Bossy Burglar: A Hero Club Novel Read online

  I put my fingers to my lips. “You kissed me.”

  “Only because it was necessary. Don’t get used to it, sweetheart.”

  “What’s your problem? Whatever.” He enjoyed the kiss as much as I did.

  “Just get out of my bed. We gotta see the Cowboy.”

  “You like saying that, don’t you? ‘Get out of my bed’.”

  He rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t make any sense. Wouldn’t I want you to get into my bed, not out?”

  Okay, he had a point. Throwing my legs over the side of the mattress, I stood and stretched then rubbed the side of my neck. Winced. I needed some Aspirin and a hot shower. “I’m using your bathroom before we go.”

  “Have at it.”

  After making quick work in the bathroom, I came out while he was pulling on a T-shirt over his head. I stopped dead. Damn. Even his obliques were ripped. Although, I don’t know why I was surprised by this. The rest of him was tight.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked. The grin on his face suggested he already knew.

  I sighed. “Let’s just go.”

  He chuckled. “Can’t stop checking me out, can you?”

  CHAPTER 9

  Melanie

  Seriously, I wished I could growl for real. “You ever hear of BDE?”

  “No,” Lincoln said. He cranked the engine over and checked his mirrors.

  “Go look it up. You don’t have it.”

  “Since I don’t know what it is, I really don’t care.”

  We drove for about ten minutes in silence. “Just where were we, exactly?”

  “Manhattan Beach.”

  “I’m surprised you couldn’t afford a bigger place and all.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess you’re not as good as you think at stealing shit.”

  “I do all right. If you haven’t noticed, it’s expensive to live here.”

  I sighed for effect. “Excuses, excuses.”

  “Do me a favor and keep your mouth closed for the duration. You’re getting on my nerves.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Your nerves? I’m getting on your nerves?”

  He shook his head. “Did you need me to repeat it for you in words you can understand?”

  Wow. “I...really don’t like you.” I couldn’t believe he kissed me, and I liked it. And I couldn’t believe I thought he was hot. Dammit, why couldn’t I come up with a good comeback when I most needed one? Of course, I’d dwell on this conversation in my head later and think of an awesome retort. But not now. Naturally.

  We reached Flynn’s and Lincoln honked the truck horn. The bay door trundled up. He pulled inside the garage. The brakes squealed as we rolled to a stop. Whipping the seatbelt off, I jumped out onto the concrete floor, slamming the door.

  Flynn came out of his office with Rico at his heels. “And the happy couple graces us with their presence. Have a little too much fun last night or did you bust open my package?”

  Lincoln tossed the thick envelope at the Texan. Other than money, what could possibly be in the “package”?

  Flynn ripped the end open, peering in at the contents. He smiled. “Did Mr. Crowley like his gift? I assume he was pleased.” The Cowboy looked me up and down. I curled in my shoulders and ran my fingers through my bedhead hair. God, did he know I woke up in someone else’s bed and slept in my clothes?

  “He said he loved the gift,” Lincoln said, his expression tightening.

  “Good. That is what he said when he called this morning and requested Nora’s presence again this evenin’.”

  The blood drained out of my head and my stomach knotted. I glanced back and forth between Lincoln and Flynn. “He can take his request and shove it up—”

  Lincoln scowled at me and waved his hand under his chin in the cutting motion. “Why does he want to see her?”

  “I suppose he’s having a little get-together on his last night in town.”

  I’ll bet. Emphasis on the word little.

  “I’ll take her,” Lincoln said.

  I shook my head emphatically. No, you will not, sir. “I’m not comfortable with that arrangement.”

  Flynn nodded. “I think it’s best you go alone.”

  “That’s not what I meant. He drug—”

  “She’s my woman and Mr. Crowley knows it. He’s playing games.”

  Flynn’s eyebrows hit the ceiling. “I didn’t realize ya’ll had carnal knowledge of one another. I’ll make sure I send him another gift before he leaves town,” he said, winking on the word gift.

  Relief washed over me. Lincoln’s smug smile made an appearance.

  “How are you coming on the surveillance at J-Zen?” the Cowboy asked, spitting chew on the floor. Disgusting pig. I coughed to keep bile from rising up the back of my throat.

  “Heading there now.”

  “Good. And, ah...I have another errand for ya’ll to run later. Rico has the details.”

  What did we look like to him? Gophers? I’d already had enough of his errands.

  * * *

  Lincoln

  I chomped down on the inside of my cheek. He wanted us to play errand boys and girl. Again. Flynn returned to his office and closed the door.

  “Call Bandit and pick me up at the same place as last night,” Rico said.

  “What is it this time, another pick-up and delivery?” I asked with a sneer.

  “Be cool, man. This is all part of the gig.”

  “And what the hell is Derrick doing while we’re out doing Flynn’s busy work?”

  Shrugging, Rico said, “I ain’t his keeper.”

  “Fair enough. Whaddaya say we meet back here at nine?”

  Rico nodded.

  “Have fun,” Nora said, and headed for the exit.

  “Nine included you too, sweetheart.”

  She spun and planted her hands on her hips. “I thought I was going to Mr. Crowley’s party for two.”

  I chuckled. “Well, if you’d rather, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

  “Funny. See you at nine.”

  The three of us went our separate ways. Halfway home, I called Bandit. He answered with a drawl. “Hellllooo?”

  “Hey, need you to drive tonight on a...fucking errand for the Cowboy. Because little bitch is part of my job description now.”

  He laughed in a short burst. “Don’t sound so happy about it.”

  “Yeah, because I’m doing cartwheels n’ shit over here.”

  “How’s Nora? Heard you kicked Rico out of the car last night.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean, how’s Nora?”

  “Dude, you pulled your Glock on him. So, I wanted to know s’up.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “Nothing. She got roofied last night. I took care of her and that man’s not a value add-on.”

  “Oh, shit. She all right?”

  “She’s fine. Back to her usual pain-in-my-ass self.”

  “Can you hear it?”

  “Hear what?”

  “Me rolling my eyes. You call her a pain in your ass, but you know you want her.”

  “Well, that doesn’t matter, does it?” No. It. Did. Not. I had no business messing around with her for any reason, even though she wasn’t my target.

  “No doubt. You gotta leave that alone.”

  “I intend to. Why do you think I pick fights with her?”

  “Uh huh, right.”

  “Shut up. Be at Flynn’s by nine.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Lincoln

  Nora’s skinny jeans juiced me up. Her hips swayed as she walked toward me. Okay, it wasn’t the jeans. I tried my best not to look her up and down and failed miserably.

  Bandit cleared his throat next to me. “You better close your mouth so you don’t trip over your tongue.”

  “I love you, man, but right now I need you to fuck off.”

  He chuckled. “You’re in trouble. Big. Trouble.”

  I stuck my middle finger up at my best friend.

  Nora stood in front of
me. I smiled tightly. “Ready to go?” I asked as my eyes dipped to her cleavage. Goddammit.

  “Where are we going anyway?” Nora asked.

  “Van Nuys.”

  “What’s in Van Nuys?”

  “Airport.”

  She glanced toward the ceiling. “And I suppose we are meeting someone there. Please tell me it’s not Mr. Crowley.”

  I shrugged. “Gotta ask Rico that one.”

  The man in question came out of Flynn’s office and without a word headed for the SUV parked in the garage. “Shotgun,” he called as he reached for the passenger door handle.

  “Is Derrick coming with?” I asked Rico. The man always seemed to catch a break when it came to these errands for the boss. I trusted him the least. Not that anyone other than Bandit deserved my trust.

  “Nope.”

  “Lucky him,” Nora muttered. She climbed into the back seat and I followed in behind her.

  The garage door trundled up and we rolled out and onto the street. Bandit made his way to the 405, driving us north. Nora passed the forty-minute drive by looking out the darkened window. I fished my 9 mm from my back, waist holster, and held the gun on my thigh.

  “Should I have a gun?” she asked.

  “Probably. Do you have one?” I asked.

  “Not with me.”

  Rico twisted in his seat, staring at her. “Why don’t you have a gun on you?”

  She swallowed. “Didn’t think I needed it.”

  He shook his head and turned back around, facing the windshield. He muttered something to himself.

  “Well, I didn’t think I needed it.” She went back to staring out the window.

  I tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, I got another gun, if you want.” Leaning forward, I lifted my pant leg and popped my back-up from the ankle holster. “Here, take this. You know how to use this?”

  “Yes,” she said indignantly.

  “All right.” I said, putting my palms up in surrender.

  “Sorry,” she said quietly and took the Glock 42. As if she’d never held a gun before, she cradled the pistol in her hands.

  What was this woman doing with the Syndicate? She clearly wasn’t the criminal type. Did she know anything about guns? “Need a quick lesson on how this gun—?” I whispered.

  “I got it.”

  “You sure?”

  Pursing her lips, she studied the gun. “Uh, no. Maybe you better show me some things. I’m not familiar with this particular one.”

  Right. Uh-huh. Sure. This one or any gun?

  “A couple things you need to remember when handling a gun. Always assume it’s loaded, never point the muzzle toward anything you don’t want to destroy, keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, and be sure of your target and what’s beyond.”

  She sighed. “I know.”

  “I don’t know what you know.”

  Taking the G 42, I brushed my thumb over the magazine release. “This button here releases the magazine.” She leaned closer to me, her eyes on the gun. I slid the loaded clip from the butt of the gun. “This up here is the slide release. You want to release the slide and put it in the back position. Like so.” I showed her how to move the slide. “Once you load the gun,” I pushed the magazine home, giving it an extra shove, “release the slide again and you’re ready to fire.”

  “What about the safety?”

  “Glocks have a tab on the trigger that you have to squeeze for the gun to fire.”

  “So, no way to accidentally shoot someone.”

  “Right.” I nodded, laying the gun in her hands on her lap. “You all set, or do you want to go over it again?”

  “No, seems simple enough. Thanks.”

  I’d hoped she wouldn’t ask me about the safety. The last thing I needed was her going trigger happy at the first sign of trouble tonight. Because I had the feeling this pick-up we were doing wasn’t going to go smoothly. Things like this never did.

  I traced her profile as she went back to gazing out the window. Her light brown hair was streaked with blonde highlights and fell in soft curls around her face. She pushed a lock behind her ear.

  Rico and Bandit’s voices interrupted the silence in the car from time to time. I rested my head against the seat and looked out the side window.

  “What does your tattoo say?” Nora asked me.

  “It’s personal,” I snapped. The question wasn’t one that I was prepared to answer. I tried not thinking about the ink most of the time. Except for those lonely nights after a long, hard day and all I wanted was to climb into bed, holding the one I lost tightly in my arms.

  Her eyes flared. “Jeez. You don’t have to bite my head off. I didn’t know it was a sensitive subject.”

  I sighed heavily. “I didn’t mean to. Sorry.”

  “Yeah, I can feel the remorse. It’s a woman’s name, isn’t it?”

  “Nora, please. When I say it’s personal, it means I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Bandit’s eyes appeared in the rearview mirror. “Everything all right back there?”

  “Yes!” she and I said at the same time.

  She turned to me. “I’m a good listener if you ever need to talk about—”

  “Nor-a. Stop it.” I made a slicing motion with my hand. Her body sagged and curled in on itself. I took a deep breath. Evidently, I’d hurt her feelings. God Almighty, we did not have room for this kind of drama tonight. The urge to tell her it was okay made my body tense up. But I didn’t want her to think the line of questioning was acceptable. I gritted my teeth.

  “You’re right,” she said.

  “Oh? Is that so, about what?”

  “I should mind my own business.”

  “You should. We don’t have a relationship and never will. So, this getting-personal shit is a waste of time. Period.”

  * * *

  Melanie

  Okay, what a kick in the teeth. And the kick I needed. Where the hell was my head at? I was with the Syndicate for one reason only: Justice for Josh. It was time I remembered my goal. Lincoln had his priorities straight. No getting personal. No getting distracted by business that wasn’t my own. Why did I care about his issues? Or the name tattooed on his chest? It was without a doubt a woman’s name, though. Probably had to do with the rings, too.

  Mind your own business, Melanie.

  Lincoln wasn’t going to open up to me, and why should he? He didn’t know me from Eve. And it was going to stay that way. More than likely, he’d be going to prison after this heist was over, along with the rest of the crew. I’d done my research and selected the FBI agent I was going to tip off about the job. We had spoken on the phone several times about my brother’s murder. She had informed me that, like the police department, they couldn’t make an arrest due to lack of evidence. However, if I knew of something they could use, I should call her. I didn’t know if she had taken pity on me or what, but she gave me her cell number if I ever needed anything. I planned to send her a text.

  Bandit parked the SUV around the side of a private hangar. “Tuck the gun in the pocket of your hoodie,” Lincoln said. He got out on his side and with the door still open, I saw him holster his gun at the small of his back. Once again, I wondered if my brother was worth all of this. In the end, I inched out of the vehicle. Josh had always been there for me when I really needed it. Not too long ago, there were days I didn’t know whether I could get out of bed. It seemed I could only fall asleep during the day; the nightmares had been so bad. Trauma was like that, though. He’d helped me through. I owed him.

  I put the Glock in the pocket of my hoodie and zipped the sweatshirt to my neck. Shoving my hands into the pockets, I joined the rest of tonight’s crew at the back of the car. I held the gun flat to my stomach with my palm. Rico and Lincoln led the way inside the hangar. The enormous bay doors were wide open. A rack of portable lights stood next to several large black crates. To the left sat a jet on the gray-painted concrete floor, G600 marking the tailfin. The door
to the plane lowered. Two men in dark suits came down the steps, each with a hand tucked inside his jacket as if anticipating needing to out a weapon quickly. Another man in dress pants and a burgundy button-down exited the plane. His dark hair was slicked back but not greasy. He ran a hand through it, his pinky ring glinting in the lights. Under much different circumstances, I might have thought he was handsome. His dark eyes shined. Though he was tall and lean, his biceps filled out his sleeves. “Good,” Slick-hair said in a thick accent that sounded Eastern European, “you’re right on time. I love when my clients are prompt.”

  The two men in suits flanked Slick when he reached the bottom of the steps. They walked forward as a unit. One of the men nodded in my direction. “Why are your hands in your pockets?” he said in a different accent than Slick.

  “They’re cold.”

  Slick laughed. “Relax, these men and beautiful lady are our friends.” He met me in the eyes and smiled. Although, the expression gave me the willies. Stepping forward, he extended his hand. God, it would be rude to not take what was offered, right? I didn’t want to be the one that blew whatever deal was happening now. Luckily, I was left-handed and had put the gun in that pocket. I reached for his hand with my right and he grasped it with both hands.

  A chill ran up my spine.

  His hands were warm and surprisingly soft. He made a face like he was in pain. “You spoke the truth. Your hand is cold.” Slick stared at me for what seemed like a hundred thousand years. I refused to look away first, even though I wanted to bolt from the hangar. Releasing me, he stepped back. “Shall we conduct business?”

  Rico cleared his throat. “Flynn wanted to meet with you personally and he sends his apologies.”

  “It’s a shame he isn’t willing to negotiate in person.” Why did I get the feeling Slick considered this an insult? The man seemed to be considering something by the way he glanced at the suit on his right and nodded. He regarded Rico again. “You can tell Flynn the price is now double. My time is valuable and so is my merchandise.”

  “I gotta ask the boss. I don’t have that kind of cash on me,” Rico said.