Page 9 of To Catch a Sub

“Whose collection?”

“His name is Joseph Grizzard.”

Barry’s head snapped up, his gaze jumping from the small pad where he was talking notes to Colette’s face. “Joseph Grizzard?”

“Yes, do you know him?” Colette sat forward eagerly, but there was a slight hesitation before her reaction, as if she’d been taken by surprise.

“No, no.” Barry almost smiled. “But I think I read a book about him.”

Landon almost smirked. She’d used the name of a character from a book? Sloppy.

Odd, because Colette wasn’t sloppy.

“A book about him? Is he famous?” Colette’s brow was furrowed in confusion, but the rest of her body was unnaturally still. She was worried.

Good.

Anu was looking at Barry, who shook his head in an I’ll-tell-you-later gesture. She turned her attention back to Colette.

“Ma’am, I must advise you that taking this was theft. Even if you had reason to believe it was stolen, that didn’t give you the right to steal it in turn.”

“I didn’t steal it.”

Landon smiled, his teeth flashing.

“I didn’t steal it,” Colette repeated. “After I gave him my initial evaluation, I advised him that a stone of this size and quality needed to be immediately insured for a significant amount. I also asked him about the provenance. Mr. Grizzard asked me to take the stone for further testing, as the exact make-up of a diamond like this can sometimes narrow down where it’s from, not only the country or area of origin, but sometimes even down to the specific diamond mine.”

“He let you walk away with a fifty-carat diamond?” Landon demanded. “How stupid do you think we are?”

“Malik, please.” Anu stayed focused on Colette even as she spoke to him. “Mr. Grizzard wanted you to help him establish provenance?”

“I believe so. Once I’d taken it to my personal lab for some more in-depth tests did I realize what it might be.”

“So you’re saying your client gave you the stone for further testing. You identified it as a known stolen piece, and that led you to bring the stone here?” Anu asked.

“Yes. I think it’s that missing Saudi blue diamond.”

“Why not take this to your local police?”

Colette glanced at Landon, and there was something in her gaze that made his blood hum with awareness.

“I trust Agent Malik.”

Landon’s anger stirred. She was manipulating him. Fucking up his life. He wanted her gone, preferably behind bars but at this point if he had to let her walk out, fine, as long as she left.

Landon’s boss looked at him. “You say Ms. Beaumont was a suspect in the British Museum robberies?”

Landon’s jaw ached, he was gritting his teeth so hard, but he unclenched enough to say, “Never officially a suspect.” He hadn’t had enough to do more than let it be known she was wanted for questioning. “She disappeared before I could interrogate her.”

“I didn’t disappear,” Colette protested. “I went on an archaeological dig. It was in a remote location. I’m sorry I didn’t know you were trying to get ahold of me.”

That was utter bullshit. He’d been trying to contact her, find her, for years.

“I move around a lot, so the phone isn’t always reliable, but I have an email. It’s listed on my business website?—”

Landon planted one hand on the table, not exactly slapping it down, but close, the sound enough to make her jump.

He felt like a fool for wasting all those years worrying she’d stolen from the wrong person and been killed. She probably laughed every time he emailed her.