A shrill ringing filled the room, disturbing Andrew from his sleep. Forcing his eyelids open, he glanced around, looking for his cell phone. Meliza was asleep, the smooth sheets draped over her silky skin. Andrew quickly grabbed his jeans, digging the phone out of his pocket. Raising the antenna and pushing a button to receive the call, Andrew tucked the phone between his shoulder and his ear while pulling his jeans on.

“Hello?”

“Rivera? Where the hell have you been?! I haven’t heard from you in days! You know what happens when I don’t hear from you in days?! I think you’re dead. I do not need that right now!”

Andrew sighed, glancing over his shoulder to check if she was still asleep. “It’s almost ten p.m…I wasn’t planning on calling you until tomorrow…”

“You think I have banker’s hours with my job?!” the voice on the phone nearly shouted. “News flash…I don’t…because I’m up late nights wondering where the hell you are and what the hell is going on!”

He cringed. “I…I haven’t found anything yet.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” the voice mocked. “Rivera, you have forty-eight hours to come up with something…anything.”

“Listen, I-” The line went dead. “Dammit.” Andrew tossed his phone against the plush chair in the room. Raking a hand through his hair, he sighed then glanced at the bed. Andrew tenderly passed his fingers over her hair to her shoulder then down her arm. Then he turned away, snatching his sunglasses case from the nightstand. Reaching into a secret compartment, he pulled out a thin needle with a small bottle of solution. Attaching the two, he uncapped the needle and held it upright, flicking the barrel to remove air bubbles. Grasping her upper arm, he injected the solution into her bloodstream. He placed the cap back on the needle, wrapped it in tissue and disposed of it in the trash.

She’d be asleep for another few hours. Which gave him plenty of time to do what he needed. Andrew sighed again, glancing at her. You picked one helluva time to be feeling guilty, Rivera…

He pulled out his sunglasses, placing them on. Pressing several of the hinges in succession, he activated a scanner before placing them on. Andrew opened several of her drawers, searching for the one thing he knew she had. She had to have it somewhere. He didn’t do all of this for nothing...

No sign of it. Andrew opened her closet, pushing aside the clothes, scanning her luggage, which was tucked neatly away. Nothing. Frowning, he made his way to the bathroom.

There. Deep in the bottom of a musical jewelry box. Andrew opened the jewelry box and the tune of ‘Greensleeves’ filled the bathroom. The box contained many pieces of fine jewelry. All simple, but elegant. Just like Meliza. At the bottom was a gold bracelet. Shaped like a square before curving to circle the wrist, it contained many large precious stones. Picking it up, he examined it. This was exactly what he had been looking for. Or rather…what was inside of it was exactly what he had been looking for.

Andrew pulled off his sunglasses, turning the scanner off. He hurried to retrieve his cell phone, glancing at Meliza again. She was sound asleep. Searching through his number list, he selected one and called.

“Jonas, it’s Rivera,” he spoke suddenly. “I need a favor.” He paused. “Yes, now…I can be there in twenty minutes.” He hung up and promptly got dressed, taking Meliza’s key with him out the door.
 

Andrew grinned as Jonas studied the bracelet underneath the light. The older man was quite a character. And a longtime friend. Jonas owned a jewelry shop in the Atlantic City Mall. He had been running the shop for about five years now. He found the city to be very relaxing…a complete change from his previous career. Jonas placed the bracelet down.

“Piece of cake. I can easily duplicate this.”

“How soon can you do it?” Andrew asked.

“Give me a couple hours,” Jonas promised.

“You’re a miracle worker,” Andrew commented.

“So what’s this for?” Jonas asked casually, setting up his workstation.

Andrew laughed. “You know I can’t tell you that…”

Jonas shrugged. “I thought I’d ask anyway.”

Andrew leaned against the counter with his elbows. “I need that. And the woman who owns that…might notice it’s missing if I take it.”

“Seems to be really expensive. You sure she doesn’t have any other expensive pieces that she won’t even notice that this one’s gone?” Jonas asked.

“She’s not materialistic,” Andrew answered. “She’ll notice.”

Jonas began carving a bracelet. “So what’s her part in this?”

Andrew hesitated. “I…I don’t know. Saunders thinks she knows something, but…”

Jonas stopped working to study the younger man. “You think differently?”

Andrew sighed. “I don’t know what to think.” His eyes hardened slightly. “I could be dealing with someone very sneaky…and very dangerous. She could know anything and everything. But…she…she doesn’t seem to.”

“You like her, don’t you?”

His eyes shot up to gaze sharply at Jonas. “That’s not part of the plan.”

“Things never turn out the way you want them to,” Jonas said pointedly. “You haven’t been working as long as I have, but I always knew you had sharp intuition. What’s it telling you?”

“That she has no idea what she’s been carrying with her all this time,” Andrew said finally. “Which makes this even harder. I think…if she had been involved from the very beginning…settling all of this…would have been easier…”

Jonas set the molded bracelet aside to stare intently at Andrew. “We do what we can to get by. We may meet some people along the way that we might get attached to. It isn’t easy letting go of them. But we don’t have a choice. It’s how things are.”

“Yeah…” Andrew blew out a breath.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Things always have a way of working out. Not necessarily the way we want…But they do work out.”
 

Hours later, Andrew walked into Meliza’s suite. She was still fast asleep, so he slipped into her bathroom, placing the duplicated bracelet in her jewelry box. He had some business to tend to early that morning, so he scribbled a quick note to her and left.