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“Well, yes and no,” Jenna said.
Frowning, Dan stared. “Yes and no, what does that mean?
Jenna put her hands on her hips. “They won’t get out of here, even if I have to tackle them myself.”
Dan ran his hands through his hair. “How can you be so sure they won’t get the necklace and escape? Did you join MI6 since we parted five years ago?”
Jenna smiled and leaned in to whisper in Dan’s ear. “She might get out of here with a necklace, but it won’t be the real one.”
“But you said…what are you talking about? I’m confused,” Dan said.
“I switched the necklaces back. Marta is indeed wearing the fake, just like we planned, Dan,” Jenna whispered.
“You are a genius! But wait, how did you manage it?”
“Women power. Marta Roseland and I went back into the safe minutes ago, and we did the switch because with no time to spare, we didn’t tell anyone,” Jenna said.
“Nice work. Uh oh, here comes Harper. Go, go, go. We don’t want to give them any ammunition for a distraction.”
Jenna walked off in the opposite direction and then back around to the bathroom. She still didn’t trust Harper only had the necklace on her mind tonight. She wanted to stay out of her reach as long as she could. She didn’t know what Harper was capable of and didn’t want to find out.
As the final hour of the party ticked on, the few remaining guests were down to the senator’s brother and his wife and Marta’s best friend and her husband.
Jenna stepped out onto the patio to see if she could see Brock again. No luck. Thinking maybe her imagination was over-active after all, she went back inside.
Harper seemed to be having a good time in the bar area with two remaining men.
Dan was watching her, but Gail was nowhere to be seen.
“It has to be any minute now,” Jenna whispered to herself as she walked toward Dan, who was now talking to the Roselands. She heard her name called and stopped, turning to see one of the servers walking toward her with something in their hand.
“Miss Jenna Myers?”
“Yes, I’m Jenna Myers.”
“This note is for you.” He handed her a folded piece of paper and walked off before she could ask him any questions.
The note was short and printed in block style:
I have something urgent to tell you. Meet me at the gazebo at the back of the house right away. I’ll wait. Brock.
Dan turned around and saw her, excused himself from his conversation with the senator and Marta, and joined her. “What’s wrong?”
She was about to tell him about the note when Harper walked past them, giving Jenna a look that said it all. Jenna handed the note to Dan. “Read this. So, it was Brock I saw. Maybe he found out something, or maybe he was approached by Harper and opted out, and now he wants to confess.”
Dan read the note and put it in his pocket as the senator and Mrs. Roseland walked over to join them.
Jenna excused herself saying she needed to do something before Dan could say anything about the note and stop her from meeting Brock.
She made her way through the kitchen and down the back stairs into yard. The backyard was ablaze with colored lights strung in the trees and on the gazebo, lighting her way. A few sprinkles of rain were evident, but the storm passed them by. She could smell the raindrops resting on the overhanging tree branches as she walked. Another scent was in the air she had smelled before, but she couldn’t put a name to it. She looked around but saw no one else.
She walked down the well-worn path toward the gazebo. She slowed her pace as parts of the path narrowed, and the leaves were wet from the earlier rain shower. High heels were not the best footwear for walking in the rain-slick yard. She walked on toward the partially lit gazebo, more in semi-darkness, wishing she let Dan know what she was doing. The absolute quiet set her nerves on edge, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She knew then she was walking into trouble but realized it too late.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“This is a gun in your back, Miss Myers,” the gravelly voice said. “Don’t speak and don’t turn around. You will do something. You will get the necklace off the senator’s wife and give it to me.”
“How do you propose I do that, whoever you are?” Jenna asked, certain Sal Amato’s voice was who she heard over her pounding heartbeat.
