The Cocky Thief

Chapter 32

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Greg Stranger sneered.

It's hard to feel smart when there was a gun pointed at your head, thought Jennifer. "We're just here for my sister," she said carefully, trying not to set him off.

"Well, you're shit out of luck. Get in here, both of you."

Jennifer glanced over at Austin as they both started to walk into the dark office. She wasn't sure whether Austin had any bright ideas to get them out of this but she was drawing a blank. However, there was one fallback tactic that always worked when she was out of ideas. Keep talking until something came to her. "We're not here to cause you trouble. We want to make the trade for Melody, remember? Now, since you backed out of the deal, we came to look for you."

He let out a bitter laugh. "You think I believe anything you or your poisonous family says? No. I'm not going to let you lie to me any longer. Here's what is going to happen. You're going to bring me the Dragon Heart right now or you're both going to get a bullet in your head. Now give it to me!" He screamed so loudly that spit flew out of his mouth.

Jennifer tried to keep her distress to a minimum. The only thing that helped to calm her fears was the sudden voice in her ear of Scott Hart. "Weston, stay on Melody. I'm going in now."

Toni added, "Keep him talking, Miles. I'm activating Plan C right now."

Plan C? She didn't even know there'd been a Plan B...

Austin took a tentative step forward, drawing the gun in his direction. "Hey, if giving you the necklace will make you happy, we'd be more than happy to hand it over. But we have to get it."

"No, you don't. I know you were working with someone else."

"That's all part of the con. Make you feel outnumbered and unprepared. We're the only people here and we have the Dragon Heart stashed in our car at the parking garage. Not exactly the kind of thing you just walk in with if you don't even have proof of life. So why don't the three of us—"

"Shut up!" The gun shook a little and Jennifer could tell the stress was getting to him.

"I want to do whatever we need to do to make sure Melody is okay, Greg." If he was wavering, that was good. Guns were dangerous, but they were horrible weapons for close-quarters combat. If one of them could distract Stranger, the other could go in for the gun.

"I'm all set up, Miles. Tell me when and I'll pull the trigger," said Toni.

Jennifer glanced over to Austin, but his face was blank. What was he planning?

Austin took a step forward and Greg pointed the gun firmly in his direction. Jennifer looked to see whether there was a point when she could take a run at Stranger, but it was too easy for him to pull that trigger.

"I think you should put that gun down." Austin took another step closer to Stranger.

"I'm not doing anything until you give me that necklace!" A bead of sweat fell down Stranger's forehead. He acted as if he were the one with the gun pointed at him.

Austin, on the other hand, set his hands down by his sides and looked as if he were having a casual conversation. "If you don't put that gun down right now, Austin Miles is going to die."

Jennifer didn't know who was more surprised—Stranger or her. "Wait, what?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Stranger at the same time.

"You get around in the underworld. Have you ever heard of me? Austin Miles?"

"Seriously, what are you doing?" she whispered, even though she knew Stranger could hear them.