The Cocky Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 1)

by Mallory Crowe

  Were those...? Yep. Footsteps. She’d slipped out of her sneakers almost immediately. It would be a bitch to be running around barefoot on the street, but in order to get onto that street, she needed to be quiet. On this floor, that meant no shoes.

  But the guys after her were still in their boots, which gave her the one, and possibly only, advantage she’d get.

  She softly went farther into the aisle and crouched down. She wasn’t a quitter. So what if all the doors were locked? There had to be some way out. A back entrance, a secret elevator, an air vent: there was always a way. She just needed to make sure Blondie and Baldie stayed away long enough for her to find those secret exits.

  She listened, but the footsteps had stopped. Did that mean whoever was on her tail was waiting for her to make a move? Or did it mean that they’d moved on to another section of the basement?

  She couldn’t stay where she was, though. If anyone walked past the aisle she was hiding in, there was no way they wouldn’t see her. Maybe she could find somewhere to hide out for a few hours, but there was the chance that Stranger would call in reinforcements. She might be able to hide from two meatheads for the night, but what about five? Ten? Twenty?

  She had no idea what was coming and she hated that.

  Move. No matter what, she needed to move. She was just reaching the end of the aisle when she heard it. There were more footsteps, but these weren’t the guys after her. It was the click-clack of heels on the hard floor. There was a woman down here, and not a stranger either. She knew that walk.

  She opened her mouth to call out for her mother when a hand clamped over her mouth and she was pulled back against a hard body. The adrenaline kicked into overdrive and she wiggled and kicked and started to throw her head back. But the hand over her mouth tightened; his other hand went around her waist, rending her almost completely immobile.

  “If she doesn’t see you, she doesn’t have to die,” said the man ominously in her ear. She knew it was Blondie from the rough stubble that brushed against her neck as he spoke.

  She went stock-still at his warning. He was right. If Isobel saw her, Blondie would have to take care of her. From the sounds of it, Isobel was alone and, although her mother was a certifiable badass, one-on-one combat had never been her specialty. And Stranger had been more than happy to take her. What would he do if he had the chance to get his hands on the fiancée who betrayed him?

  The seconds seemed to stretch on. The man she was pressed against wasn’t hard any longer, thank goodness. Well, every inch of him seemed hard, just not in that particular area. She was sure he could feel her pounding heart and tell just how scared she was, just as she could feel the slow and steady beats of his.

  This was evidently no big deal to him. Threatening and kidnapping women. Probably murder soon. Just one more day on the job. He was warm. Strange. Logically she knew that even murderers had a body temperature same as hers, but it was so disconcerting to actually feel it.

  Here he was touching her, and if she made a fuss, her mother could pay the price. Maybe Isobel had a plan. If Melody could get her attention, there was a chance—

  More footsteps sounded, but these weren’t Isobel’s. “Who are you?” came her mother’s voice.

  “That doesn’t matter,” said Baldie’s familiar voice. “You shouldn’t have come.” All of the sudden, a loud bang and flash filled the basement. Through the boxes in front of her, Melody could just see the shadowy figure as it fell limply to the ground.

  She had been afraid before, but the gunshot filled her body with a shock unlike anything she’d ever known. Every single nerve ending seemed to be numb and on high alert at the same time as her knees gave out.

  In the dim lighting, she was pretty sure that was her mother lying lifeless on the floor, but then a beam of light—a flashlight, she belatedly realized—crossed over the body’s face. Isobel looked flawless, even in death. The only mark was the bullet hole right in her forehead. Oh, God, Baldie had gotten her right in the forehead...

  For the first time, she was grateful for the hand over her mouth because she was pretty sure it was the only thing stopping her from screaming. Screaming so Baldie could hear her rage. Screaming so Isobel could have someone mourn her loss.

  But all she could do was stand there as her entire world fell apart. Except then she wasn’t standing. Blondie was pulling her back and when her legs didn’t cooperate, she was suddenly floating in the air.

  Not floating. She was being carried. He had one hand under her knees and one under her shoulders as he moved her farther and farther away from the scene of the...crime? Murder? Travesty?

  It felt as if the entire world were on a five-second delay. Her brain just wasn’t processing things right. Her mouth wasn’t covered any more. She could scream, but what was the point? The only person who could help her was lying dead on the floor.

  Blondie moved so fast that the breeze was cold on her face. Not all of her face, just the wet streaks where the tears had fallen. She was a fighter. She should be fighting.

  But right now there was just no fight left in her. Her mother would be so disappointed. What a depressing thought to have right before she died...

  She was abruptly brought back to earth as she was set on the ground and her back was pressed against a wall. Everything came back to her like a light switch had been flipped in her mind. No, there was actually light now. She glanced around at the small room Blondie had set her in. This wasn’t a room. It was an elevator.

  There was a flash of silver as he took a switchblade out of his pocket. She took a deep breath as she braced herself for the burn.

  It never came. Instead, he reached down and cut the zip tie that had bound her hands ever since she’d been there.

  Her eyes met Blondie’s and for a second, a brief second that seemed to last forever, they were both still. Her own confusion was echoed in his face, as if he didn’t really understand what was happening either. And then he backed away, hitting one of the buttons on the way out.

  “I want you to leave,” he said gruffly. “And never come back.”

  Of the hundred questions she had, all of her answers were denied as the doors slid shut. Suddenly she was left staring at her own reflection in the shiny silver doors.

  “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Greg Stranger sneered.

  It’s hard to feel smart when there was a gun pointed at your head, thought Jennifer. “We’re just here for my sister,” she said carefully, trying not to set him off.

  “Well, you’re shit out of luck. Get in here, both of you.”

  Jennifer glanced over at Austin as they both started to walk into the dark office. She wasn’t sure whether Austin had any bright ideas to get them out of this but she was drawing a blank. However, there was one fallback tactic that always worked when she was out of ideas. Keep talking until something came to her. “We’re not here to cause you trouble. We want to make the trade for Melody, remember? Now, since you backed out of the deal, we came to look for you.”

  He let out a bitter laugh. “You think I believe anything you or your poisonous family says? No. I’m not going to let you lie to me any longer. Here’s what is going to happen. You’re going to bring me the Dragon Heart right now or you’re both going to get a bullet in your head. Now give it to me!” He screamed so loudly that spit flew out of his mouth.

  Jennifer tried to keep her distress to a minimum. The only thing that helped to calm her fears was the sudden voice in her ear of Scott Hart. “Weston, stay on Melody. I’m going in now.”

  Toni added, “Keep him talking, Miles. I’m activating Plan C right now.”

  Plan C? She didn’t even know there’d been a Plan B...

  Austin took a tentative step forward, drawing the gun in his direction. “Hey, if giving you the necklace will make you happy, we’d be more than happy to hand it over. But we have to get it.”

  “No, you don’t. I know you were working with someone else.”

  “That’s a
ll part of the con. Make you feel outnumbered and unprepared. We’re the only people here and we have the Dragon Heart stashed in our car at the parking garage. Not exactly the kind of thing you just walk in with if you don’t even have proof of life. So why don’t the three of us—”

  “Shut up!” The gun shook a little and Jennifer could tell the stress was getting to him.

  “I want to do whatever we need to do to make sure Melody is okay, Greg.” If he was wavering, that was good. Guns were dangerous, but they were horrible weapons for close-quarters combat. If one of them could distract Stranger, the other could go in for the gun.

  “I’m all set up, Miles. Tell me when and I’ll pull the trigger,” said Toni.

  Jennifer glanced over to Austin, but his face was blank. What was he planning?

  Austin took a step forward and Greg pointed the gun firmly in his direction. Jennifer looked to see whether there was a point when she could take a run at Stranger, but it was too easy for him to pull that trigger.

  “I think you should put that gun down.” Austin took another step closer to Stranger.

  “I’m not doing anything until you give me that necklace!” A bead of sweat fell down Stranger’s forehead. He acted as if he were the one with the gun pointed at him.

  Austin, on the other hand, set his hands down by his sides and looked as if he were having a casual conversation. “If you don’t put that gun down right now, Austin Miles is going to die.”

  Jennifer didn’t know who was more surprised—Stranger or her. “Wait, what?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” asked Stranger at the same time.

  “You get around in the underworld. Have you ever heard of me? Austin Miles?”

  “Seriously, what are you doing?” she whispered, even though she knew Stranger could hear them.

  “He knows what he’s doing,” said Toni in her ear.

  “I’m on the elevator now,” said Scott. “Weston, where are you?”

  Stranger was oblivious of the conversations going on in their heads. “Austin Miles, the thief? I should’ve known...”

  “Here’s the thing. We couldn’t get to your safe. But what we do have are your phone logs. Enough to put together a pretty comprehensive client list.”

  “So you know my clients. That doesn’t mean anything.”

  “No. In the time it would take one hacker to get to do any harm to any of the people on that list, you could’ve moved all the money ten times over. But if we had an army of hackers all focused on your one client list, that would be a different story.”

  The gun wavered in Stranger’s hand as though he was debating putting it down. “You don’t have an army of hackers,” he said in a quivering tone.

  “But if an announcement along with that list goes out over the darknet, you can bet that there will be an army of other hackers and thieves just like me who want a crack at Austin Miles’s last big score.”

  Jennifer’s jaw dropped. “Wait. Plan C is for you to die?”

  He held a hand up to her. “A fake death. In name only. But Stranger over here might be facing much more literal consequences when his clients check their empty bank accounts.”

  Stranger shook his head. “No. This isn’t possible. I have firewalls, passwords—”

  “It’s the Internet. If I give people motive and a few breadcrumbs, that’s all it will take for your empire to crumble.”

  “But I need the Dragon Heart! If I don’t get it back, Sterling is going to—”

  “What do you think we’re going to do to you?” Scott walked into the office behind them. He crossed to stand between Jennifer and Austin, but Jennifer would’ve been much happier if he had a gun in his hand too. “You’re outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Give us the girl and you’ll live to deal with Sterling another day. This is your one and only offer.”

  Stranger’s eyes darted all around the room, as though one of them was magically going to offer him a way out of the corner they’d backed him into.

  And when Austin stepped forward the two steps needed to bridge the distance between them, Stranger handed over his gun without protest, took out his phone and sent a call.

  “I recommend putting that on speakerphone,” said Scott.

  He glared at Scott even as he hit the button to turn on the speakerphone function. As soon as the call connected, Stranger started without any greeting. “We’re done here. Go home.”

  “We’re not going anywhere,” said the voice. “Did you get the exchange?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m calling the whole thing off,” said Stranger, this time more forcefully.

  “Sterling doesn’t care what you want. I don’t care how many more of these Murray women I need to kill.”

  The call was over and Stranger stared at his phone in horror.

  “Did he say any more of us?” asked Toni through the earpiece.

  “Give me your security badge,” said Austin.

  “I need to—”

  Austin grabbed Stranger by the lapels and slammed him into the wall of windows. “Give me your fucking badge!” he screamed. Without waiting, he rummaged through Stranger’s pockets until he found his wallet and then pushed him against the glass once more for good measure.

  “Weston, are you there?” said Jennifer. “Weston, I need to know if you see any bodies down there.”

  When there was nothing but silence, Jennifer turned and ran out of the office, not stopping until she reached the elevator. She slammed her finger on the button and willed the damn thing to light up.

  “Here,” said Austin from behind her as he ran the security card over the sensor that let the elevators work.

  “You don’t think he meant anything, do you?”

  Scott caught up with them right as the elevator arrived.

  “And what do you mean you’re dead?” snapped Jennifer. “What kind of stupid plan is that and why didn’t anyone tell me?”

  “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to do it,” said Austin bluntly. “It was a backup.”

  “I should’ve been told about backup plans. And Weston, I swear you’d better answer me in the next two minutes or I’m going to kill you with one of your own guns.”

  The elevator hit the lobby and Jennifer led the way out, glancing in each direction as she looked for Weston or Isobel or anything that could give her some inkling about what was going on. “Melody was here, right? This was where the GPS said she was.”

  “It’s where her necklace ended up,” said Toni softly.

  “Let’s get to the van and we can regroup.” Scott moved in front of Jennifer to lead the way.

  Jennifer was torn between following him and running off to find...anyone. Then the gruff voice of Weston came over the comm. “I’m heading back to the van. Meet me there.”

  “Weston, what happened? Did you find Mel? Where is Isobel?” He didn’t say anything and, as Austin turned to face her, his face said exactly what she was thinking. “No, Weston, tell me something. Please tell me you found them.”

  “Please tell me you found them,” said Jennifer over the comm.

  Toni didn’t move a muscle as she waited for Weston to respond. The old saying said no news was good news, but not now. Not in the middle of a job. If Weston wasn’t going to tell them anything until they were all clear of the building, that meant he didn’t want anyone’s emotions to get them in trouble.

  What had he seen in that basement? What didn’t he want to tell them?

  That was it. She wasn’t going to sit in this van for one second longer and just hope someone gave her answers. Toni jumped away from the desk and shoved open the doors to the van, but by the time she had jumped out, the Boy Scout was there and pushed her back.

  “Hold on,” he said sternly.

  “Let me go!” Toni tried to twist away, but Hart just held her tighter.

  And then Weston appeared. The man always looked somber, but the look on his face was utterly devastating. “Your mom—” was all she heard befo
re the voices in her head seemed to scream.

  “No,” she said as she once again tried to pull away from Hart, but he remained still. Not holding her any tighter or giving her any opportunity to leave. “Boy Scout, you need to let me go. I need to—”

  He dispassionately stared down at her. No pity. No emotion at all. “You need to what? What are you running off to do?”

  She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. What was she going to do? She hadn’t talked her way into anything for years. She couldn’t fight worth a damn. The only thing she was good at was sitting in a deserted basement and causing trouble. This was her family at stake and there was nothing she could do.

  “Toni?” said a soft voice in the distance.

  Her head jerked around to see Melody limping toward them. Hart’s grip on her suddenly loosened and Toni didn’t waste a second before she ran to her sister. The hug was a mix of a body slam and an embrace. She wasn’t sure who started crying, but they were both shuddering in each other’s arms.

  “I’m so happy you’re okay,” said Toni between breaths.

  “I saw—” Melody took in a shaking breath. “I saw what they did to Mom.”

  “It’s going to be okay,” said Toni emptily. She had no idea whether it was true, but it was the only thing she could say at the moment. The only comfort she could offer.

  Austin had never been to a funeral before. Well, that wasn’t true. He had been to them before, but never seriously. He’d gone while trying to get close to a mark once. The dead bastard had lived a horrible life and there hadn’t been one wet eye in the entire place.

  This was different. Even though the crowd was small, each one was profoundly sad about the woman currently being set into the ground. He was profoundly sad. He didn’t know Isobel well. Hadn’t agreed with her all that much either, but she’d seemed to love her kids, which was more than he could say for either of his parents.

  And when she thought hope was gone, she’d gone charging in with no backup, willing to face anything to get Melody back.