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Not that he was going to allow that, apparently. Even now, he was opening her closet doors and pulling out a suitcase. She scrambled after him. “Uh, what kind of trouble?”
“Sedarno’s on to you,” he said. “He’s monitoring all your online activity. He could have someone watching you, I don’t know.”
“But—” she shook her head, following him into the bedroom. “What do you mean he’s ‘on to me’—I haven’t even done anything yet.”
Adam unzipped the suitcase and put it on her bed. “I mean he was apprehensive enough about Vegas that he looked you up, found your connection to Ignatius. He probably doesn’t know exactly what you’re after, but he does know two things: you were screwed by the University that Knoll is using to get his diamonds and you pursued the two of them while they were in Vegas discussing the transfer. That’s enough for him to be extremely suspicious. Which means you need to run.”
She opened her mouth, closed it again. Couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually been struck speechless. “Run?” she managed.
He yanked open her dresser drawer and started pulling out pairs of jeans. “Yes, fucking run, Jess. Put some distance between yourself and those diamonds. Get far away from Chicago. Disappear for a while. You do not mess around with Sedarno. Do you need me to tell you about all the people he’s killed? And for a lot less than 25 million dollars.”
Jess blinked and sank onto the mattress. “Run,” she repeated. “But...my life...”
Adam tossed the clothes into the suitcase. “You will have no life if Sedarno kills you,” he said, matter-of-factly.
She felt numb. Run? Not only did it go against every instinct she had, but what did that even mean? Did it mean going away temporarily? Or forever? If she ran now and never exposed Knoll’s illegal activities at the University, she’d never clear her name.
Did that matter? Ignoring Adam’s frantic packing, she allowed herself a precious moment to think. Except for Adam and Andrew, the
world-at-large thought she was a criminal who hadn’t faced judgment. To her surprise, she realized her reputation mattered less to her than it did a few months ago. Since meeting Adam, the idea of “criminal” had changed in her mind. He might break the law professionally, but he had more honor and loyalty than most people she knew. Hell, she’d broken the law with gusto over the past several months. She hadn’t hurt anybody by doing it, and if she was being honest with herself, she’d sort of enjoyed it.
“I’ll give you money to live on for a while,” he said, slamming one drawer and opening another. “When the dust settles, you can buy a new identity, one with a solid IT education and work history. You can get a job with those credentials. Not in Chicago though.”
Okay, this was crazy. He thought she was going to live as someone else forever? What about her family? Maybe she didn’t have an ideal relationship with her father or older brothers, but she loved them and they needed her. And Andrew was her closest friend; there’s no way she was abandoning him.
Live as someone other than Jessica Hughes for the rest of her life? Forever leave the city she loved? NO. She didn’t say it aloud. She didn’t even shake her head. She just closed her eyes and conjured up that trusty old poker face. As it settled in her skin, her resolve strengthened, and she wished she could explain to Adam in a way he’d understand. I’m not leaving. This city is my home. I did nothing wrong. I don’t want another life when I worked so damn hard on my own.
Adam was clearly overreacting. She understood why he needed to be so paranoid in his profession, but really, what could Sedarno find on her? Nothing. Okay, it’d been dumb of her to do the whole golf thing in Vegas. But if she was smart and quick, she could still get this done. She could still catch Knoll red-handed with the diamonds and—anonymously—turn him over to the authorities. She could do this.
But not with Adam.
He cares about me. She let herself watch him for a full minute as he muttered and cleared out another drawer. But, she reflected, he never said, “Let’s both forget the diamonds. I won’t go after them anymore either.” If he wasn’t going to steal them and she wasn’t going to turn in Knoll, then Sedarno would get his jewels and have no reason to hurt her. After hearing his story about Tony and the gut-deep guilt in his voice, she truly understood—but it still stung a little. Yeah, he cares about me—but he cares about the diamonds more.
So this was it, where they truly said goodbye. She felt the lump rising in her throat and willed it to evaporate. When he’d first appeared tonight, she was so excited. Furious at him, of course, but so hopeful. Hopeful that he might have come because he couldn’t stop thinking about her and wanted to forge a way forward together. Stupid, stupid Jess.
Adam stopped packing and stared at her. “What are you thinking?”
Goodbye, Adam. She nodded briskly. “My travel route. I don’t need your money. I have a small emergency fund I can use. It’ll keep me afloat until I find some sort of work.” She hoped she sounded confident, like a woman on the path to a fugitive life.
To her shock, he reached out and stroked her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Jess.” His voice was gruff. “I never should have asked you to come to Vegas. The trip was a horrible mistake.”
Ouch. She knew what he meant, but still.
She pulled away and shrugged. “It was my own fault. I didn’t listen.” I’m not listening to you now either. She pointed to the window where the faintest hint of orange could be seen in the sky. “Sun’ll be up soon. I’ll call a cab and...get gone.” She swallowed. “You should go now.”
He nodded, slowly, but kept wary eyes on her face.
She gave him a tight smile and held out her hand. “Good luck.” Good luck to us both.
* * *
Three days later, Jess stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room at the Marriott and critiqued her appearance.
The red tango dress was a halter style that left her entire back bare and tied with a bow around her neck. There was a slit on her left leg that went up to her hip bone. Her own hair was tucked carefully into a wig cap, and the glossy black hair of her expensive new wig was pulled high off her face and hung in impossibly thick curls to the small of her back. Her ultra-dark spray tan, dramatic eye makeup and red lips completed the exotic look.
In the mirror, her face was serene and relaxed, reflecting nothing of the tornado of butterflies tearing up her stomach. She was so nervous she hadn’t been able to eat all day.
Tonight was the night.
