The Cunning Thief Read online

  “You assigned me this job. I get my jobs done. Don’t fucking judge me for my methods.”

  Toni still eyed him skeptically, but she seemed to drop the subject. “You said Shae took off. Do you know where she’s gone?”

  “I gave her the keys to my car. I’m assuming you can track it.” Toni had never told him she put any bugs or tracking devices in his car, but he had a feeling someone as paranoid as her didn’t take a lot of chances. The distress beacon watch was just proof of that.

  “As soon as we get to my laptop, I can find her and work on bringing her in. I don’t think we can bullshit her anymore. I’ll have to tell her what’s really going on. Are you okay with that?”

  “Of course I’m okay with it.”

  “She might find out you lied to her.”

  Tristan glared at Toni, really wishing she would know when to shut up. “What’s the big deal? I lie to everybody.”

  Shae pulled onto the scenic outlook off the highway. She didn’t know how long she’d been driving for. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t have a phone, or money. All she had was a stranger’s car that she was pretty sure she was illegally driving and the clothes on her back. She would either have to go back to the house or call Daddy. Nope. Even in a life and death situation, she wasn't calling that bastard.

  She needed to go back. She needed to find out what happened to him. She needed to figure out who he was.

  The drive, as stressful as it had been, had given her some clarity. Tristan wasn’t who he said he was. He was definitely the man she was locked in the closet with. The mysterious John. It wasn’t that normal people wouldn’t carry a gun, but it was how he used it. He hadn’t waited for the other people to fire; he’d fired first. Any other good guy with a gun would’ve waited. They would be on the defense, not the offense. He didn’t know what she’d been dealing with. He didn’t panic or hesitate. He didn’t freak out. He didn’t know the full level of the threats that she’d been getting and ignoring, but still he had done what was necessary.

  At least a normal, advertising consultant Tristan wouldn’t. But the mysterious private detective John would. She needed to go back and find out the truth. She didn’t think he was a Blackthorne spy, but he had skin in the game somehow. Shae didn’t like mysteries. She didn’t like being used and lied to. She definitely didn’t like making out with people who were using her. Tristan had to answer for his actions somehow. But for now, that would have to wait.

  Shae leaned back in the driver seat and let out a deep breath. She was by no means relaxed, but it was the first second since she took off running that she allowed herself to breathe. As she allowed the tension to creep out of her muscles, the exhaustion caught up with her. She’d worked all day, had a whirlwind romantic dinner, then spent the rest of the evening running for her life. All at once, she could barely keep her eyes open. The little parking spot at the scenic overlook wasn’t someplace she could legally park and take a nap, but right now she didn’t think she could drive. She was low on gas and didn’t know how she’d make it back to Seaside Escape. She locked the doors and let her head fall back as the sun started to rise. Within seconds, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

  By the time someone knocked on the door, Shae had no idea what time it was. The sun was shining brightly in her window, and she winced at the unexpected brightness. She looked to her left out the window, half expecting to see a disapproving cop glaring down at her. But it wasn’t. The blonde woman outside the window wore jeans and a T-shirt. She was pale, unlike a native Floridian. Shae squinted, not sure whether this was part of some strange stress dream. The woman motioned for her to lower the window. Shae wasn’t exactly in a trusting mood, but this woman didn’t seem like too much of a threat. Even so, Shae only lowered the window about an inch.

  The woman leaned down close to the window, and Shae put her hand on the keys, ready to turn the car on and drive away at a moment’s notice. The woman’s eyes followed the motion, and she was obviously aware that Shae was jumpy. “What’re you doing?” she asked casually.

  “I, um, I’ve had a long drive. I was just taking a small break.”

  The woman nodded as though it was a perfectly reasonable explanation. “So.... Where you goin’?”

  Shae started to become more curious about who this woman was. “I’m sorry, can I help you?”

  “Possibly. But, in all honesty, I’m here to help you.”

  She let out a laugh. “I don’t think you can.” At this point, she didn’t know whether anybody could help her.

  “Well, you might not, but my buddy Tristan seems to think that you’re in a lot of trouble. Now what do you say we have a talk?”

  Shae woke up as the car came to a stop. She was almost embarrassed that she’d fallen asleep again, but after once again replaying the events of the past forty-eight hours, she decided not to beat herself up about it. She was only human. She checked the mirror for signs of drool and ran her fingers through her hair. Her once cute ponytail she’d worn for Tristan was now a limp thing hanging at the back of her head, with loose tendrils of hair falling out everywhere. Actually, it looked pretty standard for her. She sat up, and looked to see where the woman had taken her. She expected to be confused but she recognized the place immediately. “You’re staying in a foreclosure?”

  The woman, Toni she’d introduced herself as, looked questioningly over at Shae. “You recognize this place?”

  “I have a contact who tells me about good auctions coming up. This place is a little out of my price range, though....” Although Seaside Escape was a luxury residence, this was a verified mansion. It could probably fit five to ten Seaside Escapes inside the massive rooms. Not to mention that the place probably didn’t even need to be fixed up. From the pictures she’d taken during her quick scouting trip, the place looked gorgeous. And it also meant that whoever Tristan’s friends were, they were living very illegally.

  Not that Toni seemed to care. She got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her. Shae had a feeling she didn’t slam it on purpose. She just did everything with a little extra gusto. Shae more gingerly climbed out, her body sore from the past few days. “Are you going to tell me why Tristan sent you yet?”

  Shae noticed there were a few nice cars in front of the house. She doubted they all belonged to Toni. How many people were staying here? Toni didn’t look like some drifter. She might be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but they were both in very good condition. Shae hadn’t worn designer labels in a very long time, but the cut of the shirt was nice enough to tell her that it wasn’t just off some random discount shelf. Toni went inside, and Shae stopped at the entryway. What was she doing? Toni said she worked with Tristan, but Shae didn’t know whether she believed her. The only reason she had taken a chance and gone with her was because she was kind of out of options. With no money, and soon to be no gas, she would have to start hitching soon enough. Normally, she’d flag someone down to call the police, but Detective Perlman had more than proved the police to be useless for her. They were probably covering up Tristan’s murder right now.

  Toni popped in the doorway and looked questioningly at Shae. “You gonna stand there all day?” Then her brow furrowed and she looked concerned. “You don’t have a concussion, do you? Should I have taken you to the hospital instead? I never think to ask these things first.”

  Shae shook her head and tentatively walked over the threshold. “I’m fine. Just flustered and confused and kind of feeling like an idiot for even following you here.”

  Toni gave her a comforting smile and reached out, setting an arm on Shae’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I get a lot of people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. It’s kind of a gift. Now come on, let me get you some breakfast and I’ll start answering questions. I know you have a lot.”

  “You said you were sent by Tristan. Have you heard from him? Have you had like your people or something go check on him? He sent you, right? When did he send you?”

  Toni let
out a little laugh. “Okay. I guess we’ll start with the questions now. My name is Toni, as you know, and I’m Tristan’s boss.”

  “I’m assuming you’re not his boss at the advertising agency he told me he worked at.”

  Toni gave an awkward little grimace. “Yeah, sorry. Not in advertising.”

  “So how much did Tristan lie to me about?”

  “Knowing Tristan? Probably everything. Don’t worry, he has a good heart. And technically, he was acting on my orders. So if you’re gonna be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

  “I don’t see why I can’t be mad at both of you.”

  “Touché.”

  “But why did you send him to spy on me? What was the point?”

  “Because I’m trying to take down Blackthorne. When he ran into you the other night, we realized you were involved with him. Since his cover was blown, we figured he could get some information from you. I know most everything about Blackthorne, but I hadn’t connected that Damask was the owner until you offhandedly mentioned the name. So if you knew that much, I figured he could learn more. Unfortunately, Blackthorne’s little henchmen happened to find you before he could get anything useful out of you.”

  “So now you’re just going to ask me? Why couldn’t you do that before?”

  “Because I didn’t know you. Take it from me, I have a lot of experience. We’re tracking down people like the ones who run Blackthorne—you learn not to trust anybody. Everybody, no matter how innocent they seem, has a reason to lie. Scratch that. Especially the innocent ones.”

  Shae sighed and looked around. This entire structure seemed to support Toni’s pessimistic point of view. Beautiful, elegant, and all wrong at the same time. “Where’s Tristan? I want to talk to him.”

  “Well, Blackthorne’s henchmen didn’t get a hold of you so he’s still at your house. Waiting to see if they come back.”

  Tristan had his head down and his eyes closed. He wasn’t meditating and he wasn’t sleeping. This was just his way of not talking to anybody. Hunter and Gage had gone through the entire place, making sure no one was hidden in a dark corner. He knew this was necessary. He didn’t want to get ambushed by one of Blackthorne’s men. At the same time, he felt an odd sense of betrayal. As if he shouldn’t be letting these strange men go through all of Shae’s house. It was a stupid feeling. He didn’t owe her anything. They’d only known each other for one day. He’d betrayed people he’d known a lot longer and had a lot less guilt over it.

  But knowing that didn’t make the nagging sensation of guilt go away.

  “You okay, man?” asked Gage.

  Tristan didn’t open his eyes. “I’m fine.”

  “You know, I had a girlfriend who told me that once. I asked her, everything okay? I got the great ‘I’m fine’ back. Next thing I knew, she was screaming at me for not doing enough, throwing all my shit out her window. So tell me, are you actually fine, or are you just giving me the chick’s version of fine?”

  Tristan opened his eyes to glare at Gage. “Do I have a bullet wound in my chest?”

  “Not that I can see.”

  “Do I have a hole in my head that’s not supposed to be there?”

  “Only your mouth.”

  “If it doesn’t look like I’m dying and I say I’m fine, I fucking mean I’m fine.”

  “Okay. That’s totally believable. If you need me, I’ll be over here, avoiding your grumpy ass,” said Gage.

  Tristan couldn’t help himself. The annoyance got the better of him, and he said, “You gonna call Melissa and bitch about me?”

  “The fuck did you just say?” Gage had gone utterly still, the tension creeping through his body.

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. She won’t take your calls. I wonder what happened there?”

  “Nothing,” he said between gritted teeth as he pivoted around to face Tristan. “She’s Slade’s sister. You know I would never be stupid enough to get involved in something like that.”

  Something like that.... Interesting choice of words. He was trying to distance himself from her. Tristan had had a suspicion there was something between the two, but hadn’t confirmed it until right now. He decided not to push too much harder. He didn’t want to get into a physical fight; he just wanted Gage to back the fuck off. “Just letting you know that some things are more apparent than you think they are.”

  “Well, just so you know—”

  Before Gage could finish, Hunter came back into the room. “Stop bickering, ladies. We’ve got company.”

  Tristan stood and rolled his neck, preparing himself for whatever was about to happen. He looked out the window at the black sedan that had pulled into the driveway. Three guys got out. A good number. One-to-one ratio. This would be easy to handle.

  “How are you planning this?” asked Hunter.

  “Hart is going to want us to go by the book as much as possible.”

  “There is no book for this,” pointed out Gage.

  “You know what I mean. Call the cops so that they start heading over. Report a break-in. If they catch them, Toni might be able to piggyback off their system to get a valid ID on these guys. And that will give us a few minutes to talk to them ourselves.”

  A few minutes might be all they needed. The invaders didn’t use the front door. It was broad daylight, but they didn’t seem to care as they snuck around the porch until they reached the back door and looked into the large windows. Tristan and Gage both bent down so the kitchen counter would provide cover while Hunter stood behind the hallway wall. One of the guys worked on picking the locked back door, and Hunter made his move from behind the wall to behind the couch.

  If the invaders had been paying any attention, they would’ve seen it, but they didn’t appear to be particularly great at their jobs. With a team of three, there were enough people to pick a lock, watch the interior of the house to see whether any of the homeowners were there, and watch the perimeter to see whether there were any witnesses around. These guys all just stared at the lock picker, willing him to work faster.

  Good strategic thinking wasn’t easy to come by. You had to both be born with it and continuously improve upon what you have. It was like a muscle. If it wasn’t used often, you lost it. Tristan heard the bolts spring free, but he held his position for a moment longer. All three guys were outside now. If they sprung too soon, it would be too easy for the intruders to make a run for it. He counted the steps and listened intently until he made sure all three were inside the house. And then they made the mistake of closing the door behind them.

  Without any communication, he, Hunter, and Gage moved at the same time. Hunter tackled the first one who came in; one arm wrapped around his back while his other hand grabbed the gun. The other two reached for their weapons but didn’t have time to draw them. Tristan and Gage were both holding their own guns out and ready and stared menacingly at the guys. Upon closer inspection, Tristan realized exactly how young these three were. No wonder they didn’t know what they were doing. He didn’t even know whether they were out of high school yet. “Think hard and fast about your next decision here, guys.” The two standing exchanged a look, but Hunter had the other kid face down on the ground so Tristan couldn’t see his expression. He decided to up the ante a little bit.

  “My friend over here,” he motioned his head toward Gage, “is what we like to call a sharpshooter. That means that if either of you makes one move that makes me think, even just for a second, that you might be a threat, he’s going to put a bullet between your eyes. Not your shoulder, not in your gut, not your leg. Right for the head. He never misses, and he never leaves any survivors. So if you think you can take him, you just let me know right now. Otherwise, we have a few questions for you.”

  Once all the perpetrators were on their knees and had their hands held up and placed on the back of their heads, it was time to get started. Tristan looked at his watch. It would only be a few minutes before the police got there. That would be all the time he’d need.

 
; The intimidation act wasn’t Tristan’s favorite thing. It made him feel more like a terrorist than a con artist. But the same thing that made Tristan feel bad about it was what made it effective. This position made the kids think they could be shot in the head at any given time. The little tale he made up on the spot about Gage seemed to keep them well and truly terrified.

  “Okay,” he said, taking the lead. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. Every time I think you’re lying to me, you’re going to be punished. Every time I know you’re lying to me, something is going to break. Now, I can break something with my hands. Or I can use a bullet to break bone. It’s my choice, really, and you won’t know which is coming at you until you’re screaming for mercy on the ground. These are your options, and they’re your only options. So you damn well better convince me.” He moved behind one of the guys. They all looked similar. Tristan had an inkling they might be brothers. The youngest barely looked old enough to drive, and the oldest probably wasn’t even in his twenties yet. He definitely wasn’t planning to shoot any of them, but he still wanted them to tell him the truth. He flicked the safety of his gun on before holding it up to the back of one of the kid’s heads. The kid’s arms shook with the effort of holding them up for that long. “Let’s start with you. What’s your name, son?”

  “Ummmm...” the kid started in a shaky voice. “Anthony.”

  “Well hello there, Anthony. Now, I’m not sure if you know, but this house is owned by a sweet, pretty woman who has basically never done anything wrong in her life.” Tristan saw Gage give him a questioning look, but he didn’t have time to tell Gage where he could stick it. “Now I want you to tell me exactly why you’re here.”

  “We... we don’t want to do this. We tried to say no.”

  “See, now, I can’t help but realize that’s not an answer.” The kid tensed, and Tristan knew he was preparing himself for a blow. In fact, all the boys tensed. He suddenly got a better read on the situation. Instead of hitting Anthony, he aimed the butt of his gun for the back of one of his brothers’ heads. He measured the blow carefully, so as he brought the butt of the gun down on the brother, it was enough to hurt but was barely a glancing blow. It was enough to make his brother grunt, and Anthony leapt up. Hunter was ready for him, however, and forced him back onto the ground.