It Takes a Thief--A Heist Romance

by Sloane Steele

  “Tell me what’s going on with you,” Jared said. “Is your mom still on a matchmaking mission?”

  “Like never before.”

  He knew the topic would get Carolyn to take over the conversation so he could pay attention to the sounds in his ear. He wished Audrey would give updates.

  As soon as he had the thought, she said, “The reboot is sixty percent done. You have two more minutes.”

  She’d done better than she thought. She’d done everything in her power to give Nikki five minutes, and by his count, she was coming damn close.

  “Almost done. I have the original out.”

  There wasn’t even a hint of stress or worry in Nikki’s voice. He had no idea what would rattle the woman.

  “Shit. Shit. Move faster, Nikki. The reboot sped up. The alarm will go off early.” She tapped furiously on keys.

  “I’ve got time. I’m fine. You said you were going to trip it anyway.”

  “But we can’t risk being in this neighborhood if the cops roll up.”

  “The canvas isn’t going in right. It’s too tight.”

  “If the alarm goes off and they call Mrs. Scott, we’re screwed. She’ll lay into them about tripping the alarm twice in one day.” There was a pause. “I have it. I’m coming in.”

  What? Jared stopped dead on the dance floor.

  “Is something wrong?” Carolyn asked.

  He patted his jacket. “Sorry. My phone is ringing.”

  “Do you need to answer?”

  “Would you mind terribly?” He put on his best apologetic face. “It’s a business call that I’ve been waiting for.”

  “Of course not. Kyle found someone else to dance with and I can run and powder my nose.”

  “Save another dance for me.” He kissed her cheek and pulled out his phone. He discreetly engaged the button on the comm as he pressed the phone to his ear. “Audrey, so help me God if you’re going in that house...”

  She didn’t respond, but he heard rustling.

  He stepped outside onto the veranda. “Someone tell me what the hell is going on.”

  London piped up. “Audrey took off out of the van and ran across the yard toward the house. Something about buying Nikki time.”

  Fuck. He swallowed hard and waited. All he heard from Audrey was the sound of heavy breathing.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What the hell are you doing?” Nikki asked as Audrey climbed through the window.

  Before she could answer, the alarm sounded.

  “Get out,” Jay said in her ear. She was beginning to regret giving him a comm.

  “I’m not a freaking runner. Give me a sec.” Audrey took a couple deep gulps.

  Then the phone rang. She raced to the kitchen.

  “Hello?” she answered, grateful that the Scotts still had a landline for the company to call first. She was a little out of breath and she did her best to play it off as irritation.

  “This is Frontier Security. With whom am I speaking?”

  “This is Mrs. Randall Scott and your stupid alarm is blaring again. Really. I would think with as much money as we paid for this system, we wouldn’t be having these problems. I put in my code and it won’t stop.”

  “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Before I can do anything, do you know your password?”

  “Of course I know my password. Gertrude.”

  A few keystrokes and then silence. “Thank you,” Audrey said.

  “Is there anything else we can help you with today, Mrs. Scott?

  “No. Thank you.”

  “Have a good evening.”

  Audrey hung up and wiped the handset off to be safe.

  Nikki laughed, holding up the painting. “We’re good. Time to run.”

  “Oh, God. Don’t say run again.”

  “I told you to join me when I go for a jog.”

  “I prefer the comfort of my chair.”

  Nikki slapped her back. “Thanks for the rescue.”

  Audrey climbed back out the window and accepted the painting from Nikki. A moment later, Nikki joined her on the lawn.

  “Why didn’t you just give me the password?” Nikki asked.

  “I figured you needed the time to finish putting the painting in the frame and hanging it. If you had to answer the phone and pretend to be Mrs. Scott, we’d run the risk of being here longer than necessary.”

  “Hello,” Jared practically screamed in her ear. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. We’re out and heading to the van now.”

  Nikki swung the van door open. “I think you liked the adrenaline rush. You wanted to know what it’s like to be a burglar.”

  “You can keep it. I’ll stick with the safety behind my screen.”

  London let out a hoot and drove out of the neighborhood.

  Audrey twisted in her seat to face Nikki. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened back there. The virus tripped the reboot like it was supposed to, but then it was like it figured out it was a trick and sped up. I had no idea the system would do that.”

  “We’re good,” Nikki reassured her. “Not the first time I’ve had a close call. And in the grand scheme of my life, that wasn’t very close. I’ve had to escape a house with the cops at the front door.”

  Nikki was a fascinating woman. If she ever wrote her memoir, Audrey doubted people would believe the stories were true.

  Audrey wanted to promise such a mistake wouldn’t happen again, but then she remembered there wouldn’t be another job. This was it. The cold reminder brought her back to the present and putting this to bed.

  “Jared and Mia, we’re on our way back to the apartment with the painting. Will you be bringing our payment tonight?” She sounded cold even to her own ears.

  “Yes,” Mia answered. “We’ll be there within two hours.”

  Nothing from Jared. Maybe he finally got the message. Part of her expected him to put up more of a fight. She took the comm from her ear. Nikki did the same.

  “Are you going to his place?”

  “What?”

  Nikki pointed to her palm. Audrey stared at the address. “I don’t think so. Like I said before, I can’t deal with liars.”

  London glanced out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re just done? You won’t work with us again?”

  Audrey shrugged. “I have nothing against you guys. I’d work with you again. It’s them I take issue with. They’re playing some game we’re not privy to. I don’t like it. I don’t understand how it doesn’t bother you.”

  “It doesn’t bother me because I walk into every job not trusting anyone. If you assume everyone is a liar, it makes life easier.” Nikki propped her feet on the back of London’s seat.

  Audrey understood her point, but it wasn’t the same. She’d trusted Jared because they were attracted to each other. In truth, her own naiveté irked her more than anything. “This wasn’t just business, though. He made it personal.”

  “Got me there. All that matters to me is that his cash is green,” Nikki said.

  “You would do any job for the right price?” London asked as she pulled into a parking spot at the apartment.

  Audrey couldn’t believe this would be her last visit here. Maybe she should go take a shower one last time to enjoy the super-powered jets. And take some quality food from the fridge.

  “I didn’t say that. I choose what jobs I take and yeah, there have been dudes who’ve tried to hire me and I’ve refused.” Nikki gathered her things before reaching for the door handle. “I guess these lies or omissions or secrets or whatever you want to call them aren’t all that big to me. Not when we’re going after a douche like Randall Scott.”

  Nikki’s words wormed their way into her. Was she overreacting?

  When Nikki slid the van door open, Audrey stood nearby
to see if she needed help with the painting. She wrapped a thin blanket around it.

  “How good was my version?” London asked with a tilt of her chin.

  “If I hadn’t paid attention to which I came with, I might’ve mixed them up,” Nikki answered.

  Audrey had no idea if it was true or if Nikki was just being nice. It wasn’t exactly in Nikki’s nature to randomly compliment someone, so Audrey figured she was being honest. Audrey wanted to go in and see what was so special about it. Of course, she’d seen London’s version and it didn’t seem all that spectacular, but Audrey was no art connoisseur.

  Nikki handed London the painting and let them all in the apartment. London propped it up in front of the TV and they all settled on the couch and stared at it.

  The picture that was nothing more than an off-white background with random spots of paint in various shades of green.

  “I don’t get it,” Audrey said.

  “It’s ugly,” Nikki added.

  “I could’ve made that in kindergarten,” London said with a sigh.

  Nikki jumped up. “Time to celebrate.”

  “With what?” Audrey asked.

  “I prepared.” Nikki ran across to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of champagne and three glasses. “Every successful mission should be celebrated.”

  She rejoined them on the couch and worked at prying off the cork. “I must like you bitches, because I would normally drink this whole bottle by myself.”

  “Drinking alone isn’t healthy,” London said.

  “No one who wasn’t an integral part of a job should be celebrating, and since I normally work alone, I drink alone.” She passed a glass to each of them.

  London held her flute high. “To a successful heist.”

  They clinked glasses and sipped. Immediately, Audrey knew this was the good shit. This was no five-dollar bottle. Nikki relaxed into the cushions and spread her arms wide, allowing her champagne to dangle precariously between her thumb and forefinger.

  She always looked so careless, but Audrey knew Nikki had more depth than she let on. She paid attention to everything. Even if she didn’t care or have a personal stake in it. It was probably what made her a good thief.

  They sat side by side on the couch and stared at the stupid painting they were getting paid a stupid amount of money for stealing. They didn’t talk. But Audrey’s mind raced with thoughts of Jared and what would happen when he came back.

  She needed to stick to her guns, take her cash, and get out.

  No matter how hard that would be.

  * * *

  The car had dropped them off at Jared’s place so he and Mia could pick up the cash and transfer to his car. His entire body was strung tight. Between listening as the job went haywire and not being able to do anything about it and hearing Audrey coldly ask for her money, he was wound up. He’d asked to talk to her. He believed they could clear things up.

  But she kept pushing back.

  When they got to the apartment, Mia turned to him. “Are you sure you want to come in?”

  “I need to. I heard the finality in her voice when she asked for her money. I get it. But I want to look her in the eye to see if it’s over.” It can’t be. We’ve barely started.

  They walked through the door of the apartment to find all three women sprawled on the couch staring at the painting. A near-empty bottle of champagne sat on the table in front of them.

  “I’m glad you took it upon yourselves to celebrate,” Mia said as she neared the painting. “Job well done.”

  “Hey,” Nikki said, “if we’re gonna do this again, I want more time to plan. I don’t like rush jobs. Tonight could’ve gone so wrong.”

  Mia turned and looked at Nikki, then glanced at him. Jared barely met her gaze. His focus was on Audrey, who wouldn’t even turn around.

  “Actually, we do have a number of jobs, similar to this one, if you’re interested. However,” Mia continued, “you won’t get your wish of more time. In some cases, you’ll have less.”

  “Hell, yeah, I’m still interested,” Nikki said. “At least I know things’ll be interesting.”

  London said, “I could do more. Especially if the payday is the same.”

  Audrey didn’t respond, other than to cross her arms.

  Still building armor.

  Crossing the room, he handed each woman a bag of cash. First Nikki, who tossed the bag on the floor next to her. Then London, who slid the zipper open and peered inside, but didn’t touch.

  He stood in front of Audrey with the bag hanging from his fingers. She took it without looking up at him. She yanked the bag open and pulled the cash out far enough to count it.

  As if he would cheat her.

  “Can we talk now?” he asked, squatting to be at her level.

  Her gaze finally met his. For a brief moment, he saw a range of emotions in her eyes: hope, anger, sadness. Then nothing. She turned it all off and that was the saddest thing.

  “There’s nothing to say, Jared.”

  It was like she threw his name at him to punctuate the betrayal she felt. He took her hand. “You might not have anything to say, but I do. Give me five minutes.”

  He stood and hoped she would follow.

  She tucked her money in her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and said, “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

  “You can. You’re just afraid.”

  She snorted. “Afraid of what? More lies?”

  “The truth.” He glanced around, irritated that he had to do this with an audience. “We started something real and you’re afraid of it. Why? Because you didn’t know my life story?”

  “I didn’t even know your name.” She stepped around him and over Nikki’s extended legs. “See you around,” she said to Nikki.

  At the door, she turned and made full eye contact. For all the armor she held in place, her eyes told the whole story. She was really hurting. He didn’t know how to fix that. He’d never meant to hurt her.

  So he let her go, even though he wanted to chase after her and make her listen to him. Hold her until she understood how he felt. Kiss her until she thought of nothing but him.

  Deafening silence filled the room after Audrey slipped through the door. She might as well have slammed it for the shock value she created.

  Nikki slapped her thighs. “On that note, I’m outta here.” She scooped up her bag. “Give me a call when you have the next job lined up. If it’s going to be like this, I hope you have someone else in mind to take Audrey’s place. I can go in anywhere and take what I want, but not if it’s as complicated as you’re making it out to be. I don’t mind setting off an alarm and walking out the fucking door with my prize. But you lose your secrecy.”

  She was right, of course, but he had no one else in mind, no matter what he’d told Mia. He’d worked with other hackers, but none of them would fit in here. Audrey was special.

  He shored up his own defenses before speaking. “Can you manage to stay out of trouble in between jobs?”

  “Of course. But if I’m feeling randy, I have my key to come back here.” She leaned over and waved at London. “Catcha later.”

  And then she was gone. London quietly gathered her bag and whispered something to Mia before following Nikki.

  When he was alone with Mia, he allowed the full force of misery to hit him. “How did I fuck that up so bad?”

  “It wasn’t all on you. I didn’t want them to know who we are. In all honesty, I’m still a little uncomfortable with them knowing. But what’s done is done.” She sat on the couch and patted the cushion beside her.

  He grabbed the bottle of champagne and guzzled the rest. “Maybe not if we finally came clean. All the way.”

  “Why the hell would we do that?” she asked.

  He leaned back in the couch. “Because the secrets have ruined the relat
ionship I started with Audrey. If I can pull all the skeletons out, she might learn to live with why we have them stuffed in a closet.”

  “Giving someone ammunition when they’re already pissed off is never a good idea.”

  “I doubt she could get more pissed off.”

  “She doesn’t need to be. She’s angry and hurt. Whether we think she should be has nothing to do with it. If we tell her everything, we expose ourselves and our plan.”

  “Who the hell would she tell? What more exposure would we face?”

  The anger he’d been feeling now had a target—Mia. And for a moment, his questions seemed to stump her.

  “I see what this is doing to you. I never meant for you to get hurt.” She waved her hand and rolled her eyes. “Although I did tell you repeatedly not to get involved with her.”

  “Thanks for the reminder.” He stood, grabbed his fresh bottle of whiskey from the kitchen, and poured a glass. Returning to the couch, he reined in his anger. Mia wouldn’t respond to yelling, but logic might work. And he was desperate enough to try this last attempt to get Audrey back.

  “They know who we are, Mia. I don’t see the downside of telling them why we’re doing this. It’s not like we’re dealing with law-abiding citizens who would run to the police. They’re all complicit in our plan.”

  He waited in silence while Mia digested what he said.

  She shifted, twisting to face him fully. “Fine. If you think telling her the entire plan will bring her back, I’m willing to give it a try.”

  “Really?” He was afraid he’d misheard her.

  She offered a curt nod.

  “After all this, now you agree.”

  “We’re in a time crunch. It won’t take long for our fathers to find out they’ve been had. If we want to get the rest of the pieces, we need to move fast. Getting someone new up to speed will take time. And if you trust her, that will have to be good enough.”

  It was a lot to process. He leaned his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine how Audrey might react to hearing the whole story. If he could turn back the calendar a week, she’d be nothing short of giddy. She’d get off on pulling one—or twelve—over on the crooks that were his and Mia’s fathers. For all of Audrey’s talk about being a black hat, her core was white.