The Cocky Thief

Chapter 17

Austin had a bad feeling about this before they ever got to the car rental place. "How are we supposed to figure out if she was here?"

"I know the alias she was traveling under. All we have to do is check to see if she got the car or not."

"And I'm sure if we just ask nicely they'll tell us everything we need to know," he said sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes and looked over at him. "Stop acting like you've never stolen information before. You know just as well as I do that a little razzle and dazzle is all you need."

Austin did know that, but he'd rather be far away from here instead of pushing their luck. After half an hour of fighting with Jennifer, he'd had to face the realization that if he didn't want her jumping out of the car in the middle of the freeway, he was going to have to give in.

So now here they were, in one of the least safe locations in the world for them at the moment. Considering there was no sign of Melody or people who would be looking for Melody, Austin figured there was no way this was going to go the way Jennifer wanted it to.

Because if Stranger's guys hadn't found her yet, wouldn't they still be here? He didn't know the history between the family, but even back at the vineyard, Jennifer had been protective of Melody. Even this escape route of renting a car and driving off was the safest of all the escape routes.

"Stay here. I'm going to scout it."

She started to open the door and Austin reached over for her. "Don't you think we should do this together?"

"We're going to be together. You're going to be here and I'm going to be discreetly taking a look. Now I'll be right back. Besides, if you're with me, you'll draw more attention. You'll probably be able to see me the whole time anyway." Without waiting for his approval, she jumped out of the car.

Austin ran a hand over his jaw as he watched her walk the long way around the building. She was good. She had his phone out and stared intently at the screen, but he knew it was just a cover as her shifting eyes took in every detail she needed to. The only reason he could tell what she was doing was because he'd done the same maneuvers.

The rental building itself was very small, just big enough for the service counter and a few back rooms for employees, but the parking lot with the inventory and different sections for returning cars and cars ready for customers gave Jennifer room to maneuver. But when she disappeared behind the building, he sat up and squinted, willing her to come out. Just because they didn't see any of Stranger's guys didn't mean they weren't hiding out somewhere.

The minutes stretched on and he tapped his thumb against the steering wheel. She knew he was waiting for her, so what the hell was taking so long? He glanced at the clock in the dash. She had two minutes before he got out and went after her.

His eyes darted between the spot he'd seen her disappear and the clock. When she had about ten seconds left, she finally appeared and she jogged back over to the car, looking as calm as could be. Austin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Fuck, he didn't know why he was so wound up. It wasn't the Smithsonian; it was a DriveRite rental place.

Instead of going back to her seat, Jennifer approached the driver's side and opened the door. "This is going to be easy. Let's go."

Great. One more job he knew nothing about. "How do you want to work it? Walk in and ask if they've seen her?"

She shook her head. "Too easy to lie. For all we know, Stranger's guys paid them to stay quiet. I want to get a look at the reservation and see if Melody ever picked it up. So we're going to do a basic distraction."

Okay, he could do that in his sleep. "Which one of us is the distraction?"

"The two people behind the counter are women."

Great. That meant he was up. "Fine. How long do you need?"

She shrugged. "I don't know how the DriveRite computer system works. You just need to keep them busy. I trust you can do that." Before he could answer, Jennifer grabbed one of his hands and worked on rolling up one of his sleeves that had come loose, and then ran her hands through his hair to mess it up and then started to tuck the loose ends of his shirt into his pants.

That was the last straw. His hands shot out, grabbing her wrists and keeping her hands next to his belt buckle. "Next time you stick your hands down my pants, it had better be for something more exciting than being a decoy."

Her mouth dropped and a flush of red crept up her cheeks, but she pulled her hands free and took a step back instead of responding. "Then finish getting sexy, Austin. I need you to turn up the heat in there, okay?"

Austin rolled his eyes as he undid one of the buttons on his shirt. "I could do this in my sleep, okay? You just do what you need to do so we can get the hell out of here."

"The back door is open, so you go in and do your thing. I'll come in from the back."

"What are you going to say if you get caught?"

"You're going to be so distracting I won't need to worry about it, will I?"

Austin sighed. Was he really going to do this? But then she gave him one quick, hopeful glance before she turned and started to head toward the back of the building again. Yep. He was doing this.

He reached into the SUV and pulled out his remaining coffee and shut the door. Now or never.

;lin$