He said, "Do exactly what I say and you won’t get hurt."

"What do you want?!" I moaned as he dug the gun deeper into my back. Fear swept through me.

"We’re going for a little ride," he said.

I heard a car approaching fast. The car came to a screeching stop and the man forced me into the back seat The man gagged me and tied a blindfold over my eyes. The car sped off. We traveled in silence for ten or fifteen minutes and then the car stopped. I heard a garage door go up and then we drove inside and stopped the engine. The garage door closed, then my door opened and someone grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the car. I hit my shoulder on the door and pain shot through me like an arrow.

Once inside they sat me on a chair, removed my gag, and tied my hands behind my back. A door slammed. I didn’t know if I was alone or if someone was still there with me. Then I heard the faint sound of someone breathing.

"What do you want with me?" I said.

"Shut up! You’ll find out soon enough," a male voice said. He had a Massachusetts accent just like Rebekah. I wondered if he were a member of the mob. A few minutes later the door opened. It sounded like several people entered the room.

"Mr. Turner. It seems you have some property that belongs to us."

"What property is that?"

"Don’t play coy with us. You know what I’m talking about."

"Why don’t you just tell what it is, and if I have it I’ll tell you."

"Diamonds."

"Oh, that. Those belong to you?"

"Yes, and you’re going to return them aren’t you?"

"Sure, no problem. How did you know I had them?"

"You made the mistake of going to visit Melanie in the hospital. We didn’t kill her because we figured whoever had the diamonds would contact her."

"Listen. I knew nothing about the diamonds. A client just gave me some pottery in exchange for legal services. He didn’t tell me about the diamonds. Melanie just found them by accident when she was trying to sell the pottery."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, it’s the truth. I don’t know anything about what you guys are into, and I don’t care. The diamonds are in a safety deposit box at Valley View Bank. We can go get them right now."

"That’s exactly what we’re going to do."

"Good. I don’t want the diamonds. I knew they were trouble the first time I heard about them."

They led me back to the car and threw me inside. We drove another twenty minutes before the car stopped. I figured we were at the Valley View Bank as I could hear the traffic on LBJ Freeway in the background.

"All right, Mr. Turner. I’m going into the bank with you. You’re going to take me to the safety deposit box and get me the diamonds. Then we are going to come back to the car. Once we are at a safe distance I’ll let you go."

"No way. I don’t want to see who you are. If I see your face you’ll have to kill me. Untie me and then disappear. When you’re gone, I’ll take off the mask and go into the bank and get the diamonds. I’ll bring them back here and leave them in the car. I’ll go back into the bank and wait ten minutes before I come out."

"Do you think I’m an idiot or something? As soon as you get inside you’ll call the police or notify security. I can’t risk two million dollars."

"Two million dollars?"

"Yes, why do you think we’ve kept searching for six months? Schwartz was supposed to deliver them to us but he betrayed us."

Melanie had lied to me. She must of planned to cheat me. It suddenly dawned on me that she hadn’t called me when she got to her sisters. I was confused and angry. I said, "You know who I am. You know I have a family. If I betrayed you it would be suicide . Believe me this is the best way to handle it for your sake and for mine. If you go in there with a gun in my back someone might get suspicious and then it will be all over. It’s too dangerous. Trust me. My way is best."

"All right. But believe me I will kill you and your family if I don’t get the diamonds."

"I know. You’ll get them. Don’t worry."

They untied my hands and I heard each of the car doors slam. I waited several minutes to be sure they were gone and took off the blindfold. Glancing around, it appeared everything was normal. I opened the car door and walked slowly into the bank. The thought of running to a security guard crossed my mind, but I knew that was too risky. I didn’t really know who I was up against. If it were the mob, the police couldn’t protect me or my family. I headed for the elevator and went downstairs to the vault.

The receptionist smiled as I walked up to her.

"I need to get into my box."

"Okay," she said and pointed to the log book. I signed in and she got up and led me into the vault. We both put in our keys and opened it. She carried the box into a private stall and set it down. I thanked her, and she left. I opened the box and lifted the felt bag.

It was too light. Panic ripped through me like a chain saw. The bag was empty. Oh my God! Melanie must have switched bags on me. . . . The rubber band. She sent me for a rubber band to give her time to make the switch. Oh God! No!

I fell back hard against the side of the cubicle. I heard a voice. "Are you all right in there?"

"Yes, I’m fine," I said as I tried to figure out why she had taken them. She must have planned it all along. Make the mobsters think I have the diamonds, and she gets away clean. Brilliant, but what a cold heartless woman.

My mind began to spin out of control. I thought of Rebekah and my children being mowed down by machine guns. Blood was gushing from their wounds. I could hear them wailing. What should I do? Oh, my God! Help me. Okay, get hold of yourself. Think.

I knew if went outside without the diamonds they would kill me on the spot. I had no choice now but to notify a security guard of the situation. I got up and headed for the receptionist. There was a man with her who was signing in the log book.

"Ma’am. I need to talk to a security officer," I whispered.

She looked at me with fear in her eyes. "What’s wrong?"

"I don’t have time to explain. Just get a security officer down here immediately."

The receptionist picked up the phone but before she could punch in the extension the man pulled a gun and pointed it at us. She screamed. We both raised our hands. "Get inside and get me those diamonds," he said.

He pushed us back into the vault and stuck the gun in my face. "Get the diamonds now!"

I rushed into the cubicle and picked up the safety deposit box. I knew he’d probably kill me just as soon as he found out I didn’t have the diamonds. I came out of the cubicle and ran straight at him like a linebacker after a quarterback. He fired at me and I felt the box slam into my chest. I fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of me.