CHAPTER 26
MELANIE
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE BLOCKED?” I ASKED AS I STARED IN MOUNTING
disbelief at Blaine. He had a half–anxious, half–apologetic look on his face as he shrugged “I’m sorry Mel.
That’s what they said.”
I couldn’t believe this. Cadell had gone too far this time. Way too far. He’d decided just killing me wouldn’t be fun so he’d destroy me in other ways
Feeling uncomfortable in my own skin because of Jordan’s comment the other day about how I was wearing the clothes he provided, I’d decided to get some money out of any of my bank accounts and do some shopping.
Seeing as I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere myself I’d given Blaine my pins and asked him to help me. According to him, he’d barely inserted the card in the ATM when one of their contacts who was a bank employee had come out of the bank warning him to never use those cards again as they had not only been blocked, but flagged for the police and FBI if a transaction was detected.
He’d called me and asked for all the names I’d opened accounts under and I reeled them out, only for the bank employee to confirm that they’d all been blocked
I don’t even know how he knew all that information; whenever I went on a heist all he cared about was whether I’d gotten the goods or not.
I banged my head against the table and groaned loudly. I was officially dead broke and I felt so helpless.
I heard Blaine chuckle lightly as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Mel. You know you can ask us for anything”
“That’s precisely the point!” I lifted my head and shot my hands out. “I don’t want to keep on living off you guys. Jordan always finds a way to point it out and it’s so annoying”
I slumped, dropping my hands into my lap
“Now I have to get a job or something.”
“Um Mell You have a job,” Blaine reminded me and I glared at him.
“Yeah. One I don’t get paid for. Maybe I’ll become a stripper, put that pole dancing to good use“. I pondered.
*Hold on. You know how to pole dance?” he asked, his eyebrows rising. I blinked at him and shrugged “I took a class.” He chuckled lightly and ran his tongue over his bottom lip, the look in his eyes suddenly turning intense.
I know I’d pay to see that he said.
I sensed the shift in the mood and tried to turn it back before things got really awkward.
That’ll be 350 dollars, then I smiled.
He laughed again. “That’s a pretty high price.”
“Trust me, it’s worth it. I replied, smiling
Blaine was the only person I really liked around here, he was sweet and nice, he made me laugh and seemed to actually care about me. But lately I can’t help but wonder if he’s all these things because he wants to be more than just friends.
I’ve caught him staring at me a few times too. I’d refused to acknowledge it in case I was wrong and also because I wasn’t sure I liked him in that way. I haven’t been involved with enough guys to establish a ‘type‘ but I know he ticked all the boxes
And will
“So what else can you do he asked, jerking me out of my thoughts. I straightened quickly and shot him a playful glare “Why, Mr. Daniel! Know you not that it is improper to ask a Lady her talents?” I scolded in the accent of an 18th–century British aristocrat
“If you’re done flirting,” Jordan said, startling us both “I need you both in here.” I got up feeling like an errant child, which was ridiculous because I’m a full–grown adult and wasn’t doing anything wrong
As we walked into Jordan’s office, Blaine whispered in my car “You know, you could ask Jordan for a salary.”
11
CHAPTER 26
My eyes widened and I looked at him, mouthing “Hell no.”
He shrugged. “You’ll never know until you try. Besides, you do work for him.” He was about to say more but Jordan faced
I guess it was something to think about. I looked at Jordan for the first time in days. I hadn’t seen him since we discovered the jewels were fake. I mean, I’d heard him around the house and spoken to him through the intercom, but that’s the most amount of interaction we’ve had. He looked calmer than the last time we’d seen each other, but I could detect the tension in
the set of his shoulders
“So” he began “I’m sure you’ll be happy to know I did some digging and found the diamonds” he picked up a slim folder. from his desk but didn’t open it.
I sucked in a sharp breath “Where are they?” I demanded. He barely flicked me a look before continuing, unresponsive to the urgency in my tone.
“Melanie was right. I got the information on the handler at the bank from Enrico and with a bit of persuasion, he had a lot to say.” I tried not to think of the kind of ‘persuasion he’d used on the poor guy.
He took a deep breath “Apparently a certain relative of mine convinced him to switch the boxes. Just a small task, and for sum that seemed huge to him, the disgusting plebeian.”
Huh. I never knew Jordan had family. Then again, from the way he’d said relative with so much distaste it was safe to assume they weren’t close.
“So who is the relative? And what’s their location.”
For some reason, Jordan looked straight at Blaine when he spoke again. “It is fucking Uncle Jorge.” Some of the anger he’d been withholding whipped out with the statement.
Blaine was silent, then began to laugh really hard while Jordan stared at him with murder in his eyes. I blinked in confusion. not getting what was obviously an inside joke only Blaine found funny. Who was this Uncle Jorge and what was so funny
about him?
“Moving on” Jordan gritted out and slowly Blaine’s laughter died and he wiped actual tears from his eyes.
“I tracked Jorge’s operations. He moved the jewels to another Swiss safe and made sure it was more heavily guarded. I had to send in two extra men to extract the one who sourced the information because he’d been captured and tortured for even asking around about it.
He’s paranoid, and with good cause. He stole from me.”
“So we can’t follow any direct methods, and I know you wouldn’t want law enforcement involved. How do we get to them?” Blaine asked, all serious now.
Jordan reached for a sheet and unfolded it, revealing the blueprints for what I presume is the Swiss bank holding the jewels. “Are you suggesting-” Blaine started.
“Yes. We’re going to steal them back.”
“Um. Do you realize the gravity of what you’re saying? Swiss banks are no joke to break into. You’d require a perfectly coordinated team, with a very experienced thief at its head” I blurted, studying the blueprints. It’s why I never hit Switzerland; I almost always worked solo.
Jordan slid those eyes to me, “Fortunate for me that I happen to have a master thief right here then, isn’t it?”
The implication of what he was saying hit me and I just looked at him.
“Stealing those jewels was your objective wasn’t it?” he continued “Go steal them.”
