Blue Steal Page 5

  The next instant, the noise and energy died. It was dead still.

  Jack whipped around. There were six men, all in expensive suits and hardhats. Architects, builders, construction bosses—men of that ilk. It was clear who the leader was—an older man in a dark-grey pin-striped suit he knew from his previous life to be bespoke English tailoring. His hand was raised—a small, almost delicate gesture—yet it contained enough power to bring his followers to a total standstill.

  He was staring at Selina.

  Selina was a babe. A traffic stopper. In this case, literally. As he observed the older man’s intense grab of a gaze, it made the hairs on the back of Jack’s neck stand on end.

  Jack shifted. Without even intending to, he put himself in front of Selina, breaking the line of sight between the two.

  The man turned on his heel and walked back out into the lobby, followed immediately by his retinue.

  Jack swung back to Selina. Her face was as pale and set as alabaster, her eyes huge, staring vacantly into the space where the man had stood. Whoever he was, he’d sucked the very life out of her.

  She let out a breath, expelling something tight and rigid, leaving her somehow slumped.

  ‘Friend of yours?’ he asked, drawing near. He had to fight the urge to slide his hands up and down the tops of her bare arms, offering warmth and comfort like a mother for a child straight out of a chilly pool.

  Stupid. He didn’t know much about Selina, but he knew enough to know they weren’t on the same side. And in any case, Selina was far from needing protection.

  ‘I’ve never seen him before,’ she said softly. Her hands were in soft fists at her side, her eyes had fallen to study Andrew Holloway’s patch of carpet again.

  Yeah right. No way those two were strangers. Recognition had oozed out of their very pores, silent lines of communication flowing through the air between them … ‘Come on, bella,’ he taunted gently. ‘That’s one lie too many.’

  The blatant derision in his tone snapped her back to herself. ‘It’s the truth,’ she replied sharply.

  Jack’d had a number of conversations with Selina now. He’d observed her as she’d said things that were true and things that weren’t, and he had some idea of her baseline. Enough to judge that she wasn’t lying now. Which made the whole thing even weirder.

  What had just happened? Was it just the role-playing they’d been engaged in which made him feel like this was somehow relevant? The tension in his gut would suggest not.

  Grilling Selina had so far proven spectacularly unsuccessful, but she was vulnerable right now. Shaky. If he launched an attack, he might get something out of her.

  He should be ruthless—God knows she would be.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asked. It was the wrong question, nothing to be gained be asking it. Despite that, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

  She shot him a quick surprised glance, then looked away and nodded, rapid little movements of her head that did nothing to convince him. ‘I should get back.’

  ‘Locusts await?’

  ‘Something like that,’ she replied, but her response lacked its usual spark.

  She walked past, and he had to shove his hands in his pockets to stop himself from reaching out. He wanted to call after her—to ask her again if she was okay, to offer to help in any way he could. But he held his tongue and Selina disappeared from sight, leaving him with one burning question.

  What the fuck was going on?

  He ran his hands through his hair, left them crossed behind his head, thinking.

  He was missing something.

  He was missing everything.

  But he could find out the identity of the man in the hardhat.

  Back in the lobby, Selina was gone, and so were the hardhats.

  He rummaged around in his pockets as he approached Hailey behind the reception desk. There were a few things he made it his habit to carry at all times, and a USB flash drive was one of them. Usually, it was in case he came across files he needed to download. Right now, it’d serve another purpose.

  Hailey looked up at his approach. He piled all his charm into his grin and she blushed to the tips of her hair. ‘Hailey, can you help me out? The men that just came through here … The older guy …’ He looked at her expectantly, left the field wide open for her to insert the answer.

  ‘Lewis Holloway,’ she supplied, eager to please. ‘He owns the Empire.’

  Lewis Holloway. Well, wasn’t that interesting?

  ‘Right. He dropped his thumb drive.’ He said, holding it in the space between them. ‘Maybe you could see it’s returned to him?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said, extending her hand to take it.

  He made as if to give to her, then snatched it back at the last minute. ‘On second thoughts, you’re busy. Don’t worry about it. He went out that way?’ he queried, indicting the front entrance to the hotel.

  Hailey nodded.

  ‘I’ll see if I can catch him myself.’

  He walked out the doors, not to catch Lewis Holloway, who was in any case long gone, but to get some fresh air and attempt to process the significance of what he’d just learned.

  Lewis Holloway and Selina Migliore. What was the connection?

  ***

  ‘I saw Lewis, nonna.’ Selina lay on her bed, phone to her ear, staring at the water stain on the floral tin-pressed ceiling.

  ‘Lewis?’

  Her grandmother sounded confused and Selina had to bite back her frustration. Seeing Lewis—actually seeing him—had hit her hard, a sucker punch straight to the solar plexus. She needed to share it with someone and nonna was the only possible person.

  She was looking for a little more than confused.

  ‘Lewis Holloway,’ she replied, unable to quite keep the exasperation from her voice.

  She still couldn’t quite believe it. She’d always known he was out there somewhere, sharing this city with her, but knowing that and actually seeing him …

  Maybe she should have anticipated the potential for meeting him sometime during this week. After all, she knew he still owned the Empire. Though reclusive, he was rich enough to have the inevitable public profile and it wasn’t difficult to keep track of him and his business dealings. But she hadn’t anticipated it. Not at all.

  ‘What happen?’ her grandmother responded at last.

  ‘Nothing. But I think he knew me, nonna.’

  She’d recognised him the instant she’d laid eyes on him and she got the sense that the same thing had happened for him. That had been one intense moment, looking across space into eyes identical to the ones she saw in the mirror each morning. Nonna had always told her how much Selina reminded her of Andrew, but Selina had never made the mental leap to the realisation that she’d also resemble Lewis.

  Nonna didn’t say anything but her breathing ratcheted up a level and Selina could hear her muttering under her breath.

  She was upset.

  Of course she was. Lewis had not done the right thing by her grandmother. After Andrew’s death, nonna had come forward, but his parents hadn’t wanted to know anything about Maria Ferranti or the baby she was carrying. They’d fired her, tossed her out onto the street. Lewis hadn’t said a word in her defence, even though he’d known she and Andrew were in love. Nonna had never stopped believing that she should have spent her life as a Holloway, and she’d never let Selina forget it either.

  ‘He no talk to you?’ nonna asked.

  ‘No, nothing like that.’

  In fact, after that super-intense moment, he’d turned and walked straight out as if nothing had happened. As if she were nothing. And that had been that. At the time, she’d been so shocked it hadn’t occurred to her to actually say anything to him. What would she say, anyway? Awkward didn’t even begin to describe it.

  Did you remember a maid from fifty years ago that your brother knocked up? The one you denied all knowledge of? Well, I’m a generation on from the baby she had in her belly. Nice to meet you, G
reat-Uncle Lewis.

  Not a conversation she was in a rush to have. And yet, she couldn’t deny she was curious. Her grandmother never said much about Lewis. She could talk about Andrew for hours, but his twin? Nothing. Now that Selina had met Lewis, or at least seen him, knowing nothing about him didn’t seem enough. ‘What’s he like?’

  ‘Long time ago, Selina. Long time ago.’

  That was it. There was no pushing her grandmother, and Selina wouldn’t be getting any more out of her.

  She should forget about Lewis. She hadn’t seen him before today, and she probably wouldn’t ever see him again. Consign the chance encounter to the history vaults and focus on the task at hand. One that she had renewed faith in. Because if it was one thing today had brought home, it was that it had all really happened. There really was a Lewis Holloway, and there really was a necklace.

  But there was still so much that she didn’t know about that night. Nonna couldn’t tell her much. She’d been upstairs the whole time—all she knew was the official version of events wasn’t true. And it struck Selina, chances were, Lewis was the only one who knew what really happened. He must have been there, right? Had he been part of the robbery along with Andrew?

  ‘When you get the necklace?’ nonna asked.

  ‘Tonight. If it’s where we think it is, I’ll be home tomorrow morning.’

  If it was where her nonna thought it was and everything went to plan. She thought it but didn’t say it. It’s not like her grandmother needed anything else to worry over. But Selina was starting to feel waves of anxiety build at what lay in front of her. Last night, all she’d had to do was sweet-talk Tyler. Tonight? Well, hopefully tonight didn’t land her in jail.

  ‘You want to talk to Anna? She just home. I put her on.’

  A shuffling sound as the phone at the other end changed hands. ‘Hi Selina, how’s your work trip?’

  Just like that, all her frustration and anxiety disappeared. ‘So far so good.’ Her teenage sister knew nothing about where she was or what she was doing. ‘How are you feeling, Annie?’

  ‘Good.’

  A quick, dismissive good, as if there were no reason it might be otherwise. But Selina knew better. Anna suffered, wracked by painful spasms that were only getting worse. Such a tough cookie, and she deserved a much better deal. And she’d get one, if Selina could find that necklace and pay for the operation. Overseas sufferers of dystonia were getting results, why not Annie?

  ‘Hey, guess what?’ Anna chirped.

  ‘What?’ Selina couldn’t help smiling.

  ‘My patrol is going camping in Tasmania. At Cradle Mountain. Can I go?’

  The smile dropped from Selina’s face. She didn’t want to rain on Anna’s parade, but a camping trip in Tasmania? At Cradle Mountain? They’d be too far from a hospital. Too far from the help they sometimes needed. ‘I’ll think about it.’

  Her reluctance must have been obvious because she was greeted by a mutinous silence from the other end.

  ‘I’m not saying no, Annie …’

  ‘You’re thinking it. I know you are. I want to go, Selina.’

  Anna had so much to deal with, and she just loved Girl Guides. Was it fair for her to just say no outright? Didn’t her sister deserve some good things in her life?

  If she could find that necklace, if Anna had had her operation by then, if it was the success she hoped it’d be … They might be in a totally different place. A camping trip in some remote location might no longer seem so daunting. ‘I said I’d think about it, and I will. Okay?’

  ‘Promise?’

  ‘Promise.’

  She hung up, and for just a moment, let the all-too-familiar anger and sadness flood her. It didn’t help, she knew that by now, and most times she shut it down and focused on the practical things she could do to help. But from time to time, she let it wash over her.

  It wasn’t fair. Life wasn’t fair. In her rational mind she knew fair didn’t come into it, but sometimes she just wanted to shake her fist at the heavens, rail against whoever or whatever allowed her precious sister to suffer. There was no way Selina wasn’t doing everything in her power to get the money she needed.

  She’d had her doubts. Of course she had. Her doubts about whether the necklace was where nonna thought it was, about whether she’d be able to find it. Her doubts about whether it was right to steal it. But at the end of the day, who was it hurting? How was it worse to take it than to leave it buried forever? And even if it was wrong, was it more wrong than letting her sister live in continued pain?

  Not to Selina’s way of thinking. She was finding that necklace tonight.

  She had six hours to kill till it was time to put her plan into action. She had already practiced to perfection. Her best course of action now was to turn her mind to other matters, so as to be rested and relaxed when she needed to be. She pulled out the slim work tablet and calmly and methodically began responding to the pile-up of frantic emails that had come in through the day.

  ***

  Unlike the over-the-top sex kitten look she’d gone with last night, Selina dressed in black yoga pants, a black T-shirt and sneakers. Her hair was secured in a ponytail, and she had a small torch and a couple of other tools tucked into the waistband of her pants. Serious clothes for serious work.

  It was 1.00 am and it was time.

  She paused, hand on the handle of her door, and took some deep rallying breaths. If this was going to work, she needed to be calm and she needed to be efficient. And it was going to work. This was it: her shot at changing her life. Failure was not an option.

  Doubt left at the door, she moved quickly up the corridor, taking the main stairs to the third floor. She stepped softly, lightly. The noise was well-cushioned not only by the carpet, but by the layers of rubber and foam of her sneakers. Still, every slight squeak made her heartbeat spike.

  Reaching the top of the stairs, Selina peered into the dimly lit gloom of the third floor, ears primed to catch the slightest noise. It was impossible to hear anything over the thudding of her heart. Rationally, she knew there was nothing, no one, but it didn’t make her feel any less paranoid.

  Fast, she urged herself, just make it fast.

  Gliding along, she dropped to a crouch when she reached the sideboard and chair she’d scoped out yesterday. She’d practiced this over and over, all afternoon and evening, once she’d recovered from the shock of seeing Lewis, and despite the limited light, she worked the controls of her secret weapon with assurance. The digital clock radio was tuned to a hip hop station, programmed to come on in two minutes. She checked once more that the volume was set to maximum. Let it be loud enough to bring the hotel down. That was one step she hadn’t been able to practice earlier.

  After a final check, she left the device under the sideboard. That was it—her plan would either work or it wouldn’t. She headed back to the narrow servants’ stairs and raced down to the ground floor. Creeping along the now familiar stretch of corridor towards the lobby, she remained as flat to the wall as possible. Crouched in the dark, she waited.

  Come on, come on.

  How long would it take for people to wake from their slumber, get annoyed with the obnoxious guest having a loud, middle-of-the-night party, and call Tyler to come sort it out?

  Some might leave their rooms instead, do their own investigating, but it would take them a while to locate and switch off the radio. Others would call for help. Who wanted the hassle and potential for conflict with unknown fellow guests? Especially ones that listened to hip hop.

  It wouldn’t take long to find the radio. That was okay—Selina didn’t need long. And the whole incident would be dismissed as someone’s strange idea of a joke, another bizarre night-audit occurrence for Tyler to blog about. The guests would go back to sleep, Tyler would return to his desk, and she’d be safely tucked away inside the linen room. No one would have a clue she was there. She could spend the hours between now and dawn searching.

  Was it a perfect plan? Pro
bably not. But if that damn radio was doing its job, it’d give her a chance.

  She shifted impatiently. Shouldn’t it have happened by now? She’d got down here quickly, but the radio was set to go off only two minutes after she’d left it.

  Come on! Someone must hate hip hop as much as she did!

  Of course, if she had a partner, this would have been so much easier. One of them could have created the diversion and stuck around to ensure it was working, while the other did the sneaking and searching. But it’s not like either nonna or Anna were up to the task, not that she’d involve them anyway.

  To be honest, even in times when she’d had a boyfriend, even when she’d had a fiancé, she’d always handled everything on her own. Her past lovers had all been cast from the same mould—rich, genial, and in the nicest possible way, useless. Not having someone didn’t bother her much—she could handle her business—but sometimes—

  A telephone blared through the silence. She jumped. Then smiled. Music to her ears.

  The night audit picked it up. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but from the length of the pauses, it was clear the person on the other end was doing most of the talking. Hopefully letting rip a torrent of abuse about the noise levels on the third floor.

  He must have hung up, because the phone rang again. This conversation was even shorter than the first. Then Selina heard the squeak and shuffle of a moving chair and footsteps as he plodded across the lobby towards the lifts.

  Yes!

  It felt like a fist-pump moment, but Selina cautioned herself not to count her chickens. She still had a lot to do.

  She shrunk further back into the corridor as the night clerk passed, and as soon as she heard the lift, she moved. She fought the urge to run. If someone suddenly appeared in the lobby, she could talk her way out of a walk, but a run was going to look suspicious.

  Once she’d reached the desk, she glanced around, but there was no one in sight. And there were the keys, hanging on their little hook, exactly where they should be. She reached to retrieve them.