She really should have done a lot of things. She should have never opened that box on top of Markus’ fridge. She should have never gotten involved with him in the first place.
He’d tried to stay away from her, and he’d failed. Maybe his reasons for keeping his distance weren’t only due to being unemployed. Was there something darker going on here?
She wanted to believe that her imagination was getting the best of her and she was jumping to conclusions. Then again, she’d never been a particularly imaginative person.
Chapter 11
Markus
Viv’s phone rang and rang. The moment her voicemail started, he hung up in frustration.
From the corner table in the kitchen where he was busy cleaning his guns, Ryder cocked an eyebrow.
“How many times have you called her?”
“Two,” Markus growled. “That’s all.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his palms in surrender. “Just asking.”
“And I texted her a couple times.” Markus tossed his phone on the couch, disgusted with himself.
He’d never been like this with a woman. Everything was different with Viv. She made him thrilled, terrified, and optimistic all at once.
It felt like all or nothing with her, and that scared the hell out of him.
“I messed up.” Hands curled into fists, he paced the room. “I don’t know what I did, but I messed up.”
“Hm. Possibly.” Ryder put his Glock down and picked up his phone with a frown. He didn’t seem to be listening at all.
“I don’t know what happened. We talked on the phone and everything was fine. I was picking up dinner and coming home, and then…”
He trailed off. That was it.
“She found something,” he whispered.
Ryder looked up sharply, his eyebrows knitting. “What kind of something?”
Markus ran his palm over his mouth, mind racing. He did a mental inventory of his apartment. Viv didn’t seem like the kind of girl to go through a person’s belongings. Had she stumbled upon something?
“Damn.” He closed his eyes.
“What? What is it? Come on, man. Don’t tell me you left something about these diamonds out.”
“No.” He took the seat across from Ryder. “There’s a box on top of my fridge. I was going to move it, and I forgot. I didn’t think she’d be there without me.”
“What’s in the box?”
“Cash. A gun. A burner phone.”
Ryder whistled low. “Nice.”
Markus folded his arms, chewing on the new possibility.
“But,” Ryder said, opening up his rifle, “if she found all of that, why not ask you about it? There’s an easy explanation, I’m sure.”
“And what would that be?”
“Uh…” Ryder scratched his head, looking stumped.
“Her dad.” Markus shook his head. “That’s why. She probably thinks I’m like him. A no-good criminal.”
“You are a criminal,” Ryder pointed out.
Markus glared. “It’s different.”
“How?”
“Viv’s dad wasn’t around for her. I am. I will be.”
“Okay.”
Markus huffed. “A little support here would be nice.”
“Listen, man. What do you want me to say? You’re all twisted up about some girl, and it’s the wrong time to be distracted. We have a job to do. Once we’re done, go back to this other stuff, but until then, head in the game. You know, if you like breathing.”
“I know how serious this is.” With his arms folded and a frown on, Markus felt like a petulant child.
“Do you?” Leaving the cleaning for the moment, Ryder placed his hands on the table and stared at Markus. “Because the man we’re stealing from isn’t Bobby What’s-His-Face, a little frat boy with big-time drug dealer dreams. It’s Dagger Rossi. He makes people disappear.”
Biting back a curse, Markus pushed his fingers through his hair. “You’re right. I’m focused. I will be focused. You can count on me.”
“Good.” He leveled his gaze with Markus. “Viv is something special. I know that. Not only from meeting her, but from seeing the effect she’s had on you. You’ll get to her, okay? One thing at a time.”
“One thing at a time,” Markus agreed. He jerked his head at the map on the table. “What’s that there?”
Ryder smoothed the map and pointed to a spot in the lower right-hand corner. “This is the warehouse.”
Leaving his seat, Markus joined Ryder on the other side of the table. “Okay. How far’s that? A mile off the highway?”
“Exactly.”
“And security?”
“There’s a standard alarm system. The kind used in homes and storage units.”
“Really?” Markus asked. “I would think Dagger would go for something more high-tech.”
“Could be that he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. But it’s not like he doesn’t have security in other forms. There’s a guard, staying in the closest trailer.”
“One?”
“Yep. That gets switched every twelve hours.”
Before Markus could answer, there was a knock on Ryder’s front door. The two men looked at each other.
“I’m expecting A.J.,” Ryder said.
“A.J.?” Markus didn’t even try to hide his disgust. “Does he have something to do with this?”
Ryder lifted a shoulder.
“Don’t tell me he’s your tip on this.”
“Okay.” Ryder stood and grabbed the nearest handgun. “I won’t.”
Markus rolled his eyes at the ceiling. For real?
Though Bobby Arnett might have been a “wannabe,” he had nothing on A.J. The kid was notorious for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, and he was constantly in and out of twelve-step programs, depending on where his head was at that month.
One time, A.J. had showed up telling Markus and Ryder he had some pills he wanted to sell. Since Markus didn’t deal in drugs—never had and never would—he sent A.J. on his way, but not before discovering the “drugs” were actually zinc tablets.
He’d heard a few days after that, A.J. had gotten his ass kicked at a party for trying to pass them off as something else. No surprise there.
Markus stopped Ryder with a touch to the shoulder. “Are you crazy? What makes you think you can trust anything he says?”
“Simple. His cousin is friends with one of the guards I just mentioned.”
Markus dropped his hand. Hard to argue with that info.
“Who is it?” Ryder asked, even though he looked through the peephole.
“It’s A.J., man. Lemme in. It’s hot as balls out here.”
“It’s Florida,” Markus muttered. “It’s always that hot.”
Still holding his Glock, Ryder opened up. A.J., a skinny kid in clothes that were way too big for him, slid into the house. He eyed Ryder’s handgun warily.
“What’s that out for?”
“Can never be too careful.” Ryder double-locked the door.
“Huh.” A.J. took a seat on the couch. “What’s going on? You boys ready to be a million dollars richer?”
Markus and Ryder shared a look. This whole thing didn’t feel a hundred percent yet. Then again, no job ever did. Not even once they were done with it.
“How do you know what’s in the warehouse?” Markus asked A.J. “Have you been in there?”
“No.” A.J. stiffened. “My cousin knows all about it.”
“Has he been in there?”
“Uh… no.”
“Hm. Okay.”
Ryder cut in. “You have some news for us?”
“Yeah, I do.” A.J. smiled, intensely pleased with himself. “Dagger’s gonna be out of town next Tuesday. He’ll have his top security with him. That means only these fake, hired dudes to guard the warehouse. Ones with no real experience.”
“And how do you know they don’t have experience?” Markus asked.
“Easy
. My cousin’s friend doesn’t. He’s, like, never held a gun before this job. Don’t really know how he got it. Guess Dagger is running through people or something.”
“Next Tuesday,” Markus repeated slowly.
His heartbeat sped up.
He’d wondered before if this job would be too big and dangerous for two men, but if there was only one guard and a standard security system, it would be a cinch.
“And the security system?” Ryder asked. “Did you find out what kind it is?”
“It’s Final Look.”
Ryder smirked. “Perfect,” he purred.
“Is that easy to hack?” Markus asked.
“Sure is. Wireless is easy to crack. People think it’s more secure for some reason.”
Markus nodded. He was lucky if he figured out how to access the cloud from his phone. Ryder was the real techie.
“There’s one more matter.” A.J. looked between the two of them. “My cut.”
“We discussed that,” Ryder said. “Five percent.”
“Yeah, well, I’m thinking that’s not enough. I’m putting my neck out there for you guys.”
Ryder scoffed. “Okay. If you think that, how about you join us on the job? I have a bulletproof vest in your size.”
A.J. paled. “Uh, that… three people are too many, don’t you think? That would draw attention.”
“I disagree. We could especially use someone small like you. I bet you dodge bullets real quick.”
A.J. gulped. “You’re being a—”
“Seven percent,” Markus cut in. He looked to Ryder, who frowned.
“That’s not much more,” A.J. protested.
“It’s more than five.” Markus took a menacing step toward the couch.
“Seven it is!” A.J. jumped to standing.
“Great.” Markus stepped to the side so the other man could have a clear exit.
“Seven percent?” Ryder asked the second the front door closed behind A.J. “Didn’t expect that out of you.”
“We can’t have two bad cops.”
Markus peeked out the window and watched A.J. get into his car with purple rims and drive off.
“You had your doubts about him.”
Markus turned from the window. “Still do.”
At the kitchen table, they studied the map again.
“Well?” Ryder asked. “You ready for this?”
Markus drew a deep breath and cracked his knuckles. His pulse raced, adrenaline coursing through his veins as if they were about to break into the warehouse right then.
“I’m ready,” he said.
It was just as he’d promised himself. One more really good job. After that, he’d have more than enough money to retire. On top of that, he’d finally be able to show Viv he was the man she wanted.
No. Correction: he’d finally be the man she wanted.
Chapter 12
Viv
After several days of making up excuses for why she couldn’t see Markus, on Monday night, Viv sat on her bed staring at the wall, feeling more alone and confused than ever.
A knock on her front door made her jump from the bed. Rushing across the apartment, she opened up to let Veronica and Emma in.
“Vivi!” Four-year-old Emma squealed.
Viv crouched down to hug her niece. Instead of savoring the embrace, though, Emma quickly let go then skipped into the apartment.
“Can I watch cartoons?” she asked.
“Don’t touch anything, Emma,” Veronica said, entering the apartment with a grocery bag in hand.
It was their unofficial, somewhere-around-once-a-month girls’ night. Though it sometimes ended up getting canceled because this or that family issue, it typically meant that Cruz spent the evening doing something with Mateo while the ladies of the family got together.
“It’s okay. I have the TV set up for her, if you’re okay with it. I’ll take that.” Viv relieved her sister of the grocery bag.
Veronica looked her up and down.
“What?” Viv asked.
“No offense, but you kind of look…” She looked past Viv to see if Emma paid attention, then lowered her voice. “Like shit,” she whispered. “Like you haven’t slept for days.”
Viv pressed a palm against her cheek and shook her head. “I feel like I haven’t.”
“What’s going on?” Veronica’s face turned worried and took the bag back from Viv and headed for the kitchen.
Closing the door, Viv followed. “It’s no big deal.”
“Clearly, it is.” As Veronica took a rotisserie chicken, potatoes, and broccoli from the bag, she fixed Viv with a hard glare. “There are bags under your eyes.”
“I work a lot. It’s my last few days.” Viv opened the fridge and grabbed a sparkling water. “Does Emma like these? They’re watermelon flavored.”
She didn’t know why she was lying to her sister. Maybe because she was tired of endlessly thinking about the problem and getting no closer to the solution. She wanted it all to go away for a while.
“Is there added sugar in it?” Veronica asked.
“Uh…” She turned the bottle to read the label.
“You know what, whatever.” Veronica flipped her hand. “Give it to her. She’ll love it.”
Viv popped the soda and poured it into one of the straw-friendly cups she kept around for nights like this. Once she returned from giving Emma the drink, she found Veronica furiously chopping garlic.
“You used to talk to me,” she grumbled.
“I’m sorry.” Viv sighed and leaned against the counter. “I don’t want to burden you, and sometimes I feel like I won’t be able to find my way through things no matter what… so why try?”
Veronica’s hands stilled on the cutting board. “You sound depressed, sis.”
Viv opened her mouth, surprised to find she didn’t have an answer ready to go. “I… I don’t get depressed.”
True. She’d had setbacks in life like everyone, but she was also good at bouncing back from them.
“There’s a first time for everything.” Veronica turned on the oven to preheat.
Viv made a noise of acknowledgment, not completely willing to agree, and started washing the potatoes.
“Is this about Markus?”
She’d told Veronica some things about him. Specifically, the good parts. Nothing about the box with questionable contents.
“I found something in his apartment,” she said, making sure to keep her voice low.
Veronica’s eyebrows pushed together. “What kind of something? Weird sex toys?”
“No. It was a gun. And cash. A flip phone. The kind that’s hard to track. You know, a burner phone.”
Veronica’s eyelashes fluttered as she processed the information. “Wait… what?”
“Exactly.” Viv stared at the water running over her hands. She couldn’t remember how long she’d been washing the one potato for.
“Where were these things?”
“In a box on top of the fridge.”
“That’s a weird place to hide things like that.”
Viv shrugged. “Yeah. I guess he wasn’t trying to hide them.”
She set the last washed spud a little too hard on the counter.
“And what did he say about the stuff?” Veronica’s eyes were wide.
“Nothing. I didn’t mention it to him.”
“Oh my God.” With a groan, Veronica went to the cupboard.
“What?”
“Where’s your olive oil?”
“Above the stove. Why did you groan?”
Veronica poured a generous amount of oil into the skillet. “Did I?”
“Cut it out, Veronica. Why the hell did you groan at me like that? It’s not like I’m obligated to ask him about the questionable stuff in his place.”
“Hm,” was all Veronica said.
Viv’s blood boiled. Her sister made a move for the fridge, but she blocked her with a swift step.
“Why are you suddenly mad at me?�
� Viv demanded.
“Are you sure you want to know the answer to that?” She planted a hand on her hip and stared Viv down.
“Yes!” Viv threw her hands in the air. “Of course I do.”
“This is so like you. Avoiding anything that causes you discomfort.”
Viv could hardly believe her ears. “Excuse me? You think I avoid things that are uncomfortable?” She had to fight to stop from yelling. “Have you not seen me at a job I hate for the last seven years?”
“That’s different. I can’t say why you stayed at HW for so long.” Veronica’s lips twisted. “Actually, yeah. Maybe I can. Maybe you were making up for the insecurity and unpredictability in your personal relationships.”
“My…” Viv’s mouth went dry, and her hands curled into fists.
“You’re not about to deny that, are you?” Veronica didn’t seem angry. If anything, she looked sad. “When there’s a problem, instead of facing it straight-on, you run away. You’d do anything to avoid talking things out.”
Suddenly, Viv felt deflated. She took a step back, her hip hitting the fridge.
“I… no, I…”
She’d be a liar if she finished the sentence. Veronica was right.
Looking back, there were a number of boyfriends and friends she’d pushed out of her life because things had gotten too tricky. She’d always told herself she was cutting people out because the relationships had hit brick walls. But was that always the case?
“You do it with Dad,” Veronica whispered. “And you’re doing it with Markus now.”
“Okay, maybe you were on to something for a second there, but now you really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her merely calling that man “Dad” was infuriating. Had Veronica hit her head and lost half her memory?
“He abandoned us,” Viv hissed.
“He went to prison. He didn’t abandon us.”
“Same thing. He made those choices that took him there. Would you ever do that to your kids? Put everything on the line because you wanted to get ahead the easy way?”
Veronica bowed her head. Maybe the argument had gone too far. Part of Viv wanted to snatch the words back and dump them in the garbage disposal. She didn’t want to hurt her sibling.
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