The Arrogant Thief

by Mallory Crowe

  She didn’t waste time before heading to one of the refrigerators. She decided the red fruit punch was the most stain-worthy and quickly treaded back to the room she’d left Gage in. She was about to make her grand entrance inside.

  But when she got back to the room and looked through the open door, she couldn’t believe what she saw. Marion was talking to Gage, but not just, like, talking to Gage. She was leaning in close and running her hand down his arm.

  Apparently Melissa wasn’t the only one who thought he looked good in that sweater today. Marion was totally putting on moves. Melissa was about to walk in when Gage saw her and immediately broke off eye contact and gave a jerk of his head.

  And then she got it. This time, he was the distraction. A sexy beefcake of a distraction. She couldn’t stop smiling at the thought. She turned away from the door and walked down the hall. And now she got to drink her victory fruit punch while she looked for room 105.

  It wasn’t hard because all the odd numbers were on the right. She’d continue turning down the corridor until she reached the right room. The door she needed was closed, and she sent up a quick prayer, hoping it was unlocked.

  The doorknob turned easily. She let out a sigh of relief. All she had to do was question him. She could do that. She was good with people. She’d been a bartender for years, so she kind of knew how to get people to open up.

  After walking into the room, she stopped in her tracks when her eyes landed on Vance. Everything about this place had seemed so relaxed and upscale. Not here. The second she walked in this room, she immediately felt as if she were in the hospital. Vance lay on the bed with a whole assortment of machines around him. The light shone through his big window, and it made him look ghostly pale. Almost the same color as the stark-white sheets.

  She thought back to what she knew about Vance. He was older, but not this old. Whatever sickness or disease he was struck with was obviously wearing on his body. She’d be lucky if she could even get him to wake up.

  One foot in front of the other, she went deeper into the room. With the way his mouth was open as he lay there, she thought he was sleeping. But his eyes popped open when she came closer, proving he was more alert than she’d suspected.

  Melissa put on a comforting smile. “Hello, Mr. Vance,” she said cautiously.

  “Nurse, where are my meds? I asked for my meds three hours ago. Why haven’t I gotten any yet?” he said with a shaky, hoarse voice.

  Well, that didn’t fit in with Marion’s ten-minute average. Melissa knew she looked nothing like a nurse, so she wasn’t sure whether he was just stereotyping her or his mind was so far gone that her yoga pants and T-shirt could be confused for anything else. Nonetheless, he thought she was a nurse, and that could work in her favor.

  She moved toward the side of the bed where the medical chart was tucked into a cubbyhole. She pulled it out and looked it over as though she knew what she was doing. But everything was expertly organized so she didn’t have to be trained to understand the charts. According to this, someone had been in half an hour ago, and it looked as if they’d administered a decent amount of drugs. She couldn’t tell whether the said drugs were painkillers, but it was obviously less than the three-hour timeframe he was complaining about. “I’m so sorry about this, sir. I’ll make sure someone takes care of this right away,” she lied. From the looks of this chart, he’d forget she was even here soon enough. “I talked to your daughter today. Courtney,” she clarified even though she knew he only had two children: a son and daughter. “She’s very worried about you.”

  He winced and shifted in bed before letting out a grunt of pain, as though the slightest movement hurt him. “I need Dawson. Where’s Dawson? Get him for me.”

  “That might take a while, sir.”

  “What are you, stupid?” he shouted. “He’s right downstairs. Go get him.”

  “My mistake,” said Melissa quickly. But she decided to fish for information again. “I’ll be sure to get him right away. The last I saw him, he was upset. Apparently he and Courtney were fighting. Would you like me to say anything to help them out?”

  He shifted again, letting out another groan. “They don’t fight. They’re good kids. They know their place. I need to talk to Dawson.... Where’s Dawson?”

  Well, this wasn’t going anywhere. But she couldn’t just leave with nothing. So she asked one more time. “Sir, Dawson can’t come up because he’s upset right now. How can I make Courtney and Dawson not upset?”

  “Girl wants everything. You can’t give it to her. You got that?”

  Before she could try to press him harder, he started to cough profusely, reaching to cover his mouth, but the IV in his arm stopped him. He continued on like that for a long time, and Melissa knew this interrogation was over.

  She swiftly set the chart back and started to leave the room. Was he in trouble? Should she hit the call button? Better safe than sorry. Right as she left the room, she hit one of the little red buttons to call for help. She’d rather he have a real nurse at his side who he didn’t need than be in serious trouble as she abandoned him.

  Once she was out of the room, she walked calmly back through the corridors until she was back to the room she abandoned Gage in. For good measure, she took a deep swig of the fruit punch so it would appear as though she actually was thirsty. But when she saw Marion and Gage, she realized it really wasn’t necessary.

  Marion was staring at Gage as though he were the only man who existed and laughing uproariously at something he said. Good grief, this girl had it bad.

  “Looks like I’m missing a fun time,” she said as she walked in.

  Gage narrowed his eyes a bit, as though to let her know exactly how much fun he wasn’t having. And Marion didn’t seem the least bit guilty for outright flirting with him. Maybe it was because she already pegged them as not being serious buyers. Maybe it was because she assumed Gage, as the man of the house, would be making the decisions. Melissa didn’t know which thought annoyed her more.

  “Oh, your lovely husband was just telling me about the adventures you had the last time you went to the Caribbean.”

  “Wow. That is funny,” she murmured. “Shall we continue our tour?”

  “I think I’ve seen enough.” Gage stood and noticeably took a step back from the overzealous Marion. “Have you seen enough, honey?”

  No, she really hadn’t. Her little interrogation had given her no new information. “I’ve seen all I’m going to, I think,” she said.

  “Oh, you are leaving so soon?”

  Poor Marion would have to lose her Gage. “My husband is a very busy man. I’m sure you understand.” Maybe Melissa was laying it on a bit thick, but her tolerance for Marion was rapidly decreasing.

  “Oh, I understand.” Marion eyed Melissa in an oddly threatening way.

  “All right. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Cole.”

  “Miss,” she corrected quickly.

  Oh, for the love of— “Would you look at the time? It looks like we’re done here.”

  “I’m sorry. One look at her and my heart was gone.”

  “Please shut up.”

  Gage couldn’t stop smiling. Damn, this day was going good. “Something about that starched white suit had my blood flowing to bad places. It was like I was caught in her sex web.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “If ridiculous is what true love feels like, then I never want to go back.”

  Melissa was apparently getting sick of him because she landed a very solid punch against his bicep.

  “Ouch.” He rubbed the spot. “Jealousy makes you violent.”

  “Jealousy, my ass. Annoying men with no sense of modesty at all make me violent.”

  “Of course I’m modest. It wasn’t like we were fucking when you found us.”

  “Can we please stop talking about the oh so horny Marion and think about the mission for a second?”

  “Mission? Don’t you sound official.”

 
; “It was a mission and we failed. Doesn’t that bother you?”

  Of course it bothered him. He was all too aware that they got nothing out of this trip. Part of him blamed himself for not questioning Vance personally. Maybe if he’d asked the right question or pushed a little bit harder, they wouldn’t be going back to Sarah’s empty-handed. Maybe Melissa was too nice. He wasn’t afraid to cause a man pain, emotional or physical. Maybe Vance needed more pressure before he gave anything up.

  But he trusted Melissa. She said she’d tried hard, and that his mental and physical states were rapidly declining. There’s only so much information you can get from a man who was that out of it, and most of it was unreliable. Besides, even asking for his kids and claiming they were good kids told him something. Whatever issues they had, they must’ve been trying to keep it from their father.

  Not that it was information they could use, but it was more information than they had when they started the day. So yeah, he’d much rather joke about Marion Cole than focus on how little they had achieved that day. Besides, she was cute when she was jealous. They had taken a cab away from the resort but stopped a few blocks up from Sarah’s apartment building so they could grab a quick lunch. They were just turning in to the building when Gage stopped abruptly.

  Melissa looked questioningly over at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Courtney.”

  “Well, I know she’s the problem. We’re working on it.”

  Gage put his hand on top of her head and turned it in the direction he was looking. “Courtney’s here.”

  Melissa let out a little gasp of shock, and Courtney laid her eyes on them. A wide smile covered her face, and she waved at them as if they were friends.

  “How did she find us here?” asked Melissa, barely moving her mouth so Courtney couldn’t read her lips.

  “I figure there’s a tracker in your collar.”

  Melissa jerked around to glare at him. “Why did we go to Sarah’s if you knew they could track us?”

  “That’s why I went to Sarah’s instead of getting the fuck off this island. I didn’t want her to think we were running.”

  “Now we have to go say hi, don’t we?”

  She already had to be pissed that they weren’t still staying at the hotel. He couldn’t imagine what she’d do if she was annoyed with him. No, scratch that. He knew exactly what she would do if she got more annoyed with him, and he didn’t want to consider that possibility.

  His hands clenched into fists. He strode across the lobby of the building until he approached the chair she sat in. “Funny, I didn’t think you wanted to be seen with us.”

  “Funny, the cameras in this building conveniently are not working today.” She smiled up at him, the smile of a prideful woman who knew she had her bases covered.

  “What do you want?” he bit out. “I have your phone for you.”

  “Oh no, that phone is for you. You see, the final piece of our little puzzle is coming together. I hope you’re ready.”

  “So ready,” deadpanned Melissa, who moved to stand next to him. “Just tell us what we have to do to get you to leave us alone,” she said.

  “Just one more little thing. It will be easy, and then you’ll be done with me, to run off and live your lives as you want. Doesn’t that sound exciting?” She seemed to be taking so much glee in her power over them.

  Gage had a feeling that any pets she had as a kid didn’t tend to live long. “All right. Let’s hear about this last section of your plan.”

  “Well, now that you have access to my dear brother’s information, it’s time for you to give him a present. I want you to find out what his main bank account is and transfer that seventeen million into his account.”

  “You’re framing your brother?” said Melissa.

  Courtney rolled her eyes. “Framing implies he’s innocent. I guarantee you, there’s nothing innocent about my brother. We’re righting a wrong. Isn’t that what you people do? You step in when the justice system doesn’t?”

  “Our people have never had to strap a bomb around somebody’s neck,” said Gage pointedly.

  “You’re awfully judgmental for someone of your profession. Say all you want about how you want to help people, but I know about your crimes. So please don’t look down at me as if you think you’re so much better. You’re nothing but a common criminal. I assure you, I am anything but common. You’ve never had to deal with someone like me before. Don’t test my limits, Gage.”

  “We’re not trying to test your limits,” said Melissa quickly. “We just want to get this over with. If you want us to transfer the money to your brother’s account, we’ll do that.”

  “I don’t just want you to do the transfer. The hosting of a thirtieth anniversary of Vance Industries is this weekend. I want you to do it there. We have to have at least some semblance of dramatics with this, you know?”

  “So you’re going to get us invited?” asked Gage quickly before Melissa could respond to such a stupid question.

  Courtney let out a laugh. “Of course not. I can’t have myself connected with you two criminals. I trust you’ll find a way to get yourselves in. You’re wiry like that.”

  Well, it was nice to know how sure she was that they were going to get caught eventually. But she was right: Gage was more than able to sneak into a party if he needed to.

  “I’ll take care of it,” assured Gage. “Is that all?”

  “Not quite. I didn’t like you disappearing off the face of the earth there for a while. I want a better way to keep contact with you.” She set a piece of paper down on the table in front of her. “This is the phone number I can be reached at. It’s untraceable to me, so don’t get any clever ideas. And if you get a call from this number, I expect you to answer immediately.” She narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two suspiciously.

  That was rich, considering Gage was pretty sure she didn’t have his current phone number. But he wasn’t about to point that out to her. “Got it.”

  Courtney stood and adjusted her purse strap over her shoulder. “I’m so glad we had this little chat. Just think—in a few days, you’ll be free. And in a few days, I’ll have everything I want. How exciting for all of us! You crazy kids have a nice day.” And with that, she walked away, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  “We’re going to take her down, right?” asked Melissa.

  “If it’s the last thing I do,” he promised.

  Melissa leaned back and set the computer she’d borrowed from Sarah gently on the bed next to her. In actuality, she was so frustrated she’d rather be throwing the machine across the room, but that seemed rude considering it didn’t belong to her. So now all she could do was stare in front of her in frustration as the anger boiled within her.

  “You okay over there?” asked Gage.

  “No. I’m not okay. I can’t believe she was here. I can’t believe she dared show her face in front of me.” Melissa looked around the pristine guest room they were in. Suddenly it felt more like a prison. This entire apartment was like a prison. She was trapped here against her will and couldn’t leave. A nice prison, but she still wanted to break down all the walls and revolt against it. All that would serve to accomplish would be to punish Sarah, who’d done nothing but be nice to them. Maybe she should go to Courtney’s house and let out her anger. One expensive pillow, painting, dish, and designer clothing item at a time.

  “Calm down. This is almost over.”

  “Almost over? Almost over, my ass. The second we finish this job, Courtney’s going to get rid of us. You know that, right?”

  To his credit, Gage didn’t lie to her. “It’s a possibility,” he said cagily.

  “Possibility? The only reason she has us working for her is so she won’t get blamed in the fallout. The reason she blackmailed us into working for her is so we wouldn’t report her to the cops immediately. She’s obviously paranoid about getting found out, and I doubt she’s the type to leave witnesses around.


  “I thought that once we got Toni and the rest of the team involved, things would go smoothly. Everyone is so experienced, I thought Courtney would be a nonissue.”

  “Courtney is a nonissue. You’re the issue.”

  “What? Now you’re blaming me for this?”

  “No, of course I’m not blaming you. Courtney is the only one I blame for any of this shit. But if you think we’re not going to be extra careful with your life at stake, you’re crazy.”

  “What if she is bluffing? What if it’s not even a bomb around my neck? Maybe we should try to take it off and see what would happen.”

  Gage tilted his head and stared at her as if she’d lost her fucking mind. “Mel, it’s not like she’s asking us to kill a bunch of people. I’ll happily frame Dawson Vance for myriad crimes before I ever consider even thinking about calling her bluff. What’s going on with you?”

  Melissa groaned and let her head fall back against the headboard. “I told you what’s wrong. I don’t like being used. I don’t like being trapped. I don’t like being hopeless. Are any of those things unreasonable to you?”

  “They’re very reasonable. This isn’t new. Nothing changed between this morning and right now, but now you’re super pissed.”

  “This morning we had a plan. We had a strategy. Find Albert Vance and get something we can use on Courtney. Find a way to manipulate her. That was this morning. What do we have now? We have nothing, and new marching orders, and Courtney knows where we are. That’s what we have right now. So yeah, I’m in a worse mood now than I was this morning.”

  “Calm down, Mel. Everything will be fine.”

  Oh, that was it. Melissa jumped off the bed and went straight for the bedroom door.