And right there… a beautiful woman enjoys a drink.
I lick the salt from my hand before tipping my tequila down my throat. Picking up the lime wedge before me, I bite into it, savoring the juice a moment before discarding it.
Letting my gaze roam over my friends, I stand slowly and button my suit jacket. Unlike everyone else’s casual clothes, I’m wearing a designer business suit.
What can I say? I like to dress nice.
“Sorry, ladies.” I smile at Anna and Barrett before scanning the fellows. “And gents… but we’ll save the reason I became a thief for another time. I see something that looks a whole lot more fun than you people.”
I cut my eyes to the woman. She’s around my age—which is thirty-six—maybe even a bit older. In a designer dress with an expensive handbag, she wears expensive jewelry but no wedding ring. I’m betting she’ll smell of high-end perfume.
All heads at our table swing the direction in which I’m looking.
Dozer murmurs, “Very nice.”
Cage barks out a laugh. “No way. She’s so out of your league.”
“She is wearing a nice haul of jewelry,” Cruce points out, and I can’t help but snicker.
Shaking my head, I wink. “Her jewels are safe from me… but other parts of her aren’t.”
“Dayum,” Dozer intones, one eyebrow shooting up. “Boy has some moves.”
Jimmy playfully covers his wife’s ears, then raises his voice, “Don’t listen to this filth, honey.”
She bats his hands away, laughing, then playfully says, “I’ll lay twenty on the table that Saint scores.”
“Baby,” Jimmy exclaims with faux shock she’d dare wager on a man’s sex life. But then he grins and pulls his wallet out. “Twenty on him striking out.”
They call out bets left and right, but I ignore them. I shoot Anna a gracious wink to show my appreciation for her confidence in me, then move around the table toward the lonely looking, but incredibly beautiful, woman at the bar.
Only to be cut off by Kynan McGrath.
I pull up hard, a bit astonished to see him. He’d declined our invitation to go out for drinks, saying he had important calls to handle. Bebe Grimshaw—our resident hacker—hadn’t come either, but her son Aaron wasn’t feeling well. She’d wanted to head home to check on him.
“Got a minute?” Kynan asks.
“Yeah… sure,” I say, momentarily forgetting the woman at the bar.
He moves through the crowd, heading toward the exit. I glance at the table, finding my teammates watching. They hadn’t failed to see Kynan come in. The huge, blond Brit is hard to miss, even in this crowd.
I follow Kynan out onto the sidewalk. It’s the first week of June—not quite summer—and the evening temperatures are amazing. It can’t be more than sixty degrees out, which is a pleasant change to the body heat inside the bar.
The streets aren’t crowded, so Kynan moves a few feet down from the doorway, turning to face me before leaning against the building. “Had an interesting call tonight. Jack Powers of Allied Insurance Services.”
This piques my interest. “Specializes in insuring famous artworks.”
“He called on behalf of several insurers. Seems there’s been a rash of high-end hits over the past two years. They’re pooling their resources to try to bring this ring down.”
“What makes them think it’s an organized ring?” I ask. Most jobs are independently done on a small scale.
“There are some patterns,” Kynan says with a shrug. “Rare techniques being used.”
This makes sense. A lot of thieves have distinct calling cards. Enhanced skills they’ve become known for.
My specific forte was in advanced technology tactics to bypass digital security systems. Others are great at hot-wiring expensive collector cars.
“He wants to hire us to infiltrate a well-known crew operating out of Europe. They suspect this crew is putting together a huge heist—that these prior hits were practice for a much larger payday.”
“You don’t just infiltrate a heist ring,” I say blandly. “You have to have connections.”
“The name William Mears mean anything to you?” Kynan asks.
I blink in surprise. “Yeah. British. Did some jobs with him. He’s one of the best.”
“Well, he’s apparently the suspected crew leader. Working out of Paris.”
I have to think for a moment, but it only takes half that time for a chill to shoot up my spine. “Wait a minute… does Powers know I work for you? What makes him think you have anyone here at Jameson who could have a leg in with this ring?”
Kynan nods. “They’ve apparently had eyes on you since you got out of prison. They knew you worked here.”
Jesus… insurers of precious artworks and jewelry have watched me since I got out of prison? I never thought they’d go so far as to protect their assets in that way.
I’m flattered—at least a little.
But then another thought strikes. “If the insurance industry has kept tabs on me, what makes you think the bad guys haven’t done the same? It’s entirely possible Mears knows I work for you.”
Kynan shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not. But I suspect if you went to him, asked to get on his crew, and he declines, then he probably knows you work for me.”
“They kill people for less than that,” I say pointedly.
“Which is why it’s up to you if you want to take this job,” Kynan says. “I told Jack I’d lay it out to you, but it was your decision since you’d be going in alone with no backup and you’d be putting your neck on the line. They want to know who the mastermind is and how they bankroll the operation. I don’t imagine they care about Mears. They want the guy who hired him and his crew, and they want to know what’s coming down the pike. Bottom line is to put them out of business.”
Christ.
I have no love lost for the people who are still in the business of stealing pricey stuff, but I have nothing against them either. Live and let live is my motto.
But it could also be an important job for Jameson. I don’t have the skills Malik and Jimmy have. I’m not going to run off to a Middle Eastern country to save hostages.
This is my chance to be useful to the man who hired me straight out of prison.
“When would I leave?” I ask.
“Tomorrow,” he says. “They’re anxious for you to start.”
“I need all the up-to-date information on Mears,” I say. “What he’s been doing the last few years and such.”
He’s going to be my in, so I have to know what he’s been up to. I need him to want me on his crew.
Kynan pushes away from the building. “I’ll have the information by morning. And Bebe will have a new alias for you to travel under. She’s working on the documents now.”
I nod. “I’ll make arrangements to fly out tomorrow.”
Smiling, Kynan sticks his hand out. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I reply, feeling surprisingly good about this job. I fucking love Paris. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world. I’ve spent a bit of time there over the years. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a lady inside who many of your employees don’t think I have a snowball’s chance in hell with. I need to go prove them wrong.”