B. G. McCarthy - A Thief At Heart

by A Thief At Heart (lit)

  She knew the outcome.

  “Where do you live when you’re not hoodwinking old ladies, Robin?”

  “Vancouver’s where I have a small place. But I live everywhere. Anywhere I have to go,” he said, looking up at her under his lashes with those mind-blowing blue eyes.

  “You’ve lived this close to me and I never knew it?”

  “I’m not here that much. It’s a huge city. There’s no reason why we should run into one another.”

  “But we did run into each other, didn’t we? That really wasn’t planned?” She started to take off the medallion that hung around his neck. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but it was a religious medal. St. Christopher.

  From Aggie? She knew in her heart it had to have been a gift from her.

  His hand covered hers. “I’ve never taken it off.”

  “Okay. So I’ll work around it,” she said softly.

  “I told you the truth: that I never planned to use you, or to even see you. I can do the rest of this for myself.” He reached up for the cloth.

  “I’m almost done. How long have you done this job, if I can call it that? And what exactly is it you do?”

  “I’m a recovery specialist.”

  “And what exactly is that?”

  “Like I said before, it’s hard to explain. I’ve been at it since I was twenty-one or so. Before that I drifted around. Got into some trouble with some unpleasant people. Like I told you, I did a short stint of time in prison. Luckily I fell into this.”

  “Was the prison thing for something really bad?”

  “It was bad enough. Armed robbery. But I never killed anyone. Came close a few times, I’ll admit.”

  Riley’s hands shook as she took out some bandages. He told her he didn’t need them. She covered the scratches in ointment instead. “Is everything you do dangerous?”

  “Not everything. Some of it can be risky. I’m fairly careful. At least I was until a few weeks ago. I kind of faltered from the path.”

  She gave him a look. “So what caused you to falter?”

  “Something crazy came over me.”

  Riley looked down into his blue eyes. “And this job you do? It’s simply because of the money?”

  “The thrills are good, but for me the money came first, I guess. I’ve never had a reason for doing what I do other than the money. I haven’t got an altruistic nature.”

  She stared at him, thinking of Aggie’s dear Robin Hood.

  He rubbed a bit of the salve into one of the deeper scratches on his lightly-furred forearm. “The money is rather phenomenal. Quite legal, too, if that’s what you wanted to know. Most of what I do is legal.”

  “Most?” she scoffed.

  His grin was sheepish. “Most. I straddle the fence at times. It’s all a means to an end.”

  Riley shook her head. “If you weren’t hurt, I’d slap you silly for being obtuse, Robin Butler.”

  “You should slap me silly. My whole life’s about being obtuse.” He looked up at her. “I’m sorry about this. I’m sorry about everything. I’ll make it up to you.”

  She lifted her lip in a smirk. “What? You’re going to give me my share of the profits from this particular assignment?”

  “If you want it, it’s yours, Riley. Anything I have.”

  She left him and poured the bowl of bloodied water in the sink. The look of that pink blood washing away made her feel ill.

  “I don’t want your ill-gotten gains, Robin Hood. Thank you very much.”

  “What do you want?”

  Riley sighed. She could have told him that in one word. It was insane that she was still thinking in those terms after what she’d learned about him. Ex-con working for a shady organization as a thief for hire. And she wanted him still? What exactly did that say about her? So much for her big talk about classy guys like Colin Firth.

  He was beside her suddenly. She started as his big hand came out to take her arm. His eyes searched hers. She could smell his freshly bathed skin and she wanted to turn, take him in her arms and kiss him, just as she’d done the previous night. Her body ached for his touch. “Thank you, Riley. You’re one in a million. I mean that.”

  “I’m a fool, Robin.”

  ~ * ~

  The waitress dropped a tray of glasses on the floor when someone pinched her ass and Rob unaccountably flinched at the loud noise of glass shattering on sticky linoleum.

  Something about the atmosphere wasn’t sitting right with him. He couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Maybe it was the residual effect of his guilt. The silent treatment by Riley in the car on the way had accomplished nothing towards putting him at ease. The way she looked at him, like she was being held against her will, like he was a psycho, made him feel sick inside.

  She was a captive. She knew it. He knew it. He’d warned her before they came in about saying a word, even breathing wrong.

  So far no one had so much as bothered them in their booth near the bar. Despite their tough, ugly reputation, bikers could be pretty amiable guys. Unlike the urban legends, they didn’t automatically string up people who happened to wander innocently into their meeting places. Rob had been to hundreds of bars like this and rarely had a problem, unless he was wearing the colours of an enemy gang.

  He wondered who Otis had in place. He didn’t recognize anyone.

  The waitress--a forty-something woman he’d met the day before when he’d checked out “The Ball Breaker”--looked a bit agitated when she came to deliver the beers he’d ordered. Riley didn’t so much as make eye-contact with the woman as she set down the bottles. Rob was pretty sure the ass-grabbing incident minutes ago hadn’t helped the waitress’s mood, or Riley’s, for that matter.

  “What’s going on?” Rob asked the tired looking woman. “It seems quiet here. A little tense. No one’s having a good time.”

  “Evening’s young. There’s been a little trouble in town lately,” she’d told him tersely.

  “A turf war or something?”

  “I can’t really talk about it.”

  “I can understand that. That’s cool with me. Annie? Is that your name, honey?” he asked the waitress. Riley rolled her eyes in that annoying way of hers.

  “Are you a cop?” she asked cautiously.

  He gave her a grin. “Me, Annie? Hell, no.”

  “A biker? You don’t look like a biker. Way too pretty.” Riley rolled her eyes again and he pinched her thigh under the table. She gave a small start.

  “I’m not a biker or a cop. Like I told you when I was in here before, I’m looking for some old friends. I’ve heard they live out this way. One has a long pigtail--”

  “Don’t know him.” She looked down at Riley, who was wearing a mousy brown wig and her tortoiseshell specs. “This isn’t really a place for a lady, if you get my drift,” she told him. “You’re a hunk, darlin’, but I got other customers to take care of. I get off at two if you’ve a mind to talk then.”

  The waitress left with a hefty tip. “Gee, maybe you’ll get lucky,” Riley snarled.

  Rob looked around hoping to see someone he recognized. Otis had assured him everything was in place. “Don’t worry about what she said,” Rob told her.

  “I could care less who you sleep with.”

  “I meant about the turf war, but I can understand how you’d be jealous.”

  “Oh, I forgot. You and your panty melting smile are going to keep me safe. Right?”

  “I’ll try my best.”

  Riley frowned. “I figure I’m better off with you than with one of them.”

  “Lesser of two evils?” he prodded.

  “Whatever. I don’t see any cops I can run to for help here.”

  He nodded in the direction of the beer the waitress brought. “Take one of those beers. When you’re in a place like this, you drink beer. I took the chance of looking like an oddball and ordering it in bottles. Everyone drinks what’s on tap in these joints. If you don’t like the taste of it, pretend to drink
it.” His tone switched from authority mode. “And thank you again for doing this.”

  “Whatever. I don’t need your thanks. I just want to be away from here. And you.”

  “Soon.” He frowned at her, looking around. There were a lot of bikers here wearing colours. He knew what the patches and the wings meant. Ugly stuff. Scary dudes. He decided he liked pretending to be someone he wasn’t at fancy galas in hotel ballrooms a lot more. But then again, maybe he didn’t. Maybe he just wanted to be real now, whatever his particular reality was. Last night with Riley seemed as genuine as he could imagine, considering she’d thought him Robert Murphy, not Robin Butler.

  The thought that he’d put her in harm’s way assailed him again. The sheer joy of finally sticking it to a murdering, thieving bastard like Vasco faded badly with the idea that he was allowing Otis to put Riley in jeopardy.

  “Lovely ambiance,” she observed. “Especially the little skull lights around the bar.”

  “Just tell me if you see those dudes. I’ll call Otis, then we’ll go.”

  “I don’t see them. You know, if you called the FBI now and gave them a description of Todd’s car, you wouldn’t have to do this. They could do it for you. You could get busy on a new scam, couldn’t you? There are a lot of rich old ladies in the big city.”

  Rob had positioned his own back to the door, a risk he’d normally rather not take; Riley’s back was to the bar. She was safer there and she could see anyone new who might come into the place. He’d asked her to dress in dark clothes: jeans and a black sweater. She still looked damned good to him despite the understated threads. Maybe because of them. He knew very intimately the hot-blooded woman beneath.

  “What exactly is a turf war? And have you ever been involved in one?” she asked him.

  “Yeah, I have. And it’s what it sounds like.”

  Rob looked into her bright green eyes and could think of nothing more than taking her home to make love to her. Forget everything. This woman was worth more than the million or so he’d get for his part in this job. He didn’t care a hoot about that now. Hadn’t since the first moment he’d laid eyes on her on the surveillance tape.

  “Is it as simple as pack behaviour? Protecting territorial interests? Like street

  gangs?”

  “You got it, Pontiac. Dog eat dog. It gets dirty. Power and money are at stake.”

  “What’s it like living with bikers? Is it like they make out in the movies?”

  He shrugged. “Better than a lot of things I’ve done.”

  She seemed perturbed by his answer. “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Past ten.”

  “We’ve been getting curious looks. Are you worried? You look sort of concerned for someone who says we’re perfectly safe.” she said.

  He shook his head. “I didn’t notice any curious looks. They’re just looking at you and wondering how a scruffy guy like me happens to be with someone as beautiful as you are.”

  Riley snorted. “Robin, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re the least scruffy looking guy in the room. You’re attracting curious stares from everybody. You look about as dangerous as Richard Simmons.” She gave him a terse frown. “A least until you get surprised in the bathroom. You were pretty scary then.”

  “When?” Rob found himself grinning. He could almost like this sparring with her if his crazy radar wasn’t flashing warnings all down the back of his neck. “You mean last night’s peepshow?”

  She flushed a delicate rose. “This afternoon. With the gun?”

  “I got careless. I’m trained better than that. Thinking about making love to you again went to my head. Made me reckless. I would never have hurt you.”

  She sighed deeply. “What you just called making love? That was sex.”

  “That was more than just sex, Riley Jane. And you know it.”

  She looked away to hide her reaction. “Do you bring all of your dates to places like this?”

  “I don’t date much,” he said.

  “Really?” She snorted again. Riley obviously didn’t believe him. “But you do get laid a lot on the job, don’t you? A silver-tongued stud-muffin like yourself?”

  “Riley--”

  She looked down at the paper label from the untouched beer in front of her. She’d been shredding it and dropping the little green and silver curls in a pile. A new song came on the jukebox and she lifted her head, shaking it slowly.

  It was The Clash. Train in Vain. Rob listened to that line that accused the lover of not standing by. Not staying. Running away. His heart lurched in his chest as he remembered.

  “Gee, Robbie, they’re playing our song,” she said. She remembered it, too.

  “That’s our song?” he lied. “You learn something new every day.”

  She shook her head, looking a little miffed. “You don’t remember much about that night, do you?”

  “That night we celebrated Jimmy Allan’s birthday?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “I remember a lot of things about that night, Riley Jane.” His voice came out too husky. “I remember one hell of a lot.”

  “The obvious things. That we had sex.” She spat out the last words like she’d just said they’d spent the night catching rats.

  “We danced to that song. It was the first one of five we danced together. We were exhausted and breathless and sweaty. We’d been jumping up and down in Jimmy’s basement, laughing and hitting our heads on the acoustic tiles. Then later you kissed me and... kaboom,” he told her.

  “I didn’t kiss you first.” She averted her green gaze once more. He reached out and touched her jaw, forcing her to look at him.

  “I guess I remember it differently than you do, sweetheart,” he finished.

  She gave a wry smile. “I suppose it was me that started it. More like I grabbed you round the neck and melted all over you. It was too sudden and crazy. I was so out of my comfort zone it wasn’t funny.”

  “It wasn’t sudden. The crazy part I agree with. I’d been crazy about you that entire summer. I kept screwing up the shingles on that old man’s garage roof every time you’d come out on Aggie’s porch. I wouldn’t go over there and visit Aggie unless you’d gone to work. She was pissed at me anyway for screwing things up again.”

  “I thought you thought I was a geek or something. Not worth your time.”

  “You mean because of the ultra-cool and bad-ass bandana and sunglasses?”

  “You looked cool.”

  He laughed. “I was going for that look to make me look cool. Inside I was mush. By the way, I thought you were beautiful.”

  “You didn’t even say two words to me until that party.”

  “I didn’t know what to say. I figured you’d laugh at me if I asked you to see a movie with me. Aggie wanted me to stay away from you.”

  Riley nodded. “I really wish you had.”

  Did she? That hurt.

  “Aggie told me you were smart, that you were special, that you would be one of the kids who’d find your way out. Have a future. Hell, every guy in that neighborhood drooled when you walked by, Riley. It took every ounce of courage I had just to let myself dance with you when you asked me. I thought your asking me was a joke, that someone had put you up to it,” he admitted. “There was another guy at the party who was talking about asking you out and I hated his guts, so I said I would dance with you.”

  “You needed courage to dance with me? You, Robbie?”

  He bit his lip. “Riley, everything confident about me was an act. I couldn’t look in the mirror back then without wishing that I was Brad Pitt. Anyone but who I was. I believed half my life that I’d crawled out from under a rock.” His stepfather had never missed the chance to tell him how butt-ugly, how skinny, how weak he was. Every shove, every sucker punch, seemed to tattoo that important fact into his brain.

  “I thought you were the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen. A little bit on the scrawny side back then... I actually thought I loved yo
u.”

  Rob swallowed hard at the husky quality of her voice. “God, Riley... I couldn’t believe it when you showed up with those cookies an hour after the party ended. Cookies fresh out of the oven.” He gave a low chuckle. “No girl had ever done anything like that for me before.”

  She flushed. “You’d said you liked them. And I wanted to impress you. I wanted to make you love me. I wanted to do anything to make you love me. It took all the stealth I could muster to keep from being caught by Aggie baking cookies at two in the morning.”

  “You wouldn’t have had to do anything but smile at me.”

  “That night should never have happened,” she said softly. “What we did. It never meant anything to you.”

  His guts twisted. “Yes, it did.”

  She shook her head. “You just went away, Robin. Disappeared into thin air. Never told me why. Never even told me what I’d done to displease you. You never said goodbye to me.”

  “God, I’m sorry. You were perfect. It wasn’t anything to do with you, Riley. And yet it was everything to do with you.”

  She stared at him, lost in his incredibly blue eyes, forgetting all the mind-boggling and alarming things she’d learned--and hadn’t learned--about him in the last day and night, wanting only to believe he was her knight in shining armor come back to find her after years away on some quest. Just as she’d wanted to believe back then.

  She could be such a fool.

  “I wanted you more than anything in the world, Riley. I still do. I’ll admit I took advantage of you.”

  “Then and now?”

  His reply was honest, at least. “Yes.”

  “I wanted you, too, last night. It was sex, Robin. Let’s just look at it that way. Things don’t work out happily for people like us.”

  “I don’t believe that. For once, I don’t.”

  He meant it. Maybe he had meant what he’d said that afternoon. I love you.

  She took a huge gulp of her beer, grimaced and swallowed it, shuddering. “Oh, yuck.” Riley gave a short, slightly strangled laugh. “This is really kind of interesting. Now I’ll know how my mother spent her Saturday nights.”