The Arrogant Thief

by Mallory Crowe

  Melissa ran her fingers along Gage’s face, trying to gently wake him up. Looking over at the comfortable bed, she wished she could lift him up, but considering her lack of upper body strength, she’d be more likely to drop him and cause him even more trouble.

  Well, if she couldn’t bring him to the bed, she could bring the bed to him. She pulled off a pillow and the big comforter, ironically a blue and white floral pattern, and ran them over to him. It was easy enough to lift his head just enough to push a pillow under it and cover him with the comforter.

  Once she was done, she glanced around the room, looking for anything she could use to help him, but there was nothing. Poor Gage could be dying in front of her and there was nothing she could do. She sat with her knees folded under her, but the cold crept through her jeans and seemed to infiltrate her body. The idea of leaving Gage to lie on the floor while she sat on a warm, comfortable bed seemed utterly wrong.

  But she couldn’t stay here and freeze. Once again, she compromised and grabbed another pillow and the sheet. A sheet was hardly enough warmth, but it was a king size, so she could fold it in half. After flattening the comforter she’d wrapped around Gage, she had just enough blanket to lie on and pulled the sheet over her. Gage must really be sleeping if none of this movement woke him up.

  Once she was settled, she realized that the comforter did almost nothing to make things more comfortable. The cold concrete still felt like concrete, but at least she wasn’t directly on the cold surface.

  She nudged closer to Gage and could feel his warmth through the blanket. She hoped he was getting a little bit of heat from her as well. It was literally one of the only things she had to offer him at the moment.

  She set her head on the pillow and stared at him. It seemed odd, as if she were invading his privacy to stare at him while he was in this vulnerable position. But she supposed that privacy had kind of flown out the window. At this point, she was more focused on survival.

  But at least Gage was here now. Well, she wasn’t happy he was here by any means, but even being unconscious, his presence was comforting. He knew how to handle these things. He knew how to handle these people. Compared to her ignorance to pretty much everything she was faced with now, he would know what to do. He would save them.

  But how did he get here? She was putting a lot of faith in a man who had ended up in the same situation as her. He probably could’ve killed all those guys with just the coffeepot. Sure, electronics were his specialty, but Gage could handle anything. Couldn’t he?

  She closed her eyes, as though he might hear her doubting him mentally. Hell, at this point, she was doubting everything. Peter had been so worried about her working with Scott and Toni, despite all the assurances that she’d be fine. And she had swatted away all of those concerns as though they were a pest that needed to leave her alone. But now that she was in this cold, barren room, wondering whether someone was going to walk in and shoot her at any given second, those concerns didn’t seem all that unreasonable.

  But there was nothing she could do about it now. Even if she could go back in time, she wouldn’t change her decision to work with Hart Securities. She might stay at a more reputable hotel, but she wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

  Just then, Gage stirred against her. Pushing herself up on an elbow, she looked down for any sign of consciousness. When she saw him wince and groan a bit, she let out a sigh of relief. “Gage,” she said softly.

  His eyes blinked open, and she finally saw those beautiful blues. She never thought she’d be happier to look into those eyes, but she could stare at them forever. “Hey,” she said as those eyes met hers.

  He blinked a few more times and winced. Considering the headache she had when she woke up, she could only imagine. “Is this a dream?” he asked.

  “It wouldn’t be a good one.”

  “You’re on top of me. Can’t be that bad.”

  Was he flirting with her? It hardly seemed like the time.... Maybe not responding to that would be best. “Are you okay?”

  “Not dead yet. At least I don’t think I am.” He sat up. “Where are we?”

  She inched away from him to give him a bit more space. “I don’t know.”

  “How long have we been here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Who took us?”

  “I don’t know.” He looked questioningly over at her, and she continued, “I’m sorry. I was knocked out at my motel room and the next thing I knew, I was here. I didn’t even see anyone until they dropped you off. I tried to get something, a description or anything, but everything happened so fast and I—”

  Gage reached over and took her hand in his. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out together. As a team.”

  She looked down to where his big hand was covering hers. Them, a team? That was the last thing she expected to hear. But she supposed they were stuck together. They’d really have to be a team now....

  “First things first. Let’s get off this floor.”

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to put you on the bed, but—”

  He held up a hand to stop her as he gingerly stood and picked up the blankets and pillows. “Let’s start some ground rules.” He walked over to the bed. “Rule one, no apologizing anymore. The only one who should be apologizing for anything is the people who did this.”

  Melissa pushed herself up and looked to where Gage was now lying back against the bed. It seemed odd that that was the first thing he’d do. He wasn’t going to even try to get out?

  “You’re just going to lie down?”

  “Eesh. I tell you not to apologize and you go straight to judging me?”

  “I’m sorry, I—”

  “You’re not good at following rules, are you?” At this point, he was lying down with his eyes closed.

  She rolled her eyes and wasn’t sure whether she was upset at him or her inability to follow one simple instruction. Instead of answering him, she let out a little huff and went to the far side of the bed, wanting to escape the cold floor now that he’d removed all the blankets. She sat on the very edge of the bed.

  “I’m not trying to get out because I don’t see the point. No vulnerable points.”

  “You can try to knock down the door,” she pointed out.

  “And what if I get it open? You think they locked people up in here and then left it alone? There’s at least one guy, I’m guessing more, out there. I don’t want to dislocate my shoulder pushing that door down just to get shot on the other side. They want something, and soon they’re going to tell us. And then we can look for vulnerable spots.”

  “What if they leave us in here for days or weeks to suffer?”

  “There’s no toilet.”

  Oh Lord. “Trust me, that has come to my attention. “

  “But there’s an oddly nice bed? I’ve been held captive a few times, and none of them have had a setup like this.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means they want something from us and we’re going to be moved soon.”

  “What?”

  “Nice bed, so they’re not trying to make us suffer. No bathroom. If they didn’t want us to suffer, why make me shit in a corner? It doesn’t add up. Ergo, they’re going to move us out of here any minute now.”

  “You can’t possibly—”

  The door opened as though the fates were proving his point. Rather, they were probably being recorded right now and the guy in charge of all this chose now as his big entrance.

  She and Gage both looked to the door and saw two armed guards all dressed in black. They weren’t pointing any guns at them, but the side holsters they each wore showed their handguns very clearly.

  “Let’s go,” said the guard on the left.

  She looked to Gage. If they were a team, he was officially the leader. If he thought it was safe, she’d follow him. Though once again he was giving off that nonchalant attitude, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. She was pretty sure everything abo
ut her emanated fear right now. Trying to take a cue from him, she took a deep breath and released it slowly. She could do this. So maybe she wasn’t a badass like him, but she wasn’t totally innocent. Considering what she and Peter had been through, this was nothing. So what if a stranger wanted to kill her? She’d faced down her own father and survived.

  As powerful as the thought was, somehow it didn’t make her feel any better about her current situation.

  They moved farther through the large warehouse. There were aisles and aisles of pallets of cardboard boxes wrapped with stretch wrap. The shelves stretched up super high, maybe two stories of storage space. It was no warmer here than it had been in the room, but Melissa figured she’d keep her complaints to herself until she knew more about what was happening.

  The guards led them all the way down the aisle until they reached an ominously placed card table with three chairs around it. Two on the side closest to them and one chair across from them.

  “Have a seat,” said the guard.

  She narrowed her eyes at him as she pulled the chair back and sat. If nothing else to get her feet off the ground. Poor things. At this point, she might lose all feeling in her toes thanks to this floor.

  Looking over to Gage, she tried to get some sign of reassurance. She’d give anything to hear him say everything would be okay, even if it was a lie.

  But surprisingly enough, they weren’t waiting long. Maybe less than a minute after she’d sat, she heard the click-clack of heels walking toward them. It must be someone powerful because each of the guards stood a bit taller as the woman approached.

  Upon seeing the mystery woman, she started to wonder whether the men just stood straighter to impress her. The woman was a total showstopper, and from the way she carried herself, she seemed to know it.

  She eyed Melissa and Gage for a quick moment before she strode over, pulled the chair out, and crossed her legs, allowing her pencil skirt to slide up her thigh.

  Melissa raised an eyebrow. This was the last thing she expected to be confronting them. She debated saying something but stopped herself. This wasn’t a pleasant meeting, so she didn’t have to worry about pleasantries.

  The woman looked them over before taking out a cigarette and lighting up. Great. Cigarette smoke was the last thing she needed right now. The woman brought the cigarette to her lips, leaving a little circle of bright-red lip gloss around the butt as she took a deep drag. Her platinum-blonde hair and pale skin made the red lipstick and bright-red nails stand out starkly. Her black suit screamed money, and if Melissa wasn’t sure of it before now, she definitely knew she was out of her league.

  The woman eyed them both silently for a while, and Melissa wondered whether she could hear her heart beating fast in her chest.

  “Well, you sure aren’t in a hurry, are you?” said Gage nonchalantly.

  The woman turned her gaze to him, and the side of her mouth ticked up slightly. “On the contrary. I’m in a great hurry. I’m just trying to figure out if I made a mistake bringing you two here.”

  “Well, I’m not known for being very forgiving, so I’d say yeah. You definitely made a mistake bringing me here.”

  Now she smiled fully. “I like that attitude. Keep it up.”

  “Well, now I have a problem. I don’t want to do a goddamn thing you say, yet I still want be a smartass. Decisions, decisions.”

  “Don’t worry, Gage. I’m making this decision easy for you.” With the flick of her head, one of the guards came up behind Melissa and held her shoulders down. Gage sprang into action; the woman took out a gun and pointed it right at Melissa’s face. “Uh-uh,” said the woman.

  Melissa pushed up, testing the man holding her, but she didn’t get even one nano-inch. It was frustrating, because she still had her hands free, and it would be possible to fight back, but with the gun pointed right at her face there wasn’t much she could do. So instead she stayed stock-still and tried to look for any out. Glancing over, she met Gage’s eyes and noticed a hint of desperation there.

  No, that didn’t make sense. Gage didn’t get desperate. He always had things under control.

  “Didn’t you wonder why I brought your girlfriend here?” asked the woman.

  “No,” said Gage. “I actually had a pretty good idea why you brought her.” His voice sounded less cocky than earlier. On edge.

  Please, Gage, don’t be on edge. Do what you normally do! She willed him to understand her silent message, but he didn’t.

  “Don’t worry, she’s safe for now.”

  Even as the woman said the words, Melissa could hear the other guard approaching, and a second later, something was being set around her neck. It was tight, but still loose enough for her to breathe. It almost felt like.... A choker? As soon as he had the thing closed, he backed away. She reached up and felt something soft and velvety around her neck.

  “Don’t worry, it’s fashionable,” said their captor. “Luckily the neck is so vulnerable, I don’t need much explosives to do damage.”

  “Explosives!” shouted Melissa. She probably should be keeping her cool, but... explosives!

  “Don’t worry, don’t worry,” said the woman. “I tried to make it as comfortable as possible. It’s even waterproof so you can shower! As long as your boyfriend does as I say, we’ll take the device off you as soon as we’re done with you.”

  “Stop calling him my boyfriend. We barely even like each other! And he sure as hell isn’t going to follow your orders. You might as well just blow my head off now!”

  The woman let out a little laugh. “Oh honey, that’s not enough explosives to blow your head off. It’s just enough to break all the vital arteries so you bleed out in seconds.”

  She pounded her fist on the table and stood, not caring the guards were immediately closing in on her. “This isn’t going to get you what you want. Gage doesn’t care about me. He has some other girlfriend, so go find her!” As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. It wasn’t as though she wanted some other woman to go through this. “I mean—”

  The woman held up her hands, silencing her. And considering Melissa was officially wearing her collar, she obeyed. “Trust me, I know a lot about Gage’s life. I’ve been looking into him for a while now. Carefully evaluated all of our options, and I came to the realization that you are the best leverage. You don’t hear Gage threatening to kill me, now do you?”

  Melissa looked over to Gage, but his expression was still blank. Emotionless.

  “Now, are you ready to hear the terms of your employment?”

  Gage gripped the arms of the chair and concentrated on breathing. Deep breath in, deep breath out. All of his training told him he needed to keep it together to get out of this situation, but every instinct he had told him to fight. Kill.

  But he knew they were outnumbered for the moment and definitely outgunned. If he were alone, maybe he’d take his chances, but he wasn’t alone. He had Melissa to take care of, and now she had some godforsaken bomb around her neck. He clenched his jaw and tried to think about what he could’ve done differently.

  What if he’d made a run for it when they were being transported? What if he’d never given in and drank the poison set out for him?

  There were too many variables for him to know what was a mistake and what was right. “Who are you?” he asked quietly. He wasn’t going to get anywhere if he didn’t know who he was fighting. As of right now, this woman held all the cards and made sure she had leverage over him. It was time he did the same.

  “I’m Courtney Vance.”

  Courtney Vance.... Why did that sound familiar?

  “Courtney Vance of Vance Industries?” asked Melissa.

  Well, fuck. Figures Melissa would know it before he would. It all came back to him in a rush. Courtney Vance was the daughter of business magnate Albert Vance, who owned half the real estate on the East Coast. She was known for her party girl antics in the tabloids. Though as much as he knew she liked to drink and party, he didn’t reali
ze kidnapping and extortion was involved with that.

  “The one and the same,” said Courtney with a mix of pride and bitterness.

  “You’re rich and famous. What the hell would you want me to do for you?” asked Gage.

  “You’ll know the details soon enough. I have a good plan, and you could be an integral part of that. But before we do anything, we need to get to New York. I have transportation set up. We’ll be taking two different vans. I won’t be coming with you since, you know, it wouldn’t be good for any of us to be seen together. But I do think it would be best to separate you two love birds. Give you a moment to consider what you stand to lose. Say your good-byes. I’ll reunite you once we’re in New York. I have a reservation booked under Ms. Slade’s name and on her credit card. No ties to me, of course. The vans are out front. Each of our friends here have a trigger for the collar, as do I, so please play nice. You’re my first choice, but there are others, so never make the mistake of thinking you’re indispensable. Have a nice ride.” With that, she stood and walked away, her heels click-clacking on the floor as she left the building.

  Gage and Melissa stayed seated. He didn’t want to leave Melissa. He didn’t want to follow any orders given to him by someone like her. But then he realized that sitting there wasn’t going to get anything done. He abruptly stood and took Melissa’s hand, practically dragging her out of the chair and back to the little room they’d been holed up in.

  “What’s going on?” she asked the second they were alone together. “Do you have a plan?”

  He clenched and unclenched his fists. “I want you to do what they tell you, okay? Get in the van and I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Don’t you think we should try to get word to someone? My brother can—”

  “I’m going to find a way out of this. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. But I need you to trust me and play by their rules, okay?”