Changing rooms would mean admitting defeat, and I hated to lose. That was the only reason I hadn’t quit.
“Nah, I can’t be bothered to move my stuff.” Which had grown to three or four suitcases’ worth. I’d brought a single bag from England, but Bradley had already given me more clothes than I’d ever owned in my life. “So Alaric and Emmy were dating?”
“According to Dan. Emmy married Black for a green card, and they didn’t…you know until much later. Which is weird, because I can’t imagine either of them with anyone else.”
“Me neither.” Long term, I couldn’t see any sane person putting up with Emmy’s craziness or Black’s psycho-ness. Was that even a word? “So the money could’ve got stolen from the FBI office or from here?”
“The FBI ruled out theft at their end, and Dan said nobody could have taken it from here. The security system at Little Riverley monitored every door and window, and nobody entered or exited all night. In fact, nobody came or went from the whole estate. There’s a network of sensors that surrounds the entire perimeter. Apparently, there was a breach by a team of professionals a few years ago, but they only got in because some of the motion detectors had been obscured by undergrowth. At the time of the theft, the system had just been installed and everything was working perfectly. Plus there were two men in the guardhouse at the end of the drive and an additional roving patrol.”
“What if it was the guards?”
“Questioned and ruled out. And they’d still have had to get into Little Riverley, don’t forget. Would you want to try sneaking into Emmy’s house?”
Not with the number of guns she kept handy.
“You said there were four places—what about the other two?”
“Alaric stopped for gas on the way here. Rather than lug the briefcase inside when he went to pay, he left it in the trunk. According to his statement, he could see the car from the kiosk, but for a minute or so, a panel truck parked in the way while he was waiting in line. The car alarm didn’t go off, though.”
The thieves would have had to be pretty organised to nick the cash in that tiny window.
“And the fourth place?”
“The pay-off-for-painting exchange was meant to take place on a boat, and the sea was rough, so the crew hauled the briefcase on board first. Alaric said it was out of sight for maybe thirty seconds while he climbed up the ladder.”
“So they could have swapped it?”
“Yes, but only if they had another briefcase already pre-packed with the fake pay-off. And more importantly, with the same three-digit combination set to open it.”
There was one obvious answer. “So several people were in cahoots, right? Someone from the FBI, and either an accomplice at the gas station or one of the bad guys on the boat.”
“That was the path the original investigation went down, but nobody found a link. It didn’t help that most of the men on the boat died in the gunfight at the end. And it’s still my favourite theory, although there is a fifth option.”
“Which is…?”
“That Alaric took the money.”
I barely knew him, but he didn’t strike me as a low-down dirty thief. After a nasty incident when I was fifteen, I’d learned to listen to my gut more, and he didn’t give off bad vibes.
“If that was the case, why didn’t he just ride off into the sunset with the money?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Hallie admitted. She finished the last mouthful of her dinner and put down her fork. “And I’m going to start by reviewing the FBI files. I don’t trust them.”
“You have the actual FBI files?”
Hallie put a finger to her lips as she got up to load her plate into the dishwasher. “Copies. Shh.”
“Let me know if you find anything?”
“Sure. I’ll be here all week—my roommate’s gone to Colombia for a charity project, so I thought I’d take advantage of the facilities. Good luck with Rafael tomorrow.”
Her tone said I’d need it.
As Hallie’s footsteps receded along the tiled hallway, I realised my own dinner was going cold. But I did feel more awake. Much as I hated to admit it, the Emerald mystery had me intrigued, and even though I should have been focusing on the basics, like, you know, staying alive, I also wanted to look through those files. Hallie had left a stack of folders on the table, no doubt ready for the morning. I opened the top one and began to read.
“Here, drink this.”
Toby handed me a smoothie as I trailed Alex to the gym. Bless that man. Toby, not Alex. Alex was basically a mob enforcer with the empathy of a rabid bull.
“Thanks.”
I’d need every scrap of energy. Rafael still hadn’t turned up, so we were going straight from a ten-mile cross-country run to fight training. Alex informed me this morning’s run had been “easy.” Next week, I’d be expected to do the same route carrying a weighted backpack. The week after, I’d
