Already Gone

– 39 –



I reach for Diane’s hand and lead her down the hall and outside to Lisa’s truck. Halfway there, she stops and pulls her hand away.

“I can’t do it, Jake.”

“You can’t do what?”

“Run like this, with nothing.”

“Diane, I—”

“I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. I can’t do it.”

“Then we won’t,” I say. “But if you’re right and Briggs is watching this house, we need to go.”

Diane looks up at me. “I’m going to tell them we found the diamonds.”

“You can’t do that. It’s too late.”

“Too late?”

“I called Gabby and told him what was inside the statues.”

“You did what?”

“He had to know. If they track him down, at least he’ll be ready.”

“What did he say? Did he believe you?”

“He broke one open, saw for himself.”

“Oh my God.”

“Forget about the diamonds. Now that he knows about them, they’re as good as gone.”

“Call him, tell him the situation. If he knows you’re in trouble, he’ll have to help.”

“Help how? You said these people don’t forgive.”

“But with the diamonds, there’s a chance.”

I look at my watch. “Our only chance is to be on that plane. We’ll figure out the rest once we’re far away from here.” I hold out my hand. “You have to trust me.”

Diane stares at my hand, then looks up at me and shakes her head. “I’m sorry.”

A wave of light pans through the trees and over the ground. I look back and see three black SUVs turn off the main road onto the driveway, then spread out across the lawn. Their headlights are blinding.

“Get in the house.”

Diane doesn’t move.

I start to tell her again, then change my mind.

It’s too late to run.





The SUVs stop, and all the doors open at once. Several men step out onto the lawn, moving between the cars, surrounding us on all sides.

Diane grabs my hand.

Most of the faces are dark, silhouetted against the headlights. I lift a hand to my eyes to block the glare and see Briggs and Hull crossing the yard to where we’re standing. As they get close, Briggs holds his hands out and smiles.

“You found each other,” he says. “How wonderful.”

I feel Diane press against me.

I stay focused on Briggs and try not to look at the men surrounding us.

“We had a deal,” I say.

Briggs ignores me and walks straight to Diane, never taking his eyes off her.

She whispers, “Jake?”

Her voice breaks.

I step in front of Briggs. “Hold on.”

For the first time, he looks directly at me, through me, and I fight the urge to step back.

“You don’t get to speak,” he says. “Right now, I’d like to talk to your wife.”

I open my mouth to say something, but Diane squeezes my hand, tight. “It’s okay.”

Briggs stares at me for a moment, then looks past me toward Diane, says, “Hi.”

Diane doesn’t say anything.

“Why don’t you come with me. I’d like to talk in private, if you don’t mind.”

“No, she’s staying with me.”

“Is that so?”

“You and I had a deal. We—”

Briggs holds up one hand, stopping me. “Mr. Reese, I find it difficult to believe your wife hasn’t explained the situation in detail. If I’m right, then you know perfectly well that there is no deal.”

Diane pulls my arm. “Jake, don’t.”

“You should also know that we are quite serious about retrieving what was taken from us, and while I understand that you are little more than a pawn in all of this, my patience is wearing thin. I have very little tolerance for interruption.”

“I won’t let you hurt her.”

“Commendable, but an empty threat.”

I tell him again. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

Briggs looks at me, nods. “Let me see if I can make this any clearer.” He leans in and whispers, soft. “Your wife is a lying whore, and unless she can make it right, she’s going to pay for what she’s done.” He pulls back to see my eyes, smiles, then leans in again. “Any clearer?”

I don’t say anything.

“It’s not as if we didn’t try it her way,” Briggs says. “She was convinced you would know where they were. After all, it was your father who took them.”

“We weren’t close.”

“Which is, I suppose, why her plan failed. Nevertheless, we tried her way. Now we try mine.”

Briggs nods to the men on either side of us, and they come in fast, grabbing my arms and pulling Diane away.

She yells out to me, but there’s nothing I can do.

“Leave her alone.”

Briggs takes her arm and pulls her toward one of the SUVs, and they disappear in the glare of the headlights.

I don’t see the first punch until right before it connects. The impact re-breaks my nose and vibrates through to the center of my head.

In the distance, I hear Diane scream.

The next punch catches me on the side of the face. I feel my teeth dig into my cheek and my mouth fill with blood. After that, they come too fast to count.

At one point, I realize I’m on the ground.

There are at least two men kicking me, again and again. Then it stops. I roll onto my side and pull my legs up to my chest. I run my tongue over my teeth until I find the one embedded in the flesh of my cheek.

I work it free and focus on the pain.

The darkness presses in, but I fight it.

Diane is crying, the sound far off and muted. I hear Briggs’s voice, but the words are broken, and I can’t put them together. A second later, one of the men kicks me again. This time the pain is far away.

Soon, everything goes dark.