A very ironic twist for a man who’d been called self-absorbed by more than a few women, accused of being so wrapped up in his work that he had no time or concentration left for anyone or anything else.
He’d always entertained that there was truth to the accusations. When he looked at his past history, he agreed that Mallory had been well within her rights to question him about the frequency with which women entered and left his life.
He enjoyed dating and casual entanglements, had known some very lovely ladies, but he’d never felt compelled to further any of those relationships, had been content to move on to the next woman rather than put forth effort to convince anyone to stay.
He believed what he’d told Mallory. He hadn’t met the right woman yet. He never questioned that he would. Perhaps this was a direct result of being part of a solid family, of witnessing his parents’ love for one another. They’d been together since high school, as content and close today as Jake could remember them during his youth, proof that soul mates existed. He’d always maintained he’d know the right woman when he met her.
And he had. Ten years ago in a dark warehouse.
He’d avoided commitment because he’d been waiting to catch up with this woman, and as he held her in his arms, Jake knew that he wanted to find out if there could be an us.
Which meant he now had a problem. A big one. Mallory had spent years believing him responsible for the events that had changed her life. While he’d believed the same of Mallory, Jake couldn’t equate losing his job at Innovative Engineering to the way life had blown up in her face.
And he wasn’t apologetic, either. Once he’d tracked her down to learn she’d given up crime and turned her life around, he’d discovered another good thing had come from their meeting.
But did Mallory feel that way? Once again he had no frame of reference for how she might digest tonight’s truths, but he did feel certain she planned to hang around long enough to bust his chops some more and collect her hefty check.
She’d flat-out said she’d only accepted his job offer to exact some sort of sexy revenge. And while he was encouraged that she’d made love with him again tonight, he wasn’t naive enough to think this was any concession.
Yeah, she’d wanted him, but that was because the sex was good. They had chemistry. But chemistry wasn’t an indicator of her emotions.
But chemistry was all Jake had to work with at the moment. Chemistry meant more sex. More sex meant he had her attention. At least until they figured out who had tripped the alarm that night and she fulfilled the terms of their contract.
When she stirred in his arms, exhaling a deep sigh that burst across his skin, Jake felt a wave of heat through his body that underscored the enormity of the task he faced ahead. He tightened his arms around her, searched for ways to bridge the distance between them. He could see the problems more clearly than the solutions. Trouble was he knew next to nothing about Mallory’s personal life.
He needed to know whether her aversion to us was an aversion to him specifically or to commitment in general before he could figure out how to encourage her to give him a chance.
One thing was for sure, Jake wouldn’t tip his hand and let her know how interested he was. He’d either lose his edge or send her running. He didn’t intend to do either, which meant he needed to take a page from her book and start playing hard ball.
Let the games begin.
10
“OKAY, JAKE.” Mallory met his gaze over her coffee mug and Jake couldn’t see a trace of the intimacies they’d shared last night in her cool green eyes. She was all business. “You want to observe this job from start to finish as if I were planning a real one.”
Leaning back against the worktable, he sipped from his own mug and nodded. Business it would be, then. She obviously didn’t want to deal with any of last night’s revelations, and he found that significant. She operated with distance between her personal life and her career, keeping them separate even when they overlapped as they did now.
He filed this piece of the puzzle away for safekeeping. He’d already added some new information to his arsenal today by learning that Mallory was a morning person who liked to get a jump on her day.
Consequently, the sun was only just rising as they’d made their way downstairs to her workshop to begin their first day of work together and his first day of thief-assistant training.
“What about my system specs?” he asked. “Have we compromised anything because I’ve shown them to you?”
“Good question and the answer is no. I always work from the specs of whatever security system I intend to penetrate. You’ve only saved me a step in the process.”
“Doesn’t that give you an edge over a real burglar?”
A quicksilver grin flashed. “Real burglars work from the specs, too.” She glanced at a wall clock above the computer station. “I’ll walk you through the acquisition process, but we’ll have to wait until the business day starts. Right now you need to brief me on the job. So, what am I going to steal and from whom?”
“The blueprints to a vault at the Atlanta Safe Exchange.”
She tipped her mug to him in salute. “Clever. The premise being that a business already dealing in security will have a leg up on a business that doesn’t, I assume.”
That and the fact that he was a close enough friend with the owner to feel comfortable asking for a favor of this magnitude. “Something like that.”
Jake set his mug on the worktable and popped open his briefcase to extract the documents while Mallory made her way to her computer and booted the system to start their day in earnest.
The history of the Atlanta Safe Exchange, upper management, press releases, copyright patents and an abundance of other information was readily available online if one knew where to look. Mallory did. With lightning-fast motions of her manicured hands, she navigated around the Internet, explaining to Jake how each piece of information was important to understanding the safeguards in place around her target.
She kept a file open where she continually logged questions and things she needed to check out later. All the while Jake sat by her side, amazed by her intensity, by the way she reasoned quickly and logically, a gorgeous woman whose expression lit up with excitement.
“I want to show you how a burglar acquires the specs for a system, but I can’t use the Sentex 2000 since it’s not on the market yet. What’s the name of another of your clients who’s not testing your prototype? Something large and reputable.”
Jake cast around for a name and came up with Nu-Tech Electronics, one of his largest accounts and an established corporation that produced and marketed electrical components for a variety of industries.
She typed the name into a popular Internet search engine and within seconds the Nu-Tech Electronics Web site appeared on her screen. She navigated through several pages that detailed Nu-Tech’s services and product lines before reaching for the telephone, activating the speakerphone function and saying, “Just a note here, Jake. If this were a real job, I wouldn’t be using my home phone because the telephone company would have a record of the call.”
She dialed the company’s direct line. “Good morning,” she said in response to the greeting. “Someone in sales, please.”
Rolling his chair back a few feet from the computer desk, Jake folded his arms across his chest and watched her work, liking her confident smile that warned him she was about to put on a show.
The call connected and a male voice shot out over the speaker, “Good morning, Gordon here.”
“Hello, Mr. Gordon. My name is Gail Nelson, and I’m with Southeast Wireless. We’re intending to switch providers in the next quarter, and I’m researching potential suppliers for electrical components on a line of our digital cell phones. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me?”
Jake noted that she chose the name of a real up-and-coming corporation, one that would be considered worthy of courting as a new account. Apparently this was t
he case because Mr. Gordon proved very helpful when Mallory began shooting off questions about the company’s history, its years in service, its current rating on the stock exchange, much of which information was available right in front of her on the Web site.
She was pleasant, pausing often as though jotting down the information and thanking the man for his help, and Jake decided that a large part of becoming a successful criminal was based on natural acting ability. Mallory had it in spades and without the slightest change in her tone, she neatly began grilling the man.
“Obviously one of my company’s key concerns is piracy of our cell components. Before I can make a recommendation to meet with you, I need to assess the potential for theft at the source. What can you tell me about the security of your production facility?”
That was all it took to launch Mr. Gordon into a pitch of Nu-Tech’s affiliation with TSS and all the special features of the Apex 1200 and how satisfactorily the system operated. While Jake appreciated his client’s confidence in his product and services, he recognized that the man was sharing all the information that Mallory, or any thief, would need to accurately assess the security in place around his property.
“All right, Mr. Gordon,” she said pleasantly. “I have the information I need to write up a proposal for the next phase. My recommendations will go to committee on—” she glanced up at the wall calendar tacked to a bulletin board “—on the twenty-eighth, so I’ll get back in touch with you sometime after the first to let you know if we’ll progress to the interview phase. Thank you so much. You’ve been very helpful.”
Damned straight. And it looked as though Jake needed to educate his clients about what information to provide over the phone. Not that Mallory couldn’t have dressed in a suit and shown up in Mr. Gordon’s office with the faked credentials of a Southeast Wireless employee, but at least acquiring the information wouldn’t have been so embarrassingly easy.
She disconnected but didn’t say a word as she turned her attention back to the computer and typed in a frenzy on the keyboard to bring his own company Web site onto her screen. She dialed the toll-free sales hotline and within five minutes his helpful staff provided the specs for the Apex 1200 via fax.
She smiled smugly while handing him each sheet as it rolled off the printer. The entire process had taken less than thirty minutes from start to finish and now she had a thorough understanding of the type of security measures she’d be up against if she’d really wanted to break into Nu-Tech.
“At least tell me that my systems present a little more of a challenge than most.” A question prompted solely by ego.
“Don’t worry, Jake. They will. That’s why you hired me.”
Not exactly the reassurance he was looking for, but it was all he got before she dialed the Atlanta Safe Exchange and conducted a similar conversation, only this time asking the salesperson more specific questions about the facility.
As Jake listened to the conversation, he decided that in addition to acting ability, successful criminals were also skilled at handling people. Mallory dangled a plum account like Southeast Wireless before this salesman’s nose deftly, and in return, received forthcoming answers.
When she disconnected the call, Jake asked, “Why do you need to know the name of the architect who designed the facility and when it was built?”
“So I can look up the blueprints in county records.” She rolled away from the computer, stood and went to her worktable. Grabbing her PDA, she inputted some information and as Jake watched, a thought occurred to him.
“Mallory, what happens after a company’s burglarized? Isn’t there a possibility a salesperson could remember your conversation and connect it to the robbery?”
“Excellent question and the answer is yes.” She held up her PDA to present the calendar on the small screen. “This is where follow-through is important. I’ll call back exactly when I promised to and give those salespeople some reason why we won’t be progressing to the next phase. I keep it business as usual. That minimizes the risk of detection.”
“And if the salesperson, or the police for that matter, put two and two together, they can’t trace the call anyway.”
“Exactly.” She flashed him a bright smile, dropped the PDA into her purse and headed toward the stairs. “Come on, Jake, let’s make a trip downtown.”
As Mallory knew exactly what she was looking for, acquiring the blueprints became a simple matter of knowing what county offices to visit. By noon they sat in Starbucks, reviewing the blueprints of the Atlanta Safe Exchange over espresso. Having designed the Sentex 2000 to fit this property himself, Jake was familiar with the plans and watched with interest to see how closely Mallory assessed the precautions he’d put into play.
“Okay, the salesman told me the Atlanta Safe Exchange is using a video station, so I’m going to say it’s located right here.” She pointed to a small room but didn’t wait for Jake to confirm before dragging a fingertip over the paper. “And this is obviously the vault. I’m guessing that you’ve implemented those innovative motion sensors of yours right here down these hallways and this floor.”
She was exactly right, and Jake was again impressed with her knowledge base, with her feel for a property based on so little information. He supposed he shouldn’t be. He’d known Mallory was good, but somehow witnessing firsthand how efficiently her mind analyzed the situation made her even more impressive.
Then she peered up at him, clear eyes glinting. “Well, well, well, Jake, very nicely done. Unfortunately, this also presents my first problem with having you for an assistant.”
“Why is that?”
“You’ve cut off my access to the vault from all sides.”
“That was the point.”
She smiled. “I gathered that, but it means we’ll have to come in through the ceiling.”
“If entry is that simple then what’s the problem?”
“You are. Unless you’re proficient at rappelling.”
“Not in my repertoire.”
“Didn’t think so, which means, my handsome apprentice,” she said in a drawl that made him smile. “You’re going to need some practice before we go live.”
Taking a hasty swallow, Mallory drained her cup and got to her feet. “Let’s head out. We can drive by the property before swinging back to my place. I’ll need to case the place at various times over a twenty-four-hour period to determine whether or not they’re using armed guards or dogs.”
Okay. Jake rolled up the blueprints and followed, admiring the sway of her hips as she stepped out of the coffee shop into the sunny afternoon. She’d dressed in business attire for their visit downtown and had advised him to do the same, but the black high-fashion sunglasses she slipped on now lent a decided hint of bad girl to her otherwise polished appearance.
Jake smiled as he reached for the door of her sporty five-speed convertible. This bad girl was in for a big surprise if she thought he was going to be content to keep her in bed. He might not have figured out exactly what involved an us yet, but after working with her this morning, Jake knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until Mallory signed on to his team.
His bad girl was one of a kind, and he intended to see that TSS benefited exclusively from her unique abilities, which meant he had his work cut out for him, figuring out how to make his offer attractive enough so she wouldn’t laugh in his face.
HAVING THE upper hand in her business dealings with Jake helped Mallory regain some of her equilibrium after he’d brought the world down around her ears with his revelations and his sex. She was still trying to sort through the fallout. Step one had been to contact a friend in the police department to ask for help tracking down the reports they needed to start investigating the alarm transmissions on the Innovative job.
Getting the wheels into motion on a ten-year-old mystery had been a piece of cake compared to figuring out what to do about Jake. Work made an admirable hiding place, but it was only a temporary fix for what was becoming a real problem.
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br /> Not only did her dad think she was involved in a full-fledged fling with this man, but so, apparently, did Jake. And worse yet, her own emotions were so all over the place that she couldn’t honestly say she wasn’t. The only thing she did know for sure was that her sexy revenge idea had blown up in her face with the force of a two-ton blast.
And the way that Jake was handling himself wasn’t helping matters one bit. So many men of her acquaintance would have had an impossible time playing the role of trainee to her mentor. She was a woman, and the typical male ego struggled with accepting direction from any female.
Jake clearly wasn’t typical. His ego appeared to be quite intact. He’d bought a service and expected her to deliver. He obviously respected her knowledge. He cooperated easily, asked sharp questions, picked things up quickly and had thoroughly routed her plan to put him at a disadvantage.
Of course, he could afford to be generous. He’d balanced his own equilibrium often enough by proving his superiority in bed. Which constituted yet another problem because the memory of sex with Jake kept creeping into her thoughts. She was still brooding on how he’d rattled her cage when she pulled onto her street and came face-to-face with yet another problem—Opal’s Jaguar parked in her driveway.
“You’ve got company,” Jake said unnecessarily. “Your father?”
Mallory shook her head, debating whether or not to keep driving. But not only did she need her climbing gear, she knew she wouldn’t sidestep the problem for long by avoiding her house. She had to come home eventually and her dad would keep sending people over until someone caught her and Jake home. He might even drop by himself again if he thought he could manage it without being too obvious. He’d clearly decided to stay apprised of her dealings with Jake, and Mallory wasn’t surprised in the least.
When Duke Hunt wanted something, he did whatever it took to get it. He wanted Mallory married and settled down and now that he’d approved Jake, he’d be relentless. She just wished he would respect that she didn’t want to settle down. It wasn’t that she had anything against marriage per se, it just wasn’t her thing. She liked her freedom. She liked being able to rise to life’s challenges, and she wouldn’t be able to do that with a white picket fence and a man around twenty-four seven.
Over the Edge Page 14
