sweetheart?” I said, rising from the chair and stepping right up to her. “I’ve had just about enough of your bad attitude. I don’t deserve it. I am a victim here, in case you haven’t noticed, dragged into this shit-show by him.” I pointed at Leo as if there were any doubt to whom I was referring. “You want to lock me in a closet? Go ahead. That’s kidnapping, and I happen to be the mayor, and my father happens to be the chief of police, so if you want me to cooperate, maybe you could quit being such a bitch.”
Yes! That felt magnificent. I should rage more often. I should rage at Leo. He was the one behind all this angst. And he was currently staring at me with wide, startled eyes. I’d obviously surprised him with my sudden outburst, so it seemed we had both underestimated me.
Gina gazed at me for a second, and I saw her lips twitch into a near-smile. It seemed I’d earned some respect, if not my freedom.
“Fair enough. My bad. Will you please take us to Dmitri’s house? Because Mick is in Michlimac City and probably heading over to the island today, and every time he comes here, we run the risk of him figuring out what he needs to figure out. The minute he realizes Jimmy Novak is hiding under a beekeeping hat, things are going to get a lot more complicated.”
My options at the moment seemed pretty nonexistent. I didn’t want Dmitri to know I’d revealed his secret to Leo, especially less than twelve hours after he’d told me, but I guess that ship had sailed. And sunk. If I led these two to him, at least they’d keep him out of jail. And better the jewels go back to the Wellington family instead of to his old accomplice. Dmitri had said Mick used a gun at his last robbery, so who knew how dangerous he might be now.
Leo rose from the sofa. “I’ll make this up to you, Brooke. I promise.”
I turned stiffly to look his way and hoped my disdain was evident. “You can’t possibly make this up to me. I’ll help you out for Dmitri’s sake, but not for yours. Now let’s get going, because I have lunch plans.”
Chapter 27
My lunch plans were clearly not going to happen.
According to my captors, recovering stolen property might take a bit of time, what with Dmitri Krushnic, a.k.a. Jimmy Novak, an uncertain element in this process. So, under close supervision, I texted my sisters saying I had an upset stomach from too much wine last night. That wasn’t even technically a lie, because all the alcohol from the prior evening was not currently sitting well. I just omitted the part about helping to apprehend a jewel thief before another jewel thief showed up to steal the stuff that had already been stolen. No way I could have texted that with any clarity. That sort of thing definitely demanded a phone call.
Leo, Gina, and I made an interesting threesome, trudging toward Dmitri’s house. As we made our way down Cahill Road toward Southville, I thought about taking them on an extra-long trek through the woods, maybe making a break for it or at least ensuring that their walk was a little extra miserable because God knew they deserved it. Especially Leo. But Gina’s warning about Mick getting to Dmitri first had me worried.
Then I thought about what it might mean if I convinced them to let me call my dad. He could have deputies watch the boat dock and arrest Mick as soon as he landed. He’d broken parole, after all, and we didn’t need him to lead us to Jimmy Novak. We already had Jimmy Novak, but calling my dad would mean telling him everything, and in the back of my mind, I was trying to create the least amount of collateral damage. If Dmitri gave the leftover jewels to Leo and Gina, he’d be broke, but at least he wouldn’t be in jail. Gina had promised to go along with Leo when it came to not doing anything about recently sold items. It seemed their only priority was returning the stolen items to the Wellington family so they could collect their payment for services rendered. Anything above and beyond that was not their concern. This job was just a paycheck, not some assignment with a higher moral purpose. I guess that made me glad for Dmitri’s sake but also a