To Catch a Thief--A High Stakes Romantic Suspense

by Sloane Steele

  “Mia, sweetheart, I need this.”

  “Why do you care about Keaton’s painting?”

  She was met with a long pause. She thought they’d been disconnected again.

  Finally, he released a long sigh. “The painting is mine. Keaton is holding it for me. When you said you hadn’t gotten your inheritance because of your mother, I asked Keaton to sell it and send me the money.”

  Gotcha! “Why don’t you just come home?”

  “We’ve been over this, Mia. I can’t. I need your help. I’m running out of money and into issues with my contingencies.”

  “What contingencies?”

  “Keaton and that painting is one. If he can’t sell it, I can’t get the money.”

  “How many such contingencies do you have?” So he had always been planning to run.

  Another exaggerated pause.

  “If you had told me about Keaton, I wouldn’t have offered to look at it. I wouldn’t have been able to ruin your scam.”

  “It’s not a scam. Keaton bought the real thing. If it’s a forgery, then he’s the one running a scam and it’s going to cost me.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I’ll need help liquidating my other properties. Can I count on your help?”

  Her stomach tightened in a knot and bile rose. She hated allowing this man to think she was on his side. “I don’t know how I can help.”

  “Thank you, baby. I knew I could count on you. I’ll be in touch with more information soon. Just help me make the sales. That’s all, and I’ll never ask for anything else.”

  “Does that mean I’ll never see you again?”

  “Of course we’ll see each other.”

  “When? It’s been five years.”

  “I had to give it enough time for the feds to give up on tracking you. Let’s get some paintings sold and I’ll meet you for a vacation.”

  She sighed. “Helping you is illegal.”

  “Only if you’re caught, and no one will be looking at you. I’ll make sure of it. We’ll talk soon.” He disconnected then.

  Mia was filled with a mix of anger and hope. Her plan was coming together in ways she hadn’t even considered. She smelled the fresh coffee wafting from behind her. “How much of that did you hear?”

  “Enough,” Logan said as he joined her at the railing and handed her a steaming cup. “Your father?”

  She nodded. “He—”

  Logan touched her arm. “Before you continue, there’s something I have to tell you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Maybe we should sit.” He moved to one of the chairs she kept out here for when she wanted to relax with a glass of wine and a good book on a warm summer evening.

  Instead, this morning, she was going to sit with a cup of coffee, serious conversation, and the cool morning air. At least the company was good. She sat and took a drink of coffee.

  “When I said there was something I needed to tell you, it’s important that I tell you now before we get any deeper.”

  “Are you married? Engaged? Have four baby mamas who are going to hunt me down?” She’d been trying for levity, but the conversation with her father dragged her down.

  His laugh was dry. “My real name is Logan Ford and I don’t work for Atlas Insurance. I’m an FBI agent.”

  Wow. She hadn’t expected him to come clean on being undercover. She took another drink of coffee and let that sink in. If he was telling her, it must mean that he had zero idea that she was behind the forgeries.

  “Mia?”

  She set her cup on the small round table between them. “I knew.”

  His eyes widened.

  She held up a hand. “I didn’t know you’re FBI, but I’ve had my doubts about you being an insurance agent for weeks now. You don’t know enough about art to be in this line of work, and while you explained that away, you’re more invested in these paintings and the forgeries than any insurance agent I’ve ever met.”

  He blew out a long breath. “I warned my boss that someone was going to figure me out.” He gave her a smile. “Had a feeling it was going to be you, too.”

  What did that mean? Why did he continue to spend time with her if he knew she could possibly blow his cover?

  “Why tell me now?” she asked.

  “Well, first—” he reached across the table and took her hand “—after last night and our amazing morning together, I felt guilty. I know you said you want to keep this casual, but even a casual relationship is still a relationship. I wasn’t comfortable keeping something so big from you. I wouldn’t be giving us much of a chance.”

  Mia’s lungs froze. Sure, they were having fun, but he couldn’t believe this could go anywhere, could he? She stood, pulling away from him, so she could breathe. “Is there a second? You started with first...”

  “I planned to tell you anyway, but then I overhead you talking to your father. I didn’t hear much, but I heard enough to know he’s asking you for something. I wanted you to know who I am, full disclosure, before you said something to me you might regret.”

  “So you’re telling me this now because it gives me the option to not tell you about the conversation with my father and you’d be okay with that? If you knew he was calling me, but I didn’t tell you the content of the conversation?”

  “I might not like it, but I’d understand. Criminal or not, he’s your father. And it’s not my case.”

  Fuck. This guy was too good. “Even though you work for the FBI, who happens to be after my father, you’re okay with me helping him?”

  He pressed his lips together and leaned forward, bracing his arms on his legs. “I don’t think you’re a bad person. I would hope that you wouldn’t want to help your father, and I would definitely try to talk you out of it because he’ll hurt you, but I would do what I could to protect you.”

  Shit. Why couldn’t he be like normal men? Or hell, even a normal cop? Tell her that if she broke the law, he’d arrest her. She would know how to respond to that. Walking away would be much simpler. She stood and looked out over the city again.

  “You can tell me as much or as little as you want.”

  “He wants me to help him. He needs money.”

  Logan stood and came to her at the railing. “What do you plan to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to call the agents who are on his case and let them know.”

  “I can do that for you if you want. They’ll want to talk to you and I’m sure they’ll ask about tapping your phone.”

  “The answer to that will still be no.”

  He continued to study her. “Can I ask why? If he keeps calling you at this number, we might be able to figure out where to get him.”

  “Not wanting to give the FBI access to my phone doesn’t make me a criminal. I value my privacy, especially in light of everything my father has done. And for the record, I’ve told the FBI where my father is. To my knowledge, he’s still in Montenegro. There’s simply nothing you can do about it.” She pushed away from the railing. “Tell Halloran he can call to harass me this afternoon. I have a busy morning.”

  “You’re very practical about all this. It’s a little frightening.”

  “I was raised by a lawyer and a businessman. Practicality runs through my veins.”

  “One day soon, I’m going to witness you lose control and do something silly and impractical.”

  “Not likely.”

  “We’ll see.” Then he turned and left.

  Mia immediately texted the rest of her team and called an emergency meeting. Things were heating up all over.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mia arrived at the apartment, where everyone was already waiting for her. Jared and Audrey were huddled over her computer and Nikki was playing a video game on the TV. When the door closed, they all looked u
p. “I don’t have a lot of time to talk, so let’s get through this fast. As you know, Nikki made the switch last night, and Keaton almost had a coronary when I told him his painting was a forgery.”

  “We knew all that,” Nikki said, returning to her game. “We didn’t need a meeting.”

  “You’ll want to pay attention to this next part.” She took a deep breath. “Logan came clean to me about being FBI.”

  “That’s good, right?” Audrey said. “If he’s telling her the truth, he has no clue she’s part of this.”

  “That’s my thinking,” Mia said, still feeling satisfied both from her amazing night and Logan’s admission.

  Nikki spun around on the couch. “Or he told you to gauge your reaction. See if you got twitchy.” She smirked. “Did you get twitchy?”

  “No. I told him I already knew.”

  “What the fuck!” Nikki threw her game controller against the corner of the couch. “What’s next? Gonna invite him here?”

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I didn’t tell him I knew he was FBI. I simply admitted that I suspected he wasn’t really an insurance agent.”

  Nikki moved her head side to side. “As a bluff, not bad.”

  “A good con has hints of truth. Or so I’m told.”

  “I don’t like it,” Jared said. “How do you know he bought it? Like Nikki said, this could all be a setup.”

  Mia pressed her lips together. She didn’t know how to explain, but in her gut, she knew. “You have to trust me on this.” She paused and decided to come clean to her team. “There’s something else.” She waited until she had their complete attention. “After the Devereaux fiasco, my father called me.”

  Jared pushed back from the desk. He’d be extra irritated that she hadn’t told him.

  “I didn’t mention it earlier because there wasn’t much to say. He asked for money and I told him I didn’t have any. Then he said he would need my connections in the art world. That was the entirety of the conversation.”

  “It would’ve been nice to know that the plan is working,” Audrey said. “What we’re doing is hitting him.”

  “Then you’ll be glad to know that my meeting with Keaton was a hard hit. My father called again early this morning, angry because I told Keaton he had a forgery. He also admitted that he has more art to liquidate, and he wants my help. He’s going to get me a full list.”

  “Wait a minute.” Jared raised his hand as his eyes narrowed. “Where was Logan when this phone call happened?”

  Mia licked her lips. She hadn’t planned on telling them she’d slept with Logan. “In my kitchen.” She crossed her arms. “I told the FBI about the first call, and I informed Logan this morning after I spoke with my father. That’s part of the reason I believe he doesn’t suspect me. He overheard that it was Dad on the phone, but he stopped me from saying anything until he told me about the FBI. He wanted to give me the option of what to tell him and what not to.”

  And he’d said he’d do whatever he could to protect me.

  “Wait a minute,” Nikki said with one hand in the air. “You’re intentionally bringing the FBI in to investigate?”

  “They’re already investigating. They know my father wants my help, but as we’ve discussed, since Logan told me the truth, he has no clue about my involvement. Once I have the list of art from my father, I’ll withhold it until we make all the exchanges. Then, I’ll give the FBI the list. Right now my father thinks Keaton is running a scam to cheat him. If I keep Logan close, I can steer the FBI away from all of you.”

  Regardless of her feelings for Logan, she would protect them and the work they were doing.

  Jared rose and crossed the room, eyeing her suspiciously. “Who are you and what have you done with my cousin? She made it clear that we were not going to be a team and that everyone was on her own.”

  “You’re not very funny.” She looked at Audrey and Nikki. “Regardless of how this all started, I assure you I will do everything I can to keep you from getting caught. You just keep doing your jobs.”

  “Speaking of...” Audrey said. “There’s a truck set to pick up the Spenser painting from Small’s house tomorrow. We need to decide where we’re going to hit it.”

  Nikki leaned over the back of the couch. “As much as I’d love to take something from McNamara’s, it makes more sense to take it from the house. It’ll be quicker, less planning.”

  “Fewer things to hack,” Audrey added.

  “He isn’t hosting anything at his house as far as I know,” Mia said. “I have no reason to go there.”

  Nikki had a wicked smile on her face. “But Logan does.”

  “If Logan goes there, it’s going to be with a certified appraiser. If you make the switch after that, insurance will pay out. The switch will have to happen before then.”

  “Field trip!” Nikki yelled as she hopped off the couch. Not much rattled that woman. And for that, Mia was grateful. “We’ll go to Small’s for recon today and determine the best way to grab it.”

  “Just don’t get spotted.”

  Nikki snorted. “I’m good, remember?” Turning to Audrey she said, “Should we resurrect Barbie and Susie?”

  “God, no,” Audrey answered. “I have a fully equipped van now. We can park near his house and I should be able to figure something out.”

  “That’s no fun.”

  “I’ll leave you to it then,” Mia said. “I won’t be able to be back here until later tonight. I still have my job to tend to.”

  “And a sexy FBI dude to fuck,” Nikki said flippantly.

  Mia felt her face warm. “I am not going to discuss who I choose to sleep with.”

  The thief sobered quickly. “If it compromises us, we have every right to know.”

  “My actions will not compromise the mission. This plan has been the driving force in my life for five years. No amount of sex is going to change that.”

  Nikki snickered. “You just admitted to having sex with Logan. I hope it was good.”

  “It was phenomenal. Thanks for asking.”

  Jared groaned. “I do not want to hear this.”

  “I’m going to work. I’ll be in touch.” Looking pointedly at Nikki, she said, “Stay out of trouble.”

  Nikki flailed her arms with a huff. “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’ve been so good.”

  “We all know the potential for trouble is still there,” Mia retorted. She picked up her purse and left the apartment.

  Jared was on her heels and confronted her when she got to the elevator. “What the hell is going on?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and Logan?”

  “We have chemistry. We like each other. And if things were different, I might even take him seriously. But we both have jobs to do that are in direct conflict with one another. If I stay close to him, I’ll have the inside track.”

  “I worry about you. You’ve barely given anyone a second glance in years, and now you set your sights on an FBI agent? The one who just happens to be investigating the forgeries we’ve put out in the world.”

  “Story of my life. Ridiculous relationships. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.” As if repeating herself was more convincing.

  “Okay.” He wasn’t buying it either. He turned and went back into the apartment.

  Mia rode the elevator down to the street and really hoped that everything she just told her cousin wasn’t a lie.

  * * *

  Once she got to her office, she switched gears, at least for a little while. She had meetings upon meetings to organize her exhibit. It left little time for her to conduct more research to try to find the last few pieces that would fill out the remainder of the exhibit. Between the thefts and Logan wanting to date, she had no after-work free time these days.

  As she attempted to squeeze
in a quick lunch at her desk, Anya knocked on her partially open door. I knew I should’ve closed and locked it.

  Wiping her mouth with the tiny paper napkin from the cafeteria, she called, “Come in.”

  “Hi. I’ve been looking for you all day.”

  “Sorry. I’ve been swamped with meetings. What do you need?”

  Anya took the seat in front of Mia’s desk, clutching her tablet to her chest. “I found it. The painting you asked me to look into.”

  Mia had totally forgotten tasking Anya with trying to figure out Logan’s missing painting. Pushing her sad salad to the corner of her desk, she said, “What have you found?”

  “Camille Hurley created a painting entitled Farm Girl Dreams in 1922. I was able to follow provenance until 1934. Then it drops off the radar. If I have some more time, I can dig and maybe find out what happened to it.”

  “Thank you, Anya. But this very well might be a wild-goose chase. We know the painting went missing after World War Two. For all we know, it might’ve been destroyed.”

  “I don’t think so. It’s a treasure hunt.”

  Mia thought the same. She saw the glint in the woman’s eyes. “I appreciate the offer, but you have a proposal to get together for the Crime and Punishment exhibit.”

  “It’s almost ready. I would’ve had it to you by now, but it’s missing the perfect final piece.”

  “It’s better to take your time and get it right.”

  “Thank you.” She got up and left the office.

  Once she was gone, Mia took the notes on Farm Girl Dreams. The timeline fit the story Logan’s grandfather had shared, and it certainly looked like it matched the grainy photo he’d shown her. She followed the same path of provenance Anya had, but after some more digging, she was able to get a little closer. Then the trail went cold. But she had a name. It was a start. Jared would probably know where to look from here. Mia wasn’t in the habit of traveling the dark web to find art, but Jared was. If she could find the painting, it could mean a lot to Logan’s family. It felt important. She didn’t want to inspect the feelings behind those motivations too closely.