The Fall of East: Book 3 in the Hear No Evil Trilogy, Malone, Nana [inspiring books for teens txt] 📗

I met this man. He wasn't the brightest bulb in the shed, but he wasn't mean spirited. He didn't deserve to get murdered like this."

"He was still a criminal, Ny."

“None of those things we recovered are worth killing over."

“Maybe the warehouse actually held some originals? Maybe someone was willing to kill for that. It's millions of dollars." She shrugged. “People kill for less. Revenge. Love, as you put it.”

I laughed and then checked my watch. East had a meeting that afternoon. He'd been irritated about some investor. So I called Telly.

She answered on one ring. "Ah, new wifey. Hi."

"Hi, Tell, how are you?"

"Never been better. So, to what do I owe the pleasure? I’ve got a few minutes. Hit me, what is it?"

"I really appreciate this."

"Of course, you wouldn't call if it wasn't important. What's up?"

"Okay, if I said Camberwell College of Art, and I needed to cross reference that with anything that we've been currently looking up regarding Theroux or any of that, what do you get?"

"Give me a chance to be great," she said, laughing.

I waited for less than a minute. When she came back, she whistled low. "Well, it just so happens that Garreth Jameson went to that art school."

I frowned. "What?"

"Yeah, Garreth Jameson. Is that a problem?"

"No, not exactly. Um, can you also just cross reference his name with any school scandals, any trouble he might have gotten into?"

"Okay, that's very specific."

"I know. It's just that I seem to remember that someone in the Wilson gang that pulled the Monaco heist might have attended there. Anything?"

She laughed. "Um, one second. Yeah, I show Marc Wilson and Riley Mills as having attended the school, and one of them has a sister, Krista Wilson. Marc and Riley attended at the same time as Garreth Jameson."

I frowned. “Can you cross-reference Garreth Jameson with any of them?"

"Yeah, there you go. There were in classes together, until there was an honor code violation about a forged painting."

What were the odds? "Tell, thank you so much. This is really helpful."

"Let me guess, tell the team, and you'll explain later?"

"You're the best."

"Yeah, someone tell East that."

"You know, you two need to learn to coexist."

"Tell him first."

I chuckled even as I hung up.

When I stepped back inside, Amelia looked at me expectantly. "What's up?"

The tech guys were still standing around, so I inclined my head for her to follow me into the kitchen. There were less of them in there. “The art school Ryder was calling was the same one Garreth Jameson attended."

Amelia whistled low. "Jesus Christ. Everything is permeated with the London Lords."

"Yeah, you could say that. Also, our Monaco jewel heist, the original perpetrators, Marc Wilson and Riley Mills, attended with Jameson. They had several classes together too. They knew him. And they were all caught up in a forgery scandal."

“We can't ever do anything the easy way, can we?"

I shrugged. "I mean, easy would be boring. You would hate boring."

“On the contrary, I think I would very much like boring. I think boring might be fun."

I laughed. "Nah. What would you do without me keeping it interesting for you?"

"Retire. Somewhere like Scotland or Wales. Yes, there's a sheep farm in Wales. I wouldn’t constantly be thinking about how to navigate my job. I could work for some like, slow police department. You know, one of those that sees more sheep than people in a day."

I laughed. "And you would be bored to death."

"Possibly. But ooh, I would be sane. So sane."

We both laughed. "Okay, Jameson. Are we going to pick him up?"

Amelia shook her head. "Well, let's get a little more evidence. After all, Lord Jameson is already a problem. If he is who we think he might be, then let's not invite trouble for ourselves. Let's have our ducks lined up before we talk to Garreth."

I nodded and looked back at Ryder Stone. "He didn't deserve this."

Amelia nodded. "I know. Whatever the hell is going on, we're going to figure it out. We owe him at least that."

Chapter Nine Nyla

The plan was simple. Lucas, of course, didn't like this plan. He wanted the big, showy thing, where he'd break in under cover of night in full-on cat burglar mode. But there was no need for that. We were going to walk in the front door.

Besides, this way it was a three-man team only. And if we were careful, we would be catching Lord Jameson right as breakfast ended. He'd already told us once that he was a creature of habit.

He took his coffee in the sunroom every day at nine. So turning up at nine or ten for an audience would mean that he would be available and one of us could grab his spoon. If we weren't able to go into the sunroom, Lucas could slide in as a staff member and do it on the off chance we needed him to.

In the back seat, he grumbled. "This isn't fun."

Amelia laughed as she glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but you're only here on the off chance that we can't do this ourselves."

"Yeah, but I mean, honestly, a gardener? Look at me." His expression soured with derision.

I glanced over my shoulder and looked at his uniform, chuckling. "What? You look well fit. A sexy worker for sure."

He lifted a brow. "I'm not buying it."

I bit back a laugh. "No, really. You should really get one for you and Bryna to spice things up."

He lifted a brow. "Honestly?"

Amelia and I broke out into a fit of cackles which only made him grumble more as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"It doesn't matter how you look. We might not even need you."

"Please, please let me take something. Anything."

I shook my head. "No. Hello… Interpol in the house."

He blinked in mocked innocence. "Oh, sorry. Was I supposed to pretend that I didn’t spend the better half of my life as a thief?"

Amelia frowned. "Do you mind not bringing that up