Love Against the Law

by Justine Klavon

  LOVE

  AGAINST

  THE LAW

  A NOVEL

  JUSTINE KLAVON

  atmosphere press

  © 2021 Justine Klavon

  Published by Atmosphere Press

  Cover design by Matthew Fielder

  No part of this book may be reproduced without permission from the author except in brief quotations and in reviews. This is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to real places, persons, or events is entirely coincidental.

  atmospherepress.com

  Contents

  Part One

  Chapter One: Criminals

  Chapter Two: Wicked Game

  Chapter Three: Mr. Sensitive

  Chapter Four: Home Movies

  Chapter Five: Goodbye to the Girl

  Chapter Six: Heartbeat

  Chapter Seven: Kiss & Tell

  Chapter Eight: From Here to Zero

  Chapter Nine: Life on the Moon

  Chapter Ten: Come Back to Me

  Part Two

  Chapter Eleven: Time Marches On

  Chapter Twelve: Heroes

  Chapter Thirteen: Firing Squad

  Chapter Fourteen: Home Movies (II)

  Chapter Fifteen: Carry You

  Chapter Sixteen: Right Here, With You

  Chapter Seventeen: I’m Gonna Love You

  Chapter Eighteen: Hard to Believe

  Chapter Nineteen: Better Than Me

  Chapter Twenty: Where Do We Go?

  Part Three

  Chapter Twenty-One: The Time of My Life

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Laying Me Low

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Avalanche

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Home Movies (III)

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Light On

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Wait for Me

  Chapter Twenty-Seven: Fade into Me

  Chapter Twenty-Eight: Paper Heart

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: We Believe

  Chapter Thirty: Broken Windows

  Chapter Thirty-One: I Did It for You

  Chapter Thirty-Two: 4 Letter Word

  About Atmosphere Press

  About the Author

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Criminals

  It was Christmas Eve and the mall was packed, even more so than Sammi and her friends had been expecting. Sammi walked through the crowded two-story building, scoping everything out and making sure she was aware of the entire layout. Her crew was in the underground parking garage in a black Chevy Tahoe, waiting on her word.

  Sammi didn’t start this crew of thieves, but she was the mastermind behind their heists. Eli had found her in a bar four years prior and they had been inseparable ever since. Eli, who had two years on Sammi, was the glue of the group so, naturally, his twin sister Shay was desperate to be included. Shay’s boyfriend, Howard, was a computer genius and probably the most important member of the crew with his hacking abilities. And then there was Sammi’s best friend, Kodi, who shared Sammi’s abandoned childhood and was a naturally gifted thief.

  Sammi continued her mission through the busy New York mall and headed for the security office. As soon as she turned down the small hallway where the bathrooms and security office were located, she made extended eye contact with a passing man. That eye contact was a huge mistake because that guy was going to remember Sammi and her unforgettable ice blue eyes. Even worse, Sammi knew who that guy was.

  Mack Johnson was a greatly decorated New York police officer who was recently promoted to a detective after being made famous for singlehandedly stopping a terrorist attack while not even on duty. He was a modern-day John McClane and he clearly wasn’t afraid to bend the rules for the job. He was nothing but bad news for this crew.

  Sammi and the cop locked eyes for a few seconds too long as they passed by each other in the narrow hallway. Mack was initially intrigued by the twenty-six-year-old’s body. Sammi was wearing a pair of slim-fitting light blue jeans and a low-cut black tank top with a tight black leather jacket that she had left unzipped. She had her long blonde hair pulled back casually in a ponytail, which only accentuated how elegantly slender her body was. But as she returned Mack’s gaze, he saw darkness dancing in her shining sapphire eyes and knew she couldn’t be up to anything good.

  As soon as Sammi was alone in the isolated back hallway, she put a small bean-shaped earpiece into her right ear. Each member of her band of thieves had an earbud just like hers, which allowed them to communicate easily during a heist. They were expensive little electronics and the team had worked many jobs without them before having enough stolen cash to afford them. But the benefits of the tiny earpieces made them worth every penny.

  “We’ve got company,” Sammi announced to her friends. “Mack Johnson is here.”

  “Mack Johnson?” Eli questioned his girlfriend, making the immediate connection. “We can’t handle a cop like that.”

  “Calm down. There’s five of us and one of him,” Sammi all but scoffed. “Besides, he’s probably leaving as we speak.”

  “I’ve got eyes on him,” Kodi chimed in before anyone even knew she had left the parking garage. “I’ll follow him and make sure he leaves.”

  “Good plan, Kodi. I’m entering the security office now,” Sammi told everyone and slipped quietly into the cupboard-sized room.

  The security office was just a dark, square room with a stack of outdated monitors displaying delayed footage from security cameras around the mall. There were two office chairs placed in front of the screens and a guard fast asleep in one of them. Sammi took the handgun from the waistband of her jeans and brought it down on the back of the guard’s head as hard as she could. The guard woke up on the first hit so Sammi bashed him again, this time rendering him unconscious.

  “I’m in,” Sammi gave the cue for everyone to move into their next positions.

  Sammi was shutting down all of the security cameras when Eli arrived at the office less than five minutes later. He gently placed two machine guns against the wall before changing into the guard’s clothes and tying up the still unconscious man. Sammi tucked her pistol back in her waistband, shouldered her machine gun, and tried to wait patiently for nine o’clock. Her pacing by the door and jittery hands didn’t faze Eli in the least because she got like this during every heist. She was excited; she lived for this.

  As Sammi continued pacing, she caught Eli watching her with desire in his aquatic green eyes and couldn’t help but think back to the passionate kiss they’d shared just before leaving their apartment earlier that evening…

  *

  Eli’s and Sammi’s apartment was technically home base because it had once been everyone’s home, so that was where the five of them met up before and after each of their heists. That particular night had been extra festive, with Christmas lights throughout the tiny, one- bedroom apartment and a tree that was too large for the space stuffed next to the television set and decorated with Tiffany & Co. ornaments that Kodi and Sammi had snagged off a display at their Fifth Avenue location. Eli hadn’t been happy with them that day for committing such an unnecessary theft, but they were so pleased with themselves and Sammi’s smile was probably the brightest he’d ever seen it, so he couldn’t stay mad at them.

  With upbeat holiday tunes playing from the television speakers, Sammi danced around the apartment in a Santa hat while sipping on an energy drink. Her job of planning the heist was already done, so she was overseeing the others. Howard and Shay checked on Howard’s technical equipment while talking quietly between themselves, and Kodi helped Eli make sure their guns were locked and loaded. But Kodi quickly got bored and the two blonde best friends wandered off into the kitchen to get a moment to themselves.

  Kodi and Sammi had been the l
ast to join the group of five and they more often than not felt unwelcome when the whole group was together. Eli had invited them in because of his immediate attraction to Sammi without checking with the others first and there was obvious resentment from Shay because of that. But Shay was also visibly jealous of the friends’ head-turning good looks, so the guys of the group chose to ignore her judgement for that reason. Even Howard sometimes preferred Sammi’s brilliance and Kodi’s cheerfulness over his girlfriend’s constant bitterness. But Sammi and Kodi still appreciated their space away from the others most of the time.

  Buzzing with caffeine and excitement, Sammi hopped up onto the kitchen counter, keeping a hold of the can of Monster in her hands and took another swig of the bitter drink. Kodi pulled the Santa hat off her best friend’s head before taking the spot beside her on the counter and tossing the hat on top of the fridge. She grabbed the can from Sammi, wanting a sip, but was disappointed to find that it was empty and stuck her bottom lip out at her bestie.

  “There’s another one in the fridge,” Sammi told her with a giggle, just as Eli walked into the room and right over to his girlfriend.

  “Is this what you’re wearing tonight?” Eli asked Sammi, raising his eyebrows curiously at her as his right hand ran up her thigh. “Were you hoping to pick up the security guard?”

  “Why? What did you hear? Is he hotter than you?” Sammi teased, giggling some more.

  “Not even possible,” Eli grunted confidently as he hoisted Sammi down off the counter by her butt. “And he’d have to have a death wish to try and take you from me.”

  With those words, Eli brought his hands up to either side of Sammi’s angelic face and held her gently against the counter as he pressed his lips to hers. They kissed each other like they’d never kiss again and Kodi scurried from the room out of total discomfort. Not that she was surprised by their grossness, though, because that was how Sammi and Eli prepared for every heist, just in case one of them didn’t make it out with their life…or their freedom…

  *

  “Hey, Kodi, can we get an update on Mack Johnson?” Sammi asked as the clock reached nine.

  “He’s gone. I watched him drive away,” Kodi responded.

  “Game on.”

  The mall closed at nine o’clock, so all of the customers had left the building, but employees were still in their stores with all of their Christmas Eve cash. Eli shut all of their gates from controls in the security office so that nobody could leave. He, Sammi, Kodi, and Shay divided up the keys to manually open the gates and rob each store at gunpoint while Howard took over the security controls and kept an eye out for any trouble.

  Less than thirty minutes after nine, Sammi exited her third store, stuffing cash into her duffel bag. As she stood up after manually closing and locking the gate, she felt something smack hard into the back of her head. She stumbled forward from the force of the blow and turned around to find herself face-to-face with Mack Johnson.

  “I knew you were going to be a pain in my ass,” Sammi snarled, dropping her bag of cash on the tile floor. Her first instinct was to swing her machine gun at his face like it was a baseball bat.

  Johnson staggered backwards toward the second-floor railing overlooking the floor below them. He covered his face as blood poured out of his nose and Sammi smirked; they both knew it was broken. Taking advantage of Johnson’s moment of weakness, Sammi ran at him at full speed, shoving him hard in the chest upon impact. Not quick enough to brace himself, Johnson toppled over the railing and hit the ground on the first floor with a thud.

  Hearing the commotion, Sammi’s team hurried to her aid, except for Howard who remained in the security office. Sammi told them what had happened with Johnson while everyone quickly counted their hauls. Howard collected their totals and Sammi knew right away that she was short compared to the others.

  “I’m not getting less than everyone else,” Sammi grumbled, grabbing her machine gun and walking over to the next store in her row.

  “Sammi, we’re splitting it all evenly,” Kodi tried reasoning with her.

  “I’m not a failure,” Sammi replied more to herself than anyone else as she opened the gate and aimed her gun at the two remaining employees.

  “Sammi, you threw a cop off of the second floor. You are not a failure!” Eli called after his girlfriend.

  Sammi ignored everyone and continued with her robbery. She knew that they were dividing all the cash evenly, but as the designer of the heist, she owed it to her team to provide just as much as the others, if not more. So, she forced the two young women to empty the single cash register into her open duffel bag. They were crying and visibly shaking as Sammi continued waving the gun around. Once Sammi was in possession of all their cash, she retreated from the store and locked the gate behind her. The rest of her team was waiting, and they turned simultaneously to head for the security office to meet up with Howard. Standing directly in their path was Mack Johnson with his police-issue handgun aimed at Sammi.

  “Bitch broke my nose. Now it’s personal,” Johnson hissed as the four thieves raised their guns at him.

  “There’s four of us and one of you. What are you going to do now, cop boy?” Sammi taunted and took a step toward him, keeping her gun aimed at his face.

  Johnson began firing his weapon as he ran directly at the bad guys. The band of thieves scattered, Kodi taking all four duffel bags with her. Sammi stood her ground and fired back at Johnson, giving her team enough time to get away.

  Suddenly, both Johnson and Sammi collapsed to the floor at the same time. It looked like Sammi had shot Johnson in his right shoulder. And he had gotten her in her left thigh. The wound burned so she closed her eyes as her leg seared in pain.

  Sammi couldn’t believe it. She had never even come close to getting shot before. As she lay on the cool tile floor, internally begging for the pain to stop, she replayed the entire heist over in her mind up to this point. This was her fault for making eye contact with Johnson. And she was either going to jail or going to die for her mistake.

  Sammi’s eyes shot open as someone grabbed her right arm to help her up. It was Johnson. He got Sammi to her feet and handcuffed her wrists behind her before steering her toward the nearest exit. He had a hold of her right arm, but she was still having a difficult time walking on her injured leg. Every step she attempted to take on it shot another flame of pain up her entire body. Her left leg finally gave out from under her, ablaze with agony, so she and Johnson both had to stop so they could readjust. Before they could go any further, Eli and Howard appeared in their path with their guns raised.

  “Drop the guns!” Johnson yelled, putting his own gun to Sammi’s head.

  “Let her go! You’re not gonna kill her; you’re a cop!” Eli hollered.

  “Maybe so, but she’s bleeding out. She’s got about an hour to get medical attention. Turn yourselves in and I’ll take her to the hospital myself,” Johnson tried negotiating.

  “Yeah, right. You gotta do better than that,” Eli replied.

  “Always gotta do it the hard way,” Johnson mumbled.

  Within the blink of an eye, Eli aimed his gun at Johnson’s face and fired. Sammi heard yelling and cursing in the distance but couldn’t understand why she suddenly couldn’t see anyone. The blackness surrounding her begun to swirl around her and, the next thing she knew, her face was on the cold tile once again. It felt nice despite the new flash of burning pain in her right side. She welcomed the soothing touch of the cool floor until everything went quiet.

  Chapter Two

  Wicked Game

  When Sammi woke up, she didn’t even want to open her eyes. Her whole body ached and there were shooting pains all over. The burning from the pain was so intense that she was afraid to move. The last thing she could remember was her idiot boyfriend shooting her instead of the cop who had been arresting her.

  As Sammi lie there in pain, she was abundantly aware of the silence surrounding her. Shouldn’t there be some kind of noise—the
beeping machines of a hospital or the clanging and banging of a prison? Anything. Then it dawned on her, maybe she didn’t hear anything because…maybe she was dead. In a panic, her eyes flew open.

  Sammi found herself in an unusually large but weakly decorated bedroom. She was tucked into the center of a king-sized bed with soft grey blankets. There was a nightstand to her left with just a lamp and a picture frame on it and a door to the left of that. To her right was an enormous window with the dark shades drawn, keeping the sunlight out of the room but not enough to keep it from peeking through. Directly across from the bed was a generously sized flat-screen television mounted to the wall and closed doors on either side of it.

  Confused, Sammi forced herself to roll out of the bed and she gingerly hobbled over to the giant window. Both sides of her body were in an equal amount of pain, so it didn’t matter which side she favored. She pulled one of the curtains back to take a look and was surprised by the sight. She was definitely still in the city, but she had to be at least thirty floors above the ground judging by how tiny the cars stuck in traffic looked below.

  Before she could think too much about where she might be, the pain in Sammi’s leg became too much to bear and she had to sit on the edge of the bed to get her weight off of it. It was then that she realized she wasn’t wearing what she had been when she was shot. Instead of the jeans and tank top that had gotten her into this mess, she was just wearing a navy blue t-shirt that was three sizes too big for her with the NYPD logo over her left breast. If the New York Police Department was involved, she was in serious trouble.

  Sammi’s legs were bare so as soon as she sat down, the shirt rode up and the gunshot wound on her thigh was exposed. The wound had been cleaned and stitched up, but Sammi still cringed at the sight of it. It looked gross and something about looking at it made the pain intensify. Realizing this, she really didn’t want to see where she had been shot the second time. Her right side, just above her hip, slightly burned and felt sticky and stiff. Her imagination ran wild with the thought of how bad the injury could be, causing her to only panic more. Giving in to the need to see the damage, she lifted up the t-shirt and had to choke back vomit. The second bullet wound had also been cleaned and stitched, but it was still oozing gore.