Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 58108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
“Dammit,” I whispered. My mind wasn’t on the task.
The dark house loomed in the distance, the light of the half-moon guiding me. It was a cool night, typical for summer this far north, but I was sweating. I’d grabbed clothes from my laundry room. Black ones I’d had on top of the dryer for the job. I hadn’t thought I’d have to put them on in the garage or even handcuff Hayes to go solo.
I’d had no choice. The guy was like a golden retriever, willing to follow me blindly.
I shook my head as I hoofed it across the field. No, that wasn’t remotely accurate. He was a Rottweiler. Quiet, loyal, yet fierce. Probably ruthless when faced with the enemy, but I had yet to see him that way.
He was going to be pissed. But it was better than him behind bars. He wanted to protect me, but who the hell was going to take care of him?
I made it to the mansion and peeked in a window. A light over the stove in the kitchen was on. The house was completely dark. Not even a motion sensor spotlight on the exterior. It was used to deter robbers, but maybe this far out, they felt it wasn’t necessary.
Except the rest of the place was wired like Fort Knox.
I adjusted the coiled length of rope over my shoulder and snuck to the side of the house. To the huge river rock chimney. The layout showed a huge fireplace in the great room, and this was my access. There would be no belaying, only free climbing.
I look up into the darkness, the stars twinkling, taking a moment. This was what I’d vowed never to return to. I was letting down the girl in juvie, who’d spent a miserable year a prisoner of her own actions and of the one man she’d thought would protect and care for her.
Except he hadn’t.
Yet here I was, ready to do it all over again, to risk everything. For the same man.
It seemed so stupid when I had a good man, a trustworthy, honorable one, handcuffed to my bed. A man who wanted to be there for me. It had been the only way to stop him.
He was what I needed in my life. Someone steadfast, who cared about me. Who was willing to give up all of his hard-fought values. For me.
I blinked back tears. No. Suck it up, Megan. He’s not yours. He’ll never be yours. Especially not now. When he gets himself free, he’ll be done with me. He knew the truth now. I was trouble. I lacked honor. I was everything he hated.
Hayes would hate me eventually if he didn’t already hate me now. I sniffed, reached for the smooth, round rocks above my head, and set my foot on a low one. I’d come full circle. This was me. Right here.
A thief. Alone.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
HAYES
“The helicopter would have come in handy,” I grumbled, my hand on the oh shit bar above my head.
Ford glanced my way for a split second then back on the road, taking it almost twice the speed limit. He’d returned from D.C. with no additional intel, and that had made him cranky. And his driving a little wild.
“It would if there weren’t a chance of snagging power lines or fencing or hell… running into a fucking mountain.”
I’d never been so antsy before a mission before. We had guns, but we weren’t pulling them from the SUV. There was no enemy here. The Straights weren’t the bad guys. Megan was.
So was I because I was going to help her break into their house. My team had insisted on backing me up, even though I’d told them this wasn’t their fight.
It was a stupid fucking Viking dagger. He had insurance. Hell, I’d even steal it back from Burns and give it back to the actor personally. This wasn’t a mission where a kidnapped kid needed to be rescued from militants who planned to behead him as an example of power.
We were in Montana—not Mosul.
The SUV bumped down the dirt road.
“As she already deduced, the only reasonable access for her is the skylight,” Kennedy said from the backseat. His laptop gave his face a blue glow, and his fingers flew over the keys. “VistaStar installed the security system after the Straights bought the property. Upgraded when he relocated the bulk of his Viking collection to the house. Retinal scanners. Biometrics. Other shit.”
Just as Megan’s dad had outlined.
Taft leaned forward between the front seats. “Tell me again how she got past you.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ford’s grin.
I ground my back molars and stayed silent. I’d had to break her headboard to get free of the cuffs. It still wasted precious time, and by the time I’d gotten to my truck and gunned it back to the ranch, Megan had a significant head start.