I listened. I didn’t think, even if I had yelled when I mysteriously burned myself, that anyone heard me. If they had, if they were waiting, I would be done for.
So what did I have to lose? I put my hand on the door and lifted the latch. The door eased open, and I held still, listening. Nothing. I opened it a bit further and slid out of the door, closing it behind me in a smooth motion.
Now I had to get away without attracting the attention of any of the goons. I crept along the side of the warehouse, taking one slow step at a time.
You’d think it was best to run like hell and get away from the scene.
I’d thought so too and nearly gotten my head beat in when I tried it. I’d found that after… liberating whatever I was after, I went slow and silent. That way, anyone listening was able to shake off their concerns and chalk weird noises up to nothing major. Running alerts people that something’s up.
Running is not something you can do quietly.
After what seemed like fourteen hours, I finally reached the fence that ran around the warehouse. I ducked down and wiggled out through the hole I’d found when I’d scoped things out yesterday. I didn’t jump fences if I could avoid it. Too easy to get caught up in the air, a perfect target. Slinking along the ground was a lot safer.
I hoisted my own black backpack onto my shoulders—no way I would have taken that safety cone orange thing—and walked away, making sure to stay in the shadows.
I snickered, thinking about the orange backpack. Caleb would be in deep shit when he went to hand it off. I’d stuffed it with some women’s clothing I’d found in the big bags—serious hooker stuff. Yeah, that would go over well.
It was totally deserved, too.
Now I just needed to figure out whether I would contact the person after this before or after Caleb was scheduled to hand it off. Did I shame him now, or later?
As much as I wanted to, I didn’t leave any indication that it was me who got one over on him. He was not the brightest guy, and a complete ass, but he would kill you without a second thought, and I found that I was attached to living. For the most part.
Lost in thought, I let down my guard.
“Out a little late, aren’t you?” A voice hissed in my ear as a hand came down on my shoulder.
3
“What the—” I whirled around, ready to take out—- “Oh, it’s you.” I rolled my eyes and shoved the hand off of my shoulder.
“You’re lucky as hell it’s me,” Margrite, my one and only friend rolled her eyes right back at me.
Amazing how you could see these things in the dark. But I could. I could see as well in the dark as I did during the day. Freakish, like my ability to hear. I would have heard her, had I not been so lost in thought on getting away without being caught. Or dying. I didn’t even think about how easily I navigated in the dark anymore. Everything that happened in the past hour had thrown me off my game.
“What do you want?” I asked. I wasn’t trying to be an ass, but I really didn’t want her around. I kept walking, head down, not waiting for an answer.
“What have you been doing? Something’s gone wrong! I can see it all over you!” She hissed, hurrying to catch up with me.
“Well, since I have a need to eat regularly, and not be naked in the streets, I’ve been working,” I answered, not slowing up.
“Whatever,” she said. “This wasn’t the plan, Aodan! You know this is not what we talked about—”
At that I did stop and hold up a hand. “I don’t want to talk about it. No, it’s not what was in the plan. But I took a look at what the situation was, and I made some changes. I’m good with where I am.” I started walking again. “And keep it down, will you? I’m trying to make a quiet getaway. What are you doing out here, anyway? Did you follow me?”
“Of course, I followed you. I wanted to be available if the cops showed up. Or Caleb,” she added snottily.
I made a ‘whatever’ kind of noise, which meant I didn’t want to answer her in any way.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She made her own noise. “The least you could do is go get something to eat with me.”
For people like us, people who lived on the street, lived by our wits, food, shelter, and keeping the other people like us away from us were the paramount concerns. Everybody talked about what they’d do if they hit some big score—because while not everyone I knew was a thief, everyone I knew wasn’t exactly on the right side of the law—I wondered if any of us really could get away.
I was only twenty-three, and I didn’t see me getting away. I just didn’t see how it could happen. Not that I didn’t keep trying, but the kind of cash it would take to get out of here for good looked really far away.
Until this job came along.
That had been six days ago.
I’d gotten the text, and after I talked Margrite into it, with her eating most of the cheeseburger bribe I’d brought, we made our way over to his place. Luke had nearly been quivering with excitement when I showed up at his house. If he’d been a dog, he would have already peed on my shoe.
“Hey, man, I got something for you.” He waved me in and handed me a can of beer. He offered one to Margrite, who shook her head.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, and big payday, too.”
I raised my eyebrows. Luke always seemed to talk a big payday game, but funnily enough, there was always a reason that it wasn’t as big as the pre-theft hype. Listening to Margrite, I’d started to find all the skepticism in the world.
Still… “How big?” I asked. We’d talked about it briefly before, but I wanted to see if he said anything differently now.
“Enough that you could get out of here and get into some kind of real life where it’s warm,” he said, all excitement gone.
“What?” How in the hell did he know about that?
My expression must have shown on my face because he waved a hand at me. “You think no one else knows but you and the skinny chick?” Normally the fact that he was open about their mutual dislike made me laugh. Not now.
“I know why you steal anything I ask you to. I know why you live in that shithole. I know what you’re saving for. You’ve told me. You know, like friends do?”
“We’re friends?” I asked, sitting down in his office. When had I ever told him?
Luke put a hand over his heart, drawing back slightly. “That hurts, Aodan. We’re always friends.”
“You must give me the friend percentage then,” I looked down at my can of beer.
“I give you all I can, and still keep enough for me,” he shot back with heat behind his words.
That made me look up. He actually sounded as though he cared.
“We’re here. So tell me more about the job.”
He settled onto the ratty pleather seat across from me in front of his disreputable desk. That desk was a monument to defying reality. Any sudden moves and all the crap on his desk might fall over and kill him. Or me and Margrite. Or all of us.
Luke wasn’t bothered by the leaning tower of potential death on his desk. “It’s a backpack, and it’s bright orange, and the client told me it’s probably dirty-looking, too. Like I told you before. She just wants it back. I asked her what was in it, she said it was an old family heirloom, a keepsake box. No biggie, but I guess someone stole it when the original owner died.” Luke nodded at Margrite and I with a slight movement of the head. “Who knows? You know how people get when someone dies. It’s like a blood bath.” He shrugged. “As long as it’s not illegal shit, I figured it was fine.” He knew my limits.
At that, he looked right at me, a question in his expression.
I waited, not meeting his eyes. This part of things, the hesitation—it was important. Even if Luke and I both knew the deal.
I sighed. “Okay, I’m in. But tell me how big?” This was important. I needed a number now. It’s why I brought Margrite. She would never let him get away with anything once he’d offered a number. He’d teased me before, but now it was time to g
et hard numbers.
He gave me a number, and I clutched at my can of beer, feeling the sticky residue hit my fingers.
“Say it again,” I whispered. “There’s got to be—”
He shook his head, earlier excitement resurfacing. “Nope. I did the same thing. Nearly shit myself when she tossed out the number. It’s enough, even with my cut. You can get the hell out of here. Take Skinny with you,” he referred to Margrite. Why did no one call her by her name, I wondered? Because they were afraid of her? She was petite, but she could kick all sorts of ass.
I also thought it was interesting that everyone we came across talked about us as though we were an item rather than best friends.
I ignored the irritation that brought. “You think this chick is good for it?” People talked a lot of crap.
Luke leaned in. “I got a down payment, man,” he whispered. It was weird how he was whispering in his own house.
Which decided things right there for all of us. Not even Margrite could argue with a down payment.
And that’s how I found myself here, outside of Caleb’s warehouse, trying to get away without getting my ass kicked and ignoring whatever it was Margrite was hissing at me. Again, with the hissing. What was she, a snake?
I still didn’t know where the three guys had gotten to. That made me nervous as well.
“You want to ease up with the pissy snake impression? I’d like to get out of here in one piece,” I whispered.
A punch between my solar blades was my answer.
I smiled. Pain-in-the-ass she might be, but Margrite took no shit from anyone, not even me. I liked that about her. I understood it. Just like that, my annoyance passed.
We walked in silence, clinging to the warehouses and abandoned buildings we passed, living in the corners of the shadows. For all her bitching, Margrite got it. It’s why I didn’t tell her to hit the bricks. Well, that and she’s my best friend.
When we’d gotten about ten blocks from Caleb’s hidey-hole, I turned to her. “I’ll go get something to eat, but I need to see Luke first. I don’t want this,” I shrugged my shoulder against my pack, “Hanging around any longer than it has to.”
“What is it?” she asked quietly.
“Wooden box, nice decoration. Exactly what the client said it was. No surprises.”
“Anything good inside?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I didn’t look. I don’t care. Still seems too good to be true, so I want to hand it off and get paid. Even if something goes wrong,” I added, thinking about what else I’d taken, “Everything is going to be fine.”
“What does that mean?”
Caleb was going to be pissed.
Which made me laugh.
“What?” Margrite asked.
“Tell you after. Let’s go get rid of this.”
Like she did every time I did a job, she reached down and squeezed my hand. Just once, just enough to allow me to feel the warmth of her skin and the strength of her muscles. Just enough to let me know that we were a team and in this together no matter what.
Like always, her touch was gone in an instant.
“You’re buying,” she said.
I smiled. Right now, I felt like I could buy the whole world a drink.
We hurried, not speaking. After what seemed an eternity, we reached the small ramshackle house Luke called home. That made twice in one week. We might be risking it with the desk of doom.
The lights were on in the front, so I went around the back. I didn’t need to be seen walking in his door even though he fenced everything. People here knew. They knew you, knew what you did. But there’s a difference between everyone knowing something and giving them proof.
Three knocks, and he yanked open the wooden screen door. “Yeah?” He peered out and then recognized me. “Oh, come in.” He stood back to let me enter, and Margrite followed on my heels.
“What is this, date night?” He asked with a leer.
“Bite it,” Margrite said.
“Gladly, sweetheart. When you get an ass.”
She raised a hand, but let it drop as he moved away from her.
“You get it?” Luke asked me.
I nodded. I’d told him he’d see me again once I got it. I’d never failed him before, and I had no intention of starting now. Not even with Caleb the douche getting in my business.
“Where is it?”
“I have the item,” I said. “I left the backpack. No sense in advertising that Elvis left the building,” I shrugged.
“Weird. He was expecting you tonight,” Luke said, turning away.
I followed, knowing where he was heading. “You knew this?” I asked his back.
“You couldn’t warn a person?” Margrite asked from behind me.
“You heard that? Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded.
His shoulders went up once. “Would it have made a difference?” Luke didn’t even turn around.
“It might have,” I answered. “I saw something weird tonight. I think he had more than just the normal goon squad there tonight.”
Now Luke did turn around. “Who was it?”
I shrugged, loving the look of irritation that crossed his face. “I don’t know. I saw a light in the warehouse, like someone was having a smoke, and walking down the aisles.”
“You get spotted?”
I gave him a look.
“Okay, yeah, yeah, not you, whatever, asshole. Where’s the box?”
I set down my backpack and carefully pulled out the wooden box. In the light, it was gorgeous. Stones winked on the top, and there was a raised piece in the middle that I was pretty sure was gold. A shudder of something ran through me as I touched it. I’d forgotten that it had burned or shocked me or something when I first picked it up. I felt a small shock, like when you rub your feet on the carpet and then touch a light switch. But it didn’t compare to the shock I got in the warehouse.
Luke took it and examined it. “You open it?”
“Nope. You know I don’t look.”
“I hear differently, we’re done.” He turned from me and went about opening his safe.
Code of thieves. I stole the whatever, but I had to get the entire whatever it was to the client. Luke fenced the whatever, but he got the client exactly whatever they’d requested. We didn’t steal from clients. Luke and I knew each other well enough we didn’t steal from each other either—well, not much—so his questions were merely a formality. But he knew I never looked. His question was always the same, just like my answer. He liked to be able to tell the clients he’d done due diligence.
Once I knew I had the thing I was hired to get, I didn’t care.
I smiled as I always did. It gave me a laugh that there were rules among thieves. But there were. At least, the thieves I dealt with. It was even funnier that Luke stuck to this charade when he knew all the answers.
Probably why I hated Caleb. On principle, in addition to the fact that he was a douchebag.
“All right. I’ll let the client know now.” Luke set the box down and opened the safe. Once he’d put the box away, and hidden the safe again, he pulled out his phone, and I could hear the ringing.
“Yes?” A strong voice, the voice of a woman, rang out even though he wasn’t on speaker with her.
“Got it,” he said shortly.
“Intact?” the woman asked.
“Looks like it,” Luke answered.
Silence, and then, “I’m transferring the funds to you now. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Is the thief still there?”
Luke’s surprised face met mine. I could read the question in his expression. Did I want him to lie? Or was I all right with meeting the client?
I shrug-nodded.
“He is.”
“Keep him there. I’d like to talk with him.”
Luke raised his eyebrows at me. I nodded again.
“Okay.”
The woman hung up.
“What the hell?” Margrite asked.
“I don’t know. She didn’t mention that,” Luke said, and stopped as his phone chimed at him.
“That’s ridiculous,” Margrite snorted, crossing her arms. His notification was the SpongeBob SquarePants theme.
“My kid likes it,” Luke said. “You sure you’re okay with this? You don’t have to,” That was directed at me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He had kids? Where did they live? In the desk?
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “I’m transferring yours right now,” Luke’s eyes didn’t leave his phone as his fingers tapped it rapidly.
“Get enough cash to eat for a couple,” Margrite said to me as she walked out into the small living room.
“No prob,” Luke said absently. Then he looked up. “What are you gonna do now, A?”
“Meet your crazy client, then go eat,” I said.
I felt a buzz from the phone in my pocket. That meant that I’d gotten an email letting me know a deposit had been made. I felt a warmth spread over me I had never felt before. I glanced at the email, loving the fact that there were more zeroes than I’d ever seen after the first number. I’d never seen that much money in conjunction with my bank account ever. But it was there now.
I was set. A few more moments, and then it was Asta la vista, baby.
4
We were all sitting in the living room when the rap landed on the front door. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought all three of us jumped.
“I got it,” Luke muttered, getting up.
“Your house,” Margrite said, rolling her eyes.
I gave her a WTF look. Tonight was strange enough without her being all shitty.
A woman came in, and I sat up straight. A similar jolt like I’d felt in the warehouse when the abusive guy showed up raced through me.
Why?
I didn’t have time to consider it because I was too busy looking at her.
She wasn’t old, and she wasn’t young. She had long, curly hair and that look that really rich chicks have—like, they knew who they were, and where they were going, both short-term and long-term. It was a look I envied. She was also gorgeous, the kind of woman who drew looks and attention simply by walking out of her door in the morning.
Dragon Lost Page 3
