Waiting by the phone for Jonathan to call became a daily thing. Jennifer laughed at herself. She didn’t wait for a boy to call when she was a teenager, but now, at nearly 30, this guy had turned her world upside down. And she loved it. And she hated it. Mostly she hated waiting. She wanted him close. Here or there, it didn’t matter. Just close to her.
She was lying on the couch, attempting to read a book she had picked up on the last trip she and Suzanne had taken into town. Concentrating was difficult. Thoughts of Jonathan kept running through her mind. She longed to talk to him., to hear his voice. However, what her heart wanted was to be near him. To have his arms around her, to kiss him…
The sound of the phone ringing startled her. Picking it up, she answered, “Hello.”
“Jennifer?”
“Hi, Pa! How are you tonight?” So close. So far. She sighed.
“I… We are well. Jonathan says he’ll call you soon. I would like to speak to your Mother if I may.”
“Thank you. Tell him I can’t wait! Momma is making tea. Let me get her for you.” She set the phone down on the table and walked into the kitchen. “Momma?”
“Oui, Jenny,” she called from behind the cabinet door.
“Ah, there you are. Papa is on the telephone for you.”
“Oui. Merci!” She stood up and handed Jennifer a box. “Would you finish fixing the tea, s’il vous plaît?” She headed into the living room.
“Oui, Momma.” She opened the box, scooped out the loose leaves and put them into the tea strainer, and placed it into the pot. She let them steep for about five minutes and then drew them back out. She pulled two mugs down from the cupboard and poured the tea. She placed the cups along with cream and sugar on a tray and made her way back to the living room.
Suzanne was finishing her call, “Oui… Oui… Parfait. Merci. Je t’ aime.” Turning to her daughter, “Merci, Jenny. The phone is now for you.”
“Merci, Momma.” Setting the tray on the coffee table, Jennifer took the receiver from her Mother. “Hello.”
“Hello, Darling.” Jonathan’s smooth voice reached her ears. She could feel her body relax just from his tone. Oh, yeah, she had it bad. She would give him just about anything he wanted.
“Darling! I’m so glad to hear your voice. How are you?”
“Horrible. I miss you like crazy. And this thing just took a very frustrating turn.” He was rubbing his forehead, hoping to avoid a full headache. “I am not going to be able to get back to Maryland this weekend as I had hoped.”
Jennifer was very disappointed. “Oh, I’m sorry, Darling. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
He could hear her disappointment but was glad to see she wasn’t going to dwell on it. Instead, she was willing to help make things better. “Actually, yes, there is.”
“Name it. I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Good. I want you to get on the plane tomorrow afternoon.”
She laughed, “What?”
“I do not want to be away from you this weekend, so I’m sending Leonard to pick you and your Mother up. Just take the Jag to the DC airport and meet him there. He should be there by noon. Oh, and do me one more favor?”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Bring the emerald and diamond set. I think we can find a place to use it here.”
“That sounds amazing. I’ll make sure it’s packed.” She couldn’t help but grin. The idea of seeing him made her heart skip a beat, or maybe even two. “Without a doubt, this is the best idea I’ve heard all week. I can not wait to see you!”
Before Jonathan answered her, Stanley came bursting into the office, “Mr. Hart! I’ve got it!”
“Me, too, Sweetheart. Um... Let me call you back later. Something just came up.” He said into the phone. “I love you, Darling.” Then looking at Stanley as he replaced the receiver, “This had better be good Stanley.”
“Yes, Sir, Mr. Hart, Sir.” Stanley stumbled over his words, papers threatening to spill out of his arms. “After going through our purchase orders, and talking to the company that ships our supplies, I think I have this figured out.” He set his papers down on the conference table, handing Jonathan a file of highlights. “Someone set up a dummy account in the Cayman Islands. Then they would deposit checks we wrote for supplies into that account and write checks for the correct amount from that account. So it looks like we are buying supplies from Art Direct; however, the shipments all come from Art Supplies Inc. They have been doing this since 1971. Five years of this type of skimming, and they have pocketed around 3 million.”
“Who is making the purchases over there?” Jonathan asked him, flipping through and scanning over the pages.
Stanley turned and moved some pages out of his way, “Well, there are a couple of people who do most of the ordering. Zach Martin and Gabriel Wade.” he answered, pulling another sheet off of his stack and handing it to Jonathan.
***
“A trip to California. What do you think of that, Momma?” Jennifer asked. The thought of seeing Jonathan as soon as tomorrow thrilled her heart.
“Oui! So exciting! How thoughtful of Jonathan. It will be fun to see what your life will be like.”
“Wow… I hadn’t thought of it just like that.” She took a sip of her tea. “I wonder what all we will do… or what all has changed since the last time we were there.”
“I bet much has changed, chéri.”
“Oui. Especially since the last time you were there.” She smiled at her Mother. “The four of us now get to see LA through Jonathan’s eyes!”
***
Lieutenant Gillis and several officers joined Jonathan and his crew in his office. He gave them copies of their paperwork, with the facts outlined and highlighted. All of the evidence they had, which lead to the name they figured was associated with the account based on all they could see.
Now, it was up to the officers. It was their turn to make the arrest, freeze all assets and prosecute all parties involved. They could go on up the chain from here and get leads on the international contacts as well as the local ones. As far as they were concerned, Jonathan and his team were officially out of this case. They had done their part. Cairo knew where their paintings were. Stanley and Warren would straighten out the issues with the vendors, should anything else arise. Jonathan and Stephen would smooth over any problems with their collectors.
***
Jonathan handed Stephen the keys to open the front door of the house, while he and Max grabbed the packages out of the back of the Bentley. Stephen’s contacts in Cairo had come through gloriously. Jonathan was glad they were willing to work out a deal with him. Call it spoils of war of sorts. He helped them solve their theft; they would allow him to purchase the paintings.
As long as he agreed they would have first say at repurchasing them should he decide to sell them. “I would not hear of anything else. That absolutely can be done,” he had told them.
Standing in what would be their house, he intended to hang the Renoir and the Van Gogh immediately. However, as he looked around the unfurnished home, he decided to just stand the paintings against the wall for the time being. Until he could bring Jennifer home. This would be their living room. They would hang them together.
Jonathan checked his watch. “Time to pick the ladies up at the airport, gentlemen. Shall we go?”