“How much is a lot?”
“Doesn’t matter now. He doesn’t want money.”
That didn’t sound good. Who didn’t want money? It wasn’t like the guy wanted Dodger dead. He’d had his chance while beating him. But dead men don’t pay.
Dodger remained silent, which meant whatever the guy wanted was pretty bad.
Wade stared at him and waited.
“Think you can stare me down? I taught you that trick, too.”
Wade rolled his eyes. “Just say it. What does he want?”
“A thief.”
“What?”
“He wants a painting and expects me to get it for him.”
Wade laughed in earnest. While Dodger had been something in his prime, he hadn’t been in his prime for a long time. He’d made sure to pass on his knowledge to Wade and Nikki so they could do the heavy lifting on a job. Wade couldn’t even remember the last time Dodger had pulled a job. Thought of one? Sure. Executed? Years.
He definitely wasn’t in shape to do one now. Fuck. Wade knew where this was going. “I’ve been out of that life for a long time. I’m out of practice.”
Dodger snarled. “You think I want you to steal it? Shit. I’d be better off gettin’ a kid off the street. I couldn’t trust you with this.”
Wade tried not to let the comment sting, but it did. He was out of practice, but he was still Dodger’s best bet. Too bad the old man didn’t see it. Then again, Dodger had always sucked at knowing when he had a good thing.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You need to wake up. I’m all you’ve got. Whether you trust me or not.” Wade didn’t know why he bothered. The old man just constantly pissed him off and pushed him away.
He stood and cleaned up the first-aid supplies, closing the lid on the ancient metal box. The first con he’d done for Dodger he’d gotten his ass kicked, and Nikki had used this same box to fix him up.
At what point did it stop? If Dodger wanted to handle things himself, so be it. Wade had his own life. He’d spent years taking care of this man who wasn’t even his father.
He threw away the wrappers and bloody gauze and went to the front door, the battered wood so flimsy it would hardly keep anyone out. “Make sure you keep those cuts clean. And lock up behind me.”
Wade had tried to get Dodger to move someplace safer many years ago, when they were still working together. But Dodger refused because being in a seedy neighborhood made it easier to blend in.
Dodger would call within a few days, once he realized that he couldn’t pull a job without Wade. So instead of worrying about what Dodger had gotten himself into, Wade went home to his life. He pulled into his driveway and looked at his dark house.
The stark contrast of where he lived now compared to where he’d come from or where Dodger currently lived wasn’t lost on him. Wade’s neighborhood was single-family residential homes with cleanly mowed lawns and block parties. People walked their dogs and waved as they passed. No drunks to step over to get to your door. No cop cars with sirens and lights pulling up every other night at midnight.
He’d worked for years to give himself a normal life. A regular house with a yard. A dog to come home to. He’d thought at some point he’d find a woman, have a family, but that hadn’t happened yet, so he was trying to reevaluate what that normal life was supposed to be. He’d never had normal growing up, so everything he thought he wanted came from what he’d seen in friends’ lives and on TV.
But none of it fit quite right. Except his bulldog, Flynn.
He stepped from the car and went to the house. Before he reached the top step, Flynn barked and rammed into the door. “Relax, buddy. I’ll be in in a minute.”
He unlocked the door and had to give it a shove because Flynn’s massive body was lying against it. Wade barely got the door closed before Flynn was snorting and slobbering on him.
“I wasn’t gone that long, man.” He gave the dog a pat and belly rub. “Come on. Time for bed.”
He stripped on his way through the bedroom with the hope that Flynn wouldn’t eat his clothes in the middle of the night, but he was really too tired to care.
Moments after Wade climbed into bed, Flynn jumped up and curled into a ball on Wade’s feet. Normally, Wade would nudge him off and tell him to go to his bed in the corner of the room, but tonight, he wanted the comfort of his friend.
Dodger’s attitude shouldn’t still affect him. He didn’t know why he wanted the man’s respect, but it mattered. Everything he’d accomplished in life had been to make Dodger proud of him. Maybe it was time to give up on that desire.
I should’ve listened to Nikki years ago.
Thoughts of Nikki filled his head, so he reached for his phone and searched for evidence of her online. Over the years, he’d tried to track her down, but if she didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t be. He Googled her usual aliases and came up empty. Then he searched for high-end burglaries. Although to his knowledge, she’d never been caught, he had an idea of what jobs she was behind. Mostly he enjoyed the idea that she was out there living her best life—even if he was no longer in it.
Don’t miss Between Two Thieves by Sloane Steele available June 2021 wherever Carina Press ebooks are sold.
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Copyright © 2021 by Shannyn Schroeder
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ISBN-13: 9780369703118
It Takes a Thief
Copyright © 2021 by Shannyn Schroeder
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It Takes a Thief--A Heist Romance Page 29