London set her wine on the table and picked up her tablet. “I don’t know how or why he came across this, but he showed me this article.” She turned her tablet for them to see.
Nikki was already across the room pouring wine for her and Audrey.
Audrey said, “Yeah, that’s why we were at the apartment. We were digging to find out when the auction is happening and trying to see if the insurance company has already appraised it.”
“What do we do now?” London asked.
“First, sit down and tell us what happened with Ezra.” Audrey pulled her toward the couch where Nikki refilled her wine.
“I don’t think we have to worry about him telling anyone. He was mad and all, but mostly he was hurt that I lied to him and used him.”
“I’m not asking in we’re in danger. We’re good at covering our tracks. I mean, what happened with the two of you?”
London curled up in the corner of the couch. “Doesn’t matter now. He’ll never speak to me again.” She shook her head. “He wouldn’t let explain. Not that I could say much, but I could tell that it didn’t matter what came out of my mouth. He wasn’t going to listen.”
“Then he’s a dick,” Nikki said, plopping on the other end of the couch.
“Shh,” Audrey said. “London is really upset.”
“As she should be. If he won’t even listen...”
“I really like him. More than I probably should.”
“Would it help if you explained to him what we’re doing?” Audrey asked.
“What?” Nikki yelled. “Give some rando the power to put us all away? What are you smoking?”
“You told Wade everything and trusted him.”
“But he’s Wade. We have history and his is far from clean.”
“And what about his partners? Isn’t one of them an ex-cop? He told them, and yet, we’re still here.”
“He didn’t tell them everything.”
London raised a hand. “You can stop fighting. It doesn’t matter. I tried to tell him that I’m not some forger looking for a quick buck. That we’re trying to get revenge on the rich assholes who take advantage of people.”
“And that wasn’t good enough for him?” Nikki scoffed.
“He questioned my ability to be like Robin Hood because I put him at risk by using him.”
“We wouldn’t let anything happen to him,” Audrey said.
“I know. But he doesn’t.” She sighed. “Like I said. It doesn’t matter. We just need to come up with a plan.”
“Well, if none of your toppers worked, Moore gets away with his millions,” Nikki said.
“Or he’ll pass them on to Jared and Mia’s dads,” Audrey added.
London waved a hand in the direction of the box. “The last one is in the box. I was too afraid to open it.”
Nikki jumped up and grabbed the box. She gave it a little shake. “Not shattered,” she said with a smile. Then, she flipped up the lid.
After moving some paper aside, she winced.
“Fuck,” London said.
“It’s not totally destroyed.” Nikki pulled out a piece of the topper. The tip of the spire had broken off. “I say we try super glue.”