The Cunning Thief

by Mallory Crowe

  He led her to his sporty little car. It was bright yellow, not exactly subtle, and only had two seats. The interior was all black leather, and she was betting it was hot as a bitch in the Florida sun. Luckily, by the time they’d left the house, the sun had long since set. The leather felt smooth and cool against her bare legs as she sat down. He shut the door for her and walked around to the driver’s side. The roads were less crowded at this time of night, so he had no problems getting on the main road. “So.... What do you want to do?”

  Shae had about a thousand different answers for that question, and pretty much none of them were appropriate to say. “I should probably get home,” she said finally. “I have a really busy day tomorrow.”

  “Busy day? Aren’t you your own boss?”

  She let out a little laugh. “I am my own boss, and my boss is a bitch.”

  The corner of his mouth tipped up as he glanced away from the road to look at her and then back to the road. “I’ve been debating going into business for myself,” he said.

  “It has its benefits. Why? Do you have issues with your current boss?”

  “Bosses. I work for a couple. They just started up a consulting company, and I’m one of the original hires.”

  Interesting. He’d seemed so reluctant to talk about his work earlier. She had a feeling she was hearing information not many people heard. “Do you like them?”

  Tristan shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re not terrible, but they’re not really... on the same level as me. I just don’t know if we’re compatible. Before this, my boss was a huge prick. Like, the biggest prick. But I had a solid team and I always knew they had my back. Most of the team has transitioned to this new unit, but one of the guys is doing more desk work now. So everything’s different. Everything’s changed.”

  “Change is hard. Even good change.”

  Tristan shrugged and his fingers tightened on the wheel. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be telling you all this.”

  “I don’t mind listening.”

  “Yeah, but there’s nothing you can do. I’m just rambling.”

  Shae let out a little laugh, and before she knew what she was doing, she reached out and set her hand on his leg. “I don’t mind listening to you ramble.”

  It was a short drive back to the beachside properties. Shae kept on sneaking glances over at Tristan, but he seemed pretty focused on the road. She didn’t remember the last time she’d been so... confused about a man. Come to think of it, she didn’t remember the last time she’d truly been interested in a man. She wasn’t cold. She found men attractive and could appreciate the sight of them, but the idea of staying out late and missing work just hadn’t seemed worth it. Why did Tristan seem more than worth it?

  He drove the car up to McCormick Place. Normally she’d be on edge if the man drove her back to his place without asking, but considering she was next door, it made sense. She thought it would end there, but then he put the car in park and looked at her. “Can I walk you to your door?”

  “Oh....” That didn’t seem like a good idea. Why didn’t it seem like a good idea? Was she more worried that he was going to make a move? Or that she was?

  Before she answered, Tristan was getting out of the car and making his way over to her door. By the time he’d opened it for her, she still didn’t have a good answer. But then he held his arm out, and she took it wordlessly as he started to lead her back to her house.

  “It’s a beautiful night,” he said. “You know, we don’t have to go to your house.”

  Shae frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want to take a walk down by the water?”

  She smiled at the compromise. This way, she wouldn’t have to say goodbye to him yet, but she wouldn’t be going as far as to invite him inside her house. Not that the house, and the state it was in now, was really the best place to have a tryst. “Hold on.” She slipped her sandals off and set her purse down by the edge of the McCormick house. Considering all the shells that would wash up on the beach, she kept the sandals in her hand in case she needed them, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have the sand between her toes.

  “I love the beach,” she said. “I know it’s cliché, but standing out here, watching the waves, is really one of the best sensations.” She inhaled, enjoying the slightly salty scent of the air as the soft breeze pushed her hair back away from her face. The moon wasn’t full, but it was just bright enough to highlight all the handsome ridges and planes of Tristan’s face. It was so odd. She just met him that morning, yet here they were taking a romantic stroll down the beach.

  He was quiet next to her. She wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or bad thing. As attracted as she was to him, she didn’t really know whether he was a talker or not. So far, he seemed... perfect. When there was a lull in conversation, he’d pick things up, but he would never go on too long about himself. In fact, he seemed much more interested in her. “Tell me about yourself.”

  He smiled at her. “What do you want to know?”

  “I was more interested to see what you come up with,” she said with a playful grin. “Make it something... you’ve never told anybody else before.”

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath, as he appeared to think carefully about what he would share. “I love the water.”

  She reached out and playfully tapped his arm. “Come on. That’s not a secret.”

  “Wait, wait. I haven’t gotten to the good part yet. When I was young, really young, I almost drowned. My dad wanted to teach me how to swim and thought the best way was just to push me off the fishing boat, no lifejacket or nothing. He thought that since it was life-and-death, I would just figure it out. Well, I didn’t. I was half dead. Lost consciousness and everything. It was only dumb luck that someone on a nearby boat saw it and jumped in after me.”

  Shae didn’t know what she had expected him to reveal, but this was so much more than she’d asked for. “That’s terrible. Your dad wouldn’t come in for you when he saw you were having trouble?”

  Tristan shrugged nonchalantly, as if the fact that his father almost killed him wasn’t a big deal. “I figure he still thought he was right. That eventually, I would just know how to swim and I would find my way back to the surface. The Good Samaritan got the water out of my lungs and took me to the hospital. For the next few years, I never even set foot on the beach. I did anything I could do to avoid water.”

  She thought back to what he’d opened with. That he loved water. “So what changed?”

  “My dad died. All he left me with was anger and resentment. I don’t know. All shit that wasn’t doing me any good then. So one summer, I rented this little cottage on a lake in Montana. Every day, I’d go in the water and wade a little bit deeper. Eventually, I was in over my head and not drowning. By the end of the summer, I could actually swim across the lake and back without any problems. So now I love the water. It’s not a bad memory for me anymore. It’s one more thing I conquered. I beat it. So there. Now you know something about me that nobody else does.”

  Tristan looked down at her. The clouds must’ve parted, because the moon was suddenly bright on his face. He said the words nonchalantly, but the expression in his eyes was so different. It seemed... vulnerable. As though he were looking to her for approval. To see whether she thought his fear of the water had been ridiculous, or she was proud of his conquering it. Shae didn’t have any comforting words to give him. She and her own father seemed to be struggling throughout her entire life, but he never tried to kill her at least. Then again, Shae had never been good with words. So she decided not to say anything. Instead, she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. It started slow. Soft. Innocent. Tristan stayed still as her hands went up to his face, and she moved her lips against his.

  At first, she thought she’d done something wrong. Maybe she’d misread this. Maybe he wasn’t really into her. Maybe she’d just gone and made a fool of herself. Right as she was about to pull away, something snapped in Trist
an. He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her against his body as he finally kissed her back.

  He opened his mouth over hers, and his tongue pushed inside as his hands moved along her back. One hand held still as the other found the curve of her ass through her dress and pulled her tightly against his very pronounced erection.

  Shae gasped at the onslaught of sensations. She went through a mental list of the kisses she’d shared with different men, and nothing compared to this. This was desperate. This was all-consuming. She was confused, and turned on, and she never wanted it to stop. She willingly molded herself against his body and went up on her tiptoes for a better angle. One hand played with the back of his hair while the other roamed down a strong, muscular back, willing his shirt to disappear so it could be skin against skin. She’d just gotten to his waist when she felt something hard, and obviously not part of him. She pulled away with a questioning look, but he wasn’t looking at her. His attention was over her shoulder, and his expression was hard. He didn’t look like a man who had just been kissing her like she’d just been kissed. He looked focused and... angry?

  “We have company,” he said.

  She frowned at the odd words and turned to see where his gaze was going. That was when she saw the four men walking away from her house and toward them on the beach. They walked with purpose, obviously not a couple of tourists who’d wandered onto private property. “They’re wearing masks,” she muttered. She was just about to tell Tristan they needed to run when she saw him reach behind him and confirmed what she thought she felt. A small, shiny black gun was in his hand. He pulled the slide back, and she heard the little clicking of a bullet being loaded into the chamber. A cold tendril of fear raced through her and she stepped back. “Who are you?”

  “We need to get out of here.”

  She realized that he hadn’t answered her, but at the moment, she was inclined to agree with his assessment. Damask wouldn’t send four guys to talk to her innocently. She’d known the brick was only a warning. After what she’d done last night, it made sense he would send men after her. She should’ve been running all day, not out dining with mysterious strangers. Mysterious strangers who apparently carried a gun on them.

  Without waiting for Tristan, Shae turned and ran. It was all open, and in the moonlight the men would be able to see her easily. She was all the way down by the water, so she’d have to run by them. Shit. She mentally thought of any way she could make it out of the situation, but came up empty. But she couldn’t just stay there. She had to try something. She risked a glance over at the men; she saw that they appeared to be aiming guns. Were they close enough to hit her? How good was their aim? How good were their guns? Dammit, she wasn’t equipped for this. But before they could fire, she heard a loud bang from right behind her. She flinched at the sound and tripped over her own feet. Before she even hit the sand, something warm and hard gripped her upper arm and pulled her up. Tristan was next to her, and he fired off another round at the men. It didn’t look as if he’d hit any of them, but it was enough to have them ducking for cover. Apparently firing first was a big advantage. She didn’t know how many rounds were in a magazine. She’d never even held a gun in her life. She just hoped it was enough to get them out of this.

  Finally, they made it to the section of beach that had sparse bushes and plants. It wasn’t a lot, but in the darkness it was enough for her and Tristan to huddle down behind.

  Shae fell into the sand, taking in deep gasps of air. She didn’t know whether she was out of breath from running on the sand or whether the shootout had left her hyperventilating. Something cold pressed into her hand, and she looked down to see that Tristan had given her his keys.

  “Get in the car,” he ordered. He wasn’t gasping for air. He didn’t seem scared at all. In fact, he looked utterly calm. “Get to the car, and drive fast and as far away as you can.”

  Her fingers closed over the keys as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Wait, you’re not coming with me?”

  “I’ll find you. Go.”

  She sat still in shock, and he gave her a little shove. It sent her sprawling on her ass, but also managed to burst her out of her shock bubble. She gave Tristan one last look before she started to run. Shots rang out behind her, and she flinched with each one. By the time she reached the McCormick house, she turned back but didn’t see Tristan. Where had he gone? There were more shots, but she couldn’t see anyone. There was too much brush and hills of sand between her and wherever the shooters had gone to. There had been four of them, and only one of Tristan. He had to be low on bullets. She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t just let them kill him. But what could she do? She didn’t have a gun. She could maybe grab a knife from the kitchen, and that would be it.

  And so Shae did what she was told. She ran to Tristan’s little yellow sports car and jumped in the driver’s seat. She gunned it, breaking every speed limit, and she drove out of the upscale subdivision, down the streets of St. Pete. It wasn’t until she reached the main highway that she felt the tears streaming down her face.

  Tristan dove on his side and his shoulder came in painful contact with the sand beneath him. It might feel soft under his feet, but landing on the stuff sure as hell wasn’t comfortable. His heart was beating hard from all the running, but he forced his breaths to go slowly. He was nearly out of ammo and didn’t want to give himself away. He reached down and looked over at his watch. On the screen was a simple message. Three minutes. Toni had given him the handy little stress beacon a while ago, but he’d never used it before tonight. As soon as he saw the men approaching on the beach, he’d hit the little button on the side that signaled he would need backup. He wasn’t convinced it would work before, but he supposed this was the confirmation that it did. When did it first start saying three minutes? Was it three minutes ago? Or was it now? It wasn’t as if he’d been paying attention during the gunfight.

  He was pretty sure he had hit one of the guys in the shoulder, but it was hard to tell. There wasn’t a lot of light, and his main focus hadn’t been to kill. It had been to distract them from Shae. He had been half convinced she was gonna come out of her house any second and start fighting the guys off her property, but it seemed as though she really had driven off.

  Good. In situations like this, he didn’t need an untrained variable. He wanted someone who followed orders and did what they were told.

  He heard footsteps approaching and held his breath. He found a decent amount of sand to crouch behind. All he had to do was stay still and quiet, and the guys wouldn’t discover him. He might be able to take them all down. His time working for Sterling and training under Slade had taught him more than a few ways to kill a man. He had maybe two rounds left. If he was smart about it, that would be two men right there. And he’d taken on two men in combat before.

  But that was a route he didn’t need to take. Toni would be here soon, and she would want these guys alive if possible. If Blackthorne had sent them to kill Shae, then they should have some idea of why he wanted her gone, depending on what level of henchmen they were.

  The footsteps approached faster. There were only a few inches away from his face, and he prepared himself for the worst, bringing the gun up in the ready position. Three more seconds and he was going to—

  The footsteps started to run away. Something had spooked them, and he had an idea he knew what. He sat up just in time to see two familiar dark forms running along the beach. They went off after the guys as Tristan stood and wiped the sand off him.

  “So what happened this time?” asked Toni as she approached.

  “Hell if I know. I was having a pretty nice night and they decided to pop in. You got here fast.”

  “All the traffic lights were on our side.”

  Tristan didn’t want to think about how she’d accomplished that.

  “What about the girl?”

  “What about her? I sent her running the second the goons showed up on the beach.”

  “And
how did she seem?”

  Tristan rolled his eyes. “How the fuck do you think she seemed? She was terrified.”

  “So you don’t think she’s used to things like this?”

  “Four guys just came down the beach with guns and started to shoot at us. No, I don’t think she’s used to this.”

  “They started to shoot at you?”

  “They were drawing their weapons, but I fired first. I needed some sort of advantage.”

  Toni nodded. She didn’t seem to be upset about anything, just working her way through the facts. “Bad guys like Blackthorne don’t usually try to kill people for no reason. If he was harassing her before, and now it’s escalating, what happened?”

  “I don’t know.” Tristan didn’t have time for this. “I was trying to find out, but we got interrupted.”

  “You don’t have to get grumpy with me. I’m trying to help.”

  “Shae is running off terrified somewhere in the city, and you’re just walking me through facts I already know. If you want to help, why don’t you go find her?”

  He knew he had messed up the second the words were out of his mouth.

  Toni cocked her head and stared knowingly. “You seem a little worked up there, Tristan. What exactly were you guys doing up here on the beach?”

  He knew that if he reacted angrily at her accusations, she would just believe them even more. So he tried to play cool. “You want me to figure out why someone’s trying to kill her. For that, I would need to get to know her better. So we were talking.”

  “Talking?” asked Toni skeptically.