“They’ll pay their dues like any other member. It’s not just for show.”
“I don’t know if I can swing it.”
“You know you can. Your usual finder’s fee plus five percent for the headache.” He was done dancing around. He’d known Bill for too many years to play games.
“Make it ten and every man on the crew needs a card.”
“You’ll have the information by next week.” He disconnected and climbed into the car. He sent Thomas a text letting him know what the next steps were.
By all accounts, he’d brokered a successful deal, but he found no joy in it. Working with Nikki and Audrey had ruined him.
Hell, who was he kidding? It was all about Audrey. He liked seeing her face while they worked. He enjoyed everything about her company. He had to find a way to get her back.
* * *
Audrey had spent so much time in her own head for the last day or so, it felt weird walking back into the apartment, but as soon as Nikki buzzed her in, she realized little had changed. Nikki opened the door with a doughnut hanging from her mouth, TV blaring in the background.
“Doughnut?” Nikki asked around a mouthful.
“I’m good. Thanks.” She glanced at her workstation, half expecting Jared to be sitting at the desk.
“He agreed to your terms.” Nikki waved the doughnut. “He had them delivered to keep me in place.”
Relief warred with regret. And she hated it. She didn’t want to want to see him again. But she did.
“It feels like forever since I’ve been here.” A day. It’s only been a day. She rolled her shoulders. “Let me see where we left off.”
“We left off being brilliant.” Nikki flicked the spline from the painting across the room. “You’ll have me in and out in no time on Saturday.”
“I still have to perfect forcing a reboot. Right now, it only works in theory.”
“You got this.” Nikki winked and jumped over the back of the couch.
Audrey sat at the computer and put on her headphones. She had the malware set up and ready to go. She accessed the Scotts’ internet and uploaded the virus. While that ran, she wrote the email from the security company about the upgrades. Then wrote and revised and rewrote. She asked Nikki to read it, but Nikki was zero help. She needed a pair of eyes to check the language and make sure it contained the right mix of business and “don’t worry.”
Sighing, she tossed her headphones on the desk and wheeled back. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed someone else to look this over. Jared or Mia? Regardless of her feelings about Jared and what happened between them, she still liked him more than Mia.
She sent him a link to the message through their private chat and asked what he thought of it. Texting felt too personal since that was how they’d been communicating. Before they met, everything had been conducted online. This would put them back in a position to be nothing more than a business transaction.
She bounced back and forth between watching the virus upload and checking the chat for a response from him. The compulsion sickened her. The rapidity of his response didn’t matter. To refocus her attention, she ran the plan for the reboot again.
A few minutes later, he sent the email back with some minor revisions. No other comment, no flirting, nothing.
She tried to not let it bother her, but she’d expected him to put up more of a fight. Yeah, they’d only known each other for a couple weeks, but their chemistry was different. Maybe to him it wasn’t. She was just another woman. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d misread a situation. Even as she had the thought, though, she didn’t believe it. They might not be a perfect match meant to be together forever, but he’d never treated her like a quick lay.
Which was exactly why she was so upset about his deception.
Nikki left her alone for the day as she worked. Audrey was grateful for the time to process while accomplishing tasks she needed to have done for Nikki to be successful on Saturday. With everything running as planned, she gathered her things and said good night to Nikki.
“You can stay if you want,” Nikki said.
“No. It’s better if I don’t.” Glancing at the spare bedroom reminded her of being hot and naked with Jared. Him pushing inside her with her name on his lips. No, she couldn’t stay here.
“See you tomorrow?”
“Yep.” She let herself out of the apartment. As she walked toward the curb, Jared was there. Standing in front of her, a look of frozen shock on his face. Her heart stuttered and her breath caught in her lungs.
Her body went offline, which proved why she couldn’t see him again. She wanted to lean in and feel his hands on her.
“Sorry,” he said, taking a step back. “I figured you’d be gone.”
“I am.” She turned away to go to the bus stop.
“Would you like a ride?”
“No,” she answered without turning around.
“Audrey,” he called. His voice was filled with the same pain she held in her chest.
She turned her head and looked over her shoulder.
“Thank you for coming back.”
“I’m not doing it for you.” She wasn’t completely sure why she was doing it. Money for Gram, of course. But there was also Nikki’s plea. She wasn’t used to anyone other than Gram relying on her for anything.
“Thank you anyway.”
Then he let her go without another word. Getting what she’d demanded didn’t make her feel any better. In fact, she felt worse and she didn’t know what to do about it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Friday flew by as days often did when Audrey worked on an intense project. Traveling back and forth between her room and Nikki’s apartment was more time consuming and exhausting than she remembered. Then again, even from her first days with Nikki and Jared, she spent most of her time at the apartment. And Jared always offered her a ride.
Saturday morning slapped her awake. Her entire system buzzed with anticipation. She’d never worked on a job so hands-on before, not through to the conclusion to see the reward. She both loved and hated it. The adrenaline rush was amazing, but the fear of failure stabbed at every turn.
The bus wasn’t as crowded as it normally was during rush hour, so she relaxed and spread out a bit. She and Nikki had a few last-minute details to hammer out, like how they were getting to and from Scott’s house. She’d put in her request for a van a long time ago, but no one had mentioned it since, so it looked like she and Nikki were on their own. Even though going to the house made Jared, and probably Mia, uncomfortable, it was the right thing to do. Proximity made troubleshooting easier.
In addition to figuring out transportation, she also still had to trip the alarm at the house to get the password. She wanted to do that when she was relatively sure she’d get Mrs. Scott to pick up. The wife didn’t seem too suspicious of anything, so having the alarm go off during the day when there was nothing wrong would simply be an annoyance for her. Mr. Scott might demand the company come out and look at the system.
When she arrived at the apartment, she rang the bell. No one answered. Damn it. She had things to do. She fished her phone from her pocket and called Nikki. The phone rang in her ear, but it was a voice from down the block that caught her attention.
“I’m coming,” Nikki called. She was running, her long, dark hair swiping like a horse’s tail with the beat of her steps.
As she neared, Audrey asked, “Shouldn’t you be conserving your energy for tonight?”
“Hell, no. I’m too pumped, edgy. I needed to burn off some steam.” She jogged in place a minute and then began a series of stretches. “I mean, I’d prefer to fuck the extra energy out, but if I brought a dude here to screw, Jared would probably get pissed.”
“Since when do you care how he feels?”
“I do have some boundaries. Bringing a strange
r here might open the door to questions. Like I’m far from a techie, but I have a mega setup in my living room. Floor plans on my table.”
“Good point. But I’m pretty sure if you take off your shirt, that would be a big enough distraction that he wouldn’t be looking at the apartment.”
Nikki bent and pulled a key from a pouch at her ankle. They laughed and joked on their way in, thinking of different methods of distraction. Their voices died when they got in the apartment and saw Mia standing in the living room. Why the hell hadn’t she answered the bell? Too good to answer her own door?
“Hey,” Nikki said.
Audrey went to her computer and got to work.
“I’m here to make sure everything is ready for tonight,” Mia said.
“As ready as we can be,” Nikki answered.
“Transportation,” Audrey said. “Calling a ride share from the house you just robbed isn’t a great plan.”
“There’s a van parked downstairs for your use.” She placed a key on the table. “Anything else?
“More time would be better. Why does this have to go down tonight?” Nikki asked.
Mia took a deep inhale through her nose. Audrey watched the muscles in her jaw jump. After taking a moment to press her lips together, as if debating what to tell them or how much of the truth to give, she said, “The Scotts will be at a charity event this evening in the city. They will be there for at least a few hours. Jared and I will also be in attendance, where we can notify you if they leave early.”
Audrey was stunned. That actually sounded like the truth. “You know the Scotts personally?”
It was a test. Audrey knew they did. These people all traveled in the same circles. She’d seen the freaking pictures.
“We’re acquaintances. Do we know each other enough to talk when we see each other? Yes. Do we plan family vacations or holidays together? No.” She stared at Audrey. “Anything else?”
“I guess not.”
Mia turned back to Nikki, who was chugging a bottle of water. “When do you plan to go in?”
“After dark. Probably around ten. I’m still fine-tuning the canvas situation.”
Mia shook her head. “I thought this was all figured out.”
“It is,” Audrey said. She didn’t like the way Mia constantly doubted them. “Nikki is just covering every angle, seeing if she can come up with a better option. We can run with what we have. But as she’s said, more time would give a chance to develop a better design.”
“Walk me through it one more time,” Mia said, pointing at the floor plans.
As Nikki started explaining, Audrey tripped the alarm on the Scott house. She let it blare for a minute and then placed the call from a new burner phone.
“Hello, this is Frontier Security. We’re showing that your alarm just went off.”
“It’s nothing,” Mrs. Scott said. “My husband said something about system upgrades causing possible problems today. Was this you?”
“Can you give me your password, please?”
“Gertrude.”
“Please spell that.”
While the woman spelled it out, Audrey tapped away on her keyboard hard enough to make it sound like she was investigating the issue.
“Yes, Mrs. Scott. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We are showing there are upgrades to the server in your area. The upgrade should be done by tomorrow. Again, I’m sorry for any inconvenience.”
“Ugh. I have a call on my other line and it’s showing from your company as well. Don’t you people communicate?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Scott. I’ve updated the system. You should be fine now.”
Audrey disconnected, hoping she left enough time for Mrs. Scott to click over and yell at the operator there. Protocol would be for them to call Mr. Scott before notifying the police, so that part was a gamble, but Audrey believed the plan would work. Besides, she now had their password.
After disconnecting, she went to the table where Nikki and Mia were still discussing the plan.
“You’re confident this will work?” Mia asked.
“Yes,” Nikki said. “If you didn’t think we were competent, you wouldn’t have hired us.”
Audrey stifled a laugh, glad Nikki said what she’d been thinking during every interaction with Mia.
“I know. I just need this to go off without a hitch.” Turning to Audrey, she said, “Jared mentioned that you had some comms?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Will they work for us if we wear them at the function while you’re back here in communication with Nikki?”
“Not the ones I have, no. I can get some, but they’ll cost.”
“Get them.” She pointed at Nikki. “She has a card.”
Nikki leaned over to the counter, picked up a credit card, and handed it to Audrey. It was a prepaid card in Nikki’s name. Nikki Smith. As if. No one knew Nikki’s last name. These people were slick.
“Okay. I’ll run out and get them now.”
“We’ll stop back here on our way to the function.”
Audrey stiffened and it must’ve been obvious because Mia said, “I’ll leave Jared in the car. You won’t have to see him.”
It was very accommodating of her, but it didn’t make Audrey like her. She checked the virus and then turned to leave to get the comms.
“I’ll walk you out,” Mia said.
Audrey barely stopped the eye roll.
In the hall, Audrey braced herself and asked, “Was there something else?”
“Yes.” Mia stopped and faced her. “I wanted to say that a large part of Jared’s deception had to do with me. I didn’t want our identities known to you for obvious reasons.”
“Okay.”
Then the woman did something completely uncharacteristic. She reached over and laid a hand on Audrey’s arm. Mia’s entire being softened. Her eyes, her hand, her voice. “For what it’s worth, he really does have feelings for you.”
Audrey didn’t have words for that, so she just nodded.
Then Mia pulled back, putting the ice queen back in place. “Use the card to take a cab where you need to go. Don’t waste unnecessary time on buses.”
Audrey left the building with even more confusing thoughts swirling in her head. Why the hell would Mia tell her about Jared? Why should it matter if he kept a secret because of her?
Because that’s what you do for family.
But their family was a bunch of assholes. She didn’t know if she could get past what their fathers had done. If Daddies Benson and Towers had ripped off their own friends, she wouldn’t have cared. What got to her was the fact that they intentionally targeted people who couldn’t fight back.
Out on the street, she waved for a cab and put Jared out of her head. After tonight, their business would be concluded and they could go their separate ways.
* * *
Jared should be breathing easy right now. Audrey was back on board to get Nikki in and out of Scott’s house. However, he couldn’t focus on work, and he had to keep his hands off the job because Audrey was still pissed. Although it had only been a couple of days, he’d been sure that she’d cool off and understand why he didn’t tell her everything.
Even now, she thought she knew everything, but she didn’t. Maybe if he came clean, and laid out the whole plan like he’d wanted to from the beginning, she’d get it. They could go back to where they were.
He wasn’t sure how to convince Mia that was a good idea though.
Losing Audrey hurt more than it should have. After everything came out about what his father had done, he’d gotten used to a constant sense of loss in his life—family, friends—but having Audrey push him away stabbed at him.
He sat in the back seat of the car as they neared Mia’s place. Schooling his face, he tried to get in the right mindset for seeing Scott. If—no,
when—the painting was discovered to be a forgery, the house would be checked. A breach in security could be linked to tonight. He and Mia had to be above reproach. Even if it made them sick to do so.
The driver pulled over and opened the door. Mia swept into the car wearing a sparkling red ankle-length dress. Her heels would take her petite height to be almost at his eye level.
“Are you ready for tonight?” she asked.
“I’m not the one you need to worry about. Are they ready?”
“You tell me. You’re the one who knows them better.” She gripped her small purse in her lap. “Speaking of which, we need to stop by the apartment. Audrey has comms for us to be able to communicate with them while this is happening.”
“She said the comms had to be in close proximity.”
“I authorized the purchase of better equipment.”
“Have you mentioned the next jobs to them?” he asked. If they could keep everyone on for more work, he might have a chance to reconcile with Audrey.
“Not yet. I want to see how tonight goes. When we rendezvous back at the apartment tonight, we’ll broach the subject.”
The car parked in front of the apartment. He reached for the door handle.
Mia touched his arm. “I promised her you’d wait in the car.”
He released the handle and swallowed his resentment. “Fine.”
“Let’s get through tonight and then we can try to fix things. Okay?”
He nodded, but in his heart, he wasn’t sure this could be fixed. He stared over at the black van he’d purchased for these jobs and remembered when Audrey had mentioned getting an FBI-level van. He’d delivered the bare minimum of a vehicle. It wasn’t outfitted with anything. He didn’t want her at the heist in case things went sideways. And now she couldn’t stand being in the same room with him.
No way would she believe he’d fallen in love with her.
The thought had him straightening in his seat. He had fallen in love with her. That explained why this was so difficult. Why he worried whenever she was out of his sight. Why he needed to see her. Without thinking, he jumped from the car and sprinted to the door of the apartment.
It Takes a Thief--A Heist Romance Page 19
