The Cocky Thief

Chapter 30

Austin ran a hand up and down Jennifer's back. "It's going to be okay." He had no idea whether that was true, but he wasn't about to freak her out any more. They were still on the dance floor and he didn't want to draw any extra attention to them.

"My mother and sister are now both missing. How is this going to be okay?"

Scott answered before Austin could. "Jennifer, Isobel is MIA. Can you make it upstairs to check what happened? Bring Austin with you."

"The entire point of having us here was so we could be a distraction and be noticed and now you want us to run a job?" snapped Austin.

"Things change. Toni has the security feed up for all of the fifteenth floor and there's no sign of Isobel."

Jennifer's heart leapt into her throat. "You don't think—"

"I think that when she heard Melody wasn't there, she turned off her comm and went looking for her. Remember when I said that rebellions like this are what get people killed? This is what I was trying to avoid. So now we have to adjust."

Austin scanned the room but didn't see any sign of Stranger. "We need to get a keycard that can get us into the stairwell then."

"You get the keycard and I'll distract." Jennifer pulled away from Austin and walked away. It was strange to know just how stressed she was but from looking at her, she seemed utterly calm and collected. A true professional.

But if she was doing her job, he'd better do his. He spotted the nearest empty table and swiped one of the half-empty drinks that had been abandoned. He pretended to take a sip as he dipped two fingers into what smelled like whiskey. Then he dabbed the liquor on his neck and sides of his jacket.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Jennifer had nabbed a black shawl that made her bright-red dress a little less noticeable and was headed over to the exit in the northwest corner. He started in the same direction and added a little stumble to his walk. When he made it to the security guard, he gave his drunk stumble a little extra oomph and went careening right into the beefy six-foot-tall guard.

"Watch it, buddy," said the guard in a stern voice.

Austin let out a billowing laugh as he pushed a bit harder than necessary on the guard while his other hand slipped into his pocket and lifted his wallet. Like riding a bike... Picking a pocket never got old.

"I'm so sorry," he said, speaking close enough to the guard's face to have him reeling back.

"That's enough. Step away, sir, or I'm going to have to remove you."

Austin slipped the wallet out of sight before he stumbled back. "Lighten up. It's a party. I'm just partying." He meandered a few feet away while muttering to himself as he took out his phone, as if to drunk text his ex.

And that was right when Jennifer walked up. He was able to just see her in his peripheral vision.

"Hello," she said in her super sweet voice that he knew was bullshit. "I just found this on the ground and I know its owner must just be devastated at the loss. If I know my jewelry, and I do, these are real diamonds."

Smart girl. She'd swiped a bracelet that was probably worth a hundred thousand. That had to be enough to get the guard to personally leave his post and try to find its owner.

"Thanks for bringing it to me, ma'am. I'll make sure it gets to its rightful owner."

"Oh, that's so great. I was worried just thinking about how panicked the owner is going to be." She smiled up at him and for a second, Austin forgot his character as he noticed that the guard looked back at Jennifer with a doofy look in his face. A doofy look Austin was becoming all too familiar with. Jennifer did seem to have that effect on men. Now if the guard would do his damn job and take the bracelet instead of looking at his girlfriend as if she was the sexiest thing in the room...

Well, she wasn't his girlfriend. And she was the sexiest thing in the room. Fuck, the guy just needed to stop.

Finally, he seemed to pull himself away from Jennifer's charm and took the bracelet from her as he left his post. But Austin couldn't make his move then because the guard was still making googly eyes at Jennifer over his shoulder. If he could roll his eyes any harder, the damn things would fall out.

Once the coast was clear, he picked the keycard out of the wallet and, as quickly as possible, made it to the door and swiped the magnetic card over the slot. The door lock clicked open. "Do guys fall in love with you everywhere you go?"

"They do when I'm handing out free diamond bracelets," she said as they both slipped into the stairwell.

"I thought the secret to a man's heart was through his stomach."

"That many carats can buy a lot of dinners."

Couldn't argue with that. It was a thirteen-story climb up and Austin was fit, but they took the stairs so fast that they were both breathing hard by the time they got up to the top level. "Do we need to be on the lookout for anything?" Austin leaned against the wall, giving himself a few seconds to recuperate.

"I don't see anyone on the cameras, but from what I can tell, Stranger's office isn't monitored," said Toni over the comm.

"Criminals don't really like cameras." Jennifer brushed a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "Any word from Mom?"

"Nothing yet. Her comm is turned off and she's not on any of the cameras. I'm cycling through all the feeds, though."

"She'll show up," said Austin. "She wouldn't have left if she didn't know that we could handle this."

He could tell from the look on Jennifer's face that she wasn't convinced, but it was all the comfort he could offer her at the moment. "Toni, we're going to need you to guide us. We don't know the layout like Isobel did."

"I've got you. Once you're out the door, you're going to take the second left and his office is all the way at the end."

"Okay," said Jennifer. "We're going in."

Austin pulled open the door and went first. Even though they had someone on the cameras, it was second nature to proceed cautiously. It creeped him the hell out to know he was being monitored, but there were some benefits to having people in his head.

"What's your status, Weston?" said Scott.

"Just got to the basement. Starting my search now," said the gruff whisper.

Austin couldn't believe the detail in the audio these things picked up. Toni had to have nabbed this technology from some government agency he probably didn't even know existed.

They reached the turn, and there was still no sign of anyone. Almost all the lights were off, so the glow of the cityscape and the moon outside gave a soft blue sheen to the office space. The corridor they were approaching was lined with offices on one side and cubicles on the other, and the offices cut down on the light spilling in.

"You sure we're good?" asked Austin. Even though he couldn't see or hear anyone, his other senses were telling him something was off.

"I haven't seen anyone up there but you."

"Come on, Austin." Jennifer took the lead. "We're this far already. No turning back now."

"Famous last words," he pointed out as he followed her.

Stranger was the owner of the company, so he had the plush corner office at the end. The door was closed. Jennifer tentatively reached out and Austin held his breath as she turned the handle.

The knob clicked and the door swung open. It wasn't even locked? Well, that was a plus.

Aplus that was quickly negated by the sound of a gun cocking.