The Player's Club: Lincoln (20 page)

“I didn’t know there were that many, and it’s not like it’s written in huge letters,” Finn defended himself. “Wait, let me get on the phone, okay?”

He wandered off, cell phone in hand. Juliana refreshed everyone’s coffee. She had been surprisingly subdued. She wasn’t wearing makeup, which was a shock in and of itself. She looked tired, and young, and defenseless. Beautiful, but without the fierce confidence her cosmetics usually emphasized. Her burnt-honey hair was pulled in a high ponytail. She was…muted.

He started to stroke her shoulder, stopping just before his fingertips brushed the nap of cashmere on her lavender sweater. She glanced over, hopeful.

“I’m going to…” What could he do? What else could he do? “…order up some sandwiches. We’re coming on lunchtime.”

Ignoring her disappointed gaze, he wandered down the hallway to her bedroom. He quickly popped a lunch order into a local restaurant on his iPhone, specifying delivery. When he turned around to go back to the “war room” of her living room, she was standing there, closing the door.

“Don’t, Juliana,” he said, his voice as cold as his chest felt. “I don’t want to get into this with you. Not now.”

“I’m not going to have another chance,” she said, her voice as hot as his was frozen. She put her hands on his chest, stopping him before he could step around her. She spoke in a low, searing whisper. “After tonight I think you’re going to do everything you can to avoid me and never see me, or think of me, again.”

He didn’t answer. He just looked at her impatiently, trying to figure out why she was putting them through this much pain.

Her eyes pleaded in a way her voice didn’t. “I could give you a lot of reasons for why I did what I did. I thought a reality show was the only way someone like me could make money. I never went to college—I always thought I’d have a trust fund to fall back on, never paid attention to what my actual finances were. Besides, I never thought I’d need a marketable skill, and now that I do, I didn’t realize I didn’t have any other than…well, being myself.”

Words of protest rose in him, but he kept silent.

“I can’t act, can’t model and don’t have a damned thing that anyone else would want to pay for…other than some obvious, sleazy things,” she said, with a bitter enough laugh that he couldn’t help himself. He reached out, shaking her.

“You want me to feel pity for you? Because I won’t.” He gave her another slight shake, punctuating it. “I’m not going to feel sorry for you because you refuse to see the amazing, valuable person you are. So try selling yourself short to somebody else, because I’m not buying.”

The words were galvanizing. She stood straighter, her eyes going an electric violet. Her chin went up.

“I wasn’t going to give you reasons, because I know what they really are. Excuses,” she said sharply. “Before you cut me off forever, I apologize. I am better than what I’ve let myself become. I’ve got absolutely no excuse for using people I care about and hurting people I love. Doing that made me just as bad as everybody I’ve ever hated. So I’m really, truly sorry.

“You can accept that, or not. But I didn’t want you walking away without at least telling you as much.”

He waited until she’d almost gone before he said in a low, tortured voice, “I loved you.”

She sighed, paused.

“Believe it or not, I love you, too,” she said. “God, isn’t that a kicker?”

He didn’t say another word. She opened the door and walked out. He followed her, only to hear her clap her hands together.

“Okay. Let’s get organized about this. George will be out of the house. If he goes by his usual routine, he’s not going to be back until one or two. I don’t think it’ll take more than one hour to search the house and find the flash disk.”

Finn came back from the balcony. “I got the type of security system George uses,” he said smugly. “I called the guy who puts in all the family’s stuff, told him I liked George’s. He pointed out it’s the same one I have.”

Terrence rubbed his hands together. “Now we’re talking.”

“Of course, he couldn’t get me a copy of his front door key,” Finn said. “Terrence, does your security expertise extend to picking locks?”

“Only if they’re electronic.”

“Don’t worry,” Lincoln said. “I’ve got that one.”

All of them, except Juliana, shifted to stare at him.

He took a deep breath, then plunged forward. “Legacy of a misspent youth. For a good portion of my teens and twenties I was doing things that weren’t technically legal.” He shrugged. “I’m not proud of what I did, but the people I stole from were plenty rich enough, usually jerks enough to deserve it, and I’m completely reformed now, anyway.”

They remained silent. Then Finn’s face cracked into a wide smile. Terrence, on the other hand, simply gaped.

“You guys are so cool.” Terrence spoke reverently.

“I always suspected,” Scott added, while Amanda just shook her head.

Juliana, on the other hand, sent him a look of support, and pride. He was opening up. He felt the old fears—screaming at him not to tell anyone—slowly loosening their death grip on him.

Finn’s phone rang again, and he quickly shushed them. “It’s George,” he said. They all went still as a morgue. “Hey, George, what’s going on?”

Lincoln felt ire bubble up inside him. From Finn’s nasty expression, George was finally calling with his demands.

“George, do you really hate us enough to want to blackmail us? No, don’t answer that.” Finn handed the phone away. “Linc, he wants to talk to you.”

Lincoln took the phone. “What do you want, George?”

“I want you to know that when you go to jail, I’m the one who put you there.” George’s voice was shaded with contempt, underscored by smug triumph. “I’m taking this little video Juliana made, and I’m going to the police. The chief has been looking for some rich, petty, entitled guys to nail to the wall, and you bunch couldn’t be more perfect if you were ordered out of a damned catalog.”

“If you were going to give that straight to the police, you’d have done it by now,” Lincoln said in a tired voice. “So what do you really want?”

There was a pause. Then, bitterly he said, “I want you to spread the word with all those contacts you somehow have. The ones that have booted me out of almost every nightclub and hot spot in San Francisco. I’m tired of being a damned leper because you think you’re so much better than me.”

“Done.” This could be easier than he thought, Lincoln hoped. Though the acid burning in his chest told him differently. “I suppose you want back in the club, too.”

“Like hell. You guys are just pussies now,” George said dismissively. “I’m starting my own club.”

“Good for you. Anything else?”

“Money,” George spat out. “I think you guys owe me some, for the emotional distress I’ve been through since you shut me out.”

Lincoln shook his head. When Finn looked at him quizzically, he pantomimed money, rubbing his fingertips together. Finn’s corresponding gesture suggested exactly what he thought of George’s demand, which almost made him laugh.

“How much?” he said instead, when he could trust himself to keep the mirth out of his voice.

“Two million ought to do it.”

No problem—not laughing now. “You’re out of your mind.”

“Finn’s got it, believe me. Maybe not liquid, but he’s got plenty,” George said. Lincoln sensed that it wasn’t just poor planning on his part—he wanted to hurt them. “And even though I can’t prove it, I know you’re rolling in it, too.”

“What makes you think we won’t just go to jail?” Lincoln said. “It’s not like we committed murder.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never liked publicity,” George said craftily. “You think I don’t know why you really put the rule in, about nobody talking about the club? What the hell do you have to hide?”

Lincoln stiffened. Then, inexplicably, he searched for Juliana. She looked pissed, like an avenging angel. A really sexy avenging angel, admittedly. Once you got past the anger, though…he could sense the love, and the support.

“That used to be true,” Lincoln said quietly. “Now? I think I’d rather take my chances.”

George spluttered on the other end of the line. “I’m going to take this to the police! I’m going to take it directly to Chief Freedman, when he gets into the office on Monday! And I’m not going to rest until you and that smarmy cousin of mine know exactly what sort of—”

“Whatever,” Lincoln said, and hung up on him. “Okay, now we’re really going to need to steal that thing.”

12

“ELEVEN O’CLOCK,” Juliana said quietly, sitting in Lincoln’s Maybach as they headed toward George’s house in Pacific Heights. “Go time. Are we ready?”

“More than,” Terrence said, practically bouncing in the seat next to her. Lincoln was driving; Finn was sitting in the passenger seat.

Juliana tapped at the microphone on her sweater. “How about you guys? Scott, Amanda?”

“We’re set up.” Scott’s ghostly voice was in her ear, from the tiny earbud Terrence had provided.

“You have the coolest toys,” Finn said with approval, turning to fist-bump Terrence. “When all this is over, I had the perfect idea for a player outing. Did you know there isn’t an adventure camp anywhere that lets you be, like, a jewel thief? We could…”

“We could focus,” Lincoln suggested, cutting across Finn’s enthusiasm. Or trying to, anyway… Finn mouthed “we’ll talk later” to Terrence, then winked at Juliana.

She was going to miss this. For all the damned parties she’d been to in her life, all her so-called “friends,” she’d never been with people that she could just have fun with. The need to impress had always been foremost. She’d never been dressed in crappy clothes and hung around the house like she had with these guys. In just twelve hours, she felt closer to these few folks than she had with anyone else in her entire life.

All it took was planning to commit a crime. Who knew?

Lincoln pulled into the driveway, and Finn gave them the gate code. The iron door swung open at a snail’s pace. “Hope nobody’s watching.”

From the far end of the street, they could make out Scott and Amanda’s covert surveillance car: a hybrid Lexus. It blended in, fortunately. “Eyes on,” Amanda said, sounding a little breathless and excited. It was sort of a buzz, Juliana had to admit. “And I’ve got the police scanner on again, so we’ll be monitoring.”

“Next time, I want to be the one doing something exciting,” Scott groused.

“We’ll see what we can do to make sure you’re not bored.” Amanda’s voice had a hint of promise.

“Nothing I can hear, please, God,” Lincoln muttered, then Juliana saw him wince when he realized his mike, too, was on. Finn and Juliana laughed. Terrence simply kept bouncing.

“Okay, let’s do this thing.” Finn looked and sounded like a five-year-old. “My suggestion—pretend that we’re drunk, and that I’m his bad cousin who’s going to use his house to party while he’s out. People probably use his house all the time. Neighbors aren’t going to think anything of people partying. Sedate people, however, are probably going to get a visit from the cops.”

“No problem.” Juliana knew she could handle this test.

They piled out of the car. Juliana did her best “oops, I’m tipsy” slight swagger. Lincoln laughed, though it sounded a little forced. It occurred to her that she’d never seen him drunk. Probably never wanted to give up control that way.

Except when he was with her.

Stay on point, she chided herself. Of all the times to get sidetracked, this was probably the all-time worst.

Terrence, unfortunately, got too much into character. He all but shouted with laughter as he stumbled his way to the front door.

“Rein it in, Barrymore,” Lincoln said, and Terrence promptly dialed back his performance under Lincoln’s sharp glare. Finn kept laughing, though. They crowded to the front door, their backs hiding Lincoln as he knelt and brought out a few tools.

“I’m out of practice,” Lincoln said, his fingers moving deftly. For a man with such big hands, their movements were slight and graceful, like a magician’s.

He certainly did have magic hands. And she’d sure miss them.

Before she could take back the thought, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

“Holy crap,” Finn said. “How could you not tell me about this?” He was kidding—but not entirely, Juliana noticed. Lincoln sighed.