Chapter 1.
Previously…
It was early Monday morning, and Trust sat in her local coffee shop, sipping her favorite blend of coffee with a hint of vanilla and spice. Jack had woken her with an early morning text telling her he wanted her in his office at nine.
She noticed a newspaper left on the table next to her. She reached over, grabbed it, and began to see what was happening in the world. On page three, a photo caught her attention.
One of the most iconic diamonds in the world—the Purple Promise!
The headline said it was going up for sale. It was coming to New York to be auctioned. Not just any auction, she read. It was to be a private auction, and there wasn’t going to be any public display.
She blew out a long, deep breath, wondering which of the world’s billionaires would end up with it.
It was rare for a diamond to be purple, and even rarer for one so large. This one had been cut into a 22-carat stone.
With the several million dollars it would command, it could go a long way toward solving world hunger. The divide between the rich and the poor was too wide, and it wasn’t right.
Figures quickly filtered through her mind. Years before, a 19-carat pink diamond sold for $50 million. It was a good medium pink, not a pale one. The Purple Promise, being so rare, could go for even more.
She nibbled on the end of her fingernail as she recalled a blue diamond that had set a record when it went under the hammer for 80 million U.S. dollars. Then there was a blue diamond, just over 14.6 carats, that had gone for 46 million U.S. dollars.
If she stole the Purple Promise, she could make a real difference in the lives of tens of thousands—people who had fallen through the cracks of society.
Naturally, security around the diamond would be the best in the world. The best of the best. But there was always a way. There had to be.
Trust drained the last of her coffee and signaled to the waitress for another. Then she bit into her ham and cheese bagel.
The waitress placed the coffee in front of her, and Trust counted out the money and handed it to her. Normally, she would’ve given a much larger tip, but things were different now.
She reached into her bag, opened her phone, and called her sister.
“Yes?” Serenity answered.
Trust looked around and spoke low so no one could hear. “Never tell anyone about me. You told your friend Gizelle and she told Ryan about me, and he connected with me only because he knew who I was.”
“I figured that out. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’ll never tell anyone about you again. Wait, but all that crime stuff is behind you, right?”
Trust couldn’t stay mad at her sister. “Still, I like to keep my life private. Just don’t do it again. I’m trying to go straight, but I’m looking at something that would solve a lot of problems for the charity’s latest project, and way beyond even that.”
“No. You don’t want to go back to prison.”
Trust thought for a moment. “You’ll find out when you’re older that in this life you’re either controlled, or you’re the one doing the controlling. The rich make this world work for themselves. Who’s looking out for the poor?”
“That doesn’t even make sense, Trust. Just don’t do it. Promise me.”
“Don’t say ‘promise.’” Trust laughed, keeping to herself that the diamond was called the Purple Promise.
Serenity grunted. “Just tell me you won’t.”
“Okay. I won’t do it.”
“I’ve got to go. Someone’s calling me.” Serenity ended the call.
Before Trust put down her phone, she considered Serenity’s words. She needed the money for the battered women she was helping, but she didn’t want to go to prison again.
Pulling out her phone, she looked down at her messages and reread the one from Jack that morning.
‘Meet me in my office at eight.’
Eight?
She was sure it had said nine when she’d seen the message that morning, but she had been half asleep. Now she was late. She quickly shot back a text.
‘Sorry, overslept. Be right there.’
He wrote back, ‘I have a case for you that you’re going to love. It’s right up your alley.’
* * *
Back to the present…
Trust Zeigler got out of the elevator and hurried to Jack’s office. When she walked in the open door of his office, it was worse than she’d feared. Monica Blaze sat opposite Jack, and they were smiling at each other as they spoke.
Any fool could tell Monica was in love with Jack.
Who wouldn’t be in love with him? The way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, how earnest his serious face could be, and the way he walked—no, this guy glided—with confidence. Everything about Jack was a delight, but she knew he’d never be interested in someone like her, a woman with a dubious past. But a girl could always dream.
The smile left Jack’s face when he looked up and saw her. He bounded to his feet. “Trust, thanks for coming in. Take a seat.”
Trust walked over with Monica now scowling at her. One thing Trust knew was that Monica wouldn’t rest until she—Trust Zeigler—was far away from the FBI and far away from Jack. Monica had never liked her and made sure she knew it.
“Good morning, Monica. Good to see you again.”
All Trust got in return was a curt nod. She sat in the chair next to Monica.
As soon as Jack sat down behind the desk, he cleared his throat. “I’ll get right to the point.”
“Good, please do.” Trust felt Monica staring at her, but Trust kept looking directly at Jack’s handsome face.
“Monica’s gun was stolen last night.”
Trust turned and looked at Monica. “I’m sorry to hear it. Are we doing an investigation about it?”
Monica turned her body to face Trust. “No, Trust. The jig’s up.”
“What jig?”
Monica looked over at Jack. “Look at her. She’s wearing my earrings right now.”
“What?” Trust frowned at her, raising her hand to touch her earrings.
“Monica thought she saw you after the robbery. Her building went into lockdown last night because of a fire alert, and then someone busted through her door with an ax.”
Trust’s mouth fell open in shock. “That’s awful for you, Monica. Is that when your gun went missing?”
“No,” Jack answered for Monica. “Well, it might’ve been, but someone broke into her safe and stole her gun and a pair of valuable diamond earrings. We don’t know if it was before or after the fire alarm was raised.”
“They are a very expensive pair of earrings, and I can’t believe you’ve got the nerve to wear them right in front of my face.”
“These are my earrings. They were a gift from an old boyfriend. I never even thought they were real. They probably aren’t. I don’t think he would’ve been able to afford diamonds of this size. Anyway, they’re mine, not yours.”
“You’d know whether they were real or not because of your past occupation—if you can call stealing jewels an occupation. I saw you, and I know it was you.”
Jack leaned over his desk and put his hand up to try to calm Monica. “There’s a simple way to solve this. Trust, do you mind if we have someone take a look at those earrings?”
“Not at all, as long as I get them back.”
“Each of my diamonds has a lasered number on it.” Monica reached into the handbag on her lap and produced a couple of diamond certificates. Trust knew what they were right away.
Trust took the earrings off. “I’m sorry that I don’t try to estimate the value of the gifts people give me. Maybe mine have a number on them too. I wouldn’t know. I don’t normally take gifts anywhere to be appraised.” She dropped the earrings into the palm of Jack’s outstretched hand.
“Thank you, Trust. It won’t take long to get to the bottom of this.” He handed the earrings to Monica. “Take a look for those numbers.”
Monica grabbed the earrings, then held one up to the light.
Now it was Trust’s turn to retrieve something from her handbag. She grabbed her 10x jeweler’s loupe out of her bag and handed it to her. “Try this.”
Monica frowned and took the loupe from her without a word of thanks.
“You’re welcome. I take it everywhere with me. You’d be surprised how often it comes in handy.”
“No, I wouldn’t be surprised about anything when it comes to you,” Monica snapped. After she studied the earrings for a moment, she said to Trust, “You’ve put them in different settings.”
“They’re not your earrings.”
“Is the number there, Monica?” Jack asked, now sounding bored with the whole thing.
Monica’s mouth turned down at the corners. “There’s no number on this one.”
“Try the other,” Trust suggested.
“No.” Monica shook her head and stared at Jack. “She must’ve got the numbers polished off.”
Trust was dumbfounded and sat there without saying a word.
“And how would she have done that?” Jack asked.
“Got a diamond cutter to do it, I guess, which might have made them smaller, hence having to put them in new settings.”
“The robbery was last night. We have to be practical about this, Monica. There wouldn’t have been enough time between last night and now to do anything like that—to put the diamonds in other settings, and for Trust to find a diamond cutter or someone who’d be able to do that,” Jack said.
“You can search my apartment if you want if you think I’ve got your gun. I can tell you that I was home all night. Check my cell phone signal. Those earrings are mine.”
Monica stared at the diamonds. “They look like mine.”
“All diamonds look the same. That is, if these are even diamonds. As I said, I wouldn’t even know.” Trust sensed Jack looked doubtful at what she said. “I just wear them because I like them. It has nothing to do with the value.”
“I know they’re mine,” Monica said through gritted teeth. “I don’t have a doubt about it.”
“If you’ve got certificates for your diamonds, take my earrings and have them checked by a diamond appraiser. I don’t mind.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind, Trust?” Jack asked.
“Of course not. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Thank you. There you are, Monica. You can take them and have them checked.”
Monica laughed. “I can see where this is going. I’ll bring these back to you, and you’ll say I’ve switched them and they were really some valuable kind of diamonds.”
“No. I just said in front of Jack that I don’t even know if they are diamonds. I trust you. Take them. Unless you’re trying to set me up for something.”
Monica placed the earrings down and then rested her hands on her bag. “I’m not falling for it. Jack, can you take them and the certificates and have them checked? You’re impartial.”
Jack pressed his lips together. “If that’ll solve the issue, I will.”
Monica then glared at Trust. Trust offered what she hoped was a genuine smile before she said, “I hope they are diamonds.”
“Do you have the name of the man who gave them to you, Trust?” Jack asked.
Trust didn’t enjoy deceiving Jack, but she’d started with a lie, and now she had to carry it through. They were fakes, but she was enjoying playing along. “No. It was a million years ago. I don’t even remember.”
His dark eyebrows rose just slightly.
“I’m sure you have a lot of boyfriends,” Monica blurted out before she bounded to her feet. “Let me know as soon as you learn anything, Jack.”
Jack stood while Monica flounced out of his office. “I will,” he said, just as she was at the door. As Jack sat down again, he said, “I’m sorry to put you through that, Trust, but she has her suspicions. Thank you for being cooperative.”
“That’s okay. I’d be upset if I’d lost diamonds that size too. I would’ve thought, though, she’d be more upset about the gun. Won’t she get into trouble if that’s an FBI-issued weapon?”
He nodded. “The bureau won’t be happy, but if it’s stolen, she can’t help it. She had a safe and a home security system and made every effort to keep it out of the wrong hands.”
“Well, what happened with her security system?”
“Apparently it failed.”
“Who would’ve broken in? Was it an opportunist, like a looter, with the fire happening?”
He shook his head. “It’s unlikely, but it’s hard to know for sure. No one else in the building was robbed that night. It seems that her apartment was the target. And her security system had to have been tampered with. She insists it wasn’t turned off so that’s the only option.”
“The security system in her apartment?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh, that’s dreadful. I feel so sorry for her. I hope she finds a nice place to stay while they’re fixing her apartment.”
“It was just her door. It’s already been fixed. The thing that worries her is that someone knew the safe’s combination or they were able to get into it somehow.”
“Hmm, that is a worry.”
He stared at her for a moment. “Let’s go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get on with the job.”
