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)
I couldn’t let him get involved, but he wasn’t letting me go. I couldn’t save myself from what I had to do, but I could protect him from himself. No way was he stooping low with me.
So that meant there was only one thing to do–trick him.
Play along, let him think I was going to let him help, and leave him behind when the time came.
Good thing my dad had taught me how to lie at the same time he taught me how to pick every lock, how to grift and how to steal.
I gave in. Wilted in his hold. I turned, and he loosened his grip, so I remained in his arms. Tilting my head back, I looked up at him. “Thank you,” I whispered.
He instantly cupped my nape and pulled me forward to drop a kiss on the top of my head. “You’re not alone, Megan. We’ll handle this. Together.”
I closed my eyes and nodded.
Like hell we would.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
HAYES
I didn’t like it.
I scrubbed a hand across my face and stared down at the house plans again. I’d shown up at Megan’s the next night when she got off work to go over her plans for the job. We’d had pizza delivered and opened a couple of beers, and we sat at her kitchen table now, nursing the drinks and going over the details.
I’d had Kennedy and the guys researching the hell out of this guy Burns today, trying to find out where he might be holding Megan’s dad. If Alpha Mountain Security could extract Colin Hager before Megan ever got her hands dirty, it would solve everything. So far, we’d come up short, but I was still holding out hope. We extracted oil tycoons and diplomats from the shittiest hell holes on the planet. We could find a deadbeat dad being held prisoner somewhere in the northwest.
“So, you cut the security and drop in through the skylight into a room with laser detectors. Then you’re supposed to hang upside down from the rooftop while you disable the security on the glass case, pick the lock, grab the Viking blade and escape the way you came?”
Megan nodded. “Yeah.”
Christ. I hated the whole plan. Especially the part about her going in solo. SEALs didn’t do solo.
“I don’t like you going in alone while they’re in the house. I did some research, Megan. Did you know this guy, Lucas Straight, is a major donor to the NRA? That means there are weapons in that mansion. Weapons he probably won’t think twice to use if he catches you there. Especially not with Montana’s Castle Law and Stand Your Ground and all that.”
Megan’s jaw flexed. “Everyone in Montana has a gun. What else is new?”
I gave her a look, and she added, “I won’t get caught. I’m actually really good at this.”
God, her voice sounded so heavy. It killed me. I’d do anything to lift the burden from her shoulders right now and carry it all.
“Why’s that exactly?”
“My dad taught me everything, and I had on-the-job training.” She made air quotes as she spoke. “Stealing from people was his job, how he made money.”
“And he used you, a kid, to help.” I wasn’t sure if she even recognized how ridiculous what she was saying was. A man using a kid as a partner in crime.
She shrugged. “I didn’t know any better. He made it fun. Until it wasn’t.”
She looked at the plans, but it was obvious she wasn’t seeing them.
“What happened?” I reached out, took her hand in mine. Her dark gaze lifted. She licked her lips.
“A job a lot like this one. Ironic, isn’t it?” The corner of her mouth turned up. “The Empress ring. Go ahead, look it up.”
I didn’t take my eyes off hers. “I’d rather you tell me than the Internet.”
“I had to climb through ducts to get to it. I rappelled down and picked the lock on the case. Got it even. Somehow, the system came back online. I was caught.”
Jesus.
“Did a year in juvie.”
I leaned back in my chair and wiped a hand down my face. “Where you got your GED.” It all made sense now. “Your record is sealed.”
She nodded. “I was a minor. When I got out at eighteen, I steered as far away from my father as I could.”
“Police academy.”
“Yeah.”
“Let me guess what happened with your dad. Nothing.”
She popped to her feet and paced her small kitchen. I wasn’t even sure if she knew her action was so telling. That she was still riled, still pissed after all this time. Hell, who wouldn’t be?
“He bolted. I was caught. Since I was a minor, I got a slap on the wrist.”
“A year in juvenile detention is a slap on the wrist?” I asked. “It must have been hell.”
She stilled and frowned.
I leaned forward and set my forearms on the table. “Baby doll, you’re going to risk everything for a man–your father–who abandoned you? Who left you to take the fall for his actions? A kid?”