To Have and to Heist(61)

“Actually, I don’t ‘know how he gets’ because I don’t know anything about him and neither do you.” My head was spinning again. My girl was in danger and hadn’t even sent me a text. We had a plan for when Kyle showed up—and his visits had become more frequent over the last few months—she called me; I called my brothers; we all showed up at the house and Kyle went away.

“He’s very protective,” she said. “And he’s gentle with animals. When we were at the Angelinis’ mansion, he was lying on the grass playing with the Rottweilers.”

“I don’t care if he’s gentle with tigers.” I shook my head. “Babe, he isn’t safe. He carries a gun.”

Her face brightened. I knew then it was already too late.

“He disabled the boat during our recon mission without harming anyone,” she said. “Wasn’t that amazing? He’s got a permit for a concealed carry. He says in his line of business, he always needs to be armed.”

“And that doesn’t worry you?” I was shaking, my lungs so tight, I could barely breathe. Chloe was my everything. It was my job to keep her safe. My job to be there when she was in danger. “What if his business follows him home? Or to your home, where your child sleeps. Where is Olivia anyway? What does she think of all this?”

“She’s with Gage on the couch. We’re watching a show about lions on Animal Planet.”

“He’s inside your apartment?” I couldn’t picture Gage in Chloe’s place with all the frilly cushions, soft furnishings, and feminine decor.

“You should have seen him, Simi! He came here so fast. Olivia and I watched from the window. He flew out of his truck, grabbed Kyle by the back of the neck, and threw him down the stairs. Kyle took a swing at him, and in two seconds he had Kyle on his stomach, face down in the grass. I don’t know what he said, but the second he let go, Kyle ran to his car and drove away. I invited Gage in for a drink after Kyle left. It was the least I could do.” She bent down and picked up the box. “He says he can help me test the equipment so you don’t have to stay. I know you have to work in the morning.”

Have to stay? Chloe was the other half of my heart, and Olivia was like my own daughter. Spending time with them was a joy; not an obligation.

“Take the food.” I handed her the bag, my heart in my throat making it difficult to swallow. “There’s more than enough for three. Let me know if there’s a problem with any of the equipment.”

I pulled out my phone to call an Uber, but when I turned around, Jack was there, leaning against his vehicle, arms folded across his chest.

“I saw his car,” was all he said when I joined him on the sidewalk.

“Her ex was here. She’s never not called me.” I rubbed my chest. “It hurts.”

“Where do you want to go?”

My head was spinning. There was too much going on, too many changes, too many emotions to process. Despite my big speech about people needing people, I desperately wanted to be alone.

“Just take me to my parents’ house. I’ll sneak in the back.”

Seventeen

In heist movies, there’s always a montage of scenes where the caper crew rehearses for the big day. The grease person practices maneuvering through a mock laser beam field made up of string. The driver races through obstacle courses, back alleys, and dark city streets. The hacker pounds on her keyboard, staring at screens full of code. The gadget person demonstrates all their clever toys. The key master practices opening a safe. The muscle finds a few security guards to knock unconscious and wrestles guard dogs to the ground. The inside person seduces or befriends the target and gets them to spill their secrets. And the leader organizes it all with the help of her second-in-command.

At least, that’s the way it works in the movies. In real life, with a bunch of newbs who are scraping by with low-paying jobs, inflexible hours, difficult bosses, and a bunch of side gigs to make ends meet, just organizing a rehearsal heist was one hell of a task. And on top of it all, we had a wedding to plan.

We met at Rose’s house on Saturday morning for the drive to the vacant mansion in Englewood where we were going to do our dry run. Jack had gone ahead in the van to collect the keys from the real estate agent. The rest of us traveled in the limo Emma had borrowed from her friend.

“Chloe got the floor plan off the real estate listing,” I said, trying to balance the plan, my phone, and my list of tasks on my lap while sipping a glass of complimentary champagne. “The layout is similar to the Angelinis’ mansion. Is everyone clear about what they’ll be doing?”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Anil had shown up with my brother’s old drone, a pirate hat, and a velvet jewelry box containing the fake necklace he’d made at work. In response to my query about the hat, he’d simply said, “Dead men tell no tales.”

Gage pulled a weapon from the holster under his jacket and another from his boot. “Lock and load.”

“Put those away,” I snapped. “This is a no-shooting heist.”

“Not even one shot? Just to scare the guards away?”

“No.” I polished off my glass of champagne and poured another.

“What about a Taser?” Emma looked back over her shoulder instead of keeping her eyes on the road.

“Do you have a Taser?”