Curse of the Jade Lily Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing.”
    “What’s the right thing?”
    “After you make the exchange, after you buy the Lily from the artnappers, bring it to me. I’ll give it to Tatjana.”
    “No.”
    “No? Just like that, no?”
    “If Tatjana wants the Lily, tell her to hire a lawyer.”
    “C’mon, McKenzie. Think about it.”
    “Nothing to think about. I’m not going to break my word to the museum.”
    “I’ll give you ten percent of my end.”
    Instead of answering, I just smiled at the suggestion.
    “That’s what I thought you’d say.” Heavenly’s lovely face became very sad, very serious. “But I had to ask.”
    “Where does that leave us?”
    Heavenly patted my knee again. “Don’t worry, McKenzie. We’re still friends.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “If you won’t help me, I’ll get the Lily from the thieves myself.” Heavenly’s smile suddenly became as luminous as ever. “Failing that, I’ll just have to steal it from you.”
    “Do you know who has the Lily?”
    Heavenly leaned in close. “Do you know the secret to a successful relationship?” she asked. “Secrets.”
    Heavenly kissed me full on the mouth. I might have resisted except, well, my hands were cuffed behind me.
    “See you around, McKenzie,” she said. Heavenly slid open the door to the van and stepped out. “Tommy, take McKenzie back to Lake Calhoun. Don’t be foolish enough to give him the keys to the handcuffs until you’re safely driving out of the parking lot.”
    *   *   *
    Heavenly’s thugs—they were far too pretty to be called that, but still—did exactly as she told them, the one named Tommy handing me the key through the window of the van before driving off. I unwound the cuffs and dropped them into the pocket of my coat—you never know when they might come in handy. I walked through the cold toward the South Beach. It was nearly 5:00 P.M. and already dark; the lights of the city’s skyline glistened like stars against the snow and ice. My cell phone played the Ella Fitzgerald–Louis Armstrong cover of “Summertime” just as I reached the Jeep Cherokee. I answered the way I always did.
    “McKenzie,” I said.
    “What the hell is going on?” a voice asked. It was a young man’s voice—he made no attempt to disguise it electronically or otherwise.
    “Did you get a good look at me walking around the lake with the rose?”
    “We got a good look at the people who jumped you and dragged you off. What was that about?”
    We, my inner voice said.
    “It would seem someone else wants the Jade Lily,” I said.
    The caller paused. While he thought it over, I climbed inside the Cherokee and fired it up.
    “Who?” he asked.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “Names were not exchanged.”
    I can’t say why I lied, but the caller seemed to believe me. After another pause, he said, “It doesn’t matter. Once you pay for the Lily, we don’t care what happens to it. Just don’t fuck with us.”
    “Who? Me?”
    “You think this is funny? You think this is a game?”
    I pivoted in a slow circle in my seat, looking through the SUV’s windows, trying to take in everyone around me, looking for someone, anyone, who was speaking into a cell phone. I saw nothing to arouse my suspicion.
    “No,” I said. “I really don’t.”
    “We’ll call again when the money is ready. Make sure they get it right. One million two hundred and seventy thousand dollars, half in twenties, half in fifties. Nonsequential bills.”
    “Do you have any idea how much cash that is?” I said. “Do you know how much it weighs? Ninety-five pounds give or take.”
    “Exactly ninety-seven pounds fourteen-point-four ounces,” he said. “Have them divide the money into three bags, the same amount and the same weight in each bag.”
    “You’ve done this before,” I said.
    “Have you?”
    “No.”
    That caused him to pause.
    “Yes, yes you have,” he insisted. “Otherwise how would you have known about the money?”
    “Just a lucky guess.”
    He paused