Blackout: A Romance Anthology

by Stephanie St. Klaire

“Whoa.” Cane held up a hand. “It doesn’t matter what store is on the other side of the wall — you get only what you need. We’ll figure out the cost later and pay the store back.”

  Skye shrugged. “Fine by me, I know exactly what to get. The new collection is out and I’ve been dying to get in there.”

  “Don’t make me regret this,” Cane said, tucking her behind him as they prepared to enter the employee access hall. “You’ll have about ninety seconds to—”

  “I only need sixty.” She winked, her hand flat against his back so she could follow him in the dark store, just as he’d trained them to do earlier in the evening when they moved from the suite to the secret room.

  With his ear to the door that would let them into the passage way, he listened for activity before slowly opening it. It was dark. The security lights were out everywhere so he took a moment to let his eyes adjust. When he started to move, Skye followed. When he entered the rear entrance of the store, he followed the same protocol, listened first, moved swiftly and quietly second.

  Though still dark, there was a hint of natural light that trickled in from the glass skylight that ran the length of the shops outside, letting in the brightness of the night sky. Without a cue, Skye broke off and went on her way while Cane moved to the front of the store and took in the crowds. It was just dark enough to require using his night vision set. This was going to take longer than the time he allotted.

  “What were the fucking odds of that?” he whispered.

  When a slight cut in the air, not quite a breeze, struck the back of Cane’s neck, he shifted on his heels and snaked his arm around the neck of whomever had snuck up behind him, his hand covering their mouth just in time to muffle a scream. Skye. She was already back, and screamed again when she saw Cane’s night vision goggles.

  “Jesus. What are you doing? It’s just me,” he whispered. Though he cut off any significant sound before it was detectable to the outside world, he looked over his shoulder to make sure the man he pegged as Davenport hadn’t heard a thing.

  “I-I told you. I knew what to get. I-I’m done,” she croaked.

  “Why’d you sneak up on me like that? I almost broke your damn neck.”

  “I didn’t think I was sneaking, just being quiet like you said.” A quiver in her tone let him know how badly he scared her.

  “You’re okay. I need you not to cry. Can I count on you to keep it together?” he asked. “It’s like the universe is on our side. He’s right fucking outside.”

  Cane pulled off his goggles and put them on Skye before pointing her in the direction where he pinpointed Davenport. “Do you see him? Is that the guy you saw in the stairwell?”

  With her own hands over her mouth this time, she muffled the fear threatening to alert the would-be attacker and nodded. “It’s him. He’s right there, O’Reilly. His arm,” she went on, “he’s hurt.”

  “You noticed that too. Unless he’s gone after someone else, I’d say Kandi put up a fight. Good catch.” Cane was impressed with how quickly Skye and Eddie were catching on. They were proving to be assets rather than dead weight. Maybe their life of crime wasn’t all for nothing and there was hope for them after all. “We need to go. We’ve been in here for…”

  “Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds. I’ve been counting,” she said. “Thirty-seven seconds longer than we intended. Eddie and Charlie are probably getting worried.”

  With a quick turn, Skye grabbed her bags and led the way back to their hidden passage where Eddie and Charlie were patiently waiting.

  “Thank God,” Eddie said, pulling Skye into an embrace. “That was—”

  “Thirty-seven seconds too long,” Skye said. “It was worth it, though. We had eyes on him immediately. He’s hanging out right outside. He’s been wounded, right arm, possibly from his encounter with Kandi. If we’re going to cross through the open corridor to the other side, he’s going to see us unless we create some sort of diversion.”

  Eddie and Charlie looked at each other, shocked by the detailed report Skye just delivered. When they looked to Cane, he nodded, equally impressed.

  “I think your girl has a knack for this, Ed,” Cane said. “She’s right on all points.”

  “Oh! And I grabbed everything we need.” Skye began handing out clothes. “I went with black for everyone. It’s super chic and made sense since it’s crazy dark. Thought it would help us all blend in. Oooh, we’ll call it blackout chic.”

  “I don’t need anything. I’m perfectly comfortable and already wearing black,” Cane offered. “I’m not playing dress up, but feel free.”

  “You’re wrong, and it’s a disguise, not dress up. You stick out like a sore thumb. Once he sees you, he’ll know who you are. You scream big, broody bodyguard who has a hidden girl. I got you this.” Skye tossed a cap and windbreaker to Cane. “You’re going to need it. At least, I think you will. I thought it would come in handy if you need to change your appearance or anything.”

  Eddie held up his head-to-toe outfit, looking between Skye’s choice for him and Cane. “You’re dressing me like him? Really? Will my shirt be too tight and make it look like I’m suffocating the shit out of my pecs too?”

  “Nooo, babe. It just matches the gun and makes it look like a sexy accessory,” Skye said, brushing her hand over Eddie’s shirt to smooth it out. “You know what I think would go good with this look? If we go down to the Louis Vuitton store—”

  “We’re not shoplifting accessories,” Cane said. “Get the flak jacket back on. It’s the only accessory you need besides that damn gun.”

  “I’m just trying to help,” Skye said with a pout. “Accessories are important, even on the run.”

  Charlie snickered. “She’s not wrong.”

  “My shirt isn’t too tight. It’s comfortable. I think she made a practical choice, Ed,” Cane assessed. “Stop bitching and get out of the security uniform. We need to go.”

  “But just a few shops down—” Skye started.

  Cane put his hand up to stop her. “No.”

  But it didn’t stop Skye. “I was thinking your gun needed—”

  “No. This isn’t a last-ditch effort to load up on your couture bullshit. And my gun is just fine,” Cane said.

  “I wasn’t going to shop or steal, I just thought maybe you’d like—”

  “I don’t like anything. Okay? Nor do I need anything.”

  “Jesus, O’Reilly,” Eddie chided. “She was just offering to help you with something. Calm down, your man tits are looking angry and about to burst through that t-shirt.”

  Cane smiled at Skye. “Oh, wait. You mean at the Louie Vuitton store? Have you seen the new collection?”

  “Oh my God.” Skye grabbed his hands in excitement. “Yes! I want the whole line. Every piece, that’s what I meant when—”

  “No!” Cane made his point. “See. She wants to shop, and we aren’t shopping — with or without money. Bluff called. Now, let’s get it together.”

  “Well…” Skye said, eyes trained on Cane, “turn around. You’re not going to watch us change, are you? That would make this something entirely different than what it is.”

  “He likes to watch.” Eddie laughed. “Don’tcha, big guy?”

  “Fuck off,” Cane said, turning his attention to Charlie, realizing she’d been hiding behind him already changing. “Do you need help?”

  Charlie first shook her head, then stumbled as she leaned over to tie her shoes. “Okay, maybe a little. Pants and sweatshirt were easy. My head’s still spinning a bit.”

  Cane took to a knee and helped her slide her sneakers on and tied them for her. His hands slid up her legs as he stood and landed on her hips. “We’re almost done. This is almost over. You okay to go on?”

  Charlie hesitated to answer. As much as she wanted to get out of there and put Davenport, who she knew was Anson Deveraux, behind her…she didn’t like the finality that rested in Cane’s words. When Anson, Henry, or whoever had been after her all these years was
finally taken to justice, she had no idea what that meant for her and Cane. Charlie wasn’t ready for that to be over. It hadn’t even really started. Maybe that was the next step? Maybe they could be something they hadn’t had a chance to explore because they’d finally be done hiding and always looking over their shoulders?

  It wasn’t the time, and certainly not the place, to weigh options or even ask questions. Charlie decided to table the discussion in her head. She would deal with it when the time came. Cane asked her a question and deserved an answer.

  “I’m not one hundred percent,” Charlie admitted, “but I’m not waiting another minute either. I’m ready. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Oh, Eddie,” Skye said, distracting them from the moment. “That looks better on you than I imagined. You look so...” her words became choppy and sultry, “hot.”

  Eddie pulled her into an aggressive kiss, his hands straight to her ass and their bodies so tightly held together, it was nearly obscene as she slid her leg up his. Eddie lifted her from the ground and walked her until her back was against the wall.

  “Are we really going to do this again?” Cane interrupted. “Can we save the celebratory fuck fest against the wall for when we get to safety, and oh, I don’t know, get the bad guy?”

  “I’m starting to think you’re jealous, O’Reilly,” Eddie said.

  “Jealous? There’s a killer out there,” Cane pointed in the direction Davenport was last seen, “and you think I’m jealous of you wall banging in public all the time? Have some class, man. Fucking like bunnies isn’t the plan. Jesus, I hope we survive this.”

  “So, you don’t think we’ll survive?” There wasn’t a real reason for questioning Cane other than it was just what Eddie did. Their relationship was as complicated as the situation and every successful moment of getting along was followed by no less than three that were bickering. “Oh, and bunnies? Is that why you seem to know what we’re doing with the walls around here? You watching us all time? I bet you sit up there in your secret hideaway watching zoo porn — bunnies…”

  “Screw you.”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? And the wall fucking is our thing because it works. We’re in plain sight, but nobody wants to look at us too closely because it makes them uncomfortable. It’s usually just an act, man. It’s a way to be seen for an alibi, but never watched too closely.” It wasn’t all an act, but most of it was, and Eddie had just given away their biggest play.

  “You’re the diversion.” As much as Eddie rubbed Cane the wrong way, he had to give him major props for the methods behind his madness. His tactics were odd, but still brilliant, and that brilliance planted a seed Cane was about to bring to fruition.

  Skye pushed the maid and security uniforms off to the side in a heap. “It’s showtime. We need to jump sides, out in the open, and not be seen.”

  Cane looked at each of them. “I have a plan.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Cane’s plan was nearly a suicide mission. Eddie and Skye were set to lure the maybe killer into a shop while Cane got Charlie to the other side of the corridor where she’d wait for the rest of the team…well, most of the team.

  “Time it,” Cane said. “Give me two minutes to get her to the other end of the passageway and get his attention. I’ll be at the other end watching. Once he goes in, I’ll get Charlie across where she’ll wait for you.”

  “Got it. Then run like hell out the front door and find your car parked out there while you step in and lure the guy the other way.” Sarcasm laced Eddie’s words. They’d been over this a hundred times. “If you aren’t there in ten minutes, leave without you — Charlie knows the way.”

  “There’s no room for error here,” Cane said. “Literally none. Once you get out front, you’re exposed. It’s all glass, so don’t fuck around. Get to the car, whatever it takes. Use the gun if you have to. People tend to listen better when there’s one pointing at them.”

  “He’ll follow you, right? You’ll draw him away when you’re up?” Eddie asked.

  “If he’s been watching like I think he has, then yes. He’ll know I’m the way to Charlie,” Cane confirmed. “If Davenport is really Anson Deveraux — no doubt he’ll recognize me. The only reason he would have left Charlie unattended like he did would have been to neutralize a threat.”

  Charlie gasped. “He was coming for you? To kill you?”

  “I believe so.” When Charlie nearly collapsed, resting her hands on her knees while hunched over, Cane went to her and wrapped his arms around her. “But he didn’t. He won’t. You got that? He will never come between us, and I will never ever let him hurt you again. I will kill him with my bare hands before I let him put another finger on you…whoever this guy is.”

  “You’re sure he won’t know who we are? He won’t recognize us from earlier?” Eddie’s sarcasm was suddenly gone, the levity of the situation taking its toll.

  “No. I’m not sure. You’re not dressed the same, it’s dark, and he’s fixated on someone else. If he somehow linked you guys to Charlie or figured out she was in that bag you had…then you might have a problem, but right now, he has no reason to connect you to her. If he suspected anything, he would have come after you then.”

  “Good point. And if he did figure it out? Starts asking questions?” Skye asked.

  “You get out at all costs.” Cane’s tone was serious. What he was about to say was never easy, even for him, and this was what he was trained for. “You have a gun — pull the trigger. You shoot first, get the hell out, ask questions later. Get back to the passageway and run like hell.”

  “I don’t know if I can do it — you know, actually shoot someone.”

  “Shoot or be shot. Your call, Eddie. Either way, you’re buying me time to get her out of here. Your choice.”

  “Well, when you put it like that. Okay.” Eddie held Skye’s hands and faced her. “You sure you’re up for this? We can find another way — I can find a way to get his attention.”

  Skye smiled. “Look at you trying to do all the right things now. No. We can do this. We’ll be okay. I know we will.”

  “Two minutes, O’Reilly,” Eddie said, walking out of the hidden passage to the storefront where they were to draw this asshole in.

  Skye’s grip tightened the closer the couple got to the front of the store. He hadn’t moved much at all. Henry Davenport stood front and center, scanning the crowd, turning every few seconds, searching. Skye gave Eddie a quick look before knocking a rack against the wall and letting the fixture on top hit the glass.

  It caught his attention for sure. He moved closer to the shop, but it was clear he didn’t know exactly where the sound came from. With a swift kick, she drove the fixture into the bottom of the glass. That did the trick. He looked right at Skye. That’s when she disappeared into the darkness, only her silhouette visible from where he stood on the outside. It drew him in.

  “We’ve got this, baby,” Eddie said as they assumed their positions, literally. “You’re my eyes, okay? Tell me when you see him. Gun is in my waistband. Grab it if it comes to that.”

  She nodded. “I know. Here he comes.”

  Her body began to quiver against Eddie’s. He continued to whisper in her ear to keep her with him, to keep her grounded, to give her the courage it required to come face to face with a killer.

  “He’s looking around,” she whispered in Eddie’s ear, then kicked over the shoe display next to them. “Here he comes.”

  Skye let out a moan to keep him coming in their direction. He, like them, had to rely on other senses in the dark. So, she guided him in with small sounds of pleasure and a handful of clumsy clanks.

  “He’s right behind you.” Skye’s whisper was barely understandable.

  That’s when Eddie took her mouth. He wasn’t just playing his part, or trying to silence her, but showing her he loved her and would protect her. This animal wasn’t going to hurt her, not without going through Eddie, and that was going to be a fight.

&nb
sp; Eddie pulled the gun from the front of his pants just as Davenport laid a hand on his shoulder. He spun on his heel, gun behind his back, and spat, “What the fuck?”

  Skye played her part and let out a scream. A scream that was so convincing because it was real. Pure terror she’d been storing deep down, and she didn’t have to stow it away anymore.

  “Oh,” Davenport said, backing away. He seemed surprised, perhaps it was the clothes that resembled Cane that drew him in to begin with. Who really knew? “I thought you were someone else.”

  He turned to walk away, Eddie and Skye each sighing in relief…until he stopped and turned to face them again. Eddie gripped the gun tighter, prepared to do as he was instructed — shoot first, ask questions later…his new moto.

  “You two…” Davenport said, squinting his eyes while he flashed a light in their direction.

  “Not looking for a threesome, pal. Move along. I think you can find that off the strip.” It probably wasn’t the wisest idea to insult the man likely responsible for one murder, potentially hundreds, but Eddie just went with what felt natural and prayed it worked.

  “I saw you before. You were…” A look of disgust crossed the man’s face. “Don’t you have a room? This is indecent.”

  “Pfft.” Eddie snorted. “This coming from a guy like you?”

  Shit, took it too far, Eddie thought after the look his comment received from Davenport.

  “From a guy like me? What is that supposed to mean?” the man snarled.

  “You tell me.” Eddie tossed it back in Davenport’s court. “You’re the guy who walked in on a couple getting it on and you don’t seem to want to take no for an answer. We aren’t interested, buddy. Go get freaky elsewhere.”

  With his lips nearly pursed and brow furrowed above the glare Davenport was wearing, it was clear he was deciding whether or not to do something dramatic to show Eddie what kind of guy he really was. With a death grip on the gun, Eddie started to pull it from behind when the man shook his head and turned to walk away, thinking better of pursuing anything else. Eddie dropped his shoulders and let out the breath he’d been holding just as Skye did the same.