Authors: Rachel Hogan
"Well, that's ok. I can wait I suppose. Just make sure you keep it for me; I really would like to be the one to buy it."
"Of course," Tessa said. "Like I told you, I've got it all set aside. I'll let you know the moment Aunt Carrie authorizes it for sale."
"Thank you Tessa, it is most appreciated."
They ate their meal in relative silence, but Tessa's mind was racing. If Lucas was the notorious drug lord that Michael said he was, what would he do to her? Fearing for herself, she tried to make the lunch as short as possible.
"You know, I really have a lot of work back at the shop. I think I'm going to get going," she said to Lucas after hurriedly eating her meal.
He gave her a questioning look. "Is everything alright Tessa? You seem a bit distracted."
"Oh yes, I'm fine. Just busy that's all." She gave a cheerful smile. "I'll give you a call this evening when I get out."
"Okay then, talk to you later." He rose and gave her a quick, awkward kiss on the cheek. Tessa left feeling far more uneasy and confused than she had when she got there.
Chapter 8
Tessa was incredibly uneasy as she returned to work from her lunch, and Michael rejoining her didn't make her feel any better.
"So, how did your lunch go?" he asked her as he entered.
"I told him that I received the violin but couldn't sell it to him until next week. He seemed disappointed but appeared to be willing to wait."
"That's because he is so good at deception Tessa. He wouldn't want you to suspect anything. I have been watching him a long time, and I know he won't be willing to wait, even for a week. I fully expect him to break into the store this evening in order to retrieve the violin."
"Don't you think he would send one of his henchmen to do something like that?" Tessa asked.
"No. I've been watching him for months now and I know his habits. He made a mistake once by trusting someone else with that violin, and that mistake cost him deeply. I'm willing to bet he will be the one to come in here and get it himself. He usually oversees things, but isn't afraid to get his hands dirty when he needs to."
Tessa squirmed, suddenly uneasy at the close association she had with this criminal. "Okay, so what are you going to do?"
Michael's eyes brightened as he hatched his plan. "I'd like to hide out here tonight, in the office. You will leave and lock up, and call Lucas when you get home. When you talk to him, casually explain that you did notice the violin after all, and you set it aside for him. Then make some excuse as to why you can't spend the evening with him. Chances are he won't want to anyway, once he knows that the violin is here. Then when he breaks in, I will nab him."
Tessa took a moment to think over this plan. "That sounds like it will work. But I just have one change to your plan."
"Oh?" Michael's eyebrow raised. "And what is that?"
"I want to stay here with you. This is my aunt's shop, and there is no way she would forgive me if something happened to it while she was away. I can't just let you stay here, even if you are an FBI agent."
Michael started to protest, but she cut him off. "I'll stay out of the way, and won't be any trouble, I swear. I'll even make a show of leaving and locking up; I can sneak back in through the back door. I promise I won't mess things up for you."
Michael studied her for a moment as if she was crazy. "Why do you want to put yourself in harm's way like this? I can't promise that you'll be safe here."
"Oh, that's okay. I'm not worried, really. I just want to see for myself how things are going to play out. I've been told things by you and told things by him, and I want to actually see things for myself when they go down." Michael looked at her doubtingly. "It will give me closure," she added.
Michael finally realized that it would be better to concede to her wishes than to have her start questioning things. "Alright," he said. "I'll allow you to stay. But only if you promise to stay out of the way and run or hide if there is any danger."
Tessa's grin lit up her face. "I promise," she said. "Don't worry about me."
Chapter 9
What on earth did I get myself into
? Tessa questioned as she sat in the dark later that evening She was camped out next to Michael on the floor of the back office. The doors were locked, lights turned off, and the two were forced to sit on the floor, so that any passerby glancing through the windows of the antique store wouldn't be able to detect the human eyeballs looking back from within. Tessa decided that Michael was probably used to such situations since he was an FBI, but inwardly she was terrified. What had seemed like a good idea earlier in the day now was extremely frightening.
"Hungry?" Michael unwrapped a granola bar and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she smiled back, taking the bar from his hands. Although they had been sitting together for at least an hour, neither one had had the gumption to make small talk yet. Michael viewed the granola bar as a good ice breaker.
"So, I never asked you. How did it go this evening when you talked to Lucas?"
"Oh, pretty good. I just told him that I was tired and didn't want to hang out. He actually seemed pretty relieved when I said that. He told me he had a lot of 'work stuff' to do."
"Ah, yes, work stuff." Michael commented. "Hopefully that 'work stuff' will occur sooner rather than later. I don't really want to be sitting here all night."
"Are you sure he is going to turn up?" Tessa was dubious. "Why wouldn't he just wait for me to hand the violin over to him?"
"Because, there is a big deal that is supposed to go down in two days. Lucas needs the diamond that is inside the violin to complete a transaction. If he doesn't have it, his world as he knows it falls apart. This violin means everything to him, and he isn't going to let a locked door get in his way. Trust me."
Although she was determined not to show her fear, Tessa began to question her decision to stay in the office overnight with Michael. Things could get dangerous, but she tried to use Michael's presence to reassure herself of her safety.
The fact that they were sitting in the same room together gave Tessa a chance to get a good look at Michael, and she was thankful that the ever-increasing darkness made her staring less than obvious. Michael was tall - over six feet - and he had an imposing, muscular build. Rather than feeling comforted by his imposing build, Tessa couldn't help but feel a little threatened. She chided herself at trusting this stranger so completely. She briefly questioned what would happen if he tried to turn on her and harm her, but quickly dismissed the thought. Filling her mind with worst-case scenarios certainly wouldn't help her in her quest to remain calm.
Sensing Tessa's uneasiness, Michael decided to make small talk in order to distract her. "So I have to ask," he began. "What is it about Lucas that made you decide to be with him? Was it the money? The gifts? You know I'm pretty good at profiling people and having run a lot of background on you, your dating Lucas just doesn't add up."
Tessa began to laugh, "Well, you don't need to worry about your profiling streak being tarnished, because in fact you are right. I've never dated anyone like Lucas before. I'm not easily swayed by money, although getting the royal treatment was nice, of course. To be perfectly honest with you, the reason I started dating Lucas was because of a bet."
"A bet?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, that's right. My roommate Becky put me up to a challenge. She bet that I wouldn't be able to date the same guy for one month consecutively. I don't have a very good track record with men, you know. I don't know why, but I've never found anyone who I was interested in enough. Anyway, she inferred that there must be something wrong with me since it has been so long since I've had a boyfriend, and she bet me that I couldn't keep dating the same guy for a month."
"Geez, she sounds like a great friend," Michael quipped. "Okay, so she makes a dumb bet. What on earth compelled you to take her up on that?"
Tessa blushed, "Well, I guess I'm just very competitive, and I have a hard time passing up bets. Its a weakness of mine. We agreed that the winner of the bet would get the master bedroom of our apartment." She paused to think for a moment. "Plus, I think that she struck a nerve. I really began to question if maybe there
is
something wrong with me. Like maybe I set my standards for me too high or something. I guess I wanted to prove to myself as much as her that I'm not hardwired to drive men away."
"So that's it," Michael wondered aloud. "So you could have been dating any Tom, Dick, or Harry, but instead you ended up with Lucas. What a strange twist of fate."
"What are you going to do if Lucas breaks in?" Tessa wondered aloud, suddenly wanting to turn the conversation away from herself.
Micheal's blue eyes smiled at her, and despite the darkness Tessa noticed a sinister look cross his face. "Well, I'm going to use these handcuffs here and arrest him."
"You said he was a dangerous criminal. Don't you think he will put up a fight?"
"Yes, I am prepared for that." Michael's eyes darkened as he spoke. "Things might get violent, it's just part of the job. That is why I want you to stay out of the way when he arrives. I'm prepared for anything, and I'm not afraid to use this baby if I need to," he lifted his shirt and patted a gun which was concealed in his belt. Tessa shifted uneasily. The gun only heightened her sense of fear, and the passe manner in which Michael spoke of the use of it made her incredibly uneasy.
Her attention was suddenly interrupted by a large sound coming from the alley behind the store. It immediately commanded the attention of both Tessa and Michael, and they froze in their spots. Tessa could feel her pulse beating through her chest.
"Stay here," Michael ordered. "I'm going to check it out."
Tessa gathered her arms around her knees and huddled together while she waited for the next thing to happen. After Michael moved away, she noticed his badge sitting on the ground. Picking it up, she scooted into the corner of the room where she could examine the badge by the sliver of streetlight that was shining through the window.
What she saw horrified her. The badge, the same one Michael had flashed to her earlier as his official FBI insignia, was nothing more than a piece of plastic, probably taken from a child's costume bin. The fear that she had been struggling to keep under wraps suddenly consumed her wholeheartedly. Who was this man, and what had she gotten herself into?
Hearing movement, Tessa shoved the badge in her back pocket and quickly scurried back to her spot on the floor, just as Michael reentered the office.
"It was nothing, just some racoons," he announced. He found Tessa huddled in fright and realized that maybe she wasn't quite up to the challenge she had been so willing to volunteer for.
"Oh yes, I always see that they've gotten into the trash when I come in in the morning." Tessa tried to think of a more intelligent follow-up, but her mind was completely muddled by the fact that the man sitting next to her was not who she thought he was. She was so uneasy that being in such close proximity with him made her so nervous she thought she might throw up.
"I have to use the restroom," she said, suddenly rising.
Michael looked around uncomfortably. "Ok," he conceded. "But please be quiet and careful."
"Don't worry about me," Tessa said giving a weak smile. "I won't make a peep and I'll be back in a flash."
Tessa stole quickly away to the bathroom, and she didn't feel at easy until she had shut and locked the door behind her. She then placed an ear to the locked door in an effort to ascertain if Michael had followed her. Once she was confident that he had not, she pulled out her cell phone, aware that she had a crucial call to make. Lucas must be told of the danger they were both in; if anyone could save her it would be him.
She dialed his number, silently praying that he would pick up. Instead of the sound of his deep voice, she instead heard something much, much worse. From somewhere outside the locked bathroom door Tessa could hear the familiar jingle of Lucas's cell phone ring.
Lucas was inside the building.
Chapter 10
Tessa froze in horror when she heard the cell phone ringing. She quickly slammed her cell phone shut to end the call, but the damage was done. From her perch in the bathroom, she could hear Michael moving from his post in the office. It was only a matter of minutes until he found Lucas.
Quietly and carefully Tessa unlocked the bathroom door and peaked out. She crept down the small hallway where she could peer around the corner for a look at the showroom. She couldn't see Lucas, but guessed that he must be hiding somewhere near the entrance. From across the room she could see the silhouette of Michael with his gun drawn, carefully advancing towards the front door.
"Lucas! I know you're here Lucas. You may as well give it up now. The violin is mine, I wouldn't waste my time if I were you. Your beautiful girlfriend was very helpful today, and she was more than happy to hand over the instrument without batting an eye. She obviously cares for you very much." At this statement Michael couldn't resist laughing. As he spoke he continued to advance slowly and carefully with his gun drawn.