“Oh. Well, I just wanted to tell you that I’m not going to work tomorrow.”
“Are you okay?” The background noise vanished. “Do you need me to come over?”
She sniffled, not because she was pretending to be sick, but because she’d started crying again, and she’d just noticed. “No. I’ll be fine. I’m taking a personal day. I have some things I need to do.”
“You don’t sound okay. You sound like you’re crying. Honey, I didn’t look up your address. Text it to me.” He used his Dom voice, and though she couldn’t obey, it gave her the strength to stop the flow of tears.
“I’m not at home. I won’t be home until late.” She found an unused napkin on the floor of the passenger seat and wiped her face. One day she’d clean out her car. “I can come over tomorrow evening. How about six?”
“Autumn, let me help you. That’s what I’m here for.”
She laughed. Hearing his voice made everything seem not so bad. “You’ve already helped. I feel a lot better. Go back and have fun with your new friends. Maybe they’ll offer you a job, and you won’t have to freelance anymore.”
His exhalation vented some of the frustration, but the rest came through the line with crystal clarity. “We’re going to talk about this tomorrow, and I may very well spank your ass for this.”
“Yes, Sir. The reports you need are in our shared folder. Have fun at all those meetings. Goodbye.” She ended the call before he could say anything more. In reality, she could use a good solid spanking. It had been years since she’d been on the receiving end of one.
Ben—her partner for this heist—wanted to hit the target during the day, but having a day job made it impossible to case it for security, and so she needed to burn some daylight wandering around the vicinity. It drained her of personal days, but keeping up illusions was part and parcel of who she was. Of course, she’d never before had a boss with a reason to question her for time off. Mr. Tucker had never taken an interest in her personal life. She found Ben sitting in his car on a residential side street. As she slid into the passenger side, she had to squelch the urge to laugh.
David had been jealous that she’d met this man for coffee. Not only was Ben about fifteen years older, but he completely lacked any air of authority. He had the kind of face that faded into the background, and he’d cultivated a demeanor to match. For a thief, it was a helpful cover. She’d worked with Ben several times before, so she was comfortable with his idea for hitting this target.
“Anything interesting happen?”
“I find it interesting that there’s one guard on all day, and when the gallery is open, they have three. If they didn’t want to get robbed, they really should reverse those numbers. I mean, who robs a gallery when it’s open?”
Autumn shrugged. “Takes a ballsy thief with a catch-me complex. I prefer stealth and brains. Plus Royal Oak is all about the nightlife. That’s too many witnesses. Did you get pictures of their system?”
Ben had spent the day as a plumber. Somehow the gallery’s entire system had backed up, and Ben had saved the day, fixing it before toxic sludge could shut them down for costlier repairs. He handed over his phone.
Studying it, she mentally mapped the locks that would need picking—two doors stood in the way—and what it would take to get into the vault.
“The day guards change shifts at eight, and the overnight guard has a dentist appointment the day before. He should be nice and tired, perhaps even asleep, when we come in. I timed the entrance and exit with the guard’s rounds. If you can do the vault in ten minutes, we can be in and out in sixteen.”
She zoomed in on the security panel and the lock’s dial. “Lockmaster 1559. It’s about a year old. The fancy light displays look like they do a lot, but they don’t. It has two-tier protection, but nothing I can’t handle. If all goes well, ten minutes should be fine.” Before handing the phone back, she was careful to make sure her prints weren’t on it. This precaution was something her father had drilled into her from the time she was a toddler.
“Compensation will be as discussed. Half will be deposited into your account by midnight the night before, and the other half will be paid upon completion.”
Nodding, Autumn said, “See you in one week.”
“Bright and early,” he agreed. “I’m thinking we’re in by seven and out by seven-sixteen.”
In the hustle and bustle of the early morning, they’d be in and out before anyone noticed them. Any store that didn’t serve coffee wouldn’t see its first employees for at least an hour. She exited the car. Her last job had been over a month ago, and Summer’s PT bill was overdue. Unlike her rent, not paying meant Summer didn’t get the care she needed. With rent, it took a couple months to evict, and even then it was cheaper to work with her than to kick her out. Her apartment sucked, as did the neighborhood, so there probably wasn’t a line of renters waiting for it to become available.
Most of her income went to cover the co-pays and other expenses not eligible for insurance. Having a sister in a coma wasn’t cheap, and her paycheck barely covered the basics. That said, Autumn would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the intellectual and physical challenges presented by a well-planned theft. Though, because she lacked the ability to run and disappear, she opted to take a hugely discounted straight cut up front instead of a percentage of the sale once the item was fenced.
Ben drove off, and she strolled the streets alone. She needed to know the lay of the land. After the job was done, they’d separate and scatter. It was her job to devise an escape route.
David stared at the phone as the screen turned black. Something wasn’t right. Autumn had been crying, and he wanted to know why.
But she’d rejected his offer of solace, and they’d only been together for a couple of days. Most of what he knew about her was due to research instead of conversation. Fighting his instinct to go after her, he returned to the table in the bar where Jesse sat with Malcolm and Keith. The night was young, and so many tables were empty.
“How’s the wife?” Keith smirked as he sipped lemon water.
David didn’t know Keith very well, but the man’s reputation spoke for itself. He had a close rate above eighty percent. The air of danger and authority that shrouded the man was earned. He slid into the booth next to Jesse. “Wife?”
Keith’s green eyes glinted with mischief, which reminded David a little of Autumn. “I’ve seen that look before.”
He frowned at Jesse. “What look?”
Jesse grinned. “The one that says someone messed with your sub and you want to put them in traction.
“Malcolm wore that look when he was undercover investigating Darcy.” Keith ignored the warning look Malcolm was giving. “I was his handler on that, and every time I met with him, he’d find some way to justify her behavior or why he wasn’t going after her as aggressively as he could. Well, except to get her in bed. He knocked her up within a week of starting the investigation.”
Malcolm glowered in Keith’s direction. “She was innocent, and I kept telling you that. I got what I needed from her, and that investigation netted seventeen convictions.”
“And one son.”
“One awesome son.” Malcolm took a swig from his bottle. “Maybe we’ll have another boy, and then she’ll want to try again for a girl.”
Keith’s laugh boomed, echoing across the bar. “Man up. It’s not that bad. A couple days of soreness, and you’ll be fine.”
Jesse threw Malcolm a puzzled look.
Keith opted to fill him in. “Birth control and condoms have failed them, so Darcy told Malcolm he has to get a vasectomy.”
Jesse snorted. “Who’s the dominant in your house?”
“When you find your submissive soul mate, you’ll realize how her wants and needs drive your every action.” Malcolm’s sage advice was wasted on Jesse. The man was thoroughly committed to casual play. He slapped Keith on the shoulder. “Do you agree?”
“Yep. There’s nothing more powerf
ul than when you’re submissive kneels at your feet, looking at you with love and devotion.” The naughtiness vanished from his expression as it softened. “But you have to earn it with yours. It’s a two-way street. Be careful, David. Autumn isn’t who you think she is.”
David knew the parts of her she let him see, and he knew she kept so much more hidden. “Did you get a hit with the facial recognition software?”
“Not one.”
It was disappointing, but not unexpected. “That’s good. It means she doesn’t have a criminal record.”
Malcolm and Jesse exchanged a significant look.
And that irritated David. “What?”
Malcolm tapped his bottle cap on the table. “If she was in WITSEC, we’d get a hit. We wouldn’t get much information—it’d mostly be a manufactured profile, and it would trigger a response from the U.S. Marshalls who’d be on our asses about why we were looking into one of their witnesses.”
“She didn’t say whether she was or wasn’t in WITSEC, did she?” Jesse slid his question in smoothly. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, he tended to make it count.
“No, she didn’t. I took her evasion as wariness to talk about it with someone she didn’t know all that well.” And she’d let him think it was the truth. What had she said? He had his own brand of truthiness, and she had hers. Did that mean he couldn’t trust a single word she said? “Maybe she had a traumatic past that she doesn’t want to talk about. She has some serious scars on her left shoulder. Did you find out who she visits at the convalescent home?”
“Summer Sullivan. According to her birth certificate, she’s 82, but the file photo shows a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. She’s been in a coma for about three years. She looks enough like Autumn to be her sister, but Autumn Sullivan doesn’t have a sister. According to what I’ve found, she has no family.” Jesse paused, thinking. “I looked up Summer Sullivan, but beyond information pertaining to a deceased woman who would be an octogenarian if she were still alive, I found only one thing—a police report of the car accident. A car driven by Summer Sullivan hit the passenger side of another car, and then both cars were hit by a semi. Summer was severely injured—head trauma, contusions, broken bones—which led to the coma. Autumn suffered broken bones, and her left shoulder was impaled and pinned. They had to pry her out with the Jaws of Life. The driver and passenger in the other car were killed, and the semi driver escaped with minimal injuries.”
David studied the label of his beer bottle as he tried to make sense of it all. “Maybe she’s on the run from WITSEC. She freaked out when I asked her who she really was. She’s terrified of being found by someone.”
“Be careful,” Keith said. “Don’t make her a victim without proof. She could just as easily be the criminal in all of this. What if she and Summer tee-boned that car to kill whoever was inside? You have nothing on her more than six years old, and even that’s sketchy. Most of your information is from after the accident.”
It didn’t add up, and he knew that getting answers from Autumn was going to take time he didn’t have. He turned to Jesse. “Follow her. Be careful, though. She made me.” Other details came back, and they didn’t tilt the scales in her favor. “Fuck. She knows how to scout for bugs and spot a tail. Those aren’t accounting skills.”
“Don’t worry,” Jesse said. “I’m better at tailing than you are.”
David glared. He was damn good at surveillance and tailing. “It helps that she’s never seen you in person. She saw the picture of you that Frankie put up on the company website, but your hair was longer and you were smiling, so you looked like a completely different person.”
Jesse scowled. “I smile plenty.”
“Baring your teeth and smiling aren’t the same thing.”
“Then she’d better not see Jesse at CalderCo,” Malcolm said, extinguishing Jesse’s rising ire. “He can’t be your inside guy. I’d offer to tail her, but she’s met me. If she’s that good, she’ll notice me.”
Dean had wanted David to utilize Malcolm. They were in the market for expanding SAFE Security, but new talent was difficult to find. David motioned toward Malcolm. “You’re tech savvy. How about you go undercover in Jesse’s place? We pay well.”
Malcolm considered the proposal.
Keith snickered. “Darcy wants your ass out of the house so badly that she’s inventing errands and chores. She told me that if I brought you home before ten, then I was dead to her.”
“I’m in.” Malcolm smiled. “I miss being in the field.”
“And I hate being cooped up in an office. This is much more my speed.” Jesse tapped commands into his phone. “I’m sending you the dossier on your cover identity. You start tomorrow morning at eight.”
David arrived home to find his father waiting in the living room, enjoying a drink and the evening news. “Dad, what are you doing here?”
“Checking in. We can’t discuss all the things we need to at work.”
They certainly could. Autumn had scheduled a meeting for tomorrow, at which he intended to disclose his progress. “You can’t just come in and make yourself at home.”
Bill lifted one eyebrow. “It’s my apartment.”
“Not while I’m living here. Say the word, and I’ll leave. I don’t have a problem renting another place.”
A familiar sigh issued from his father. He wasn’t in the mood to argue, and he found David’s attitude irritating. “What do you think of Autumn?”
He went with the change in subject. “She’s a very capable assistant, and her accounting skills are above average. There are some discrepancies from her first year, but after that, she seems to have gotten the hang of her job.”
Bill helped himself to a refill. “Have you ruled her out as the thief?”
He didn’t want her to be the thief. “I’ve just started combing through the evidence. It would be a mistake to rule out anybody at this point.”
“Office rumors say the two of you have become very cozy.”
“You’re going on rumors now?” David’s personal life was none of his father’s concern.
“I need to know that you’re not going to let your dick get in the way of doing your job.” Bill settled back in the chair and put his feet on the coffee table. “She’s very attractive.”
David thought about throwing one of those you-must-not-know-me-very-well-if statements at his father, but then he realized that Bill didn’t know him very well. Though they were related by blood, they were effectively strangers. His temper evaporated. “It won’t. You’re right about her, though. The details of her life don’t add up, and that makes her a prime suspect. I’m on it, Dad. I’ll find out the truth, and when I’m done, you’ll have your money back, and your company will be fine.”
Bill got to his feet and offered his hand. “It’s been good seeing you, David. Take care.”
This reasonable man wasn’t the one David remembered. He more closely resembled the man Autumn knew. It was a puzzling development. David shook his father’s hand. “See you tomorrow.”
Chapter Seven
The next morning, David worked his way through Autumn’s flash drive like a madman. He had Malcolm hack her account and search for anything deleted or missing. “Look through her Internet history. See what she’s been doing online.”
It took less than an hour before David gave in and called Autumn. That’s what a good boyfriend would do, right?
“Hi, David. Do you miss me already, or are you having trouble finding something?” She sounded both happy and amused.
“I was just wondering what you’re up to.”
She laughed. “I’m casing an art gallery that I plan to rob.”
“Autumn.” The warning came out a little sharper than he’d intended, especially when he remembered the tidbit his dad had thrown at him about her breaking-and-entering habit.
“Are you calling as my boss or as the guy who’s making plans for second base?”
“Second base? H
oney, I’m gearing up for a home run, only instead of a bat, I’ll have a flogger, and the ball will be on the gag.”
“Mmm.” Her grin came through, loud and clear. “Ropes can be my uniform. I’m starting to see the appeal of baseball.”
David loved the sport. “You don’t find baseball appealing?”
“Don’t know. I’ve never actually watched or played a game. I get the metaphors, though. Here’s hoping you hit it out of the park.” She laughed again. “I like you, David. You’re going to be late for a meeting, though, so I’ll let you go. See you at six?”
“Don’t be late.” Though she had a well-known habit of being late, he wasn’t seeing that as a consistent thing. She’d been to his place early that first night, and she’d been to work early the next day. But then she’d been late the day after that. He didn’t know what to make of it.
Jesse reported in at eleven. “She got up at the crack of dawn. I followed her to Royal Oak. It’s about forty-five minutes away. It’s a hip little town full of shops.”
“I’ve been there.” It had been years, but David remembered the city well. “They have a kick-ass fetish store.”
“Yeah. It’s definitely the heartbeat of the kink community. Anyway, she walked around a lot. About nine-fifty, she stopped for a chat on the phone that had her smiling and twirling her hair. Then she went into a bunch of stores, had an early lunch at a café, and then she left. I followed her to the county health department. She’s in there now.” Food crunched. Jesse had apparently picked up lunch while he waited.
David frowned. “Why would she need to go to the health department?”
“Don’t know. Want me to check it out?”
“No. Just keep following her.” He rang off with Jesse and immediately dialed Autumn. She didn’t pick up, so he left a short message.
Perusing through her files led him to a cache of articles on aromatherapy and reflexology. Other than that, she’d already duplicated everything and given it to him on the thumb drive. It was a dead end, a maddening trip that netted no answers, and so he turned his attention elsewhere. Almost four hundred other employees needed to be investigated.
Re/Leased (Doms of the FBI Book 5) Page 9