To Catch a Thief--A High Stakes Romantic Suspense

by Sloane Steele

  Jared’s face filled with resignation. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No. It’s better if I handle this.” She patted his leg. “Now go home to your girl. Sell the Hardison and take a copy of this list. Have London make as many as she can and move fast while Logan and the FBI are focused on me.”

  “Why are you throwing yourself under the bus here? There has to be a better way.”

  She hoped their fathers would be enough of a lure, but they both knew better. She would be putting herself at risk. She’d possibly face jail time. She’d definitely lose the one man who’d allowed her to be herself.

  “How could I live with myself if I’m a hypocrite? I can’t run around angry because our fathers and their friends don’t suffer consequences for their actions if I’m not willing to. This was always my plan—not the parts of getting involved with an FBI agent and being a suspect—but I always knew getting caught was a possibility.” If she had no other role in this endeavor, it was as the mastermind, to guide the mission. Now it was time for her to guide attention away from the team.

  Jared snapped a picture of the list on her phone and said goodbye. Mia studied the list and considered her options.

  They could walk away. That was the safe route. Life would go back to normal. But she no longer wanted normal.

  She could keep going as they were and they would probably get away with it. Logan couldn’t be everywhere all the time, and her team was damn good. But he’d never give up. Hunting them down would ruin him. He wouldn’t be the charming, happy man she knew. And that would make her no better than her father, leaving devastated lives in her wake.

  The third option was the most frightening, but after some internal deliberation, she made the call that would definitely end things with Logan.

  * * *

  When his phone rang, the last name Logan expected to see was Mia’s. “Hello.”

  “I’m ready to talk.”

  That was fast. He’d thought for sure he’d need damning evidence for her to open up. He’d barely started digging into who she might be working with. “How official do you want it?”

  Her laugh was dry. “I’m not looking to be brought in in handcuffs, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Do you want to come to the office tomorrow to talk?”

  “I am willing to make it official, but I’d prefer to talk to you first.”

  “Are you planning to run?”

  She scoffed. “I am not my father. I face the consequences of my actions.”

  He dropped into silence. Part of him felt bad for thinking she might run, but right now he was all twisted up. He’d trusted her, shared his true identity, brought her to meet his family. She’d betrayed all of that.

  “Can we meet somewhere? I have your sweatshirt to return.”

  He sighed. His damn sweatshirt was the last thing on his mind. It might be a mistake to give her this chance. She might still be playing him. But he couldn’t say no. “Tell me where.”

  She sent him the name of a coffeehouse and he agreed to be there within the hour. He left his place immediately, not bothering to put a suit back on. He wanted to beat her there in case her crew showed with her to watch. He had no idea who she was working with, but there was no way she was pulling these jobs on her own. While he didn’t fear her, she might bring more trouble, so he wanted to be prepared.

  She wasn’t a danger to him, at least not physically.

  The small coffee shop was dead when he arrived. No other customers filled the space. He ordered a large coffee and took a seat at a corner table that gave him a clear view of the front windows and the street outside, as well as the back of the café.

  His coffee sat in front of him untouched while he studied the street, quiet after the storm. As surprised as he was that Mia had called him, he wasn’t sure how he wanted this to play out. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been so wrong about a person. He couldn’t reconcile the image of her being so bitter about her father and his crimes and the idea that she was doing the same. She never struck him as a hypocrite.

  A car pulled up, and Mia got out of the back. She strode into the coffee shop looking unlike herself. The rain from earlier had ruined her sleek hair, and she now had it pulled back in a ponytail. For the first time since he’d met her, she was dressed casually in stretch pants, a plain shirt, and sneakers. She wore a light cardigan and carried his sweatshirt.

  She nodded at him with a weak smile and ordered herself a coffee at the counter before joining him. Sitting across from him, she handed over the sweatshirt, which he shoved on the chair beside him.

  “Why did you want to meet me?”

  “I want to make you an offer.”

  He huffed. “You obviously don’t understand how this works. I’m supposed to offer you a deal.”

  “Hypothetically speaking, let’s say your suspicions about the forgeries are right. What if I could offer you something—someone—bigger than me?”

  “I don’t need anyone bigger. You’ve stolen millions in art.”

  “Allegedly. And you would have a hard time proving that since you were with me when Keaton’s painting was swapped for a forgery.” She took a drink of coffee and looked at him with solemn eyes. “I’ve had good reason to do what I’ve done. It hasn’t been for personal gain.”

  “Every thief steals for personal gain.”

  She licked her lips. “What if I told you that all of the art that has been counterfeited belonged to my father? That the art is part of his contingency plan to stay on the run?”

  The pieces in his head that he’d been puzzling over started to fall into place, but he didn’t want to jump the gun, so he stayed quiet.

  “If, hypothetically, I were to steal a painting and replace it with a forgery, my father’s friend wouldn’t be able to liquidate it to send Daddy money. If he runs out of money, he’ll get desperate.”

  “You’re telling me that you’ve been stealing art that actually belongs to your father.”

  “Hypothetically.”

  “Why didn’t you tell the FBI that he had these holdings? They would’ve seized them like the rest of his assets.”

  “On paper, they belong to the men who are in possession of them. The FBI won’t be able to prove he owns them. I didn’t know for sure until he admitted it to me.”

  “If you didn’t know for sure, why did you start?”

  “Hypothetically, I would’ve started because those men all profited from his crimes and suffered no consequences for it. It wasn’t right.”

  “I hope you understand that simply saying hypothetically repeatedly doesn’t actually save your ass.”

  “My ass doesn’t need saving.”

  “So you’re issuing your own brand of vigilante justice.”

  “That’s one possible way to look at it.” She cradled her coffee cup and smiled.

  An actual fucking smile. And it pissed him off.

  “You think this is funny?”

  Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward. “No. I think this is justice. My father and his cronies should pay for what they did to all of those innocent people. The FBI hasn’t been able to do it, so I took matters into my own hands.” She leaned back in her chair again. “I wasn’t counting on you.”

  “Sorry to spoil your fun. I want the names of the people in your crew.”

  “I work alone.”

  “I thought we were being honest here.”

  “I’m here to give you a career-making arrest. I’ve gained my father’s trust. I think I can get him to meet me and you can bring him in. That should allow you to get your transfer here to be close to your family. Such an arrest is far more impactful than charging me with crimes you can’t even prove occurred.”

  She was smart and really fucking good at this. Everything she said was right. And it pissed him off. “What if I
just keep coming for you instead of taking your so-called deal?”

  “You could hope to catch me in the act, but it won’t give you the satisfaction you’re looking for.” She stood and slid a piece of paper from her purse. “Before you decide what to do, here’s some proof that it wasn’t personal gain driving me.”

  He opened the paper. “What is this?”

  “Names of my father’s victims. Check on them and see how they’re doing. I’ll wait to hear from you.” She turned and left the shop.

  He stood, picked up his sweatshirt, and shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. Earlier tonight, he’d wanted to help her, sure she was in some kind of trouble. Finding out she had a revenge plot going didn’t sit well with him, even if he could understand the motivation behind it. Now she was reaching out for help under the guise of helping him.

  Back home, he sifted through the files on Dwayne Benson and his victims. He worked all night to figure out what Mia wanted him to know. It took until morning when he could make phone calls. Three calls to three different victims of the Benson and Towers scam and he found the truth.

  Mia Benson was playing Robin Hood.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  After pulling an all-nighter, Logan wasn’t any closer to knowing what to do. He had genuine feelings for Mia and those emotions were clouding his judgment. She’d come to him for a deal, though, and he couldn’t ignore that. They made deals all the time with much worse human beings. She at least had a good reason for committing these crimes.

  But she was still a criminal and he was FBI. They weren’t a couple of fictional star-crossed lovers. And he had a job to do and a plan to create.

  He had no idea where this would lead them when it was all done. He wanted to believe that if her father was brought to justice, Mia would no longer be dealing in forged art. That she was only a criminal because her father managed to escape. That if given the choice between their relationship and being a criminal, she would choose them. Him.

  But first things first. He called Mia.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Come to the FBI office later this morning. I’m going to bring in Lewis and Halloran to figure out how to get to your father.”

  “Should I bring my lawyer?”

  “Not unless you want to wear the cuffs and be processed.”

  “Then I guess you investigated where the money is going.”

  “I did. What you’re doing is still wrong.”

  “But for a good cause. I can live with that.”

  The question was, could he? “Off the record, if we catch your father, would you keep doing this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He’d been afraid of that answer. He’d wanted her to say that she couldn’t wait to get away from crime, but she didn’t. That honesty he’d admired early on in their relationship was not offering him comfort now. “The FBI is still going to want your crew.”

  “I told you I work alone.”

  “We both know that’s a lie.”

  “Then arrest me. Take my deal off the table and prosecute me. But I’m the only person you’ll ever know about.”

  Naturally, her adamancy made him wonder who she was protecting. Her cousin, definitely. That man was shady. Beyond that, she had no one. He couldn’t imagine her mother was part of this. “Let’s see how today goes.”

  “Thank you.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that. Should he be happy that she thanked him for helping her conceal her illegal activities? Doing this could cost him his job. He didn’t even know why he was helping her. “I’ll see you at ten.”

  They disconnected and he went to the office.

  He called Stokes into the conference room before reaching out to Lewis and Halloran. She came in carrying coffee for both of them. “Quiet day at the Bauer house. McNamara’s experts came in first thing this morning.”

  “It’s a forgery.”

  She sat down and her brow furrowed. “How do you know?”

  “I just do. I’m not sure how and when the switches are being made, but it’s not the current owners doing it. These paintings belong to Dwayne Benson.”

  “What?”

  “Mia Benson informed me last night that while she told us about her father calling her, she withheld some pertinent information. He owns the paintings his friends are selling. It’s all part of his plan to keep raking in money while on the run. The forgeries are preventing him from getting his hands on cash.”

  Stokes leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “She’s doing it, isn’t she? Mia.”

  Logan sighed and sank into a chair. “We have no proof of who is swapping the art. However, she wants to help us take her father down.” Or maybe the truth of the matter was that they were helping her.

  “So she knows we’re onto her, and she’s trying to avoid prosecution.”

  “Definitely. But she’s good. I don’t know that we’d be able to build a case.”

  “Be able to or want to?”

  The accusation raised his hackles. While he hadn’t been totally open about his relationship with Mia, he hadn’t exactly hidden it either. “I’ve consistently done my job. Regardless of my relationship with Mia, I’ve worked hard on this case.”

  “Are you sure she hasn’t clouded your judgment?”

  “You can trust me to put this case first.” He twirled a pen and he thought about how to bring up the next part. “That being said, part of how I got her cooperation is a deal for her. We stop investigating her and get her father. If we tell Halloran and Lewis she’s behind the forgeries, they’ll press it.”

  “As they should.”

  “You’ve been with me on this since nearly the beginning. You know that there is no evidence, just a truckload of suspicion and hunches. It’s a waste of resources to try to get her. Her goal is to force her father’s hand and make him come out of hiding.”

  “Where are the originals?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “As far as I know, they’ve all been sold and the profit from the sales have been passed on to Benson’s victims. Mortgages and medical bills have been paid off, mysterious full-ride scholarships handed out.”

  He unfolded the paper Mia had given him and passed it to Stokes. She read his scribbled notes. As she read, Logan added, “I spoke with each person.”

  It was Stokes’s turn to sigh. “I get it now. She’s not evil incarnate. She’s doing good and righting his wrongs with his money.” She smiled. “It is pretty ingenious.”

  “You’re okay with riding with me on this?”

  “We’ll get to close one of the biggest cases this city has seen in decades. It’s like letting the street hustler go in order to grab his dealer. We might not like it, but it makes the most sense.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. I’ll call Halloran and Lewis.”

  A little while later, Halloran and Lewis came into the conference room. They looked at the board Stokes had set up with pictures of the forged art.

  “What does this have to do with our case?” Halloran asked. “Other than Mia Benson.”

  “Dwayne Benson admitted to Mia that the paintings that have come up forged are his. When Mia announced that Bishop’s painting was a forgery, Benson called the next day. He was at least as pissed off as Bishop was. He said the painting was one of his contingencies to stay liquid and on the move.”

  Lewis leaned on the table. “Where does the forgery fit in?”

  Logan shifted in his seat. “Someone is switching the originals with counterfeit pieces. Benson thinks his buddies are trying to screw him over. Make the swap, and if they’re caught, they can throw up their hands and tell Benson he’s shit outta luck.” Logan was working hard to skate the line of truth.

  “And what’s Mia’s take on all this?” Halloran asked. “She think they’re trying to screw over Daddy?
”

  “She doesn’t care about his friends. She’s trying to lure her father out of hiding. She said he’s getting desperate. She thinks she can get him somewhere we can grab him.”

  Lewis’s face lit up. “Five freakin’ years and we’re finally going to get the son of a bitch.”

  “Don’t get too excited,” Halloran said. “There are a lot of ifs in that plan. If he calls her again. If she can convince him to meet her. If it’s a country with extradition. If she don’t screw us over.”

  “She won’t,” both Lewis and Logan said.

  Logan took a breath. “She wants to work with us. She brought this idea to me. He wants her help to sell more paintings to get cash.”

  “Whatever you say, man,” Halloran said. “I’ve worked with plenty of scum that didn’t look half as good as her, so I can suck it up and do the job. I ain’t gotta like her.”

  Logan’s back went up at the way he talked about Mia, but it wasn’t his place to jump to her defense. Not to mention, she was damn good at taking care of herself. “I think we should flesh out a plan to propose to her when she gets here.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  Stokes leaned back in her chair and twirled a pen. “I say we let her sell the paintings and tell him she’ll only give him the money if he meets her.”

  “That’s a little on the nose,” Halloran said. “Benson’s smarter than that.”

  “But,” Lewis said, “not if he’s desperate. He’s calling her because whatever he had planned is falling apart. It’s been smooth sailing for five years. Something happened. If we can push him a little more, he’ll come out. He’ll be too desperate not to do whatever she asks if she’s throwing him a lifeline.”

  Logan agreed. He just hoped sending Benson a lifeline wouldn’t bring Mia down. Guilty of theft or not, she shouldn’t have to pay when her father wasn’t.

  * * *

  An hour later, Logan stood at the conference table. “Mia Benson is on her way up.”

  Stokes shifted their board back and removed any photos they didn’t want Mia to see. She was being cautious, and he couldn’t really blame her. It made sense to keep their cards close. He went to the elevator bank to meet Mia.