N. Walters - Stroke of Sapphire

Satisfied everything was as it should be, Ivan stepped out of the doorway and strode toward his first appointment.

Jake’s phone rang just as he and John stepped inside a coffee shop. He took one look at the number and turned to his brother. “I’ve got to take this.” Not waiting for a response, he turned and walked outside. “Go.”

“Your guy was watching the woman this morning. She was with another woman, a tall good-looking woman.”

“Her sister. Did he approach them?” Jake’s hand tightened around the phone and he had to fight the urge to race through the city until he was by Sapphire’s side.

“Negative. He looked, but didn’t approach.”

Jake blew out a breath. “Keep an eye on him.”

“Will do.” There was a slight pause. “You’re going to have trouble with him. I saw the way he watched her. He won’t walk away from her.”

Jake took the warning to heart. “I suspected as much. I’ll deal with him.”

“Roger that.”

Jake knew he had to cover all bases. “But keep your eyes open. If he approaches, move in.”

“Will do.”

The phone went silent and Jake carefully slid his phone back into his pocket. Once he finished having coffee with John, he needed to head to work. He had some illegal hacking to do.

Jake’s fingers flew over the computer keys. He’d hacked into Gregor’s cell phone records and was making note of the people he talked with. There were some numbers that were untraceable. He figured those belonged to the more savvy criminals. But there were always those greedy bastards in positions of power who didn’t think they needed to bother with such security protocols. Either that, or they were too stupid to even think about such things. Made his job easier.

It was surprisingly easy for him to connect the dots and he was soon hard at work hacking into bank records, both for Gregor and several of his associates. He shook his head, amazed at the idiocy of some people. Several high-ranking civil servants had deposited money in their accounts on the same day that Gregor had removed the exact same amount from his account.

Arrogance and entitlement would trap them all. The police might be hampered by their need to get proof through legal channels, but he had no such constraints on him. When he was done, he erased all traces of himself. Those he couldn’t erase, he buried beneath myriad layers. If any officials cared to dig that deep, they’d trace the signal back to an old woman in Hungry via twelve different other people scattered over the world. No way they could trace it back to him here in New York.

By the end of the day, Jake had several envelopes filled with information—phone records, bank account records and more, every document carefully handled to ensure there were no fingerprints on any single page.

Several of Gregor’s projects had been on the verge of being derailed when suddenly they’d been passed. He had copies of the documents signed by certain city officials, along with copies of their bank accounts that showed they had suddenly gotten much richer.

Jake planned to send the envelopes to the media and the cops. If Gregor had some dirty cops in his pocket he’d still get fried in the court of public opinion. He’d be much too busy to even think about Sapphire, which was Jake’s ultimate goal.

That work done, he sat back and picked up his coffee mug, grimacing when he tasted cold coffee. Still, he drank it down. Caffeine was caffeine, cold or hot.

A tap came on his door. “Come on in.”

John stuck his head through the door. “I’m heading out to meet a client.”

His brother had been bearing the brunt of the work these past few weeks. Jake freely admitted his head hadn’t been in the game. “Thanks, man.”

John grinned at him. “No problem. I expect you’ll be kept busy when I’m on my honeymoon.”

Jake laughed. “Decided where you’re going yet?”

His brother leaned against the doorjamb. “Not yet. I want to go somewhere warm and secluded. I keep telling Topaz all she’d need to pack is a bikini.”

“Bet that goes over well.”

John laughed. “Some days it does. She wants to tour Ireland, which is fine, but she’s not going to wear a bikini while we’re there.”

“Good luck with that, bro.”

John hesitated and shook his head. “Be careful with Sapphire, okay?”

“That goes without saying.” Jake shoved away from his desk, walked over to the large safe in the corner of his office and stuffed the envelopes inside.

John motioned to the envelopes. “Anything I should know about?”

“No.” Jake didn’t want his brother involved. “A private project. Nothing major.” He shut the safe door, locking the evidence he’d collected inside.

“If you need help…”

“Thanks, man.” He knew that John was there for him, would help him without hesitation. He was lucky to have a brother like him.

“Have a good evening.” John left him alone in his office. He felt tense and out of sorts all of a sudden. He needed to talk to Sapphire. He grabbed his phone, brought up his list of contacts and hit the top button. Her phone rang several times before she answered.

“Hello.”

“Hey, babe.” Some of the tension bled from his muscles the moment he heard her voice. That was the kind of power she had over him. It should worry him, instead it made him feel more grounded, as if he had a place he belonged, or at least someone he belonged with.

“How was your day?” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“Good. I’m on my way out now.” He shut down his computer and left his office, locking the door behind him. “Want me to pick up something on my way to your place?”

“Hmmm,” she answered absently. He could hear her doing something in the background, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

“Babe? Food? Do you want me to pick up food?” He engaged the alarm and locked the door to Knights’ Security, making sure everything was shut down tight for the evening.

“Sure. That would be great.”

“What are you doing?” He took the stairs down from the second floor of the three-story building.

“Oh, I’m working.”

That made sense. Sapphire got lost in whatever she was doing when she worked on her jewelry designs. He couldn’t wait to see her latest work. “How about Chinese?” He knew what she liked from his time working as her bodyguard.

“No. I think I’ll make something instead. I’ve got some chicken marinating. Won’t take me long to throw something together when you get here.”

“You sure?” He didn’t mind springing for dinner, but his mouth watered at the thought of eating something she made for him. Sapphire was a very good cook.

“Positive. I just need to finish up what I’m working on.”

He smiled, taking the hint. “I’ll let you go. See you in about forty minutes.”

“Okay.” Her soft voice sank into him like a hug and he smiled. He ended the call and stopped before he stepped out onto the sidewalk. Old habits died hard. He checked all around him to assure himself there was no one watching him. When he was satisfied, he headed out. Sapphire was waiting.

Sapphire stared down at the piece of jewelry she’d finished. The design had come to her yesterday—a bracelet that featured the logo of Jake’s company Knights’ Security. The logo consisted of a shield with two crossed swords on top of it. She’d made the piece out of a combination of silver, brass, copper and steel. She planned to set the pommels of the swords with small sapphires. But that was for tomorrow.

Pleased with the amount of work she’d done so far, she packed away the unfinished piece and the design, not wanting Jake to stumble across it if he came into her office. He always seemed interested in what she was making, and it wasn’t feigned either. When he’d been her bodyguard, he’d spent hours watching her work and asking questions.

She left several pieces from her new line sitting on her work counter. She could show him these if he asked to see how she’d spent her day.

Her workspace tidied, she stood and stretched, her back muscles complaining that she’d been sitting in one spot for far too long. It was an occupational hazard. When she got into her work, hours could pass in the blink of an eye. It was only when she tried to move she’d realize just how long she’d been sitting in one spot.

Sapphire ambled to the kitchen, trying to decide what to serve with the chicken. Maybe some fried rice with veggies. The apple pie she’d made after lunch was cooled and sitting on the kitchen counter. She knew Jake particularly liked apple pie.

Maybe it was silly, but she wanted to cook for him. She had the feeling that Jake hadn’t had a whole lot of home-cooked meals in his life. When he was guarding her, he’d always seemed to appreciate every time she made a meal and shared it with him.

She pulled out pots and pans and started to work. Forty minutes later, she had everything under control and was thinking about changing her outfit when the buzzer rang. Grabbing a kitchen towel, she wiped her hands as she walked to the intercom.

“Yes.”

“It’s me, babe.” Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the sound of his voice.

“Come on up.” No time to change now. She glanced at herself in the foyer mirror and frowned. Her hair was half up and half down and her makeup had long ago disintegrated.

“Damn.” She stuck the kitchen towel in her back pocket, yanked the clip from her hair and raked her fingers through the curly locks. It wasn’t great, but it was an improvement. No time to do anything about makeup.

A heavy knock came on the door and she took a deep breath, uncertain why she was suddenly so nervous. She checked the peephole, knowing Jake would scold her if she didn’t—the man was very security conscious—and then she opened the door.