Page 105 of Gem Warfare
“Why did he deflate our tires? Why did he want us out of the way?” I asked, stealing the opportunity to fill in the blanks.
“He did? I’m sure you can guess why.” She inclined her head towards the police station.
“The tires blew! We drove off the road.” I stopped, thinking.
She looked me over from head to foot. “You seem okay.”
“No thanks to Gideon.” We stared at him. He looked pathetic,crumpled on the ground, but I could only imagine his temper when he awoke. I didn’t want to be around for that. Gideon liked to win and he’d just lost. Not only that, but he’d lost badly. “He wanted us out of the way because he had a plan to steal the….”
“Jewels,” filled in the woman. “I’m sure every thief from here to Mars will sniff around while this police department has possession of them.”
“Well, if he wanted us out of the way, then his Plan A went wrong. Apparently, I was Plan B.”
“Sounds like Gideon. Always wanting women to do his dirty work.” She shook her head in mock exasperation like she’d heard this before. Or been a victim of it. Yet she didn’t act like she had been one of Gideon’s marks. She was too self-assured and too… amused.
“Well, it was a waste of time for both of you. He’ll never get them now. If you were after the jewels, you never got them either. I saw them not fifteen minutes ago. They’re all accounted for.”
“Isn’t that good news?” she said, expressionless, like she didn’t care one bit. “I’ll get going. Let’s not run into each other again, Lexi.”
“How do you know my name?” I asked, frowning. How did she know me at all? I glanced towards the street at the front of the building. Had Gideon said something to her? Or Maddox? How well did they know each other? Or was it something she’d figured out by herself?
“So many questions, so little time. It was nice meeting you but I have to go.”
“Hey…”
“Another time perhaps,” she said, stepping away.
“Why did you hang around anyway?” I asked, both curious and stalling for time.
“I didn’t plan to. I saw this idiot loitering near the station andfigured he was up to no good. Then I saw you make a beeline for him and figured I better watch over you. Of course, he was after the jewels. Typical Gid.”
“And his father.”
“Imagine that. Like father, like son. Seems like Gideon will get a better end than his father did,” she said, with a shrug. “And a lot of time to contemplate his misdeeds. Do encourage your police friends to lock him up, won’t you?”
“It sounds like you know him.”
“We’ve come across each other before. I guess you can take it from here?” She nudged him and for a moment, I wondered if she were contemplating kicking the man while he was down.
“What about you? Where are you going to go?”
“That would be telling,” she said and tapped her nose.
“Is there a way to contact you?” I asked. “If I need help with anything questionable in the future?”
“Probably not, but I appreciate the asking. We’d be quite the team in another life.” She glanced up and stilled. I followed her gaze and found myself looking at Maddox, standing at the end of the road beyond the police station. Too far to hear us, but close enough to recognize her. The look they gave each other was long and loaded.
“Why did you watch over me?” I asked, turning back to her, but she was already gone, leaving my question hanging in the air.
Maddox launched into a run towards us. Instead of bypassing me in pursuit of my mysterious rescuer, he skidded to a stop. “What happened here?” he asked wrenching his attention from down the street to looking from me to Gideon, then to the gun.
“Remember Ben Rafferty? Or Gideon Black as we now know him. He was after the jewels. He threatened me. He threatened Poppy!” Fear turned to anger inside me.
On the ground, Gideon groaned. His hand flapped to his headbut his eyes didn’t open.
“Why was Cass Temple here?” asked Maddox. He knelt beside Gideon, checking his pulse like I had done.
“I was going to ask you that,” I said, noting her name.Cass Temple.