Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Ghirardelli,” I answered, then added with a wink, “Hold the nuts.”
He chuckled. “Duly noted.”
“What about you?”
“Any and all. I am at the mercy of my sweet tooth.” Once again, he wrapped me in a tight embrace, but when he brushed kisses across my cheek, they were feather-soft and delicate. “No wonder I love your kisses so much. They’re so sweet.” He kissed me delicately, deliciously, deliriously. I was ready to get lost in that kiss but something caught Jake’s attention, and he lifted his head to look over my shoulder.
“Something’s wrong with Eli’s car,” he said, pointing with his chin.
I turned to see what he meant. The movement of the car wash flaps and brushes had stopped, and the whirring of the machine ceased entirely. A pair of car wash attendants stepped gingerly through the machinery, inspecting the gleaming black Audi.
“I should go see.” I spun for the door, Jake following close behind.
As we pushed open the door, I shielded my eyes from the bright sun and walked toward the car wash exit. One of the attendants had slid a long iron hook underneath Eli’s car, working it around until it attached to the chassis. With a grunt, he yanked on the end of the hook, his muscles straining.
“A little more,” the other guy called from the end of the conveyor belt.
“Hey there,” Jake called. “That’s our car. Is it stuck?”
The attendant looked up and flashed us a smile. “Yes. Please don’t worry. Happens once in a while, but we’re getting it out.”
“How did it happen?” I asked curiously but also a little concerned. That was odd.
“It got caught on the rails while it was going through. Sometimes it happens when the trunk is heavy. This one’s riding low to the ground.”
He returned to helping his co-worker, but I wasn’t thinking about the machines anymore. And that concern transformed. A kernel of optimism had resurfaced in me, rolling through my hopes, picking up speed. I looked at Jake, and he looked back at me, a matching twinkle of “what if” in his eyes.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he whispered.
My face split in a wide, never say quit grin. “I’m thinking what the heck is in the trunk of Eli’s car.”
Somehow I managed not to explode with anxious anticipation as the attendants finished pulling the Audi free of the mechanism and parked it at the back of the car wash lot where they vacuumed the mats. Jake and I stood shoulder to shoulder while I popped the trunk with the key fob I’d kept and he pulled back the bottom liner.
Holy shit.
There was a safe installed where a spare tire would normally be. Maybe there were legit reasons Eli might need to drive around with a safe, but I couldn’t think of any that would apply.
But what if this was another gotcha gift?
“What do you think?” Jake asked, then looked my way. I was afraid to speak, even though he was clearly waiting for me to say something, maybe give the go-ahead.
“I’m afraid to get my hopes up,” I said, voicing the scope of my new concerns at last. “If this is a trunk full of nuts, I might drive this car off a pier.”
“Only one way to find out.” He gestured to the keypad. “Want to do the honors?”
Deep breath. More nerves. Another breath. Even more. “Me? You’re the expert,” I said, and he was, but I also needed him to do this deed. I needed his steady compass.
“But you know how to do this too,” he coaxed gently. “Start with the obvious.”
He was right. I could try to crack this safe. He’d taught me.
With a wall behind us and the trunk wide open, we were hidden from prying eyes. I reached into the cargo space and pressed Eli’s birthdate into the pad, but the door wiggled before I finished. It wasn’t even locked. What the hell?
I grabbed the handle and yanked it open.
Holy mother of jewels.
Diamonds. Everywhere. Handfuls of them. Gobs of them. My throat went dry and my pulse hammered. There they were, glittering in the sun. I stood frozen, gawking at the glorious sight.
“Gorgeous,” Jake whispered in a stunned voice. He was staring with the same awe I felt. It had been right under our noses for the last twenty-four hours. This was wild. After all this time, all these wild chases, all these dead ends, all these tricks, here they were.
I lifted a hand to reach for some, needing to feel the shape of them, the weight of them, but the slam of a car door startled me out of my trance.
Not just any car door.
This car’s door.
The engine turned over and the Audi roared to life. I jerked my head out of the trunk and saw a chestnut-haired woman in the car wash’s uniform, grinning at me through the window.