Red Diamond (eBook)

Lisa Moreno (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
284 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-8067-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Clarissa Stanford is distraught over her boyfriend's unsolved murder, but intuitively knows who killed him. Fear and denial plunge her into despair and paranoia, but not before penning a confession letter to best friend Talya Solomon. Clarissa's duplicity of not revealing the acquisition of a significant red diamond to her shady Russian boss has her fleeing for her life. After Talya learns the truth, the Russian-born gemologist invents a ruse involving Iwan Kowalski, an 87-year-old Polish industrialist whose diamond collection rivals the world's best. The cohorts arrange a private auction in Zürich using Kowalski's well-known, highly prized green diamond as bait to lure the killer into their lair. The Red Diamond takes you on a thrilling international chase from the shores of Malibu through the hills of Aspen, to the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, and finally to a Moscow penthouse office suite with state-of-the-art security. On the way, Talya must outwit police, Russian mafia bodyguards, Interpol agents, and her overprotective father, an ex-Mossad agent. Strength, guile, and ingenuity will not let her be thwarted.

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Clarissa Stanford is distraught over her boyfriend's unsolved murder, but intuitively knows who killed him. Fear and denial plunge her into despair and paranoia, but not before penning a confession letter to best friend Talya Solomon. Clarissa's duplicity of not revealing the acquisition of a significant red diamond to her shady Russian boss has her fleeing for her life. After Talya learns the truth, the Russian-born gemologist invents a ruse involving Iwan Kowalski, an 87-year-old Polish industrialist whose diamond collection rivals the world's best. The cohorts arrange a private auction in Zrich using Kowalski's well-known, highly prized green diamond as bait to lure the killer into their lair. The Red Diamond takes you on a thrilling international chase from the shores of Malibu through the hills of Aspen, to the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, and finally to a Moscow penthouse office suite with state-of-the-art security. On the way, Talya must outwit police, Russian mafia bodyguards, Interpol agents, and her overprotective father, an ex-Mossad agent. Strength, guile, and ingenuity will not let her be thwarted.

Textauszug

CHAPTER 1

CLARISSA STANFORD SAT suspended in a mental storm. Fear clawed her entire being. Consequences to those who didn’t play by the rules kept repeating in her head. The warning could no longer be ignored. Later today, she hoped to correct things, make amends. But for now, it was a waiting game.

Internal conflict raged on as Clarissa stirred her hot mocha latte. Am I losing it? Maybe this is only hysterical paranoia, and I’m conjuring up demons that don’t exist!

The busy coffee house where Clarissa was passing time was just a short jaunt from the old location of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Santa Monica, California. The twenty-something crowd was simply too self-absorbed to notice the apprehensive blonde sitting alone by the window. The line of preoccupied customers attentive only to texting or gabbing on cell phones surfaced only to place an order, pick up their brew and go. At 9 a.m., few hung around to take in the mix.

At twenty-five, Clarissa thought she knew it all. She had counted on and succeeded in utilizing her great looks most of her adult life. Her trump card, possessing a sexy, curvaceous figure, proved repeatedly to be irresistible to men. She was used to getting her way—sex being her tool of choice. Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder how her life had become so complicated.

She had graduated the year before from GIA’s formidable hillside complex located in Carlsbad, California; yet, home and business ties were here in West Los Angeles, close to its previous headquarters. She sailed through UCLA, earning both her BA and MFA Degrees. Not wasting any time, she enrolled at the GIA for the Graduate Gemology program. During those months of schooling, she lived and breathed gemstones from morning until night. Despite the demanding curriculum, Clarissa garnered the highest grade in her graduating class. The new gemologist felt invincible. Then a job offer too good to be true was hers for the taking.

If Clarissa had foreseen the true depth of what she was getting herself into, she’d undo everything. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Looking down at the expensive Prada handbag, designer jeans, and pricey Louboutin shoes, Clarissa knew she had made a poor decision. Greed and naiveté were a dangerous couple, and she had chosen to dance with the devil. Guess she wasn’t that smart after all.

Upon reflection, she’d been up most of the past night stressing over her worrisome situation. When she awoke, she walked Tiffany Ann, her miniature poodle, around her condominium complex off of Barrington in Brentwood. Tired and edgy, Clarissa’s antenna was up and on alert for anyone or anything that appeared suspicious. Confident that she wasn’t being monitored or followed, the anxious blonde felt a false sense of security and returned to her apartment. Once inside, though, Clarissa’s mind continued to ricochet alarm. With nerves frayed, she simply had to get out. A caffeine fix was essential before going to meet her friend.

Like a bell going off in her head, Clarissa was startled back to the present. Someone was asking to bum a chair from her table.

“Of course, help yourself,” she responded, jittery, then glanced at her watch.

She’d left a pointed text for her best friend, Talya Solomon, the night before to meet at 11 o’clock at Le Petit Café, a French bistro not far from the coffee house. The text was self-explanatory. It was essential that she come. Clarissa knew she needed to be careful, very careful. She didn’t respond to the two texts that came back from Talya, fearful that her texting was being monitored. After all, the cell phone had come from her boss.

Then her mind zeroed in on the cause of her distress, one that would prove to be life-changing. She had been contacted by a representative for a foreign collector whose identity was withheld because of his wish for anonymity. The messenger congratulated her on earning the top spot in her graduating class. As a result, there was a job in the offing. Would she be interested, and could she meet for dinner the following night? His employer would only be in the United States through the weekend.

Clarissa’s curiosity and ego got the better of her. The heavily accented representative arranged a meeting with her in La Jolla at George’s restaurant the following night. Depending upon the outcome of that conversation, a second appointment would be arranged in Santa Monica on Saturday for a quick intro with the mysterious individual who was interested in hiring her for a healthy six-figure amount. A coffee house came to mind—this coffee house—a safe house.

Clarissa sidestepped the unsettling memory. She peered at her watch again. It was only 9:40 a.m. Her insides churned. Time was moving by robotically, and her patience was losing ground. The young gemologist was too anxious to stay put for another hour. Instead, she decided to drive to the beach and listen to the peaceful sounds of the ocean. Then she’d return to the café in time to make her appointment with Tal. She could always count on her best friend.

Clarissa would finally tell Talya Solomon the whole truth. She would explain why she kept the whole matter under wraps. The dangerous reasons for her lies. How else could she explain the expensive condo, sports car, furnishings, and clothes? Her job as an appraiser for an international billionaire who chose to stay anonymous was simply smoke and mirrors.

Then something inexplicable caused goosebumps to trigger across her body and make her hands clammy. Clarissa sensed eyes looking at her but saw no one.

 

OUTSIDE, ANGLING across 26th Street, the morning sun reflected the silhouette of a gray sedan with a lone male driver mirrored against the window where Clarissa sat within. The man sat chuckling to himself.

“This is going to be a slam dunk, no doubt about it.”

The assassin had nothing but time and had received a thick wad of cash in advance. A fully loaded Glock 9mm pistol was sitting next to him ready for the job at hand—though he had alternatives. The killer had been on her tail for the past twenty-four hours. Watching from afar, he saw her every move. She’d give any guy a hard-on.

In another time, he would approach the mark and take her somewhere private to have his way but not today. The moneyman behind the contract wanted a clean job, and sex wasn’t part of the deal. Damn, he thought. He could use the physical release. His groin twisted in hungry frustration. Then he turned on the news.

“Same old shit. Just another day in bullshit paradise,” he said mockingly.

He shoved another cigarette between his brown stained teeth and lit up. His sunglasses and baseball cap shielded the moving sun and his identity. The hit man could be patient. The surroundings paid him no mind. Cars whizzed by with drivers immune to anything but red lights. His car was merely a part of the sprawling landscape that made Santa Monica a popular destination point. By the conclusion of the day, Clarissa Stanford would be just another dead end.

 

THE BEACH COMMUNITY of Venice, California, was a fifteen-minute drive to the coast. The community boasted a reputation for being a haven for artists, fashionistas, actors, and the misunderstood. The streets always teamed with walkers, cyclists, and the curious. A mixture of quaint shops lined Windward Circle and Pacific right down to the beach. It was common to see the homeless and downtrodden with cart in tow begging for handouts, while rich, older men prowled the establishments for the young innocence they had lost years before. In Venice, anything was possible.

Talya Solomon was almost finished peddling her ten-speed down Main Street on her return trip home. The eight-mile trek she rode often hadn’t changed since she started using this course six months back. The summer heat spell rose toward the 87°F predicted high, causing excessive perspiration to run down her forehead and cloud up her wraparound sunglasses. Her chestnut brown hair twisted through the opening in the back of her Dodger baseball cap was saturated. A toned, muscular body emerged through her tight spandex tank top and shorts as she peddled south. Talya kept her twenty-nine-year-old body in top physical condition.

The scenery of locals and tourists crowding the sidewalks and bike paths usually made for good distraction. But not today—Talya’s mind was elsewhere. She couldn’t keep from thinking about the alarming text message her friend Clarissa had left on her cell the night before.

 

HAV2 TALK

NEED HELP! N DANGER

DO NOT CALL! MEET 2MORRO

11AM FRENCH CAFÉ...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.5.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-8067-3 / 1098380673
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-8067-0 / 9781098380670