The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 3) Page 15

  “Someone fired a rocket launcher into my building, Daddy! I didn’t have anything to do with—”

  He held up a hand to silence her. “I believe you. And I’m going to talk to Sterling. I’ll let him know there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Let him go,” said James in her ear. “We’ll figure this out.”

  “Fine, go,” she said. “I’ll just ignore Stan and imagine him getting hit by an asteroid.”

  “That a girl.” Jadon reached to pat her on the arm and Willa couldn’t help herself as she flinched away from him. Maybe she ruined the image of being a dutiful daughter, but she just wasn’t as good at this espionage thing as she wanted to be.

  He winced before he turned and left. She poked her head out into the hallway. A few moments later, Stan White was in the apartment; he looked down the hall at her and smiled. Well, the nausea was back.

  “I need to get rid of him.”

  “We’re working on something,” said James.

  Working on something.... She started to go through a list of ways to get Stan out of the apartment.

  “Does he have any family?” asked James. “We can fake an emergency and tell him a kid is in the hospital. Lying, of course.”

  “He doesn’t even like his kids.” She fell back into her room and sighed. The only things Stan cared about were his money and his.... Oh. She needed to talk to James and if anyone was listening, they would just have to hear her. “Austin is supposed to be a really good thief, right?”

  “The best,” said Austin.

  “Think you can get into a Maserati?”

  “What are the chances that all those people got hurt and you got out unscathed?” said Stan. He sat in her father’s armchair, probably having a blast pretending this was his apartment.

  Willa leaned against the brown granite countertop of the bar in her father’s den and tried to tune out what Stan was saying. Just a few more minutes....

  “I mean, really. Just imagine God in heaven looking down at all of us like ants. He saw that missile go flying into your building, looked at you and said ‘That one. That’s the one I want to save. All the others can burn, but I want to save that one.’ He must really be having an off day.”

  “Thanks for the beautiful words,” she said dryly as she dropped a few cubes of ice into a crystal glass and then filled it with tap water.

  “Come on. You know you want a real drink.”

  She could tell from Stan’s calculating, beady little eyes that he was annoyed he couldn’t get a rise out of her. It was easy to get defensive and bite back when she felt alone and cornered, but at the moment, she had all the invisible people in her head to get her through this.

  When she didn’t say anything, Stan went on. “I know you want something. Isn’t that all you do? Drink?”

  “I can kill him,” said James into her ear.

  Willa covered her mouth with a palm so Stan wouldn’t see her smile.

  “Don’t worry, Wil. He’s going to get his in just a few seconds.”

  Wil? Was that her nickname now? Was that hot? Will was a guy’s name but it was James saying it. James could probably call her Bruce and she’d get turned on. When Stan’s cell phone started to ring, she stared intently before she realized she probably shouldn’t be staring. Too late. He’d picked it up and thanks to the earpiece, she could hear both sides of the conversation.

  “Who is this?” asked Stan as soon as he answered.

  “Hello, Mr. White,” said Toni in a high-pitched voice that was barely recognizable. “My name is Traci Lords. I work with the OnStar service for your vehicle and we have picked up some erratic driving.”

  “What? There’s no one driving erratically. I’m not even in the car.”

  “Oh. Can you verify that the car is where you left it? Otherwise I’d be more than happy to alert the police—”

  Stan was already running to the nearest window and Willa ran too because this was truly a moment to savor. And there was Stan’s precious, precious car doing doughnuts in the street.

  “Wow,” said Willa. “I guess they have big balls, huh?”

  The ball comment was too much. A look of horror crossed his face as he started to back away. “You!” He pointed a finger. “You did this to Delilah.”

  She was about to ask who the hell Delilah was until she remembered that it was the stupid name he gave the car. “Hey, Stan. Is your car running? Because you better go catch it.”

  He was still looking at her with a look of abject hatred as he ran out of the apartment.

  “Going... going... and gone,” narrated Willa as Stan left.

  Jennifer took over then. “Okay, Willa. According to the schedule, you should have at least an hour and Austin will keep Stan out of the way. But just because you have time doesn’t mean you need to take it. Search that apartment like there is a ticking time bomb next to you. This might be your only chance before you get pulled out.”

  “Umm... where should I start?” Willa turned in a circle and looked around the den. All of a sudden, everything looked as if it were a hiding spot and she became overwhelmed with all the possibilities.

  “You know Jadon Belli better than any of us. Think. This is something he values. He didn’t have it at his office because he knew it was vulnerable. So he brought it home for safekeeping. Where would he want to keep something safe?”

  What did she know about Jadon? Well, a few weeks ago she thought he was the run-of-the-mill emotionally distant father. Now she knew he was a murderer. So what the hell did she know about him? “His office. I’ll start in his office.” She strode out of the den and down the hall until she reached the wood-filled office: dark oak floors, walls of built-in bookshelves, and a polished mahogany desk that was a tad too big for the space of the room.

  She went through all the drawers as Jennifer gave her tips in her ear about looking for false bottoms and checking the floor for signs of wood that would come up or where a safe could be hidden in the wall. After she gave up on the office, she moved to her father’s bedroom and then to the den, but she didn’t find a single thing. As her frustration built up, James’s voice came on. “Jadon’s on the move, Wil. Finish up and get out of there.”

  “I haven’t found the documents, though.”

  “Then they might not be there. We don’t know why he’s coming back and there’s a good chance he has eyes on you. If he reviews the footage, we’re done. You gave it a good try. We’ll figure something else out. Now get downstairs.”

  “There has to be something we can do. Does everyone think I should leave or is it just you being protective?” Then she realized there was one person she hadn’t heard from. “What about Scott?”

  There was a brief silence over the line before Toni said, “I agree with Weston. Come on down. There’s a lot more in play than just Jadon right now and your apartment is overwhelming evidence that you’re in danger. You’ll be safer with all of us.”

  “You’ll be safer with me,” said James.

  James Weston. She sure as hell didn’t want to admit it, but she had to defer to the experts. She’d tried her best, but there was no use trying to save the world if she ended up dead before she could help anyone. “All right. I’m leaving.” She started for her bedroom, but stopped. Everything in her apartment had been destroyed and she might never come back, but there wasn’t one thing in that room that she couldn’t live without.

  There was nothing she needed. She turned for the door when she heard Toni say, “Something isn’t right.”

  “What isn’t right?” She approached the elevator. But right as she reached for the down arrow, the doors slid open and her father stood right in front of her with a murderous rage she never imagined possible plastered on his face.

  Willa fell back as her father came in. “Where is Stan?” he demanded. His eyes bounced around the apartment as if he were expecting a monster to run out of the shadows. It was then she realized the red on the side of his face.

  “Is that blood?
What happened?”

  “My meeting didn’t go as planned.” He physically pushed her aside as he ran through the apartment until he reached the window and looked down on the street.

  “What’s going on up there?” asked James.

  “It looks like Jadon ditched his phone,” said Toni. “We only just realized it was going in a loop. That’s why we were freaked.”

  Willa shook her head and tried to sort through all the voices and her own rising panic.

  “It looks clear, but they’re going to be here soon. We need to run.”

  “Run? Run where?”

  But Jadon was grabbing her arm and pulling her back toward the elevator. Willa was freaked but she didn’t feel threatened, so she allowed him to drag her into the elevator and hit the down arrow. A bunch of questions swirled in her mind and she tried to think about what was most important for her and the people in her head to know. “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere no one will find us. Somewhere we can put this mess behind us.”

  Was he just expecting her to go with him? She was, but not because they were going to run off into the sunset together. Because she wasn’t leaving his side until she knew what was going on. “Running from what? I’m sick of being two steps behind you, Daddy. I said I was going to be patient, but not now.” She could see him starting to clam up, so she gave one little push. “I’m scared. I just want to know what’s going on.”

  Jadon ran a hand through his white hair and winced.

  She’d never seen her father like this. He was always in control. Always knew exactly what he was doing. Even that night when he’d killed Jules, something that would probably be a traumatic event for anyone else, he had seemed as though it were just another day. So what would rattle him this much?

  “I don’t know. Somewhere far away. Probably with a beach. A crowded beach. It’s easy to disappear in a tourist trap. What do you think about Cancun? You like it there, don’t you?”

  “You’re not going to Cancun with him,” growled James in her ear.

  “Who are we running from? What happened?”

  “Everything happened,” bit out Jadon. The doors opened and he pulled her out. “Everything has been going to shit. Forbes is gone. Sterling’s paranoia is off the charts. And now there was a break-in at the office. Sterling’s cleaning house but I’m not a fucking mess to be swept under the rug.”

  “They’re the ones who blew up my apartment?” She studied him carefully to see whether he had any involvement with the attack.

  “They think you’re being followed. I told them that I had someone on you but they didn’t care. I’m telling you, Willa, these are bad people. We’re not safe here.” When they were on the street, Jadon led her to a nondescript black sedan that she was sure didn’t belong to her father. But he pulled out keys and hit a button that unlocked all the doors.

  “There’s nothing for us to track you with,” said Toni. “Give us as many descriptors as you can. We’re going to tail you, but he’s spooked. We’re going to have to keep a good distance.”

  James had another tactic. “Don’t get in the car, Willa. Just walk away and we’ll pick you up.”

  Willa looked down the street. It was dark, but not that late. So there were plenty of people and cars around but she had no idea where James was.

  “Get in the car!” screamed Jadon, obviously on the bare edge of his self-control.

  “Jadon doesn’t matter,” said James. “You matter. You need to be safe. You’re the number-one priority here.”

  Even as her heart broke to hear how much James cared about her, it was probably the worst thing he could’ve said. Because if there was one thing Willa was absolutely certain of, it was that she was not the number-one priority. That was something Jules knew too. “He needs to be stopped,” she said so softly she wasn’t even sure the mic picked it up.

  “Willa!” yelled Jadon, his already worn patience wearing thinner.

  “I’m coming.” She wanted to try to get a license plate, but it would be too strange to walk around the back. So she walked around the hood and climbed in the passenger seat. The car smelled of cigarettes, which she knew her father didn’t smoke. “Where did you get a black Honda?” she asked, trying to leave some breadcrumbs for her backup to follow.

  Because as soon as he pulled away from the curb, she knew that if James didn’t keep following her, she might never see him again.

  James banged his hand on the truck door as he felt his heart going out of control.

  “Careful!” snapped Toni. “This is a rental.”

  He couldn’t fully express how few shits he gave about the rental truck. “You went with him!” he screamed.

  Jennifer, who sat in the in the driver’s seat of the truck, turned around to look at him worriedly.

  “I muted you.” Toni’s fingers worked like crazy over the keys of her laptop. “She doesn’t need you messing with her head.”

  “I don’t enjoy hitting women, but you’re seriously tempting me right now.”

  “She is trying to help. Calm down or get out. You’re no use to her like this.”

  He clenched his jaw so tight he heard a pop. Toni at least had the decency to look a little freaked out, even though she didn’t move away. He didn’t know what pissed him off the most: her calm attitude as Willa was driving away with that son of a bitch or the fact that he knew she was right. He never let his emotions get in the way of a job. Ever.

  But this wasn’t a fucking job. It was Willa.

  “I see the black Honda,” said Jennifer from up front. “I’m going to keep the closest trail we can.”

  Toni made eye contact as she hit the Enter key, silently telling him they were off mute. “Okay, babe,” she said. “We’ve got eyes on you and I’m trying to get into traffic cams. But we’re going to need your help. If you turn or merge somewhere, give us a sign.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. James balled his hands into fists as he tried not to hit the dashboard again. He knew that Willa was trying to be discreet but he would give anything at the moment for a steady stream of her annoying babbling.

  “What happened to your face, Daddy?” she said, allowing James to breathe a sigh of relief.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” said Jadon.

  “Well, I don’t want to be going north in a car that reeks and may or may not be stolen. We don’t always get what we want, so answer my questions. Who was it?”

  “One of the goons Sterling sent. He wants to come back and he’s cleaning house. I thought cleaning house was getting rid of Hart and those Murray criminals. But he doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t believe in coincidences and there are too many coincidences around us. But I’m not going to sit back and wait for them to kill me. We’re getting out of the country tonight.”

  James rubbed his head and thought about what he knew about Jadon Belli. He was an intimidating man, but he wasn’t exactly a physical threat. Maybe he’d underestimated the man. Or maybe.... “Ask him who assaulted him,” said James. “Get a physical description.”

  Toni eyed him questioningly. “Is that important?” she mouthed.

  He nodded and waited for Willa to speak.

  “Daddy, it looks bad. Are you sure we don’t need to get you to a hospital?”

  Jadon snorted. “They’ll kill me if I go to a hospital. We’re leaving. I’d rather die of a concussion on a private plane than a bullet to the head in a hospital.”

  “Keep pressing,” said James. “I need to know what he was up against.”

  “How did you get away?” asked Willa. Still not the question he wanted answered but he forced himself to let her keep working. “Did you shoot him? Was it a big guy? A little guy? Did you fight him off? Do I know him?”

  Atta girl. Keep rambling until he got what he needed.

  “It was a big guy,” said Jadon dismissively.

  “Jennifer, you saw the guy in Jadon’s office. He was a professional. All these guys Sterling is sen
ding in are professionals. Guys like me.”

  Toni nodded slowly in understanding. “And Jadon wouldn’t be any match against a guy like you.”

  Jennifer cursed. “This is a setup.”

  “Willa, I want you to stay calm when I tell you this. Whoever worked your father over probably let him go. They’re flushing him out, probably after the same things we are. If he is going to run, he’s going to grab whatever leverage he has first. Wherever he’s going, they’re tracing his every move.”

  “I don’t see anyone around,” said Jennifer.

  “There’s probably something on your father or in the car that they’re using to track. Once he gets to his stash, they’re going to take him out. You need to get out of there the second the car stops.”

  There was silence as everyone waited to see what Willa was going to say. Damn it, he wanted to be able to see her expression. He wanted to hold her hand and promise her he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. A damned hard promise to keep when he was so far away. “Go faster,” he growled to Austin.

  Then Willa’s voice came over the line, clear and calmer than she had any right to be under the circumstances. “Are we going to the airport?”

  “I have to stop and pick up some things.”

  “Things not stored at your apartment?”

  “No. We’re going to your mom’s place.”

  The drive had only been about half an hour long, but it felt like an eternity. Relaxation was impossible considering everything that was going on. She did her best to give covert directions, but Jennifer was good about telling her whether she could see where they were turning or not, so she was able to get it into casual conversation. The only pause was when they had to get through the security gate once they reached the posh subdivision. She couldn’t see what code he entered into the gate that let it slide open and let to a long driveway.

  “What kind of house has a security pad at the entrance?” It was a stupid question. She knew better than most that some houses had a lot more security than others, but she wanted James to know what was coming.