Welcome back to “Beyond Cover 1: Diamond Gamble.” In Chapter 1, Dwayne, as his undercover persona, Nikolai, underwent a frightening interrogation from the higher ups in the Russian mob while Emily met with a jewel thief fence to plan a purchase of some diamonds to help the case they are building. When Emily and Dwayne reconvened at their safe house, Dwayne hid the worst of the ordeal from his partner, while Emily expressed a haunting premonition that the upcoming meeting with Gustav would go badly. Was she right? Let’s find out…

January 25, 2016

Monday

A mixed scent of jasmine, white sage, and lavender filled the bathroom from the tub of steaming water mixed with dried herbs and flowers. Emily lounged in the bath, her head leaned back, eyes closed, inhaling the aromas offering a reassuring familiarity while surrounded by a terrifying world. Only the blue and black candles served any light while Santana songs played softly in the background.

This safe house felt anything but safe, but at least she could give herself small comforts from home. Her mind slowly emptied of her day, filling with what lay in store for the night ahead.

Kira Maslow. Jewel thief. Daughter of a jewel fence and weapons dealer. Partners in crime. The mask into which Emily slipped each day with mere fleeting glimpses of who she truly was. How far could she exist within this facade before she knew nothing of her genuine self? Something had to give, and something deep in her intuition whispered it would give soon.

After an hour, she got out of the bath and drained the water. She dried herself off before wrapping her housecoat around herself. One by one, she blew out the candles. Quiet. Darkness. A shrouded comfort where, for a moment, she felt hidden from the world. She leaned against the wall. Took a deep breath. Then turned on the light.

She changed into a long-sleeved black dress with an asymmetrical skirt that fell just above her knees, adding tall flat boots that almost met the fabric. She added a garter holster she slipped a knife into. After turning to the mirror, she began her makeup. Crimson eyeshadow with a gold dust to add the right amount of shimmer beneath lights, and a matching lipstick. She added a carefully pinned wig cap which hid her strawberry blond hair before donning the dark brown waves that turned her into Kira.

Emily went into her bedroom to add gold hoop earrings, a matching necklace, and a diamond and gold bracelet. A few sprays of a designer floral perfume. She pulled out the faux fur black coat with her face scrunched up in disapproval. Normally, she’d never be caught dead wearing fur, but it felt appropriate for a lavish jewel thief. Fake had been a compromise for aesthetic, but even that never felt right.

When she spun around to look in the full length mirror, her hazel eyes stared back at her; the only thing that seemed familiar anymore. Emily pulled on a pair of crimson wool gloves and added a matching scarf. A crimson cloche hat atop the wig became her final touch.

She checked her purse for Kira’s ID, burner phone, and wallet, adding the lipstick and eyeshadow, to be safe. On the outside, Emily deemed herself ready. Yet a churning dread in the pit of her stomach wouldn’t quit plaguing her.

Emily loathed to go against her gut feeling. It scratched at the walls. Desperation which kept repeating that this meeting with Gustav would go sideways. Something lurked in the shadows beyond the surface of his paranoia. What was he so scared of? What kept him pacing within those bland walls of his safe house? Was he undercover with another agency and slowly losing grip on his own mission? Or had his life of crime caught up to him and shredded his nerves?

She had a crushing feeling they were about to find out.

“You never actually told me much about how your meeting with Sidor went,” Emily said.

Dwayne stared ahead at the road. The yellow lines in the middle. Street lights and neon signs blinking through a mediocre Monday night. Usually, the day people dreaded going back to work. At least they didn’t remain in their jobs during every hour of every day. They could take their resentments home to walls where they felt safe from prying eyes of their higher ups. They could wash their cars without fear of who might be watching or following. Pull into a parking lot without worrying about mob snipers nearby. Walk into a club and not fear a chair sitting in the middle of a room and the distinct clicking noise that came from behind them.

What Dwayne would have given right then to resent a job that didn’t threaten his life, or that of his partner’s.

“There isn’t much to report,” he said. “They interrogated me about whether I was a cop. They’re on edge. Scared. Sidor’s son is going around telling people we’re undercover.”

“But how does Sidor’s son know?” Emily asked.

Dwayne shrugged. “I have no idea. There’s no proof he knows. He could be making it up. Irrational paranoia? Coincidence?”

From the corner of his eye, he watched Emily shake her head and frown.

“There’s no coincidences in this life,” she said. “We both know that.”

“I wish I had answers, kiddo. I don’t,” Dwayne replied. “I’d be lying if I said we were safe. We never have been, but it could get worse from here. We need an alliance of some sort with one of these mobsters. Someone who will vouch for us. Three years in, we should have that.”

“And we don’t,” Emily said. “We’ve just been treading water with no resolution.”

“Right. Who can we go to for this?” Dwayne said.

Emily sighed and set a hand to her chin. She stared out the windshield. Dwayne let the silence lapse between them. Give the girl time. She usually had clever solutions.

“I personally don’t trust any of them,” Emily said. “But I’m a woman surrounded by sketchy men at all times. I don’t know if I can see the answer to this with clarity.”

“That’s valid,” Dwayne said. “Very valid. Gustav is too paranoid. I wouldn’t want to trust him.”

“Oh, not at all. And Sidor is already suspicious. Which means the other higher ups are too,” Emily said.

“Then we go to the lower-level guys,” Dwayne replied with a nod. “I know of a few who might help out if we can befriend them.”

“They’d listen to you before they listen to me,” Emily said. She rolled her eyes.

“You’re not wrong,” Dwayne said. “Let’s get this meeting over with first. Then, we’ll focus on this.”

“How many safe houses does this guy have?” Emily asked. She gazed out the passenger window at yet another run-down, small house in a nondescript neighborhood. A street lined with trees, stripped of leaves, the bare branches burdened with blankets of white. A glow from the street lights cast a golden light across the snow after night fell over the city.

“This isn’t the same place you were at yesterday?” Dwayne said with a frown.

Emily shook her head. “Not at all. He seems to think someone is out to get him.”

“Well, let’s wait here and see if he shows up.”

Both Gustav’s paranoia and her unsettled premonition from the night before still sat restless in her stomach. Heavy. It only grew more cumbersome as Dwayne parked the car out front of the home. The curtains drawn. No vehicle parked outside. No sign of life.

Emily scanned the exterior of the home. No visible cameras. Gustav likely didn’t spend much time at this place. Not enough to warrant eyes on it at all times, anyway. Why else would someone as paranoid as him overlook such a detail?

Unless of course, he didn’t want anyone to have access to who might have been coming and going from that place. Maybe this wasn’t just a safe house, but also a business spot. In that case…

Emily looked in the rear view mirror at the street, the thick layer of snow muffling the earth and enhancing the quiet outside. None of the parked cars raised her suspicion. Still, she wouldn’t have been surprised if Gustav had men watching the house in place of cameras.

No curtains rustled in the windows. No creaking of the door opening as she and Dwayne waited. They exchanged a worried look. Dread pooled in her stomach, rising in her chest.

Her persona typically exuded an air of confidence. Beneath that, Emily couldn’t shake the trepidation crawling over her skin. The longer she stared at the house, the more that premonition screamed at her internally.

And where was Gustav?

Minutes passed. A woman walked by with a husky on a leash. A bus paused at the stop down the road, letting off a crowd of people. Dwayne cracked the car window open and lit a cigarette. Emily watched a man in a navy blue jacket, hood up, saunter by from the bus stop. He glanced briefly at the car and kept going.

A black sedan pulled up on the street and parked along the curb in front of them. Emily let out a sigh of relief when she spotted Gustav in the driver’s seat, then composed herself into Kira’s usual calm and collected demeanor.

Gustav, in a black leather jacket, black shirt and pants, looked up and down the street when he got out of his car. He closed the driver’s side door quietly. When he spotted Dwayne’s car, he waved at them to follow him.

Quiet. Only the snow crunching beneath her boots broke the heavy silence until Gustav spoke.

“You have the money?” he said in a hushed tone.

Dwayne circled the car to the trunk and opened it, letting Gustav look inside at the briefcase which held fifty-five thousand dollars in cash. Gustav gave a quick nod.

“Bring it inside. Let me grab my stuff.”

Gustav returned to his car to open the trunk. Emily glanced up to glimpse someone walking down the sidewalk towards them. As Dwayne spotted the same man, face partially obscured by a hood, he closed the trunk.

Emily froze upon recognizing the man who had stepped off the bus minutes before. Each step brought him closer.

The gun shot shattered the silence. By instinct, Dwayne and Emily dove down behind the car. Gustav fell to the street. Within seconds, the man reached into the trunk of Gustav’s car and swiped something before he bolted across the street and down an alley.

“Help him! I’ll find this fucker!” Dwayne called out.

“That’s not —” Emily began saying, but her partner was gone before she could finish telling him this was a bad idea.

Cursing, she fled to Gustav. A perfect head shot had taken him down. Blood slowly stained the snow red beneath him. She pressed her fingers to his throat and then his wrist. Her heart sank. He was probably dead before his body hit the pavement. Now, she was alone with a dead man while Dwayne tried to track down a thief in the dark. Coincidence? She thought not.

She rummaged through his pockets. A wallet. A couple of phones, likely burners. A handgun holstered to his waist. But no diamonds. She grabbed his car keys and unlocked the trunk. It was empty.

The diamonds were gone. Gustav lay dead in the street. Somewhere, a sniper had taken him out in a single shot. And a thief, as if in coordination, grabbed the diamonds and fled.

Emily rushed back to the car as Dwayne came running back.

“I fucking lost him,” he said with a huff. “Is Gustav okay?”

Emily shook her head. “He’s gone. So are the diamonds. We need to get out of here. When the cops show up, our cover is blown.”