by Katie Reus
All of it had been such a rush. Finding a target, planning the heist, stealing from rich assholes just like her parents, or corporations who could afford it. God, she’d been so deluded. All self-righteous about what she’d been doing. But she’d just been a criminal, stealing because she thought it was a way to say a giant “fuck you” to her parents. Basically she’d been an entitled jerk and she never wanted to go back to being that person. Didn’t even want to associate with people from her old life.
A tight, heavy ball settled in her stomach. “I’m not proud of what I used to do,” she murmured, looking away from Skye for the first time since sitting down. Shame made her cheeks heat up. She wished she could go back in time and shake some sense into her younger self. Luckily she hadn’t been in that life for long.
“I’m not going to judge you.” Skye’s voice was so matter-of-fact.
Olivia looked up, saw no recrimination in her friend’s eyes. It made this a lot easier, even if she still judged herself. She took a deep breath. “Okay, then. Well, my ex-husband, Heath, who I’ll just call asshole, somehow got hooked up with a man named Kyle Neely. Neely is smart. He sets up one job a year. A big one. Big enough that the take can set you up for years. We worked two with him. It had been a unique year for him apparently because he did two jobs. Both were too big to pass up. Long story short, Neely is scary. I watched him beat someone almost to death and I heard through the grapevine that he killed someone he suspected of being law enforcement. And last night he showed up at my home and told me I’d be working a job with him. He’s not giving me a choice either.” She motioned to her face even as she said, “He threatened Valencia.”
Skye’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of job?”
“No idea. He keeps everything very compartmentalized and he won’t work with someone he doesn’t know. He’s never done jail time because he’s smart.”
“You’ve never done jail time.”
She snorted. “Yeah, because I got out of that life when I was relatively young. It was right after college—which is why you never knew about it.” No way would she have told Skye anyway. Because no matter what she tried to tell herself, what she’d been doing had been wrong—and she felt a lot of shame for that.
“What happened to your ex?”
Olivia lifted a shoulder. “No idea. He signed over rights of full custody and I agreed he’d never have to pay child support. He, uh…” She glanced over her shoulder even though the door was closed. She’d never told her daughter this—and never would. Olivia looked back at Skye. “When we found out Valencia was Deaf he decided that it was ‘too hard’ for him to deal with. He said our lives were perfect before her and she was going to screw everything up. He was a weak, selfish man-child. I was just too young and stupid myself to realize it.”
“Asshole is too nice for him.” That deadly glint she’d seen before was in Skye’s blue eyes. It matched the edge to her voice.
“I know. But I got Valencia and I lost a loser, so I call it a win. And…I told him if he ever came back and tried to disrupt my daughter’s life I’d turn him over to the cops. I’ve got evidence linking him to a couple crimes.” And she didn’t feel an ounce of guilt over it.
Skye’s eyebrows lifted.
Olivia just shrugged. “He’s selfish enough to have come back later and tried to blackmail me for my skills and use my daughter against me. To him, she’d be nothing more than a bargaining chip. I took that away. I never wanted the stink of him to touch her.”
Skye nodded once, almost as if in approval. “You think he’s behind this? Or working with Neely?”
“No. The only reason we were even brought in was because of my skills. My ex was…a con. But small time. He liked to run card games, count cards, pick pockets, that type of thing.”
“So what are all your skills, exactly?”
“Simply put, breaking into places, taking things that don’t belong to me, and getting away clean. I’m really good with safes in particular.”
“Huh… I probably shouldn’t be surprised at your past. Not with your job.”
Ugh. She needed to call work and tell them to cancel all her upcoming contracts. That was going to be a pain in the butt, but they’d just have to deal with it. She worked for a boutique security firm that was hired by large corporations to crack their own security and point out flaws and weaknesses. She got to use her skills and make her own hours. And it didn’t matter where she lived because they provided transportation to all her jobs.
“So why not go to the cops? Why come to me for help?” At Skye’s question, the panic was back and it must have showed on her face because Skye sat forward slightly. “I am going to help you. I just wanted to know why you thought of me.”
“First, no cops because, come on. They can’t do anything. I have no proof against Kyle. And…he gave me pictures of Valencia leaving school as a not-so-subtle threat. He’s been watching me. No idea how long either. And to answer your second question, in college you put my name on that SF86 form. When I was interviewed by a couple uptight government agents in plain blue suits asking all sorts of questions about you, I knew you were getting some sort of clearance. So I knew you worked for the government. And then with the whole ‘you’re alive’ thing seven months ago and no real explanation with why you’d ‘died’ then come back to life other than working on something to do with national security…I figured you’d know the right people. Or you’d be the right person to help. And okay, the last time I visited…I overheard two of your guys, Brooks and Gage, talking about a job they’d done helping someone. And everyone I’ve seen who works here looks kinda scary. It’s clear they’ve all got training. Military or government, I’m guessing.”
Skye nodded. “Okay, I figured that was why no cops…and I am the right ‘people.’ Everyone here is. In a minute I’m going to let you talk to Gage—our computer genius. He’ll want to know every little thing there is about Kyle Neely and we’re going to rip his life apart. From there, we’ll figure out a way to stop whatever it is he’s doing. Or get him arrested for whatever crime he’s planning. You and Valencia will have to lie low for a little while, but we’ll make sure this doesn’t come back on you.”
Olivia leaned forward, letting out a long, pent-up breath. “Thank you. I…just, thank you so much.”
“No thanks needed. We’re going to take care of you. That means you get home cooking tonight, and you’ll stay at Brooks’s estate. You already know that he has horses and a giant pool so Valencia will be in heaven. The ranch is incredibly secure and—”
Olivia burst into tears. They just rushed out and she couldn’t stop them, even when she heard Skye moving toward her.
“Don’t cry!” Her friend’s voice was panicked, which just made this even more embarrassing.
“Sorry…been holding all this in since he showed up at my house.” Taking a deep breath, she wiped at her cheeks as Skye crouched in front of her.
“We’re going to stop this guy. And he won’t know you were behind it either.” She was starting to say more when Olivia’s phone rang.
The specific ringtone told her it was Martina, sending a waterfall of relief coursing through her. “I need to get this. It’s Martina and I’ve been trying to get a hold of her.” The only reason she hadn’t been going into total crazy-pants mode was because she knew Martina, her surrogate mother and friend, was on vacation and hopefully having a great time. She’d be safe from Kyle.
Skye simply nodded and stood back, leaning against the shiny wood table as Olivia answered.
“Hey, glad to hear your voice.”
“I told you not to be stupid.” Kyle’s smooth voice came over the line.
The bottom of Olivia’s world dropped out. “What the hell have you done with Martina?”
Next to her, Skye jolted upright and pulled out her phone and started texting at a rapid speed. Olivia tuned her out as Kyle continued.
“Nothing. Yet. But you called the cops. What did I tell you about that?”
<
br /> “I didn’t call the cops! My neighbor is a retired cop. When he came over and saw the bruise on my face I told him it was my ex-husband who’d done it before he ran out the back. My neighbor had some patrol cars drive around the area looking for him.” The story was close enough to the truth that if Kyle had been scanning police radios or had a contact at the local PD—which she doubted—it would be believable.
“You left.”
“You show up out of the blue, assault me and demand I work with you! All while my daughter was at home. Hell yeah, I left.” When she felt Skye’s hand on her shoulder she glanced up.
Keep him talking, she signed using ASL.
Olivia nodded even as Kyle said, “Did you tell anyone about our conversation?”
“Where’s Martina?” she asked, putting the call on speaker and setting the phone on the table in front of her. She knew Kyle wouldn’t tell her, but if Skye wanted her to keep him on the line, she could do it.
“Secure. And before you go all hysterical, I haven’t hurt her.”
“I want to talk to her.”
“No, but I’ll send you a video of her. Now, did you tell anyone about our conversation?”
Skye nodded then started signing, telling her how to answer.
Olivia raised her eyebrows at Skye’s instructions, but nodded back as she answered. “Yes.”
There was a long pause. “Who?”
“An old friend. Not law enforcement. He’s like…us.” Olivia hoped that Skye knew what she was doing by telling her to feed Kyle this bullshit information. She’d come here for help so she was going to trust that Skye knew what she was doing. “I was scared, so I went to him about you.”
“A friend?”
“More than a friend.”
“I should kill your other friend right now.”
Panic punched through her, but she kept her voice steady. She didn’t need Skye to tell her what to say for this. “If you do I won’t work with you and you know it.” If he was desperate enough to kidnap Martina, then he needed Olivia badly. She would use that to her advantage. Because as long as he needed her, Martina would stay alive.
“So you’re working with me now?”
She nearly snorted at the stupidity of his question even as Skye started signing to her again.
She said as Skye instructed, “You’ve given me no choice. But I’m bringing my friend with me. I did some jobs with him back in the day.” That kept things vague enough.
“If he’s a cop or Fed—”
“You really are stupid if you think I’d ever put Martina in danger. This guy…he’s got a thing for me,” she said, following Skye’s orders. “Always has. It’s why I ran to him. I knew he’d help.”
“A thing?”
“He’s in love with me. Or thinks he is. More like obsessed.” She raised her eyebrows at Skye, who just shrugged and kept signing. “He dropped everything for me.”
Another long pause. “I’m going to test him. If he doesn’t have the skills I need…”
“Yeah, I know.” Her partner would be killed.
“I’ll be in touch.” The call ended before she could respond.
“Damn it,” she muttered. Nausea filled her as she sat back. Her friend, a woman she considered a mother, was being held by a psycho because of her.
“You did great.”
It sure didn’t feel like it. “He didn’t say yes to anything.”
“Yeah he did. If he plans on testing your guy—”
“My imaginary guy…who apparently is obsessed with me?”
“It’s the only reason a man would drop everything for a woman. Okay, that’s not true, but a man like Neely will understand the reasoning. It will make sense to him that you turned to someone, a man, for protection. And that’s all you need, for him to believe you. For him to see you as weaker.”
“You came up with that stuff pretty fast.”
Skye lifted a shoulder. “It’s what I do. And he’s on the hook. He didn’t say no to your partner, and—”
Olivia snatched up her phone as a text message came through from an unknown number. A video. She pressed play. Martina, sitting in a chair—not bound, at least—with a plain pale blue background. A wall. She looked at someone off the screen then nodded before looking at it. She smiled, appearing as if she was trying to be brave, and Olivia bit down on a knuckle to stop from crying again.
“Mi pequeña. I’m okay and haven’t been hurt.” Then she started reading off headlines of what was likely the day’s news. Olivia would check as soon as possible. “Take care of our angel, Valencia. And do what’s right for her.”
The video ended and Olivia shoved out a breath. “She doesn’t want me to do anything for him.”
“Yeah, I caught that,” Skye said. “I don’t think your old buddy got that, or he’d have cut that last part out.”
Olivia nodded. Kyle probably thought Martina meant that Olivia should do the job and keep Valencia safe. But if she had to bet, she was certain Martina meant to stay away from him and keep Valencia safe. Because Martina was like that, always looking out for others. “I’ve got to save her. I’ll do whatever I have to. Even steal whatever it is he wants.” As long as she didn’t have to hurt anyone else, she would easily break the law for Martina’s sake.
“That’s good, then. Because with him having your friend captive, you’re going to have to go along with him until we find her.”
“Who’s we?”
Skye nodded toward the door. “Come on. I’m going to introduce you to the crew—and your new partner.”
Chapter 3
—I should have seen that coming.—
Olivia scanned the wall of screens, amazed at whatever Gage was working on. On one screen was what looked like blueprints for a building. Another showed pictures of a group of men unloading what were definitely automatic weapons from the back of truck. She guessed the images had been captured from a long-range camera. Okay, now she really wondered just what Redemption Harbor Consulting did.
“I don’t even know if Kyle Neely is his real name,” she said as Gage’s fingers typed rapidly on the thick laptop. A type she’d never seen before.
At about six feet tall, he was lean in the way runners were. His bluish-gray eyes seemed to almost glow against the gleam of the laptop screen.
Apparently Gage had been trying to pin the location of Martina’s phone. And he had, but it had been moving during the time of the call, and once Kyle had ended it, Gage said he’d tossed it out a window. He knew because he’d been able to capture it in real time via a traffic camera. Which meant Gage had hacked the DMV and was using satellites, and holy crazy, this had to be so illegal. Not that she, of all people, cared. And especially not with Martina’s life at stake.
Sighing, Gage pushed away from his desk and stood. “He tossed the phone when he was done with it, and I got an image of the SUV he was in going into the parking garage of a hotel in Miami. The SUV hasn’t come out and I never got an image of his face. You’re sure you don’t have a picture of him somewhere?”
“No. If I did, I’d give it to you. The people I used to run with… None of us did the social media thing. It was too risky.” Not like those idiots who stole stuff then posted pictures of it on their private Facebook accounts. She actually had one now that she used to communicate with the moms at Valencia’s school. And, she realized, she needed to call the school Monday and tell them Valencia would be out of school for the next couple weeks. Hell. She needed to get her head on straight.
Gage nodded. “I understand. I don’t think anyone here has a social media account either.”
Skye snorted, not looking at either of them as she texted someone. “Mary Grace and Mercer do. She keeps telling me if I want to see every picture of Mia I should join. Like I’m gonna get a Facebook account. Or Twitter.” She cackled as she looked up at them, as if the thought was utterly ridiculous. Immediately she sobered. “All right. The plan. Gage is going to do his thing and try to piece together anythi
ng he can on Kyle Neely—or whoever he really is. So you’re going to come up with a comprehensive list of people you know he’s worked with and people you’ve worked with together. That includes your ex-husband. Gage is going to look into him as well. Gage is magic on the computer, so whatever you give him will be helpful. But you’re not going to do it here. I’m taking you and Valencia to Brooks’s estate and you’re going to get some damn sleep. You look as if a harsh wind would knock you over.”
She shook her head. “No. I need to be doing something.”
“You are going to be doing something. Resting and getting your daughter settled is the smart thing to do right now. Neely is going to reach out to you soon. Maybe in an hour. Maybe a day. Whenever that happens, you can’t be foggy. You need a clear head. You need to be sharp. Because if he’s going to test your partner, you can be damn sure he’s going to test you. Which brings me to another thing. We’ll also need a list of all your skills. And we’re going to be coming up with the full cover for your previous relationship with Savage.”
“Savage?”
“Ah, Zac Savage. Your partner. He’s on his way to Brooks’s right now, so you’ll meet him in a little bit.”
Okay, with a name like Savage… Well, she couldn’t be choosy right now. And the name Savage was scary. Good. She needed scary on her side. “Okay.”
“Since you guys will be working together, and since he’s ‘into you,’ it stands to reason you have a sexual relationship with him. So I’m going to use that for the cover. A man doesn’t just drop everything for a woman unless there’s something there. So part of your cover will be that you’re a couple.”
