“I don’t know what happened. We talked on the phone and everything was fine. I was picking up dinner and coming home, and then…”
He trailed off. That was it.
“She found something,” he whispered.
Ryder looked up sharply, his eyebrows knitting. “What kind of something?”
Markus ran his palm over his mouth, mind racing. He did a mental inventory of his apartment. Viv didn’t seem like the kind of girl to go through a person’s belongings. Had she stumbled upon something?
“Damn.” He closed his eyes.
“What? What is it? Come on, man. Don’t tell me you left something about these diamonds out.”
“No.” He took the seat across from Ryder. “There’s a box on top of my fridge. I was going to move it, and I forgot. I didn’t think she’d be there without me.”
“What’s in the box?”
“Cash. A gun. A burner phone.”
Ryder whistled low. “Nice.”
Markus folded his arms, chewing on the new possibility.
“But,” Ryder said, opening up his rifle, “if she found all of that, why not ask you about it? There’s an easy explanation, I’m sure.”
“And what would that be?”
“Uh…” Ryder scratched his head, looking stumped.
“Her dad.” Markus shook his head. “That’s why. She probably thinks I’m like him. A no-good criminal.”
“You are a criminal,” Ryder pointed out.
Markus glared. “It’s different.”
“How?”
“Viv’s dad wasn’t around for her. I am. I will be.”
“Okay.”
Markus huffed. “A little support here would be nice.”
“Listen, man. What do you want me to say? You’re all twisted up about some girl, and it’s the wrong time to be distracted. We have a job to do. Once we’re done, go back to this other stuff, but until then, head in the game. You know, if you like breathing.”
“I know how serious this is.” With his arms folded and a frown on, Markus felt like a petulant child.
“Do you?” Leaving the cleaning for the moment, Ryder placed his hands on the table and stared at Markus. “Because the man we’re stealing from isn’t Bobby What’s-His-Face, a little frat boy with big-time drug dealer dreams. It’s Dagger Rossi. He makes people disappear.”
Biting back a curse, Markus pushed his fingers through his hair. “You’re right. I’m focused. I will be focused. You can count on me.”
“Good.” He leveled his gaze with Markus. “Viv is something special. I know that. Not only from meeting her, but from seeing the effect she’s had on you. You’ll get to her, okay? One thing at a time.”
“One thing at a time,” Markus agreed. He jerked his head at the map on the table. “What’s that there?”
Ryder smoothed the map and pointed to a spot in the lower right-hand corner. “This is the warehouse.”
Leaving his seat, Markus joined Ryder on the other side of the table. “Okay. How far’s that? A mile off the highway?”
“Exactly.”
“And security?”
“There’s a standard alarm system. The kind used in homes and storage units.”
“Really?” Markus asked. “I would think Dagger would go for something more high-tech.”
“Could be that he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. But it’s not like he doesn’t have security in other forms. There’s a guard, staying in the closest trailer.”
“One?”
“Yep. That gets switched every twelve hours.”
Before Markus could answer, there was a knock on Ryder’s front door. The two men looked at each other.
“I’m expecting A.J.,” Ryder said.
“A.J.?” Markus didn’t even try to hide his disgust. “Does he have something to do with this?”
Ryder lifted a shoulder.
“Don’t tell me he’s your tip on this.”
“Okay.” Ryder stood and grabbed the nearest handgun. “I won’t.”
Markus rolled his eyes at the ceiling. For real?
Though Bobby Arnett might have been a “wannabe,” he had nothing on A.J. The kid was notorious for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, and he was constantly in and out of twelve-step programs, depending on where his head was at that month.
One time, A.J. had showed up telling Markus and Ryder he had some pills he wanted to sell. Since Markus didn’t deal in drugs—never had and never would—he sent A.J. on his way, but not before discovering the “drugs” were actually zinc tablets.
He’d heard a few days after that, A.J. had gotten his ass kicked at a party for trying to pass them off as something else. No surprise there.
Markus stopped Ryder with a touch to the shoulder. “Are you crazy? What makes you think you can trust anything he says?”
“Simple. His cousin is friends with one of the guards I just mentioned.”
Markus dropped his hand. Hard to argue with that info.
“Who is it?” Ryder asked, even though he looked through the peephole.
“It’s A.J., man. Lemme in. It’s hot as balls out here.”
“It’s Florida,” Markus muttered. “It’s always that hot.”
Still holding his Glock, Ryder opened up. A.J., a skinny kid in clothes that were way too big for him, slid into the house. He eyed Ryder’s handgun warily.
“What’s that out for?”
“Can never be too careful.” Ryder double-locked the door.
“Huh.” A.J. took a seat on the couch. “What’s going on? You boys ready to be a million dollars richer?”
Markus and Ryder shared a look. This whole thing didn’t feel a hundred percent yet. Then again, no job ever did. Not even once they were done with it.
“How do you know what’s in the warehouse?” Markus asked A.J. “Have you been in there?”
“No.” A.J. stiffened. “My cousin knows all about it.”
“Has he been in there?”
“Uh… no.”
“Hm. Okay.”
Ryder cut in. “You have some news for us?”
“Yeah, I do.” A.J. smiled, intensely pleased with himself. “Dagger’s gonna be out of town next Tuesday. He’ll have his top security with him. That means only these fake, hired dudes to guard the warehouse. Ones with no real experience.”
“And how do you know they don’t have experience?” Markus asked.
“Easy. My cousin’s friend doesn’t. He’s, like, never held a gun before this job. Don’t really know how he got it. Guess Dagger is running through people or something.”
“Next Tuesday,” Markus repeated slowly.
His heartbeat sped up.
He’d wondered before if this job would be too big and dangerous for two men, but if there was only one guard and a standard security system, it would be a cinch.
“And the security system?” Ryder asked. “Did you find out what kind it is?”
“It’s Final Look.”
Ryder smirked. “Perfect,” he purred.