Diamonds (Den of Thieves Book 1) (12 page)

From what Sebastian could tell it was right out of the fifties and your typical mom and pop diner with black and white tile, red leather booths, and a working jukebox in the one corner. Even the waitresses and busboys wore uniforms keeping in theme with the diner.

Teenagers took over the entire corner around the old pinball machine. A sign on the wall beside the machine showed there was a monthly leaderboard for the best score. They were quiet except for the hoots and catcalls at the person playing. Families were scattered throughout the rest of the diner.

They found Stan, a dark haired older detective who was slightly overweight and a thin red headed woman with short, cropped hair sitting in a corner booth next to the jukebox, the tables around which were mercifully unoccupied. It was clear they picked that spot for a reason. It was so loud no one would be able hear their conversation unless they were sitting at the same table.

Sebastian sat down in the booth and slid over to sit across from the woman and make room for Jake.

“Jake, good to see you.” Stan reached out a hand to Jake. “This is my partner, Jane Trinity. Anything you say to me you can say to her.”

The woman smiled but Sebastian could see that she was irritated with having to be party to a social visit. She looked like a woman who liked to be in control.

“Good to see you as well. This is my associate, Sebastian.”

Stan nodded at Sebastian.

“So what on God’s green earth brought you to me?” the older man asked.

“I need some help. For an assignment we are working on,” Jake started

“First before we go any further you have to understand I want no part in anything that may be considered illegal.”

“I know Stan, I don’t either, believe me. My associates and I have had enough run ins with the wrong side of the law for a lifetime. It’s actually for that reason that we are coming to you in the first place. I need you to do some digging in the police archives for me.”

They were interrupted by a young girl in a red and white poodle skirt with a high ponytail that bounced when she walked. She brought two coffees and set them down in front of Stan and Jane.

“You guys must come here often to get service like that,” Sebastian remarked once the waitress had left with his and Jakes drink order.

“We might come here once in awhile.” Stan laughed. “So what is it you’re looking for exactly?”

“We need you to look up an assault that might have happened about 27 years ago.”

Jake filled the detectives in on the whole story with the Sotirs and the diamond necklace as the waitress returned to deliver the missing drinks and take their food orders.

“Well you guys don’t make things easy.” Stan finished the rest of his mug of coffee.

“I don’t even know if we can find this stuff,” Jane piped up. “Let alone if we are able to pass along what we find to you.”

“I just need to confirm or disprove our client’s story. I don’t need details but I do need to know. I don’t want to get any of us into hot water.”

“Why don’t you just walk away from this?” Stan asked.

“Because I won’t,” The words were out of Sebastian’s mouth before he realized he had spoken.

Jake looked at him surprised and Stan gave his partner a look that could not be mistaken for anything but, ‘what have we gotten involved in now’.

“Any particular reason why you would not be willing to walk away?” Stan raised an eyebrow at him.

“You have to see this bitch. If we don’t figure out what’s going on the woman isn’t going to stop just because we do. She is going to just keep going. And she is not the type of person who would play nicely.” Sebastian was suddenly worried that Stan and his partner were not going to be willing to help

“Don’t mind him Stan, the boy’s got a bee in his bonnet for the daughter.”

Sebastian said nothing. It wouldn’t do him any good to deny it but at the same time he didn’t want Jake pointing it out like it was all some big joke.

Their food came then and they ate in silence. Sebastian’s mind raced with thoughts of the future. There were so many variables to what could happen. Most of the thoughts Sebastian did not want to entertain; the idea of Daria getting hurt because he didn’t do everything in his power to stop her mother from getting near to her horrified him.

He knew in his heart that the woman wouldn’t rest until she got what she wanted and that was why he wouldn’t stop until he either got the necklace and handed it over to the woman or stopped her.

“Look I need to know if Daria is in trouble. Clearly her mother is going to stop at nothing until she has the necklace. If this woman is as nasty as I have a bad feeling she is then we need to warn Daria and her father.” Sebastian voiced the thoughts running through his head.

Stan looked up from his plate of fries.

“And then what smart guy?” Jake asked suddenly turning on him.

“Look guys. I don’t care what you do with the information. Because I believe that there is a chance a young lady and her father might be in trouble I will dig into it for you. After that all I can say is if you get in over your head and need back up call me.”

Chapter 8

They left the diner shortly after with Stan and Jane promising to be in touch as soon as they could.

“Just what the hell did you think you were doing back there?” Jake demanded as they pulled out of the parking lot.

“What was I doing?”

“Yeah what the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about doing the right thing Jake. Look, whether you like it or not we are in over our heads on this one. Something isn’t right. Even your friend Stan admitted that he found something to be off with the situation.”

“And?”

“You can’t possibly sit there and think that we are still going to go through with this. Weren’t you the one who said that you thought it was worth looking in to when we left the office?”

“I know what I said Sebastian, but I also think this is a wild goose chase. There isn’t anything but speculation until Stan comes back with something we can move on.”

“So we just keep going as is. We don’t hold off and wait to see if this is even legitimate?”

“You said yourself, if it isn’t us that crazy woman will just keep on it. At least if it is us then you get to protect your damsel in distress if anything does come of it.“ Jake shook his head. “But just remember if we don’t at the very least keep up appearances then she may go elsewhere with her business and then we are completely screwed.”

Sebastian nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. Like it or not Jake had a decent point. He didn’t like it but he wasn’t foolish enough to allow his heart to blind him.

Jake was right. She would destroy the team and everything they had worked for if they didn’t keep her in check no matter what the detective found out for them.

Whatever happened he was not about to let it blow back onto Daria.

Sitting at her dressing table in her housecoat, Daria looked at her reflection. Her reflection belied the feelings breaking over her like waves crashing into a seashore. She knew that she shouldn’t be thinking the things that she was. She barely knew the man but at the same time there was something about him that she found absolutely intriguing. Something she just couldn’t walk away from.

And the sex had been impressive. The man was good in the bedroom. She smiled to herself.

Her sex life had ground to a halt when her father started setting her up with older men. There was absolutely nothing appealing to them aside from their bank accounts and connections in important circles.

Neither of which interested her. Picking up her brush she started getting ready for her date.

Peter however. He didn’t run in any important circles that she could find and he didn’t appear to be overly wealthy. Although if he was, he was certainly down to earth with his money and wasn’t one to use flash and awe to woo her and win her heart. The man enjoyed the simpler things in life it seemed. Much like she did.

Now all she had to do was convince her father that things were going to be alright and that she wasn’t about to up and run away to join the gypsies because she had fallen in love with a man.

She stopped brushing her hair.

She looked hard at her reflection. Examining it for any trace of the thoughts in her mind.

She hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself. She was falling for Peter no matter what her common sense said about it. Surprisingly enough there was no longer was any fear or ill feeling when she thought about it. It almost seemed like she had been headed that way from the start even though when they had met two nights ago she had wanted nothing to do with him at all.

Funny how a nice quiet drink under the stars could change the way a woman thought about things. She could actually let herself feel excited about her dinner with him that evening.

He had certainly done a good job at breaking down the wall she had built around herself.

A quick glance at the clock told her that she had best hurry and finish getting; ready she didn’t want to keep Sebastian waiting.

As she got into a simple black dress she wondered where he was taking her. Would it be something lavish or something more simple and cozy? It was a mystery and she couldn’t wait for the time to fly by so she could find out.

A few minutes later she heard the doorbell ring.

“Shit. He’s earlier than I thought he would be,” she said grabbing a pair of black flats off the rack and her purse before rushing out the door. Coming down the stairs she tried slipping into her shoes as she went. She got one on but at the last second she stumbled putting the other on and slipped off the last couple of stairs and right into Peters arms.

"Ow!" She winced. Pain shot up her ankle.

"You alright?" Peter asked, a look of concern sweeping over his face.

"My ankle." She rubbed it for a moment before gingerly putting pressure on it.

It hurt a bit but it wasn’t too bad. Not enough to stop her from going on her date.

"Well do you want to take a quick trip to the hospital to have it checked out?”

"Quick trip?" She shook her head "Not sure what country you are living in but let’s face it Peter. There is no such a thing as a quick trip to the hospital."

"Yes but if you hurt it you don’t want to make it worse by ignoring it." The look of genuine concern on his face warmed her heart.

"It’s fine Peter. I’ll just take it easy and it will be fine. Nothing to worry about. " She smiled and took a step on it trying hard not to wince as she went.