I replaced the lid and put it into my pocket. Time to move. I ran out of the room and headed towards the lift. Moments later I was on the ground floor. Then a fantastic idea hit me and I dived back into the lift, heading for the second floor. I didn’t have long but this was necessary. After a minute of searching I found Kendrick hiding in a small corner office.
‘Surveillance,’ I said simply. ‘I need to get all your tapes for the last three days right up until this moment. Can you get them?’
‘Of course,’ said Kendrick, happy to help. He led me around a corner and walked towards a door. Before he entered I said, ‘Remember no one else can know yet.’ He nodded in agreement.
I followed him into the room and watched as he asked the technician to leave the room. He wasn’t happy about it but this was Mr Kendrick, and what he asked for, he got. A minute later, we were alone. He rummaged through some disks and dug out the ones I needed. I took one out that was filming currently. A flashing warning screen appeared on the technician’s screen that read, ‘Warning! No footage being recorded. Please insert disk.’ I turned off the screen before James could notice. Perfect. This was the icing on the cake. Not only had I just stolen his watch, but he was handing me the only evidence they would have to catch me. I was going to get away with it. I thanked him for his help and asked him to stay where he was until Jones was finished in his office. He agreed and I even had the audacity to shake his hand. Before leaving I jotted down my fake name and a fake number, saying that if he had any questions to call me on that number. He seemed very grateful for my time and effort. I assured him it was my pleasure and left. I was running a bit late and would have to break into a sprint to make it back in time. I sprinted back to the lift, but took the stairs to save time, missing four at a time in my haste. I decided I couldn’t run through reception, so I walked briskly, smiling to Jenny on the way out.
The fact that the Mercedes had not been clamped or labelled with a fine was another bonus. I only had seven minutes to get back to Parlour Street and didn’t want to mess about with traffic wardens. I was going to make it. Everything had fallen into place. Even the traffic lights were turning green as I approached. I made great time and pulled up outside the house with two minutes to spare.
I couldn’t shake a feeling. It was something I had never experienced before. It was euphoria. Of course, I was delighted that I could prove myself and keep Emma safe, but it was more than that. I had enjoyed what I had just done. I had stolen and lied and loved it. What was going on? Did I not care how illegal it was to do what I just did? Clearly not. I was buzzing.
I straightened my hair and suit and patted my pocket to check the watch was still in there. It was. With as much confidence beaming on the outside as I felt inside, I trotted up the steps and hammered on the door. The Russian doorman answered it and stood aside to let me in. I walked straight into the room we had met in earlier.
‘Just in time,’ muttered Vitali, delighted. ‘Your girl was getting worried.’
‘I can’t imagine why,’ I said smoothly. I caught Emma’s eye and could see how stressed she must have been. I returned her stares with a collected smile, hoping to let her know it was all fine.
‘So did you get it?’ called out Igor.
I smiled at him this time and pulled the box out of my pocket. I threw it to Igor, who had set me the task and watched as he opened the box, wide-eyed and showed it to his brother. Vitali clapped his hands together in amazement and approached me. He shook my hand firmly.
‘You really are that good,’ he said, laughing. ‘Welcome to the team.’
I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at my love. She was looking at me, but it was different to any look she had ever given me before. If I wasn’t completely mistaken, it was admiration. She couldn’t believe I had done it.
‘So, what happens now?’ I asked tentatively.
‘Now, we celebrate and tomorrow you leave for Amsterdam.’
I thought long and hard.
‘If we leave tomorrow then I want to get some things before we leave. I want Emma to come with me.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Vitali, automatically.
‘Listen, you know who I am and what I am capable of. But you should also know that I am a man of my word. If Emma and I wanted to run, we would have done that an hour ago. I'll get you those last two ewers because I want this over, but she comes with me tonight. We are going to risk going to jail for a long time for you guys in Amsterdam, so the least you can give us is one night alone.’
Maybe they were worried they had underestimated me, or perhaps they were grateful for me getting the watch, but they agreed. Emma still hadn’t said anything but she jumped to her feet, happy to get away. She looked like she was dying to talk to me.
‘You know there is nowhere on this earth you can run to, where we won’t find you? Don’t think about running.’
‘We are on the same team. Start remembering that,’ I replied and I led Emma by the hand, out into the warm London morning. We agreed to meet back at the house at seven tomorrow morning, and it was not yet midday so we had seventeen precious hours together, to talk. I hailed a taxi and wrapped my arm around her, happier than ever before.
Chapter Twenty-Three
‘Tell me everything.’
‘Are you hungry?’ I asked. I thought it was a good place to start.
‘Starving,’ she replied, so I asked the taxi to pull over so we could eat. We found a quiet Italian restaurant and moved into a secluded table in the corner. For a moment we were silent. Eventually she spoke.
‘Tom, you must be so angry. And you must have so many questions.’
‘I do. I mean, I know bits and pieces but I have big gaps. I want to know it all.’
‘OK. Tell me what you know.’
‘Well, I know you started conning people young,’ I said, trying not to sound judgemental as I spoke. ‘I know you have committed crimes in most parts of the world and you were probably doing a job when we met. I know you have hundreds of different identities and you have never been convicted of anything. You're not a lawyer, you never worked at Raynmer and Stein, your family don’t live where I thought and our wedding was faked. I know you lied to me more times than you could count. You pissed off the Kozlov’s years ago and now they want revenge so you're stealing Yuan Dynasty ewers for them to make up for what you did. I know you didn’t want to leave me and deep down you love me, even if I don’t know who you are. That’s what I know.’
‘Wow, you do know a lot. How?’
‘It has been a hell of a journey. But the worst part is, I don’t even know your real name. I want to know you. Tell me everything.’
‘OK. My name is Emma. Truthfully. But I was born Emma Heath, not Emma Jordan. I was born out in the south of Spain, in Seville. Both my parents are English and both died before I was ten. I moved to Southampton when they died and lived with a foster family until I was fifteen. They weren’t very good people and I spent most of my childhood staying away from them. Falling in with the wrong crowd or whatever. I learnt some skills and realised I was good at something. Really good. So I travelled the world, stealing and conning people. It was the first time I felt alive. I didn’t know any other way of life.’
There were tears in her eyes as she spoke. I wanted to hold her and tell her it was all going to be fine, but I didn’t want to break her stride, so I said nothing.
‘I made lots of money and spent just as much. From the age of fifteen to nineteen is a bit of a blur. Believe me, there aren’t many things I haven’t stolen in my time. I'm not proud of this Tom, but it’s who I am. I can’t lie to you. I’m a thief and a cheat and you deserve better.’
‘I understand, and you know I love you right? This doesn’t change anything.’
She smiled but could barely look me in the eye. She was crying strongly now but she kept talking.
‘So then one day I’m doing a job in Mallorca right and I see you watching me. People following
me isn’t a new thing so I lead you into the streets and lost you like I always did. I thought you wanted to kill me! When I completed the job, and it all went smoothly, I realised you were just a stranger. It occurred to me that maybe you were just a handsome stranger who wanted to talk to me. I'd spent all my life expecting people to have a hidden agenda. I made a decision there and then that if I ever saw you again I would talk to you like a normal human. And I fell in love. I really did.’
It felt so good to hear her say it. I knew how she felt, or at least I was pretty sure, but it was always good to hear it from her. I forced her eyes to meet mine and smiled honestly at her. I wanted to say, ‘I love you too,’ with my gaze.
‘I knew after three days that I was head over heels for you and I decided I would never steal again. I wanted it all. The normal life. I wanted the house, the babies and a wedding. But it wasn’t that easy... you must understand that.’
I thought about it properly. If she was a thief and she truly wanted to change, there would be hundreds of loose ends she would have to tie up.
‘I had police after me and I had criminals that wanted me dead. I had to change my identity. And then you wanted to meet my family and I wanted to appear normal so I lied. I made up parents and a job and... our wedding.’
That last one did really hurt. I could understand everything but not why she had made that one up.
‘Why couldn’t we just get married properly? I don’t understand that?’
‘I wanted to. It was the hardest day of my life. It was special and perfect but deep down I knew it wasn’t real. I wanted to tell you but there was so much I had to hide from you, this was just one more thing. A wedding is a legal thing and if we had a real wedding we would need to be real people and ‘Emma Jordan’ was not real. People would have found out. I couldn’t risk it.’
That made sense (sort of). There was one burning question I had.
‘Why didn’t you just tell me everything? You know, be honest?’
There was a long silence and neither of us dropped eye contact. I wanted the truth.
‘I don’t know,’ she said unhelpfully. At first I thought that was all she was going to give me. Eventually, she carried on. ‘You have to believe me. It was the biggest thing in my life to trust someone completely and I guess part of me didn’t think it would work. I thought it would protect me in case it didn’t work with you. And then I got in too deep. I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry.’ She looked it too.
‘I was so angry for the longest time. I hated you, or at least I wanted to, but I couldn’t understand it. I thought we were happy.’
‘We were. Baby, I am so sorry. I can’t imagine how scary it was for you. It killed me inside. I literally wanted to die. I wanted to tell you what was going on, but I couldn’t. You are too heroic and I knew you'd never let me go if you knew. Trust me, it was the only way.’
I understood. I hated it but for the first time I really understood. She was a scared little girl who had made some bad choices and didn’t know what to do.
‘Tell me what happened with the Kozlovs.’ I said.
‘A friend of mine told me about a job these Russian guys had done years ago. They had spent years planning a job and had somehow got away with it. It was a whole display of Incan gold. I was stupid enough to think I could steal it off them and get away with it. I did, amazingly. It was so easy. But sadly they found out who I was and weren’t going to stop until they found me.’
‘You must have been confident going after them.’
‘I was. I was young and arrogant and stupid. It was the worst thing I ever did; the thought of it makes me feel sick now. How could I have done it? But I did. Then a couple of months ago I got attacked and thrown in a van. Just like a movie. I knew exactly who they were and I assumed I was dead. They drove me over an hour away and dragged me into a building. They held a gun to my head and asked me to beg for my life. It was awful. They told me they had been following me, that they knew about you and were going to kill you. Then just when I thought they were going to shoot me, they offered me a chance to make it up to them. It would mean breaking your heart and risking jail or death, but it was the only way I could keep you safe. Don’t you see? I had to do it to protect you from my mistake.’
I felt sick. All this time she had done it to look after me. She knew I was as dead as was she if she didn’t do it. What choice did she have? She was right too; if she had told me I would never have let her go.
‘I get it. But why didn’t you leave a note explaining it. Telling me you still loved me.’
‘I wanted to. I tried to but they wouldn’t allow it. It was their own sick joke to punish me. They gave me one day and said they would know if I left you a message. I couldn’t think of anything. So I left you the code and hoped you would figure it out. It was a long shot but I wanted you to get out of here and be safe. It was the best I could do.’
‘It was brilliant but I was pretty slow at working it out. I’m no good at this stuff,’ I said sadly.
‘You are joking; you’re incredible. With no history of it and all the emotions you must have been feeling, you managed to achieve things most conmen would be proud of. Tell me what happened when I left.’
So I did. I must have talked for over an hour. Emma sat quietly, sometimes open-mouthed and listened to everything I had to say. We laughed about me quitting my job and smashing the computer and I think I saw some tears leave her eyes when I talked about the tough times. I spoke about Jack and Sophie, how much they had helped me. I recounted my journey to finding her and had to admit that some of it even impressed me. I was doing my best to make it sound like I wasn’t afraid when it had all happened but she knew me too well.
‘So Jack managed to find out where the Kozlovs were staying and I decided to go... talk to them,’ I said cryptically.
‘Tom, you did so well but how the hell did you get the Kozlovs to believe you were a criminal mastermind?’
I smiled at this. This was the best bit of the story.
‘I knew I had to shock them or they'd never believe me so I got a gun, got into their room and threatened to kill them.’
Emma swore loudly. I hadn’t heard her swear very often. She was so often in control of her emotions but that had shocked her.
‘You did what?’
‘I held a gun at them and told them how easy it would be to kill them. Then, having got their attention, I told them how I'd been the one to help you in the past. I used Jack’s police information to show them how much I knew about their history. Then I showed I had honour by handing back their gun and putting mine away. This confused them so much I guess the only conclusion they could come to was that I was who I said I was.’
Emma looked at me, different than how she had before. She was clearly impressed but there was something else. She was concerned about me.
‘Tom that is... madness. It is brilliant but... mad. Why didn’t you just go to Mexico or something? Like I asked.’
‘How were you going to get out? You must know that the Kozlovs would have killed you when you are done. You know what they're like. Did you have a plan to escape?’
‘Well... not yet. But I would have thought of something!’
‘Exactly! Well I couldn’t hang around a beach somewhere hoping you'd get out of it. If the Kozlovs want to kill you they have to kill me too. Trust me, I’ve lived my life without you and it's not worth living. I won’t do that again.’
She smiled beautifully. I think she understood why I had disobeyed her. She would have done the same thing.
‘So what do we do?’ I asked.
Emma thought for a second and I gave her time. She was the real mastermind and I needed to remember that.
‘Here’s the problem, Tom. I know you have done great, I really do, but you are not... experienced in this. Stealing the last two ewers will be almost impossible. I would struggle with a crew of hardened criminals but the two of us will find it... hard.’
I nodde
d in acceptance. I didn’t need to lie now; I was no thief.
‘I agree. But you were trying to do this alone. Surely an extra pair of hands could help. It can’t make it worse, can it?’
‘No, of course I want your help but I'll worry...’ she stopped suddenly as if having a brainwave. I waited patiently.
‘OK, maybe I have an idea,’ she said quietly. ‘You're going to need to phone Jack.’
*****
‘Hello?’ his voice answered on the phone.
‘Jack it’s me. It’s Tom.’
‘You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice. What is going on?’
‘Jack, I know you want answers but I don’t have time. You have to trust me. I need your help.’
He understood like I knew he would.
‘What do you need?’
‘I need any details you have, or can get, about the museum in Amsterdam and how they are moving the ewers. Can you do that?’
‘I’ll try mate, but I can’t just search in my username. This could all get tracked back to me. I’ll have to get Stevie to look into it.’
‘Thanks. I need it by tonight. Text it to me as soon as you can, OK?’
‘Will do. Why do you need information about the Amsterdam ewer?’
‘Because tomorrow I am going to steal it.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
‘There are times in your life you need to stand up and make things happen. This is one of them.’
I ended up spending half an hour on the phone to Jack, explaining things. He was completely against everything at first and tried to offer witness protection for myself and Emma. We talked through all our options and he had to eventually accept that if we ran they would find us. And probably go after friends and family. When he fully understood that Rachel could be in danger there was no choice. He felt terrified for me, but he knew he had to let me go and try to help when he could.
‘You are a brave bastard, Tom, do you know that?’ he said, seriously.
I smiled and realised we were talking on the phone and he couldn’t see my smile so I should probably reply.