by A. J. Macey
"Hey Cat," he greeted softly, his southern twang stronger now than it had been at the gallery since he wasn't in disguise.
"How's it been, Phantom?" I joined him in leaning against the metal ducting. He hemmed and hawed, his head tilting back and forth as he thought about my question.
"Not bad, just doing the usual thing." He nudged me with his elbow. "How's the life of a taken woman?"
I rolled my eyes. Always so dramatic. "It's interesting," I answered honestly. Chuckling, I continued. "Not exactly traditional with four boyfriends." His rusty red eyebrows shot up as he gaped.
"Wow," he said dumbstruck, "I guess that makes sense for you since you're not exactly a traditional sort of gal." Smiling, I nodded in agreement.
"Very true." I sighed, my mood sobering. "What have you got for me, E?" He dug out a tiny notebook similar to my own and flipped to one of the scribbled on pages near the back.
"Well," he started, "no one has seen Jace since he had a meeting with the Alloy douches and fat-faced fuck on the eleventh. Like no sign, disappeared into thin air."
I groaned. That's really not good.
"What about fat fuck? Anything on the Casterelli Solace mob? What are people even calling it nowadays, is it the Casterelli mob or is it the Solace mob? I can't keep track anymore," I asked in quick succession, my mouth blabbering in an attempt to stay calm as my emotions started to leech away slowly. I calmed when my turbulent emotions were numbed completely.
"I think it's either," Elliot said in a questioning tone, the ending going up to make it sound like a question. "To answer your initial question, there are some whispers about expansion, but no one knows if it's physical or in terms of his business. Although, I know that other guy you asked about, uh, Brian whatever, has some knowledge." I perked up.
"Oh, spill," I commanded.
"So demanding," he teased. "Well he's got some loose lips when he's drinking, said something about being 'in the know'"ーhe finger quotedー"he wouldn't tell anyone what about, but he does visit the strip club Euphoria, especially one of their private rooms, like clockwork. He'll be there every weekend, Saturdays at nine PM. In case some sassy thief were to, I don't know, maybe trap and question him, she could find out what fat fuck is up to too."
"You know me so well." I playfully shoved him. "That it?" He nodded, tucking away his notebook. "You going to be hanging around for a bit or are you heading off?"
"Heading to Italy, actually, heard the Vatican Museum has some shiny things ripe for the taking." He flashed me a crooked smile. "You take care, K. You know how to reach me if you need me." Giving one last handshake, he darted off the building in a silent jog, scaling down the building and blending into the night.
May 20th
Monday Morning
Kiera
Aha! I mentally cheered, I’m here first for once! I even went as far as to do a little dance in my seat despite being sure I looked like an idiot. The smells of the little cafe Abby and I were meeting up at for brunch swirled around me. My stomach growled as I looked over the menu, my foot lightly brushing against the tote at my feet. I constantly checked to make sure it was still there so my tablet could scan and download all electronic information in the systems of the museum across the street while safely sitting in my bag.
"Holy shit," Abby exclaimed in surprise when she walked up to the small two person table I was at. "You beat me here." Her eyes were wide as she stared down at me. "Who are you and what have you done with my best bitch?" I chuckled, flashing her a smug smile.
"Told you I wasn't always late," I rubbed it in. I was so never going to let her forget this. She finally got ahold of herself and slipped into the chair opposite me. Tightening her dark brown hair in her ponytail, she glanced at the menu.
"What can I get for you girls this mornin'?" a rotund woman clothed in the cafe's uniform asked us, her pen poised over her little notebook.
"Orange juice for me with a short stack of pancakes," I ordered quickly, my eyes running through the menu one last time. "Side of fresh fruit as well, please." She nodded as she scribbled down my order before glancing at Abby who was nibbling on her lip.
"Same, but I'll take an order of coffee with vanilla creamer please." She closed the menu and handed it to the waitress.
"Be right out with your drinks." The waitress, whose name tag read Betty, smiled down at us and shuffled off to get our beverages. Abby shifted forward, her elbows resting on the shiny, retro style tabletop.
"When did we first meet?" she questioned sharply, her eyes narrowing as she stared. I rolled my eyes but obliged her ridiculous question anyway.
"I met you when I was nine and you were twelve. You were trying to steal a can of soup from the corner shop and doing a completely awful job," I humored her, recounting how we first met so she knew it was really me and not some weird clone version of Kiera Casterelli. She nodded, happy with my answer, and busied herself with doctoring her coffee that Betty had just set down on the table. In our companionable silence, my mind drifted back to when I first met Abby.
The weather was cooler than normal, the sun tucked behind one of the fluffy clouds that were in the sky. I pulled my jacket closed and adjusted my hood to cover my face. Keeping my head bowed, I walked down the street glancing at people from under my lashes. I was debating on who I wanted to work my pickpocketing skills on. Lately, I had been working on taking their belongings and putting them back before they realized the item was gone. I had just picked out a target when I saw a girl with tattered jeans and a too big shirt go into the corner grocery store. Tilting my head, I tried to figure out why she was setting my internal alarm bells off.
I followed; the little ding of the door was lost in the soft music that played through the eight-aisle shop. She was jittery, glancing around in a suspicious way that continued to attract my eye. I stared, my brow furrowing when she grabbed a can off the shelf and tucked it under her shirt. That is one of the worst lifts I have ever seen, I mentally grumbled. Sighing, I walked over to her.
"Here, give me that"ーI held out my hand, demanding the canー"you're a terrible thief. Go wander around the store and attempt to not look suspicious, and I'll meet you outside, one block east." She glared at me, her fingers fiddling with her shirt where the can was blatantly stashed.
"Why?" she snarked. I rolled my eyes and huffed.
"If you want to get caught for stealing a single can of food, by all means, go right ahead," I snapped quickly, waving my arms in irritation. I had just turned to walk away and head out of the shop when she called out. When I turned, she was nibbling her lip, but held out the can for me. I gave her a tiny smile, but since I hadn't spent any time with anyone near my age, I was sure it looked odd. "Meet you outside, one block east."
"Which way is that?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.
"Left, by the lightning-damaged tree," I explained. She nodded in understanding and started wandering through a few of the aisles before I heard the ding of the door despite the music. Pulling my hood off my wavy hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, I made myself look normal, blending in as if I was just a kid grabbing some soup from the store for a parent. After determining no one was paying attention to me and that there weren't any cameras, I shifted a few cans off the shelf and into my jacket. I hesitated, looking at the older woman who was behind the counter, her body frail but full of life as she interacted with customers. Sighing, I pulled out one of the stolen hundred dollar bills I’d taken from my father and tucked it under one of the cans on the shelf before making my way out of the store.
"Hey," I called out when I saw the girl waiting by the tree I had described. "Here you go." I handed her the four cans I was able to take. I looked her over now that we weren't inside the store. She looked to be a couple years older than me, but not old enough to have hit puberty yet. She was thin, too thin, with worn clothes, sunken in features, and a very faint wash of yellowy bruises covered her cheek and arms. "I'm Kiera, by the way."
"Abby," she mum
bled. "Why did you help me?" Her brow scrunched low over her eyes as if she didn't understand.
"No reason to get caught when you didn't have to." I shrugged. "Do you need anything else?" She fiddled with one of the can's labels.
"Can you get me a new pair of pants?" she mumbled, a wash of pink flooding her cheeks as if she was embarrassed to ask. I smiled. My father would freak if he knew I was out here, but he would especially blow a gasket if he realized I was making friends.
"Heck yeah, I can." I pulled her with me down the street. "I can get you anything you need. I'm a thief."
"Here you girls go." Betty's warm statement pulled me out of my memory. The sweet vanilla of the pancakes mixed with the crispness of the fresh fruit making my stomach grumble in hunger. We thanked her and immediately dug into our brunch. Neither of us talked, content to eat now and converse later when we were too stuffed to move for a while.
"All right, no more." Groaning, I was too full to fit even another bite of food, and pushed my plate away before rubbing my stomach. I hunched over and glanced in my bag. Only thirty seconds longer and the scan would be done.
"Yeah, I'm done," Abby agreed in a pained voice as she stacked her plate on mine. "What are your plans for the day?" she asked as Betty came by and dropped the bill, which I immediately paid in cash despite Abby's glare. I flashed her a smug smirk.
"Meeting up with the guys at the compound," I answered quietly, not wanting to bring the other patrons’ attention to our conversation. "What about you?" She had just opened her mouth to answer when her eyes narrowed.
"Is that..."—she pointed discreetly to a table behind us—"“…is that Bambi?" My head whipped around, and sure enough, the bimbo bitch with the blonde hair and bubblegum pink lips was sitting over at the other end of the cafe. She flashed us a cruel smile before nudging the arm of the guy seated in the booth next to her. All three men’s eyes darted to us as she spoke, their lips falling into a frown as their eyes scanned us before taking in her black and blue bruised face.
"We need to leave," I muttered quickly, grabbing my bag after ensuring the scan was complete. We had just gotten outside the glass door of the cafe when the three guys surrounded us.
"It's not polite to stalk someone," the head one barked angrily, his bright blue eyes sharp as he glared at us.
My eyebrows shot up. Is that what she's told them?
"We're not stalking anyone," I started, but one of the other guys cut me off.
"Kassi told us everything, and you two need to stay away from her," the brown eyed man grunted and took a step closer to me. I scoffed, which was apparently the wrong response because he grabbed my arm tightly. Growling, I shoved him, a snarl curling my lip.
"Don't fucking touch me. You can believe whatever the fuck you want from Kassi," I sneered the fake name, "but she's lying to you. Now if you'll excuse us, we have work to do." I snatched Abby's forearm and walked as quickly as possible away from the cafe. Eyes drifted our direction, making my skin itch. Dammit! I mentally screamed. She's trying to make it impossible for me to work, and I can't beat the shit out of her without bringing unwanted attention to myself. I ground my teeth wondering if she was the reason the guards had gone on their rotations early the other day. How long has she been following me?
"Let's get to the compound," Abby whispered, dragging me to our vehicles. I nodded, climbed onto my bike, and followed her straight to the Aces' acreage.
Fucking bimbo bitch.
I was still fuming when the Aces officers and Chase entered the office an hour later. Abby was seated out in the bar. Drinking a large amount of liquor, I'm sure. My jaw ticked rhythmically as emotions warred between rage and numbness at Bambi's balls. I'm going to enjoy beating the shit out of her again. I reveled in the only positive outcome from the situation. Chase took his usual spot leaning against the desk next to me, his playful gaze taking in my irritated face before falling into a confused expression.
"What's wrong, Kittycat?" he questioned, his finger poking my crossed arms in rapid succession. I sighed, trying to calm my emotions before explaining what had happened. When I was finished with my explanation, the room's tension had skyrocketed. Chase was the only one who didn't look ready to murder someone, although I'm sure he was thinking about it.
"So," Brooks started, his fingers rubbing his eyes as they always did when he was thinking or stressed. "Bambi is causing issues. We'll have to figure out how to find and deal with her, but our drop is top priority. They’re set for tonight," he informed me. "Chase, Stone, and you will go to the usual warehouse with Charlie and Brett who will be down with the decoy boxes. We'll be going to the actual drop," he explained, waving to Garrett, Nate, and himself. I started tallying to-do's or potential problems, the anger at Bambi pushed to the back burner.
"When is the drop supposed to happen?" I pulled out my notebook and started to jot everything down.
"Ten." I nodded and scribbled down what I would need to bring and what we would need to scout before then.
"All right," I mumbled distractedly still writing, "Chase and I will hit the house to get shit then head over there."
"What?" Brooks asked, confused. I glanced at him, realizing none of them other than Chase really understood the depth of how I worked. Tucking away my notebook, I explained.
"Going to grab some remote cameras to station around the building, and we'll both be wearing harnesses in case we need to go up or down between the roof or whatever." I waved a hand absently in front of me. "Need to scout potential entrances, hiding places, or escape routes in case shit hits the fan. Also going to wire everyone up with cameras and mics so I can monitor from anywhere inside the building. Need to grab binoculars and infrared goggles."
"Holy shit," Stone murmured, looking at me like I was something he'd never seen before, "you do this for all your jobs?" I shrugged and tilted my head back and forth in thought.
"Not all of them, but I like to be prepared. I don't like surprises," I explained with another half-assed shrug. It made sense to me, but then again, I wasn't exactly normal.
"Wow, all right. When do we leave?"
I smirked at his readiness to help. At least this is starting off smoother than I thought it would. Slipping off the desk, I tilted my head toward the door.
"We start now, my dear Stone," I smarted striding out of the room leaving him gaping and speechless. Chase chuckled and patted him on the shoulder before following me.
Let's get this show on the road.
Chase
I had just finished setting the different pulley-belay systems up in the most likely places we would use them when I heard Stone's thudding boots. My Kittycat would never be that loud, I thought. He looked up at me with a slightly tilted head studying the contraption I had just secured to the ceiling.
"Want a ride on it?" I teased, flashing him a smile. "It's pretty fun." My tone was taunting, wanting to see just how far he would tolerate me. He might be grouchy and closed off, but he couldn't hide that he was ever so slowly softening toward Kiera and me. He glared at me with crossed arms, his bulky muscles straining the black shirt he wore.
"No," he bit out. Kiera's appraising eyes appeared on the other side of him looking over my work with an approving nod. "Fuck!" Stone startled, taking half a step back from Kiera not hearing her coming up. "Make some noise next time." She rolled her eyes and smirked mischievously at him.
"I'm a thief, Stone, I'm supposed to be silent." She hummed in thought before continuing, "Well, some of the time." She winked at him saucily. I chuckled at her despite feeling my cock start to perk up. I bit back on the desire and focused on Stone. His gaze narrowed on her with clenched fists, but he couldn't hide the heat within his ebony eyes or the hardening behind his pants.
Oh, he's so falling for her, I thought giddily.
"I could go somewhere else for a bit if you two want to, ya know"ーI waved my hand between them and waggled my eyebrowsー"get it on since I know you don't like that 'sex sharing thing,' Stone."
"Uh, no." He shifted uncomfortably, glancing between the two of us, I'm sure noting that my kittycat didn't object. I shrugged my shoulders.
"If you say so." I hopped off the railing of the second floor in front of him, my hand patting his shoulder as I smirked at him. "You're missing out on some prime pussy. Isn't he, Kittycat?" A glance over my shoulder caught her smug smile. Chuckling once more, I started to walk away with her by my side, Stone gaping at both of us as we descended the metal grate stairs.
"Ready?" Kiera questioned quietly in the earbud, her voice echoing slightly between her being next to me and the device within my ear. The yeses from the two Aces who were playing bait down at the fake merchandise filtered through the earbud. Nodding to herself, Kiera hunkered down where we would be watching from. She and Stone were in charge of cameras while I had the binoculars and had eyes on Charlie and Brett.
"This is what you do?" Stone asked, groaning as he adjusted to lie on his stomach with his camera screen clutched in his hand. "This is uncomfortable."
"Just think of it as a sniper's nest," she murmured distractedly, flipping through the cameras to make sure they were all working.
"What do you know about snipers’ nests?" Stone's tone was disbelieving, causing her to sigh and look over at him.
"I know because I've been in one," she explained, "or have you forgotten who my father is?" Her question silenced him, his gaze intently focused on her face.
"Were you the shooter?" he asked quietly. She ground her teeth. I felt my brow furrow as I listened. I knew a lot about my Kittycat, but she didn't talk about her past often and not even I had heard this story.