When Darkness Falls (13 page)

She looked at the box and then at his hopeful expression.

“Take it,” he said eagerly.

Time was ticking away, and her guests were due to arrive any minute. Reluctantly, she took the box and opened it. Her breath caught as she looked at the exquisite pair of pearl and diamond earrings. The large jewel at the top was fiery red with a layer of small, bright-white diamonds encrusted around it. A large diamond, trimmed in gold was attached underneath it, and then a milky-white pearl artfully hung below that. The gold piece that held the pearl was also encrusted with diamonds and mimicked the stem of a plant. “Are these real?” she gawked.

He laughed. “Of course.”

“I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”

“Now, don’t insult me by refusing my gift.” The words were spoken jokingly, but she could tell from his tight jaw that he was serious. “Put them on.” Excitement tinged his voice.

“Now?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“I want to see them on you. That way, I’ll have the image in my head to take with me on this trip.”

One of the most handsome men she’d ever seen was giving her an expensive pair of earrings, and it was scaring her to death! All she wanted to do was get as far away from him as possible. On the one hand, there was something childlike and endearing about him—that’s what had drawn her to him to begin with. On the other hand, he had a dark side that was controlling and unnerving. An image of Hank flashed through her mind, and she had the strong desire to talk to him right now. If only he were here, he would know what to do about Garrett. Feeling like she was detached from the situation, she removed the earrings she was wearing and replaced them with the diamonds.

Garrett was beaming. “Perfect. A work of art.” He brushed the curve of her jaw with his hand. It was an intimate gesture that made her uncomfortable. She didn’t need to be out here, alone with Garrett, when she was having such strong feelings for his brother!

Chloe saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Susan was walking across the yard to her front door.
Saved by the landlord!
“I’ve gotta go.” Before he could stop her, she opened the door.

He leaned over and attempted to kiss her, but she turned her head, so that his lips grazed her cheek instead. “I’ll see you when I get back,” he said, disappointment coating his voice. His eyes penetrated into hers, as if he were willing her to return his affection.

She could feel the emotion building, and swallowed hard to keep it at bay. She forced a smile. “Yeah, I’ll see you then. Hey, Susan,” she called, knowing that her chances of escape were much better with someone else close by. Susan turned and gave her a broad smile. She hurriedly got out of the car. “See you later,” she said, closing the door and getting away as quickly as possible. She could feel his eyes, watching her, as she walked across the yard. When she made it to the front door, she turned and acknowledged him with a wave. He gave her a sardonic smile, saluted, and then drove off.

“
O
kay
, everyone, dig in,” Chloe said when they were all seated at the table.

Darbie cleared her throat. “Chloe, before we eat, it would be nice if we could offer a blessing on the food.”

Heat crawled up Chloe’s neck until it covered her face. She had to squelch the irritation that bubbled in her throat. “That would be great, Darbie. Would you say it?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, while everyone was engrossed in the meal, Chloe surreptitiously studied Darbie. She’d certainly put Chloe in her place, but it hadn’t been done maliciously. Darbie truly wanted to pray. She was starting to feel a little envious of Darbie and her faith. Then again, Darbie hadn’t gone through hard times like she had. Had she experienced a tenth of the heartache Chloe had, Darbie would most assuredly be singing a different tune. As soon as the thought entered her head, she felt guilty. After all, there was no sense in being mean-spirited. She should’ve been the one who asked the group to offer a blessing on the food. She would have to remember to do that next time.

Susan was the first to speak. “Well, what’s going on with everybody?”

Chloe placed a hush puppy on her plate and passed them to Lila. “Just lots of work for me. Trying to finish up a few projects.” She wasn’t about to go into the Garrett saga.

“What about you?” Susan looked at Darbie.

Darbie helped herself to two pieces of fish. “We’re really getting into some interesting stuff in my Intro to Forensic Science Class. Do you know how long it takes rigor mortis to set in after someone dies?”

Lila nearly choked on her fish. “What?”

Pete laughed and winked. “Darbie, you can tell us later … after dinner is over.”

Silence settled between them as they began eating.

“Chloe, everything is absolutely delicious,” Lila said, scooping a second helping of mac & cheese onto her plate.

Pete reached for another piece of fish. “Yes, it is. This fish is some of the best I’ve ever eaten.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said appreciatively as a warm glow settled over her, helping to ebb some of the tension she felt over Garrett. It was good to be amongst friends. The conversation drifted to easy topics as everyone ate until the food was gone.

Finally, Pete leaned back and patted his stomach. “If I ate like this every night, I might have to go up a pant size.”

Lila cut her eyes at him. “Hey, what’re you trying to say? That my cooking isn’t this good?”

“I’d be very careful how you answer that,” Susan said, wagging a finger.

Pete’s face turned red as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Now, don’t go putting words in my mouth. I’m not saying that at all. I love your cooking, honey. It’s just that this southern food is so delectable.”

“Delectable, huh?” She winked at Chloe. “We’ll see how delectable it is when you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Susan belted out a hearty laugh. “Ooh, she told you.”

“See why I love this woman?” Pete draped an arm around Lila. “She keeps me on my toes. And she’s beautiful to boot!” He planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Your flattery won’t work,” she said, but it was obvious from the glow on her face that she loved it.

It was fun to watch Lila and Pete. They were obviously crazy about each other.

“Lila has lots of talents, and she’s an amazing cook too,” Darbie added.

“Yes, she is,” Chloe agreed.

A few minutes later, Chloe began serving the pie. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then handed Susan a slice.

“Wow! Where’d you get those?” Susan said.

“What?”

“Those earrings. They’re beautiful!”

All eyes turned to Chloe as she frantically began searching for an answer. “A friend gave them to me.”

“Some friend. Send a few of those friends my way, would ya?” Susan said with a throaty laugh.

“Not just a friend,” Darbie said slyly, “but her boyfriend.”

Knowing glances bounced between the women at the table. Chloe could feel her face blazing, and she wanted to strangle Darbie.

“Pete, look at those earrings,” Lila said. “Are they not incredible? So unique.”

Pete nodded, but it was obvious that he was more interested in the pie than the earrings.

“You’re not even looking at them,” Lila complained, catching his arm. “Look!”

He let out a sigh and looked. The next events happened so quickly that Chloe would later wonder if she’d only imagined them. His face went chalky white, and shock registered in his eyes. He moved to stand and in the process, inadvertently knocked over the pitcher of lemonade beside him, sending it toppling over where liquid spilled across the table and onto the floor.

G
arrett turned away
from the attractive blonde who was sitting nearby, trying her best to make eye contact with him. Any other time, he would’ve humored her and struck up a conversation; but today, he had other things on his mind. He propped up his bicycle, and when he was sure that it wouldn’t fall over during the ferry ride, he rested his hands on the railing. Then he turned his attention to the white foam that was spraying up from the roaring water that was being churned by the large engine underneath the ferry. For a few minutes, he let his mind get lost in the commotion, liking how the mist from the water felt cool against his face. It was an overcast day, and the Bay was turbulent—very fitting for his emotional state.

Ideally, he would’ve put this job off for at least another month—until he was satisfied that he’d studied all of the angles thoroughly so that he could be prepared for all contingencies. But he was backed against the wall and needed to produce some cash fast. Things were getting tense where Sam was concerned, and he was not going to be put off much longer.

Even though Garrett was traveling under an assumed name, it was too risky to fly into Oakland due to the tight security and ongoing surveillance. So, he’d rented a car instead, using one of his aliases and a credit card that couldn’t be traced back to him. He spent the previous night in a Marriott Courtyard in Larkspur and was taking the ferry into San Francisco. Once the job was done, he’d exit the city on his bicycle, pick up his car in Larkspur, and drive back to Salt Lake. It would take him about an hour and forty minutes to bike from San Francisco to Larkspur, but he chose that mode of transportation because in the event that the theft was discovered quickly, then law enforcement would be monitoring cars leaving the city, not someone on a bicycle, taking mostly bike paths.

He’d started laying the groundwork for this job almost a year ago. He’d chosen San Francisco for a few reasons—first, he’d been traveling here on a regular basis because he was heading up a project through Marsh Interiors to redo a vacation home for one of their longtime clients, so Hank wouldn’t get suspicious. Second, he knew the city like the back of his hand. Glory was originally from San Francisco, and her younger sister, Francine, lived here. All during his youth, Glory had taken Hank and him with her every summer in order to give their mother a break. They would spend part of their time in San Francisco and the other part in Bodega Bay, a coastal town about an hour and a half north, up the Pacific coast. Third, there was a great deal of wealth in San Francisco that was ripe for the taking. Speaking of wealth—all he needed was one really good score to get him out of this jam. His blood quickened at the thought.

The ferry moved past San Quentin Prison. The architecture of the structure was more befitting of a cathedral rather than a prison. He could never pass by the place without thinking about all of the poor saps that were caged up like animals, rotting away—their lives passing them by. His gaze lingered on the tall fence around the yard with the razor barbed wire at the top. He suppressed a shiver and turned away, forcing his mind onto other things. Careful planning and a level head was the only difference between him and those unlucky inmates.

He looked out in the distance to where the Golden Gate Bridge was stretching its legs gracefully across the Bay. Even though it was covered in patches of fog, it was still a majestic sight. There were only a handful of sailboats out today and one brave kite surfer who was fast losing the battle against the elements. Garrett watched him pitting his strength against the relentless wind while getting jerked around haphazardly like a scrap of paper. He took in a deep breath, drawing strength from the salty air. He really did love San Francisco. If all went well, he’d bring Chloe here—maybe teach her how to sail. His heart quickened at the thought as he pictured her big brown eyes that were so expressive and her open smile. He’d known many beautiful girls in his lifetime—some of them even more beautiful than Chloe. But there was something about her—he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was exactly—that captured him. And the fact that Hank desired her was icing on the cake. As much as he loved his older brother, there was a part of him that resented having to walk in his footsteps all of the time. No matter what he accomplished, it seemed that Hank’s achievements were always grander. And now he’d turned into a pompous churchgoer! He scowled, forcing his thoughts back to Chloe. A smile came over his lips as he remembered her startled expression when she saw the earrings. And then she’d asked if they were real. He could only imagine her reaction had she realized that the earrings were a one-of-a-kind pair that were worth somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty grand. He usually broke each piece of jewelry he acquired into component parts so they were unidentifiable, but these particular earrings were so unique that he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Giving them to Chloe was not part of the original plan—not until Hank stepped in, trying to take what was his. He’d been keeping the earrings for insurance, in case he needed a quick-fix way to appease Sam until he could get cash. In the back of his mind, he wondered if giving them to Chloe was such a good idea. She’d not seemed too thrilled about them. What if something went wrong tonight, and he couldn’t get the goods? He’d be sunk! He supposed he could always steal the earrings back if push came to shove, although twenty grand was a pittance compared to the amount he owed.

He pushed the negative thoughts away. The job would go according to plan, and he would get the jewels. That’s the way it had to be! The mark, Phyllis Masterson, had first come on his radar when he was attending a high society party last summer. He often frequented parties and clubs, so that he could keep an ear to the ground, gathering useful information and tips on the owners of valuable jewels and antiquities. Phyllis was a fifty-year old divorcee whose ex husband owned three of the largest vineyards in Sonoma, a spa, and two restaurants. She shamelessly flaunted her high-price jewelry by wearing it to all of the local parties and charity events. He spent a month tailing her to learn her habits. Also, he wanted to make sure that her jewelry would be worth the trouble it would take to steal it. He was able to get close enough to her at a party to verify that her necklace was indeed real … and worth a fortune. He learned that Phyllis had a daughter in her mid-twenties who was a sucker for charming men. Natalie was an undergrad student at Berkley, studying English, so Garrett simply pretended to be a fellow student in one of her classes where he sat a seat away from her. A chance meeting in the library prompted her to invite him to join her study group. All in all, it had taken less than a week for Garrett to convince Natalie Masterson to fall head over heels for him, which was not a small feat considering that Natalie was a high-society girl who was as spoiled as she was beautiful. He’d pulled out all of the stops, wooing her with tickets to a sold-out concert, dinner at the hottest sushi restaurant in town, sailing on the bay, a night-tour of Alcatraz, and a hot-air balloon ride in Napa that included a champagne breakfast at an exclusive spa. Of course Natalie thought she was falling for Damian Bradford, the only son of a wealthy investment banker. He assumed a persona that was closest to his real personality—a playboy who attended Berkley as a past time when he wasn’t busy traveling the world or finding other extravagant ways to spend his father’s money. He’d only dated Natalie nine days when she brought him home to meet her mother.

Phyllis lived in a three-story, Victorian home that was sandwiched beside a row of other homes of the same style, facing Marina Boulevard. The home was easily accessible with the garage and entry-door on the bottom level. Also, it was located so that he could make a speedy exit. Even though the logistics were ideal, he still couldn’t be sure he could pull off the job until he met Phyllis face to face to see what type of person he was dealing with. His fears vanished the moment he met her and realized that he could work her like putty in his hands. Phyllis had undergone enough plastic surgery to make her look at least ten years younger than her age. She let him know immediately that she was attracted to him. Garrett suspected that she was trying desperately to hold onto her youth and that he was a distraction from her otherwise dull existence of endless parties, trips to the spa, and shopping; but as long as she served her purpose, he really didn’t care. He started seeing Phyllis behind Natalie’s back. It didn’t take him long to learn that Phyllis liked to drink. On one occasion, she got so soused that Garrett had to help her to bed. While she was passed out, snoring loudly, he scouted out the location of the safe she kept hidden behind a large abstract art painting on her bedroom wall. The safe, a 2.1 cubic capacity size with a digital keypad, was surprisingly low budget, considering the value of the contents it housed. Like most people who lived in upscale neighborhoods, Phyllis had a false sense of security. And, he suspected that her jewels were insured for the maximum amount.

His thoughts went back to the safe. He was not an expert at cracking safes by any means, but given enough time with the right tools, he felt sure he could crack this one. He considered using a blowtorch to break down the reinforcement plates, so that he could drill the lock, but that would take a long time, and it was noisy. Then, he came up with a plan that would be seamless and require little effort during the actual heist. The night before Phyllis was to attend an art gala, he showed up at her home and got her rip-roaring drunk. When she passed out, he installed tiny cameras that he hired Asa, his longtime friend, to create—cameras that would be extremely hard to spot unless one had a trained eye. He placed one behind a lighting sconce on an adjoining wall and the other on the opposite wall, tucked between a framed photograph and book that were resting on a shelf. The cameras linked to his laptop, allowing him to watch as Phyllis opened the safe. He figured that having both angles would ensure that he would be able to see the combination that she punched in, regardless of how she was angled. It worked like a charm. Then, a day later, he simply removed the cameras before anyone was the wiser. The only glitch in the plan would be if Phyllis were to change the code to her safe for some reason. Then again, he felt sure that she wouldn’t unless she felt threatened. It took effort to change things, and Phyllis didn’t seem like the type to bother with it.
He hoped!

Next, he turned his sights to the alarm system on the house itself. He briefly toyed with the idea of getting the code from Phyllis or Natalie but decided that it would be easier to simply disable it. All things considered, the job would be relatively simple—much simpler than others he’d done in the past. He spent a few weeks becoming intimately familiar with Phyllis’s habits and the comings and goings of her neighbors. When he got that down to a science, there was only one thing left to do—sever his connection with Phyllis and Natalie.

He went to Phyllis’s house on a night when he was sure that Natalie would stop by. Like clockwork, she showed up to find Phyllis and him in the middle of an intense make-out session on the couch. Natalie was, of course, heartbroken and enraged. She ranted and raved—slapped his face and called him every name imaginable. He played the part of the regretful boyfriend, apologizing profusely and taking all of the blame. He even went so far as to admit that he’d been the one that had come on to Phyllis when she was having a weak moment. His apology fell on deaf ears as Natalie threw Garrett or rather
Damian
out on his ear, telling him that she never wanted to see him again.

He sorrowfully told her that he understood and would never bother her or her mother again. All the while, elation pulsed through him. He loved it when a plan came together! All he had to do then was simply wait a month or so to make sure that Phyllis wouldn’t connect him with the break-in. Even if she did somehow suspect him, he was banking on the fact that she would be too embarrassed to admit that she’d stooped so low as to sneak around with her daughter’s boyfriend. If his instincts were correct, he suspected that Phyllis would want to keep the break-in quiet by collecting the insurance money and moving on.

Had he not been on a time crunch, Garrett would’ve spent at least a day or two doing surveillance to make sure that everything was the same as it had been two months prior; however, with Sam breathing down his neck, that was not an option. He would be going into this thing unprepared, hoping there were no surprises. Apprehension clawed over him as he willed himself to remain calm. His success depended on keeping a level head.

Twenty minutes later, as the ferry approached the Embarcadero pier, his anxiety had been replaced by a fevered anticipation, making him feel more alive than he had in weeks. When the attractive blonde caught his eye and offered him a hopeful smile, he flashed her a dazzling one in return. She seemed to go soft all over as a look of pleasure came over her face. A thrill shot through him. He loved the control he wielded over the opposite sex. This was a good omen that things would go according to plan tonight. He found himself whistling as he stepped off the ferry and got onto his bike. After the job was done, things would be different. Now that Chloe was in the picture, the idea of settling down and living a normal life didn’t seem all that far-fetched. Of course, there was still the unpleasant business with Sam. But after that was taken care of, it would be smooth sailing from there.