Remember When

14.

Laine drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she sat parked on her own lane, studying the dark green Chevy.

"You know, precious, your mother used to get that look on her face when . . ." Jack trailed off when she turned her head, slowly, and stared at him. "That one, too."

"You stole a car."

"I consider it more of a lend/lease situation."

"You boosted a car and drove it to my house?"

"What was I supposed to do? Hitchhike? Be reasonable, Lainie."

"I'm sorry. I can see how unreasonable it is for me to object to my father committing grand theft auto in my own backyard. Shame on me."

"Don't get pissy about it," he muttered.

"Unreasonable and pissy. Well, slap me silly. You're going to take that car right back where you found it."

"But—"

"No, no." She lowered her head into her hands, squeezed her temples. "It's too late for that. You'll get caught, go to jail, and I'll have to explain why my father thinks it's perfectly okay to steal a car. We'll leave it on the side of the road somewhere. Not here. Somewhere. God."

Concerned by the tone of her voice, Henry stuck his head over the front seat to lap at her ear.

"All right. It'll be all right. We'll leave the car outside of town." She sucked in a breath, straightened. "No harm, no foul."

"If I don't have the car, how the hell am I supposed to get to New Jersey? Let's just consider, Lainie. I have to get to Atlantic City, to the locker, get the diamonds and bring them back to you. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's what I want."

"I'm doing this for you, sweetheart, against my better judgment, because it's what you want. What my baby girl wants comes first with me. But I can't walk to Atlantic City and back, now can I?"

She knew that tone. Using it, Jack O'Hara could sell bottled swamp water out of a tent pitched beside a sparkling mountain stream. "There are planes, trains, there are goddamn buses."

"Don't swear at your father," he said mildly. "And you don't really expect me to ride a bus."

"Of course not. Of course not. There I go being pissy and unreasonable again. You can take my car. Borrow," she amended swiftly. "You can borrow my car for the day. I won't need it anyway. I'll be busy at work, beating my head against the wall to try to find my brain."

"If that's the way you want it, honey."

She cast her eyes to heaven. "I still can't believe you left millions of dollars' worth of diamonds in a rental locker, then sent Willy here with several million more."

"We had to move fast. Jesus, Laine, we'd just found out Crew killed Myers. We'd be next. Tucked my share away, took off. Bastard Crew was supposed to come after me. I all but drew him a damn map. Stash was safe. Willy gets another chunk of it here, then he'd double back for the rest while Crew's a thousand miles away tracking me. That was going to be our traveling money, our cushion."

To live on like kings, Jack thought, on that pretty beach.

"Never figured Crew would track you down. I'd never have brought that on you, baby. Crew was supposed to be off chasing me."

"And if he'd caught up with you?"

Jack only smiled. "I wasn't going to let him catch up. I still got the moves, Lainie."

"Yeah, you still got the moves."

"Just buying Willy time. He'd get to Mexico, liquidate the first quarter of the take. We'd meet up, take off, and with that much backing, we'd hide out in comfort until the heat was off."

"Then slip back and pick up the rest from me."

"Two, three years down the road maybe. We were working it out as we went."

"You and Willy both had keys to the locker in AC?"

"Nobody on the planet I trusted like Willy. Except you, Lainie," he added, patting her knee. "Cops got it now." He pursed his lips in thought. "Take them a while to trace it, if they ever do."

"Max has it now. I took it off Willy's key ring. I gave it to him."

"How'd you get . . . ?" The irritation in his tone faded to affection. "You stole it."

"In a manner of speaking. But if you're going to equate that with boosting a car, don't even start. It's entirely different."

"Did it right under their noses, didn't you?"

Her lips twitched. "Maybe."

He gave her a little elbow nudge. "You still got the moves, too."

"Apparently. But I don't want them."

"Don't you want to know how we pulled it off?"

"I've figured out most of it. Your inside man takes the blinds—the dog, the doll, et cetera—into his office. Innocuous things, who pays attention? They sit around in plain sight. The shipment or shipments come in, he replaces them—or some of them—with fakes. Tucks a quarter share of the score in each of the four blinds. And there they sit."

"Myers sweated that part. He was greedy, but he didn't have good nerves."

"Hmm. Couldn't wait long, or he'd crack. Besides, you wouldn't trust him longer. A couple of days at most. He puts out the alarm on the fakes himself, helps cover his ass. Cops swoop in, investigation starts. Blinds go out under their nose."

"We each took one. Fact is, I posed as one of the insurance suits, walked into Myers's office while everybody's swarming around, walked out with my share in my briefcase. It was beautiful."

He shot her a grin. "Me and Willy had lunch a couple blocks away at T.G.I. Friday's after the scoop, with fourteen million warming our pockets. I had the nachos. Not bad."

She shifted in her seat so they were face-to-face. "I'm not going to say it wasn't a great score. I'm not going to pretend I don't understand the rush either. But I'm trusting you, Dad. I'm trusting you to keep your promise. I need this life. I need it even more than you need that rush. Please don't mess it up for me."

"I'm going to fix everything." He leaned over, kissed her cheek. "Just you wait and see."

She watched him saunter to the stolen car. One for every minute, she thought. "Don't make me one of them, Dad," she murmured.

***

She had Jack drop her off at the park with Henry, and counted on it still being early enough that no one who knew her would be around to comment on the strange man driving off in her car.

She gave Henry a half hour to romp, roll and chase the town squirrels.

Then she took out her cell phone and called Max.

"Gannon."

"Tavish."

"Hi, baby. What's up?"

"I . . . you're at the airport?"

"Yeah. Just set down in New York."

"I thought I should tell you, my father came by to see me this morning."

"That so?"

She heard the chill in his tone, and winced. No point in mentioning her father's morning mode of transportation. "We settled some things, Max, straightened some things out. He's on his way to get his share of the diamonds. He's going to give them to me so I can give them to you, and you . . . well, et cetera."

"Where are they, Laine?"

"Before I get to that, I want you to know he understands he screwed up."

"Oh, which screwup does he understand?"

"Max." She bent to take the branch Henry dumped at her feet. She had to wing it like a javelin, but it had the dog racing off in delight. "They panicked. When they heard about Myers's death, they just panicked. It was a bad plan, no question, but it was impulse. My father didn't realize Crew knew about me, much less that he'd come here. He just thought Willy could get me the figurine, and I'd tuck it away for a few years while they . . ." She let it go as she realized how the rest would sound.

"While they fenced the remaining share of the stolen gems and lived off the fat."

"More or less. But the point is he's agreed to give them up. He's getting them."

"Where?"

"A locker in Atlantic City. Mail Boxes, Etc. He's driving up now. It'll take him most of the day for the round-trip, but—"

"Driving what?"

She cleared her throat. "I lent him my car. I had to. I know you don't trust him, Max, but he's my father. I've got to trust him."

"Okay."

"That's it?"

"Your father's your father, Laine. You did what you needed to do. But no, I don't have to trust him, and I'm not going to reel in shock if we find out he's living in a pretty casa in Barcelona."

"He doesn't trust you either. He thinks you're on your way to Martinique."

"Saint Bart's, maybe. I like Saint Bart's better." There was a moment's pause. "You're really stuck right smack in the middle, aren't you?"

"Just my luck to love both of you." She heard the change in background noise and realized he'd walked outside the terminal. "Guess you're going to catch a cab."

"Yeah."

"I'd better let you go. I'll see you when you get back."

"Counting on that. I love you, Laine."

"It's nice to hear that. I love you, too. Bye."

On his end, Max slipped the phone back into his pocket and checked his watch as he strode over to the cab stand. Depending on traffic, he could have the New York leg of the day knocked in a couple hours. By his calculation he could make the detour to Atlantic City without too much trouble.

If Laine was going to be stuck in the middle, he was going to make damn sure she didn't get squeezed.

***

Laine walked from the park to Market Street with Henry doing his best to swivel his head a hundred and eighty degrees to chew off the hated leash.

"Rules are rules, Henry. Believe it or not, I all but had that tattooed on my butt up to a couple of weeks ago." When his response to that was to collapse on his belly and whimper, she crouched until they were nose to snout. "Listen up, pal. There's a leash law in this town. If you can't handle that, and comport yourself with some dignity, there'll be no more playing in the park."

"Having a little trouble there?"

She jolted, cringed at the waves of guilt that washed hot over her as she looked up into Vince's wide, friendly face. "He objects to the leash."

"He'll have to take that up with the town council. Come on, Henry, I got part of a cruller here with your name on it. I'll walk with you," he said to Laine. "Need to talk to you anyway."

"Sure."

"Getting an early start today."

"Yes. I've had a lot of things piling up. Thanks," she added when he took the leash and dragged Henry along.

"Been an interesting space of time recently."

"I'm looking forward to it sliding back to dull."

"Guess you probably are."

He waited while she got out her keys, unlocked the front door of the shop. While she deactivated the alarm, he squatted down to unclip the leash and give the grateful Henry a rub.

"Heard you were in the station a couple days ago."

"Yes." To keep busy, she walked over to unlock the cash register. "I told you that I knew Willy, and I thought . . . I wanted to see about making arrangements."

"Yeah, you did. You can do that. Make the arrangements. That's been cleared."

"Good. That's good."

"Funny thing. Somebody else came in, last night, interested in the same guy. Only thing, he said he knew him by the other name. Name that was on the card he gave you."

"Really? I'm going to put Henry in the back."

"I'll do it. Come on, Henry." Bribed with half a cruller, Henry scrambled into the back room. "This guy who came in, he said Willy—or Jasper—was a rare-book dealer."

"It's possible he was. Or that he was posing as one. I told you, Vince, I haven't seen Willy since I was a kid. That's the truth."

"I believe that. Just a funny thing." He walked over to lean on the counter. "Like it's a funny thing there were five keys in his effects, and when I looked through them last night, there were only four." He waited a beat. "Not going to suggest they were miscounted?"

"No. I'm not going to lie to you."

"Appreciate that. The man who came in last night, he had your eyes."

"It's more accurate to say I have his. If you recognized him, why didn't you arrest him?"

"That's complicated, too. Best to say you don't arrest a man because you see something in his eyes. I'm going to ask you for that key, Laine."

"I don't have it."

"Damn it, Laine." He straightened.

"I gave it to Max," she said quickly. "I'm trying to do what's right, what should be done—and not be responsible for putting my father in prison. Or getting him killed."

"One of those things that should be done is keeping me informed. The diamond theft might be New York's business, Laine, but one of the men suspected of stealing them died in my town. One or more of his buddies is in my town, or has been. That puts my citizenship at risk."

"You're right. I'm having a hard time keeping my balance on this very thin line. And I know you're trying to help me. I found Willy's share of the diamonds. I didn't know they were here, Vince, I swear it."

"If you didn't know, how'd you find them?"

"They were in some stupid statue. Dog—pooch. I've been trying to piece it together and can only conclude that he stuck it on a shelf when he was here, or put it somewhere—in a cabinet or drawer—and either Jenny or Angie shelved it. Angie, most likely. Jenny would've asked me about it, and when I asked her, she didn't remember seeing it before. I gave them to Max, and he's in New York right now, turning them over. You can check. You can call Reliance and check."

He said nothing for a moment. "We haven't run that far out of bounds, have we, Laine, that I have to check?"

"I don't want to lose your friendship, or Jenny's." She had to take a steadying breath. "I don't want to lose my place in this town. I wouldn't be insulted if you checked, Vince."

"That's why I don't have to."

She needed a tissue after all, and yanked one out of the box behind the counter. "Okay. Okay. I know where another share is. I found out this morning. Please don't ask me how I found out."

"All right."

"The key I took from Willy's things is to a locker. I called Max as soon as I could to tell him. In fact, I was talking to him about it when I was in the park with Henry. They're going to be turned in, too. That's half of them. I can't do anything about the other half. Max has leads, and he'll do what he does. But once the half of the diamonds is back where it belongs, I've done all I can.

"Am I going to have to move away?"

"Break Jenny's heart if you did. I don't want your father in the Gap, Laine."

"I understand. This should all be taken care of by tonight, tomorrow at the latest. He'll be gone."

"Until it's taken care of, I want you to stay close."

"That I can promise."

***

By the time Jack crossed over into New Jersey, he'd come up with a dozen reasons why taking the diamonds back was a mistake. Obviously, this Gannon character was stringing his little girl along so he could cop his fat fee. Wasn't it better for her to find that out sooner rather than later?

And going back to Maryland might lead Crew back to Maryland, and Laine.

Then there was the fact that turning over all those pretty stones fit him as well as a prison jumpsuit.

Besides, Willy would've wanted him to keep them. A man couldn't deny a dead friend's wish, could he?

He was feeling considerably better as he maneuvered through Atlantic City traffic. Enough to whistle cheerily between sips of his on-the-road Big Gulp. He parked in the lot of the strip mall and considered the best way out was to hop a flight at the airport and head straight to Mexico.

He'd send Laine a postcard. She'd understand. The kid knew how the game was played.

He strolled the walkway first, scanning faces, looking for marks, looking for cops. Places like this always gave him itchy fingers. Malls, shopping centers, little packs of stores where people breezed in and out with their cash and credit cards so handy.

Day after day. The straights buying their puppy chow and greeting cards, sold to them by other straights.

What was the point?

Places like this made him want to fall on his knees and give thanks for the life he led—right before he helped himself to some of that cash, some of those credit cards and made tracks to anywhere else.

He wandered into a Subway, bought a ham and cheese with hot pepper sauce to give himself more time to scope out the area. He washed it down with another big shot of cold caffeine, used the facilities.

Satisfied, he crossed to the Mail Boxes, Etc., strolled to the lockers, slid in his key.

Come to Papa, he thought, and opened the door.

He made a sound, something similar to a duck being punched in the belly, and snagged the only contents of the locker. A piece of notepaper with a one-line message.

Hi, Jack. Look behind you.

He spun around, one meaty fist already balled.

"Take a swing, I'll deck you," Max told him conversationally. "Think about running, consider that I'm younger and faster. You'll just embarrass yourself."

"You son of a bitch." He had to wheeze it, but even that had a couple of heads turning in their direction. "Double-crossing son of a bitch."

"Pots calling kettles only proves pots lack imagination. Keys." He held out a hand. "Laine's car keys."

In disgust, Jack slapped them into Max's hand. "You got what you came for."

"So far. Why don't we talk in the car? Don't make me haul you out," he said quietly. "We'd not only cause a scene that might bring the cops in on this, but Laine wouldn't like it."

"You don't give two damns about her."

"You're right, I don't. I give a hell of a lot more than that, which is why I'm not turning your sorry ass over to the cops. You've got one chance, O'Hara, and you've got it because of her. In the car."

Running occurred to him. But he knew his limitations. And if he ran, there was no chance to recoup the diamonds. He walked back out with Max, then settled himself in the passenger seat. Max took the driver's seat, set his briefcase on his lap.

"Here's the way it's going to be. You're sticking to me like gum on the bottom of my shoe. We're catching a flight to Columbus."

"What the—"

"Shut up, Jack. I've got a lead to check, and until I'm done, you and me, we're Siamese twins."

"She told you. My own flesh and blood. She told you where I had the stash."

"Yeah, she did. She told me because she loves me, and she believes—convinced herself to believe—you'd keep your end and bring them in. Because she loves you. Me, I don't love you, Jack, and I figure you had other plans for this."

Opening his briefcase, Max took out a ceramic piggy bank. "I've got to give you points for the sense of the ridiculous. Me, you and the pig, we're going to Columbus, then heading back to Maryland. And I'm going to give you that chance. That one chance to deserve Laine. You're going to give her this." He tapped the pig, then put it away. "Just as if you'd planned to all along."

"Who says I didn't?"

"I do. You had fucking dollar signs in your eyes when you opened that locker. Let's show a little respect for each other here. My client wants the stones returned. I want my fee. Laine wants you safe. We're going to make all that happen." He started the car. "You finish this out, I'll see that your slate's wiped clean on this. You ditch me, you hurt Laine, and I'll hunt you down like I would a rabid dog. You'll be my goddamn life's work. That's a promise, Jack."

"You're not bullshitting. I know when a man's bullshitting. Son of a gun." Jack's grin spread wide and bright as he leaned over to embrace Max. "Welcome to the family."

"Briefcase is locked, Jack." Max pulled back, then set the briefcase out of reach in the back.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Jack said cheerfully, and settled back for the ride.

***

In his cabin, Crew selected a shirt the color of eggplant. He'd ditched the mustache, replacing it with a soul patch he thought suited the sleek, chestnut-hued ponytail. He wanted an arty look for this trip. He selected a pair of round-lensed sunglasses from his supply and studied the effect.

It was probably unnecessary to go to such trouble, but he did enjoy a good costume.

Everything was ready for company. He smiled as he looked around the cabin. Rustic, certainly, but he doubted Ms. Tavish would complain about the accommodations. He didn't plan on her staying for long.

He hooked the little .22 on the back of his belt, covered it with a hip-length black jacket. Anything else he might need was in the bag he slung on his shoulder before he strode out of the cabin.

He thought he might have a bite to eat before he had his date with the attractive Ms. Tavish. He might be too busy to dine that evening.

***

"I did the legwork," Jack said as he and Max had a beer in the airport bar. "Courted Myers for months. Now, I'll admit, I never dreamed of a score that big. Was thinking small, taking a couple of briefkes, clearing a couple hundred thousand each. Then Crew came into it."

Jack shook his head, sipped through the foam. "For all his faults, that's a man who thinks big."

"Faults being he's a cold-blooded killer."

Frowning, Jack dug his big hand into a bowl of nuts. "Biggest mistake of my life, and I'm not ashamed to admit I've made a few, was hooking up with a man like Crew. He suckered me in, no question. I got dazzled by the idea of all those rocks. All those pretty, shiny rocks. He had the know-it-all for something like that, the vision. I had the connections. Poor Myers. I'm the one who brought him in, played him. He had a gambling problem, you know."

"Yeah."

"Far as I can see, any gambling's a problem. House is always going to win, so it's better to be the house. Gamblers are either rich people who don't give a shit if they lose, or suckers who actually think they can win. Myers was a sucker, word go. Had himself in deep, and with some nudging from me he was in deeper. He saw this as his way out."

Jack drank more beer. "Guess it was. Anyway, the deal went down smooth enough. Quick, clean. Had to figure they'd cop to Myers, but he was supposed to go straight under. Nobody was to know where anybody else was heading. Willy and me drove right out of the city, I dumped the pig in AC, and we dumped Willy's in a locker in Delaware. Got ourselves a nice hotel room in Virginia, had a fine meal, a couple bottles of champagne. Good time," he said, and toasted with his glass.

"Heard about Myers on CNN. Willy loved CNN. Tried to tell ourselves it was because of the gambling, but we knew. Switched cars, drove to North Carolina. Willy was spooked. Hell, we were both spooked, but he was nervous as a whore in church. Wanted to light out, just forget it all and head for the hills. I talked him down from that. Goddamn it."

He studied his beer, then lifted it and drank deep. "I'd lead Crew off, and he'd double back, get his share, take it to Laine. She could put him up for a little while. I thought he'd be safe. Thought they both would."

"But he knew about her. Crew."

"I got pictures of her in my wallet."

He drew it out and flipped it open.

Max saw photos of a newborn with a bright thatch of red hair and skin as white as cream, and an expression on her little face that seemed to say, "What the hell am I doing here?"

There were several of Laine as a child, all bright hair and eyes, who from the grin had obviously figured out what she was doing here. Then of the nubile teenager, pretty and dignified in her graduation shot. Of Laine wearing cutoffs and a skinny top, laughing as she stood in the blue surf of what Max deduced was Barbados.

"Always been a looker, hasn't she?"

"Prettiest baby you ever saw, and she just got prettier every day. I get sentimental, especially after a beer or two." Jack shrugged. It was just another God-given weakness, after all. Closing the wallet, he tucked it away again.

"I must've shown her off to Crew sometime. Or he just dug down and looked for something he could use against me, should the need arise. There's no honor among thieves, Max, and anybody who thinks different is a sucker. But to kill over money? That's a sickness. I knew he had it in him, but I thought I could beat him at the game."

"I'll find him. And I'll put him down, one way or the other. That's our flight."

***

Laine fought not to pace, to just look busy. She checked the time again. Her father should be on his way back by now. She should've told him to call when he was on his way back. She should've insisted.

She could call Max again, but what was the point? He'd be on his way to Columbus. Maybe he was already there.

She just had to get through the day, that was all. Just this one day. Tomorrow, the news would hit that a large portion of the stolen diamonds had been recovered. She'd be in the clear, her father would be in the clear, and life would get back some semblance of normality.

Maybe Max would pick up Crew's trail from this Ohio connection. They'd track him down, put him away. She'd never have to worry about him again.

"You keep going away." Jenny gave her a little nudge as she carried a George Jones cheese dish to the counter for a customer.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. Wandering mind. I'll take the next one who comes in."

"You could take Henry for another walk."

"No, he's had enough walks today. He gets sprung from the back room in another hour anyway."

She heard the bells ring. "I'll take this one."

"All yours." Jenny lifted her brows as she glanced at the new customer. "Little old for that look," she said under her breath, and moved on.

Laine fixed on her welcome face and crossed over to greet Crew. "Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

"I'm sure you can." From his previous visits to her store, he knew the arrangements and exactly where he wanted her. "I'm interested in kitchen equipment. Butter crocks, specifically. My sister collects."

"Then she's in luck. We have some very nice ones just now. Why don't I show you?"

"Please."

He followed her through the main room, into the area she'd set up for kitchen equipment, furnishings and novelties. As they passed the door to the back room, Henry began to growl.

"You have a dog in here?"

"Yes." Puzzled, Laine looked toward the door. She'd never known Henry to growl at store sounds and voices. "He's harmless and he's secured in the back room. I needed to bring him in with me today." Because she sensed her customer's annoyance, she took his arm and led him to the crocks.

"The Caledonian's especially nice, I think, for a collector."

"Mmm." There were two customers and the pregnant clerk. As the customers were at the counter, he assumed they were paying for purchases. "I don't know anything about it, really. What in the world is this?"

"It's a Victorian coal box, brass. If she enjoys antique and unique kitchen items, this is a winner."

"Could be." He slipped the .22 out of his belt and jammed the barrel into her side. "Be very, very quiet. If you scream, if you make any move at all, I'll kill everyone in this shop, beginning with you. Understand?"

The heat of panic washed over her, then chilled to ice as she heard Jenny laugh. "Yes."

"Do you know who I am, Ms. Tavish?"

"Yes."

"Good, that spares us introductions. You're going to make an excuse to walk out with me." He'd planned to take her out the back, but the damned dog made that impossible. "To give me directions, we'll say, to walk me to the corner. If you alert or alarm anyone, I'll kill you."

"If you kill me, you won't get the diamonds back."

"How fond are you of your very pregnant employee?"

Nausea rolled up her throat. "Very fond. I'll go with you. I won't give you any trouble."

"Sensible." He slipped the gun in his pocket, kept his hand on it. "I need to get to the post office," he said, lifting his voice to a normal tone. "Can you tell me where it is?"

"Of course. Actually, I need some stamps. Why don't I take you over?"

"I'd appreciate that."

She turned, ordered her legs to move. She couldn't feel them, but she saw Jenny, saw her glance up, smile.

"I'm just going to run to the post office. Just be a minute."

"Okay. Hey, why don't you take Henry?" Jenny motioned toward the back where the growls grew louder and were punctuated by desperate barks.

"No." She reached out blindly for the doorknob, snatched her hand back when it bumped Crew's. "He'll just fight the leash."

"Yeah, but . . ." She frowned as Laine walked out without another word. "Funny, she . . . oh, she forgot her purse. Excuse me just a minute."

Jenny grabbed it from under the counter and was halfway to the door when she stopped, glanced back at her customers. "Did she say she was going to buy stamps? The post office closed at four."

"So, she forgot. Miss?" The woman gestured toward her purchases.

"She never forgets." Gripping the purse, Jenny bolted for the door, pressing a hand to her belly as she dashed onto the sidewalk. She saw Laine's arm gripped in the man's hand as they turned the corner away from the post office.

"Oh God, oh my God." She rushed back in, all but knocking her customers aside as she snatched up the phone and speed-dialed Vince's direct line.