Digging into her briefcase, Ana yanked out a tablet and tossed it on an empty chair beside her mom’s. “I bought that for you. Look at the newspaper apps on there and read the reports. Did you know that jewelry shop is a Cross Industries property? Gideon Cross has offered a quarter-million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves. I’ve been told that amount will increase to half a million if the guard dies.”
Finally, Tilly paled. “Is he that bad off?”
“He had body armor on, but he took two hits: one to the shoulder and another to the thigh. That second hit nicked his femoral artery.”
“Dear god...” Her mother sucked in a shaky breath. “You know Frankie would never go along with anything like that. The guard... was it Terence Parker?”
“Yes.” Ana gripped the back of an old wicker chair. “I already figured out Terence was your inside man. And it’s obvious the shooter wanted him out of the way. A three-way split is much more lucrative. But why not make it a two-way split? Or better yet, take it all. Frank, Eric, Terence, and someone else. Who’s the other guy, Mom?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you. You had this planned down to the second.” Tilly and Bill Miller were known to spend years planning a job that would take only seconds to pull off. Ana was afraid that since her dad had died, her mom had focused on the heist to bury her grief. And she’d dragged Frankie into it with her.
Tilly looked at her with stricken eyes. “There was no fourth guy in the plan. Just Terence, Frankie, and Eric. You know it’s safer to keep the number of people involved to the bare minimum.”
Ana knew neither Frankie nor Eric would’ve deviated. Tilly would’ve trained them better than that. Most likely Terence had brought in someone to guard his interests, someone he’d thought he could trust... and ended up paying for it.
“Jesus, Mom. The shooter is going to turn on Frankie and Eric the first chance he gets, if he hasn’t already. I need to get to him before that happens.”
Tilly picked up her teacup and saucer, the china rattling as her hands shook. “Are you here for the reward or the gems?”
“You know why I’m here. You knew I’d come, because you knew who the insurer was before you went after the diamonds. That was part of the fun. I’m sure you figured there’d be no harm done—you mastermind your perfect heist, Frank follows in dad’s footsteps by pulling it off, your daughter claims five percent of the take in a legitimate finder’s fee, and the owner gets their gems back.”
“No one was supposed to get hurt,” Tilly breathed, looking stricken.
“Someone always gets hurt, Mom. They don’t make stealing illegal just to spoil your fun.” Sighing, Ana pinched the bridge of her nose. “When were Frankie and Eric supposed to show up here?”
“Not for a week.” Tilly met her gaze with unusual somberness. “We knew the insurance company would bring you in on this, and we didn’t want any lines being drawn between there and here and you.”
“Thanks,” Ana said sourly.
“Frank’s not even supposed to call until he gets down to Florida. He and Eric planned on stretching the trip out over a few days.”
Crossing her arms, Ana snapped, “No matter how clever you are, you went into this knowing I could face prosecution along with you. By not turning you in, I could be seen as an accessory after the fact. And if I took the finder’s fee and Frankie’s involvement ever got out, I’d have a hell of a time arguing that I wasn’t a participant in a multi-million dollar fraud against the insurance company.”
“Jake would never let that happen,” Tilly argued.
“He isn’t God, Mom,” Ana muttered, her stomach knotting at the thought of facing her high school sweetheart again. Jake Monroe—a man she’d never gotten over. “I’ll have to talk to him. Maybe Eric’s contacted him. I’d expect it, considering how protective Jake is.”
“Will you be staying in Whisper Creek until this is worked out?”
“I’ll be staying tonight, at least. If Terence survives—God willing—I’ll be heading back to Manhattan to see him. And if I sniff out any leads on who Terence might’ve brought in as the fourth, I’ll take off to pursue those. How’s the Wi-Fi at the house?”
“Still not good. I use the computer here at the shop when I need reliable internet access.”
“Then I’ll stay at Victoria’s Inn.”
Picking up her briefcase, Ana exhaled harshly. “Let me know if you hear anything.”
“Anastasia.” Her mother’s voice stopped her when she reached the door. “You’ll watch out for Frankie, won’t you? He’ll be all right?”
“I’ll do my best, Mom.” But she couldn’t make any promises. She couldn’t even be sure she wouldn’t go down with them.
Reaching for her sunglasses on the top of her head, she stepped outside.
And found a deputy U.S. Marshal waiting next to her car.
Ana’s breath caught and her heartbeat accelerated with a mixture of surprise and guilt.