I let our conversation die. Small talk with Nick was awkward at the best of times, let alone when he was acting weird.
Once in the office, we split without saying a word. I barely opened the door to my office before I heard Nick shout.
“Back the fuck away!”
The sound made me jump, and I stuck my head out to look around. The door to Nick’s office was open, but I couldn’t see inside from my angle.
“Nick?”
Voices emanated from inside the open door, but they weren’t shouting at the same volume and I was too far away to hear what they said.
What the hell is going on?
I edged my way along the wall, passing closed doors until I got to the one in the corner that opened onto Nick’s large corner office. I peeked around the corner.
James stood behind Nick’s desk, arms in the air. Nick had entered the room by a few feet and leveled a handgun at James. The two men stared at each other.
“James?” I couldn’t stop the word from escaping my mouth. “What's happening?”
My voice broke the standstill.
Nick flinched and turned, the barrel of the gun pointing at my face.
“Whoa!”
James stepped toward me. “Kat, no!”
Nick swung the gun back to James, then back to me, alternating between us and backing away into the room so he could see us both clearly.
“Stay the fuck still,” he said. “Katherine, stand next to your accomplice so I can keep my eye on you.”
“Accomplice?” I was hopelessly lost. “I have no idea what’s going on. James, why are you here? Why do you have a gun, Nick?”
“Shut up!” Nick shouted. The gun shifted to point to the corner of the room away from the door and the desk. “Get over there, both of you.”
My feet carried me automatically, my mind too busy processing what was happening. Nick moved behind the desk and pecked at the keyboard, eyes darting between the screen and the two of us, keeping the gun leveled in our direction.
“I’m sorry, Kat.” James said. His hand found mine and squeezed.
His eyes were dark, filled with emotions I couldn’t guess.
He’s not who I thought he was.
I took my hand back and shifted away from him.
Why is he here?
“You fucking bastard!” Nick screamed. He rounded the desk and pointed the gun at James’ head. “Put it back. Put the money back or I’ll shoot you right in the goddamned head, right here.”
“What’s happening?” I asked, unable to hold back the reflex. I regretted it as soon as the gun swung to point in between my eyes.
“Don’t pretend like you didn’t help him,” Nick said, his voice rising and falling dramatically as if he had lost control of it in his anger. “He only got in here because of you!”
James slowly extended a hand in front of me. “She had nothing to do with it, Nick. I was using her, that’s all.”
“As if I believe that for a second,” Nick said. “She would have done anything to steal from me and the company. She’s a prissy little bitch who wouldn’t put out and thought it entitled her to my money.”
I couldn’t think, could barely breathe. I’d never been so completely in someone else’s mercy. If Nick wanted to, he could end my life before I had a chance to do anything about it.
James stole money from the company? And from Nick?
As if in a slide show, images flashed through my mind. James at the coffee shop where we met, conveniently able to fix my car and force a date after it suddenly stopped working. Taking a stroll, answering questions about ARCANE. Letting him into this very office and tying me up and blindfolding me.
“Oh, my God.” It was a near whisper, but it caught the attention of both of the men. “You were using me, this whole time? Every single step of the way, making a fool out of me while you used me to get closer to ARCANE?”
The volume of my voice steadily rose as I went, until I screeched out the final accusation.
“You asshole!” I smacked his arm as hard as I could. “You fucking prick! How dare you? I thought I loved you!”
I went for his face, but his strong arms caught my wrists and pulled me tight, immobilizing me.
“Kat, those feelings weren’t a lie.” We were close. Too close. I couldn’t look away from his face, even though I didn’t want to listen to his words. “I’m sorry I deceived you. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you and make things up to you.”
“Enough. Get away from each other.” Nick narrowed his eyes, flicking back and forth between us. “You, come back to the computer and transfer the money back.”
James laughed. “Or what? You’ll kill me and lose access to it forever? If I’m dead, your money is as good as gone. And the board’s money, and I don’t think your backers will be too pleased about that, Nick.”
Nick shook his head. “No, I won’t kill you.” He pointed the gun at me. “I’ll kill her.”
20
~ James ~
Fuck.
Why did Kat have to come into the office this morning? Why was Nick there? The entire situation had devolved into a mess—the worst-case scenario. Kat should have been sleeping off her hangover at home, and Nick should have been with Candy, passed out after a wild night of alcohol and drugs and sex.
And where the fuck is Addison?
The earpiece linking them went dead as soon as Nick burst through the office door, and there hadn’t been a peep from her since. There hadn’t been time since things went south to fix the connection.
“Easy, Nick. She’s got nothing to do with this.”
If Kat got hurt, I would never be able to forgive myself.
The CEO nodded. “I believe you. After that display just now, it makes sense why she came into the office at the same time as me but didn’t stop me or warn you. But I also believe that you really don’t want her dead.”
In my haste to explain myself to Kat, I’d betrayed something I shouldn’t have. Nick was an asshole, but he wasn’t an idiot.
“Calm down, Nick, let’s just—”
“Get the fuck over to the computer. Now.”
As little as I wanted to accede to Nick’s wishes, I didn’t want his gun going off anywhere near Kat. As I walked the short distance to the desk, I scratched my ear with my hand and subtly hit the reset button on the earpiece inside.
Come on, Addison.
We had planned for this occasion. If a lower-level employee showed up to the office while I was inside, then I was just a member of the building’s cleaning crew. If Nick himself showed up despite our precautions, that would require a more intricate extraction.
It would be hard to coordinate with Addison if she couldn’t communicate and hear what was going on through the earpiece. I had to hope she was on her way to execute her side of the plan. I’d delay as long as I had to.
“I can’t access those accounts to reverse the transactions from here,” I said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t get you the money, it just might take more time and effort than a couple of clicks, just so you know that going in.”
“Bullshit,” Nick said. “If you moved the money out, you can move it back in.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t work like that, Nick. My accounts are overseas, protected. I’d need to perform a remote login from my own computers to access the money and make a transfer. I can’t just pull the money from your accounts.”
It was the truth, and Nick knew it. He had his own untraceable foreign banking accounts to receive money from selling his clients’ secrets. They were a criminal’s best friend.
“Log into your accounts on my computer. It’s secure.”
Wow. He’s audacious.
Nick couldn’t know that his secret was out—if I accessed my accounts from his computer, he wouldn’t only get his money back, but the backdoor in ARCANE’s programming would give him all of my banking information and let him drain my accounts at his leisure.
“I’m afraid
that’s not possible. I have multiple layers of authentication on my accounts, and intricate passwords for each step. It’s impossible for me to log in here without all my equipment.”
A muscle in Nick’s jaw jumped as he stared at me.
This will all be a lot easier if I can persuade him to leave the building with us. That would give Addison free rein to come save the day.
“I don’t buy it,” he said. “Sit at the desk. Call your associates if you have to. There has to be some way you can transfer the money back from this room, and you two aren’t going anywhere until that happens.”
I put on my most convincing face and tone of voice. “Nick, that’s not possible. If we go to my condo, I can transfer the money back from there. It’s not far away.”
He shook his head and raised the gun to point at Kat. “I’m not leaving this office to go somewhere you have all the power. Now get to work, because if the money isn’t back in my account in ten minutes, then Katherine is getting a bullet in the forehead.”
“Ten minutes? Jesus, Nick, be reasonable, that’s a lot of money to figure out.”
“Nine minutes and fifty seconds. I’m not fucking around.”
Shit.
At least Nick had left an opening—a small one.
Nick’s email client was still open on the desktop. I glanced up—he was too busy keeping an eye on the two of us from the other side of the desk; he couldn’t see the screen. I located an email I knew was there from Addison’s hack and forwarded it—an insurance policy.
“I have to call my partner,” I told Nick, reaching for the desk phone. I dialed Addison’s cell.
“I’m sorry, James.”
“Addison? Never mind that, Nick is here, and he’s demanding we transfer the money back, or else he’ll kill Kat. She’s here, too.”
“Look, James. It’s nothing personal. I hope you understand that.”
She didn’t make sense, and there was no time to spare. “Addison, where are you? Are you at the condo?”
“I saw an opportunity, and I took it. You taught me how important that was.”
What the hell is she talking about?
Suddenly, my mind made the connection. Nick appearing when he had no reason to. The earpiece shorting out.
The stomping of a dozen pairs of boots became audible.
“FBI! Freeze!”
The cry rang through the room as officers in black tactical gear flooded the office. Nick was taken down and disarmed before he could even turn to look at the door.
Agent Clark walked through the door, smug look on his face. He smirked as our eyes met.
“Alex Fisher, you are under arrest for multiple counts of fraud, embezzlement, theft, and grand larceny.”
This can’t be happening.
Two black-clad men with assault rifles charged forward and brandished the weapons in my face. “Put the phone down, now!”
“I’m sorry, James. I had to take you out before you got rid of me.”
The desk phone was still to my ear. The line went dead after Addison finished speaking, and I sat it down on the receiver, detached from the action as if my arm belonged to someone else.
“Alex?” Kat stared at me, eyes wide. “Alex Fisher? James… you’re Alex Fisher?”
I grimaced. “Surprise. This isn’t how I pictured you finding out.”
Her mouth opened, then shut, then hung open again. No words came out.
Agent Clark pointed at me. “Enough. Take Mr. Fisher into custody. He’s coming with me back to the Bureau.”
One of the men with a rifle in my face swung it away to cuff my hands behind my back and shove me after the special agent. Kat watched me go, and I held her gaze until I exited the room, trying to explain with my eyes.
That wasn’t how I wanted this to go.
Agent Clark reminded me there was more at stake than my relationship with Kat.
“I’ve been hunting you for a long time, Alex. Almost caught up with you a few times, but the trail always went cold. This time, you’re mine.”
The smug self-satisfaction in his voice made me want to smack him. The only reason he found me was because Addison had turned me in.
I can’t believe she did that. It shouldn’t have been surprising, and if she was a prototypical thief it wouldn’t have been, but she was my protégé—she was different.
Marched from the main ARCANE offices, I looked behind, but didn’t see either Kat or Nick.
“Did you take Nick Mercer into custody as well?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Not yet. We will have questions for why he was carrying a firearm in the building, but it’s not a crime to be stolen from.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “Are you serious? That man is a deranged lunatic—he’s a criminal, and may even be a murderer. Arrest him!”
Agent Clark shook his head. “I will not let you force a distraction so you have a chance to get away, Mr. Fisher. You are going away for a long time, and you better get used to that idea.”
“I’m not lying. Kat will be in danger if you don’t believe me. At least take him into custody until you can sniff around ARCANE’s files and find out the truth.”
I poured all the persuasion and earnestness into my expression as I could. Agent Clark looked me in the eyes, then turned back around.
“I don’t think so. Let’s go.”
One of the men behind shoved me in the back, forcing me to stumble forward to catch my balance. Small pushes from behind kept me moving every time I wanted to stop.
That fucking asshole.
I had ways I could get out of my predicament, but Kat would be in danger if Nick was still at large. He would be furious about losing the money, and he would turn on the only person within reach who he could blame it on—Kat.
I’ve got to help her.
The only reason she was involved in this danger was because I put her there. She didn’t deserve this.
Outside, the agent put me in the back of a black sedan. There were no visible markings, and it wasn’t made out to be a law enforcement vehicle inside—just a regular car.
They must have come in a hurry to not have brought a proper car.
Agent Clark sat in the passenger seat and the man who’d been responsible for shoving me in the back on the walk down settled in to drive.
“My men are taking statements from Nick Mercer and the woman at the scene. This will be added to the mountain of evidence against you from your earlier crimes. You’ve pissed off powerful people, Mr. Fisher, and that will not end well for you.”
His smirking tone rubbed me the wrong way, like a nail down my spine.
“Powerful men? You mean criminals who abuse their position and wealth to commit crimes they’ll never be persecuted for because they donate to the politicians and police departments?”
The superior smile faded from Agent Clark’s face. “Watch it, Alex. Throwing around baseless accusations won’t do you any favors. Play nice and you’ll be far better off.”
I didn’t dignify that with a response, choosing instead to look out the window.
Part of being a con artist and a thief was always being prepared. As we pulled away from ARCANE’s building, I worked on the cuffs holding my hands behind my back using a small wire tucked into a tiny pocket in my sleeve expressly for that purpose. By the time we turned onto Market Street, they fell to the seat behind my back.
There wasn’t much traffic on a Saturday morning, but there was still a steady flow of cars in the opposing lane. There was a break up ahead—enough of one to fit a small car through.
Agent Clark had settled down and stopped looking back at me. The driver’s eyes flicked up into the rear-view mirror every few seconds, but each glance was barely long enough to register any worthwhile information.
Here we go.
The driver had accelerated enough that an accident would have a serious outcome. I counted on it.
When the small gap in oncoming traffic opened, I leapt forward in my seat and swung my
hands as hard as I could into the right side of the driver’s head. My momentum pushed him sideways, and he crashed into the side of the car. The window cracked as his head impacted, and the sudden push swung his hands around and jerked the wheel to the left.
“Oh, shit.” Agent Clark couldn’t react in time as the car swerved into oncoming traffic. Both of us were thrown to the right—the driver’s limp body fell into his colleague and dashed any hopes of regaining control of the wheel.
I braced myself against the frame of the car as best I could. Horns blared, and the flash of red outside the windshield heralded the impact.
The car twisted in a shriek of metal and crash of shattering windows as it spun. My fingers lost their grip on the door handle and I jerked hard against the seatbelt as the g-forces threatened to overwhelm me. I clung to consciousness with a fierce determination and held to the memory of Kat. If I passed out, this would all be for nothing.
After an eternity spent holding and hoping, the car slowed to a halt. Dust drifted through the air, obscuring vision. It settled enough to make out Agent Clark and the driver in the front seats, both slumped in the posture of the unconscious. The agent had borne the brunt of the impact as the passenger—swerving into oncoming traffic meant his seat was the most dangerous. The driver had been knocked out in my initial assault, so it was no surprise to see him in no better shape.
I’ve got to get out of here.
My entire body ached from the collision, but I had a job to do.
After releasing my seatbelt and finding the door either locked or jammed shut, I pulled myself through the shattered window.
“Oh, my God, are you all right?” A young woman, no older than twenty, stood only a few feet away. “I’m calling an ambulance and the police!”
It took a second to realize why the woman was so close—the car had ridden up onto the sidewalk, and there were people all around.
“You should do that,” I agreed. Before she could ask anything else, I sprinted away.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
To save Kat.
21
~ Kat ~
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