Chapter 109
“Then you didn’t ask him to do it?”
She threw up her hands in frustration. “Of course I didn’t. Is that what you really think? That I came down here to talk Nolan out of finding my brother? Or, oh wait, maybe this is it. I came down here pretending to help Nolan , but what I was really doing was trying to distract him so Andrew could get away.”
At her rant, J.D. looked a little relieved as well as a little chagrined. “I just assumed—”
“Well, you were wrong.”
“I’m glad,” he said with a grin.
“And you’re wrong about Nolan, too. He’d never do something so completely against his nature.”
“He would for you.” He said it quietly, but with such complete confidence that for a moment she was shocked into silence.
She pushed herself to her feet. “Do you know where Nolan went?” she asked J.D.
The look he gave her was full of suspicion. She rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m just trying to help.” When the suspicion didn’t fade, she added with emphasis, “To help Nolan. If he lets Andrew walk away, he’ll never forgive himself. And if he does it because he thinks that’s what I want, then he’ll never forgive me, either.”
J.D.’s mouth curved into a smile. “Well, at least we agree on that.” He stood then and turned to the rest of the men. “Pack it up, guys. We’re heading out.”
Not five minutes later they were loaded into a van and heading down the coast. She only hoped they’d make it in time.
_________
At this early hour, the airline had several flights scheduled back to back, so the terminal was packed with travelers nursing cups of coffee, reading papers and sitting with their backs against walls, legs outstretched before them. Every seat of the decades-old leather seating was taken.
The tourist Nolan was interested in sat next to a pretty blonde, college-aged girl who was either suffering from a hangover or faking it in hopes the guy would take a hint and leave her in peace.
“And I’ve always wanted to travel more,” the guy was saying. “So after the divorce I figured, what the hell, I might as well…”
He looked up when Nolan stopped before him, letting his words trail off. But damn, he was good. He didn’t so much as blink in recognition. And even Nolan had to admit, the transformation from stylish, urbane Andrew he'd seen in pictures to geeky tourist was so complete, even he might have missed it.
Nolan held out a twenty to the college student. “Go buy yourself some coffee,” he suggested.
She snatched the bill and scurried off, looking more than a little relieved to escape, even if it meant giving up one of the coveted seats. Behind bottle-thick glasses, Andrew blinked rapidly as if warding off an allergy attack. Then he scratched his nose. “I don’t suppose,” he began in the same nasally tones he’d used with the girl, “that it’d do any good pretending I don’t know who you are.”
“And I don’t suppose you’re going to make this easy on either of us.”
“I don’t see why I should. Grand Celestria is a very peaceful place. And you have no authority here whatsoever. Now if you’d come with a posse of FBI agents and a warrant for my arrest, that would be different.” Andrew shrugged. “But since I see only you, I assume you’ve only got a bunch of your army flunkies with you. Which means maybe you can bring me in, maybe you can’t.”
Between Andrew's feet sat a canvas duffel bag emblazoned with the logo of a brand of popular scuba diving gear. Small enough for Andrew to carry on. But dive gear was heavy and no one would think twice about a scrawny tourist straining to heft a bag of it around. And a little bit of heavy lifting would definitely be necessary, since ten million dollars worth of diamonds was a lot of stones.
“I don’t want you. Just the bag.” Nolan nodded to the green duffel. “Just the rocks.”
Andrew studied Nolan, shifting automatically to tighten his hold on the duffel handle. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type.”
“To let a guilty man go?”
“To steal the diamonds for yourself, let me go, and claim you never found either.” He gave a c’est la vie shrug as he adjusted the glasses. “Tell you what, why don’t we split the diamonds and go our separate ways?”
“You’re not in a position to bargain.”
“Ah, but I must be or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Obviously you’re reluctant to bring me in. Possibly you don’t have the manpower, but maybe it’s something else. Whatever the reason, it gives me the advantage.”
“Just give me the bag. I could have airport security here in less than a minute.”
“You could.” Andrew studied him. “But I’m guessing you won’t. You’d get the diamonds, but you’d lose the girl.”
The PA system announced a flight was about to board. Around the room people began shuffling bags and gathering their things. Andrew shifted the shoulder strap of the bag from one hand to the other, preparing to stand. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, this is my flight.”
For a second, Nolan felt a rush of respect for Andrew . It took a hell of a lot of guts to walk around with ten million dollars worth of diamonds in a scuba bag slung over your shoulder. Admiration aside, Nolan still wasn’t going to let him walk off with the diamonds. Nolan snaked out a hand and grabbed Andrew's arm. “I’m not letting you go. I can’t let you take the diamonds and I won’t let you get away with what you’ve done to Candace.”
Andrew smiled a slow, lazy smile. “Ah. So then I was right. She is your greatest weakness.” He pulled his arm free. “In that case, maybe you should be thanking me instead of trying to steal from me.”
“Steal from you?” Nolan asked in disbelief.
“These are mine now.” Andrew patted the bag. “You can’t imagine how long it took to plan this. I worked on this for years. No way am I handing them over to you. And if you’re going to take them from me, you’re going to need something a little stronger than ‘pretty please.’”