“How long you stay down here depends solely on you. If you tell me what I want to know, you can go soon. If you refuse to answer my questions, this may very well be the last place you ever see.” He was Russian; he sounded exactly like Dima. She figured he wanted to know about the Hope Diamond.
Without saying any more, he sat her on the chair. He left her arms tied and the tape over her mouth. When Sergey climbed the stairs, he chuckled to himself. She wouldn’t ever leave this cellar, even if she told him what he wanted to know.
*****
At 9 a.m., Dima rang the bell at the jewelry store. Leon answered. “Hi. I need to speak to Tyra,” he said, stepping inside.
Leon picked him up by the collar and took him outside. “You've got some nerve showing up here. She doesn't want to speak to you ever again, and officially I should be handing you over to the cops. She asked me not to when she told me what you'd requested from her.” Leon's twisted Dima’s jacket collar with his giant palm. “Leave, and don't show your face here again. You Russians are all the same. You may have bucket loads of money, but there is one thing money can’t buy: class.” Leon shoved him away and went back inside.
I deserved that, Dima thought. No point in trying again; he's far too big.
At ten, Radley came into the store from his office. “Where's Tyra?” he asked Leon.
“I don't know, Mr. Samuels. I haven't seen her yet today.
“But it's ten. She's always here early.” He looked at his watch again. “I'm worried about her.”
“There was a Russian here an hour ago looking for her.”
“Indeed. What did you tell him?”
“Er...” Leon was lost for words. Tyra had told him in confidence about Dima's desire to pinch the Hope Diamond, and he didn't want Radley to think he'd scared a client away. “I told him she hadn't arrived yet.”
*****
When the light came on, Tyra closed her eyes against it. When she opened them, she saw the same man standing in front of her. He had a knife in his hand. Tyra screamed and stamped her feet as he ripped the duct tape from her face.
“All right, miss.” He leaned in close, and she could smell vodka on his breath. “You work at Samuels, and you are going to tell me about the Hope Diamond. I want to know all the details.”
“Please...I'm pregnant. Please don't hurt my baby.”
“Who said anything about your baby? But good you mentioned it. I was going to punch you in your stomach; now I won't. I'll cut you instead.” He laughed as he held the knife to her chin.
“Okay. What do you want to know?” she said.
“I want to know where exactly in the store it will be held. I also want to know how many guards there will be, and camera positions and number. Then I want a diagram of all the wiring in the room and the security codes.”
My god, I don't' know any of that information, she thought. “I really don't know any of that, but if you let me go, I will see what I can do.”
Again he laughed. “Good try, but pathetic. I suggest you think about it a bit more, because if you really don't know anything, the best you can hope for is a painless end.”
She was cast into darkness when he switched off the light. She tried to recall what she knew about security. The problems was, it wasn't something they did at the store. It was outsourced to a specialist company, and she really did know nothing about it.
Think! Darn well think, girl, she told herself. What have you noticed down here? What is there that can help you? Blank walls, a chair, a light, and nothing else. Nothing else at all.
*****
Radley and Leon stood in front of Tyra's front door and knocked loudly. There was no reply. “I don't know what to do now, Leon. We've rung her and knocked on her door. If she's inside, surely she would have answered.”
“She went to work at the usual time.” Behind them, a door had opened. It was Mrs. Smith; she was the eyes and ears of the building. When she'd heard two male voices echoing on the staircase, she was curious and decided to see what all the fuss was about. “She took some flowers that a foreign-looking guy left on her doorstep last night and went to work at the usual time.”
“What did the foreign guy look like?” Leon asked.
“Blond, tall, well built, and wearing an expensive suit. He parked down the road in a red Ferrari.”
“Sounds like the same man who was at the store this morning,” Leon told Radley. “He was blond, and there was a red Ferrari on the street.”
“All right. Let’s go back to the store. This man was a client, wasn't he?” Radley asked.
Leon nodded. “Yes. Tyra sold him some jewelry. In fact, a few hundred thousand dollars’ worth.”
“Well in that case, we'll have his details at the store. Anyone spending that kind of money has to fill out a form stating that the funds used were legal funds and declared to the IRS.”
Back at the store, Radley went through the paperwork until he found the name Dima Asarov.
*****
When Sergey pressed the light switch, nothing happened. No light. It must be the bulb, he thought; she's tied up. He went outside and rummaged around in the garage. He found a bulb and grabbed a flashlight.