Page 122 of Gave Proof Through the Night

“Your dad believed the Friendship Jewel was his to begin with.”

She nods. “The patriarch at the time of the fake loan was my dad’s grandfather. We’re the direct line of descendants. So yes. He wanted it back.”

“But Hobbs set him up for a fall.”

“Exactly.”

“There have to be legal avenues you could take. Proof of lineage. I don’t know… other ways to do this the legal way.”

“Trust me, I looked into that. I know all the legal terms. Chain of Title. Action in Replevin. Writ of Seizure. Blah, blah, blah. I’ve done so much research I could probably pass the bar at this point.”

She could do anything she decided to do. Pass the bar. Run a courtroom. Argue circles around men twice her age. She’s brilliant, and somewhere underneath all of this, she would’ve made a terrifyingly good lawyer.

“But I need the diary and the letters first.”

“So why take the necklace, then? Get your proof first.”

“Ha. You think Hobbs is just going to hand it over if I ask pretty please with a cherry on top? He’s a weasel and a liar, but he’s not dumb. He’s a self-serving social climber, and I have to believe he knows exactly where that proof is.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You don’t get fancy promotions at world-class museums for working hard. He mopped floors six years ago. Now he’s up for a director candidacy? The man has no higher education, no degree, no qualifications. He knows people. And I’m going to find out who they are.”

I stand up and take a step back, like the distance is going to help me think straight. It doesn’t.

“You’re really going to steal that necklace.”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s really not. Try to find the proof some other way.”

“This is the only way.”

“Please don’t do this.”

“It’s already in motion. I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to.”

That’s when it all lands at once.

She’s not doing this alone. Nobody pulls off a job like this alone. I’ve watched too many movies and documentaries to know that. There’s always a crew. A driver, somebody watching the cameras, somebody else crawling through elevator shafts or evading laser beams.

And it dawns on me. Her friend Zoe, passing me in the hallway, pushing a cart. The way she winked at me. There was something in that cart.

“This girls' trip. Your friends. You told me on your birthday you had six friends with you. This isn't a vacation, is it? You said the other day you had to get to work. Is this what you've been doing all this time in DC? PLANNING A HEIST?”

“Shhhh. Keep your voice down.”

I’m pacing now. I can’t help it. My legs won’t hold still and my brain won’t either.

“This is crazy! Erica, that man is obsessed with you. He’s going to stop at nothing to take you down. He told me so.”

“Yeah well he can try.”

“Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come with me, we’ll take the first flight to Mexico in the morning. Right now if there is one. You can stay with my dad until this all blows over.”