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"I'm beginning to hate you, you know," Mara called from inside the cubicle as she changed. Jerome smiled, leaning against the sink, crossing his arms
"Why? Because I'm getting in the way between you and Fabian?"
"No." she grumbled, zipping up the side of the dress "Because I can just tell that all of your plans are gonna be like this. Throw a party, wear disguises. You've been watching too many detective shows."
She came out, and Jerome's mouth dropped open.
If she had been beautiful before, she was absolutely stunning now. The dress was tight, body hugging in all the right places, a few inches above the knee, making her legs look even longer. The red made her skin look darker, she looked…beautiful. "Can you see the gun?" she asked.
Jerome swallowed, looking down her legs again "No," he said honestly. She smiled
"Well that's a relief," his jaw locked and he nodded. "Do you have the fake diamond, Jerome? Or are you just gonna stand there and make me feel even more uncomfortable?"
"Don't feel uncomfortable," Jerome said immediately, pulling out the necklace with the forgery out. He went behind her, and watched as she lifted up her hair, she smelt like lavender and tea, he smiled to himself, fastened the clasp, letting his fingers linger for just a moment, before pulling away. She let her hair down, nodding.
"Good forgery," she nodded. Jerome half smiled. She arched an eyebrow at him "Jerome? You can go back to the van now,"
"Right," Jerome whispered "Right yeah, good luck." And with that he left. Mara examined herself in the mirror, and after wincing, she placed the tiny microphone and speaker behind her ear.
"Can you hear me?" she asked quietly, leaving the bathroom.
"Yeah, we both can," Fabian's voice came back to her ears.
"Hi, Mara!" Jerome called in teasingly. Mara ignored him, walking into the party. It was crowded, music playing, lights flashing. Mara walked towards the bar, and sat down, turning to examine the crowds. Fabian groaned when he saw her on the screen. She looked breathtaking.
"Anyone I should talk to?" she said quietly, not wanting to make it look as if she was talking to herself. Fabian from the van looked at the different cameras, examining the people there. But it was Jerome who spoke into his microphone back to her
"You see the guy by the Willow tree?" Mara turned, "He's been looking at the diamond on your neck, like he's been waiting for it."
"I see him," Mara whispered. She smiled when the strangers eyes met hers. "What do I do?"
"Keep him engaged," Fabian encouraged "We'll use the cameras to try and match his face."
The man came over to Mara and sat down beside her. "Which agency are you with?" he asked in a low, but friendly voice.
"Armanda." She answered, smiling "Why?"
"Well, you're by far the prettiest model at this party."
Jerome stiffened at the compliments, and watched as Fabian stiffened too, but continued trying to match the face. "Why thank you," Mara blushed "Are you interested in the diamond?"
"Yes, it's quite rare," he leaned forward, holding the diamond between his fingers, keeping Mara close. She swallowed nervously. Jerome frowned
"It's a decent forgery, but if he takes out a microscope or something, I'm done for-"
"What are you talking about?" Fabian hissed "You're the best forger in the country-"
"When I need to be-"
They stopped bickering when the computer beeped. Face match.
Johnathon Brind.
Suspect in three major heists. He was their guy.
"It's him Mara," Fabian said into the microphone. Mara smiled wryly
"I already knew that," she said, in response to Fabian and John, who had told her that the gem was part of a set. "It's a shame though, the other's gone missing,"
"Missing?" he echoed, not letting go of the diamond. "Wanna go inside? It's a little chilly," Mara nodded, and he took her arm, leading her inside. Fabian watched as she was no longer visible.
"I swear to god, Jerome." Fabian hissed "If she's in trouble because you didn't put all y effort into the forgery-" there was a gun shot on the speakers. Blue eyes met brown eyes and they raced out of the van. Fabian pulling out his gun, but when they got inside, dashing past the shocked guests, John was on the floor, clutching his shoulder, and Mara was standing, breathless, holding her gun. "Mara," he whispered, hugging her tightly
"I'm fine," She smiled, shaking her head. She turned to Jerome nodding
"Good forgery,"
Jerome smiled "Good work."
"Jerome?" the figure spasmed slightly, as Fabian pulled him up, handcuffing him. Jerome met his eyes, and the man laughed "Oh my gosh, Jerome Clarke, it is you,"
Jerome smiled sadly "Hey Rusty,"
Rusty licked his lips "Last I heard you were escaping prison, and now…now you're FBI? How does that work?" the doctors rushed in at that point, to start tending to John's, or Rusty's wounds. "Never figured it would be you who took me down, Jerry,"
"I didn't," Jerome tried to defend himself, but Rusty shrugged it off
"I don't mind, Jerome. Better be you then some old Fed," Jerome pressed his lips together, a silent sign of respect, and Rusty was taken off in a stretcher, despite seeming in no pain at all.
"Old friend, Jerome?" Fabian asked, eyes bright
"No," Jerome lied "Never seen him before in my life."
"He seemed to know you," Fabian persisted
"He was delirious."
"You called him Rusty."
"And look how he responded." Jerome noted dryly.
"He knew your name."
"Who doesn't?"
Fabian sighed, but nodding "Good work, Jerome. We got him in less than two days."
Line Break
"Dude!" Eddie exclaimed, slapping Jerome's shoulder "Do you know who made this anklet? Mara Jaffray!"
"I know." Jerome sighed. Eddie's eyes widened
"Did you also know she worked for the FBI-" he stopped at Jerome's nod "Then why don't you do Operation Charm?"
Jerome sighed "I've been trying," he shook his head "She knows me too well."
"It'll be a long con," Eddie agreed "But it wouldn't take four years,"
Jerome sighed, running both hands through his hair "Get her to fall in love with me, convince her I'm in love with her, and ask her to remove the anklet? You think it'll be that easy?"
"Of course not," Eddie half smiled "But I know you can do it. Come on Jerome, you've done this con hundreds of times," Jerome nodded slowly. "What? You don't think she'll fall for it just because she's FBI? She's still a woman Jerome, and all women want love. That's the second trick of the trade. You should know. You wrote the trick book. And the rule book, for that matter."
"I guess you're right,"
Line Break
"Where are you off too?" Fabian asked, as Jerome bounded down the stairs on Saturday. Jerome stuffed his hands into his pockets
"Well you know that I've been playing the friendly con, so I'm not gonna bother keeping up pretentions. I'm allowed to go out, within my two mile radius?"
Fabian nodded "We're monitoring you Jerome, don't do anything stupid,"
"Sure thing," he nodded, leaving the house. Fabian sighed. Shaking his head.
Line Break
"I feel incredibly free," Jerome grinned. Eddie nudged him, as the two tall blonds walking through the park.
"Same here mate," he sighed "Half the criminal underworld can't wait to meet you…but with that anklet on…"
Jerome sighed, shaking his head "Well I need money. Bring the criminal underworld to me," Eddie slapped Jerome's back happily, almost giddy. Before becoming slightly serious
"Uh…Mick has been about, looking for you,"
"I was afraid of that," Jerome cocked his head, as if listening to the wind "Does he want to partner up again?" Eddie nodded, and Jerome bit his lip, an unusual thing for him to do "He can't see me with this anklet, Eddie. Hold him off till you find a way to scramble the signal."
"I can't believe you actually want to work with him," Eddie rolled his eyes "The guys a freak. And he always targets items way to high up on the list. He taunts the FBI, even more than you do,"
"We're best friends." Jerome persisted. "We've been best friends ever since I was 16. That's ten years, Eddie. He made me what I am. Without him…I'd probably be an account or something,"
"Fine," Eddie relented. "Well…if you need money, which we do. How about…that new museum that just opened up? It's within your two mile radius, it has these rare coins, selling them on the black market would be easy enough,"
"Good, good," Jerome nodded, breathing in the fresh air "But how are we gonna get it, with my anklet on?"
"I was thinking, the FBI computer, where they monitor your anklet. What if the whole system was shut down, and they decided not to tell you, because obviously you'd run, but you already know,"
"It would only take a few hours for them to fix the problem." Jerome sighed
"Then you only have a few hours to make it work."
Line Break
"Mara," Jerome called, smiling. Eddie looked up, they had been eating giant pretzels by the pond, when a girl came jogging by, head phones in, a purple head band, purple top and black shorts, her hair back in a high ponytail.
Mara stopped, turning at her name, sighing when she spotted Jerome. She pulled out earphones "Why are you always wearing a suit?" Eddie snickered under his breath, and Mara turned to him "Who's this?"
"I'm-"
"Harley." Eddie glared daggers at Jerome.
"Harley?" Mara repeated with a frown, Jerome nodded. "What do you want, Jerome?"
"Thought I'd say hi," he smiled "I mean…we work together," Mara laughed delicately. "I did help solve two cases," Mara's jaw locked, and she nodded
"Yes, you did, Jerome. Congratulations." She wiped her forehead, taking out some water. "And uh…because you've been such a helpful person, I won't tell Fabian you're hanging out with Eddie,"
Jerome glared at her, his eyes flashing. But Eddie just laughed easily. "How'd you know?"
Mara smiled "You were a suspect in the crime that put Jerome away, I interviewed you, remember?"
"I don't really remember feds," he smiled. She nodded, and then her teasing, slightly proud look softened
"We've uh…we've arrested the people in Russia, Eddie," she said quietly. Eddie's eyes widened "They're in prison. You don't need to worry about,"
"Than-" Jerome elbowed him hard, and Eddie cleared his throat "I mean, I don't know what you're talking about. Why would that matter to me?"
Mara nodded, slightly down heartened. "I guess it wouldn't." she sighed, placing in her head phone, and turning and jogging away. The boys watched her leave.
"Operation Charm is gonna be hard with her," Eddie sighed. Jerome glared at him
"I remember trying to tell you that before!"
"I don't think so."
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