Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(50)

I stared down at my lunch, not hungry at all. Things seemed to be changing so fast. Dev was mad. Daniel was playing a shockingly dangerous game. And I just wanted to get the job done. We had a few days left, but I needed time to figure out how to use the object. We were due in Vegas in five days. Two days after that was the ball. Time was running out. I was getting desperate, and I always make mistakes when I get desperate.

Lunch broke up in favor of games. Two of the older couples set up backgammon boards, while the Ruckers took up Mary Jo on her offer to show them around the grounds. Apparently there was a lovely garden up the road. We were invited, but Dev complained about his slipped disc and everyone nodded sagely and agreed he should rest. Mary Jo had sent me a dirty look like my lust had damaged him. I was glad her husband decided to escort his wife and the Ruckers around.

I’d slipped my trusty kit into the pocket of my cardigan before we came downstairs. It was a basic lock-picking kit, but that’s really all I needed. The lock looked to be a simple pin tumbler, probably bought at a hardware store. It was standard, and I was good with standard. My father provided me an array of locks to practice on when I was in my teens. He considered it my real homework. I spent hours at the kitchen table using a torque wrench and a half-diamond pick.

I glanced at Dev, who nodded slightly to signal he knew what to do. We’d gone over the plan this morning. If we could find a time when everyone was accounted for and away from the kitchen, I would go for it. Normally I would wait until dark, but Mrs. Renfro had proven to be a very light sleeper last night, and I wanted to get this job done. Dev argued for waiting until dinnertime, but I thought the room was too close to the kitchen. All it would take was a forgotten salt shaker for us to get our butts kicked out of the establishment and possibly shoved into the local jail.

Dev leaned back in his chair and looked up at me as I stood. I affectionately ran my fingers through his hair, wondering if this might be the last time I got to do it. His dark hair was thick and silky in my hands, and I let myself linger for a fleeting moment. Dev’s emerald green eyes were curious before he pulled me in for a light kiss. There was no force behind it, no teasing hint of tongue. It was a kiss between partners, not lovers, and I took that as my cue to get the job done.

“Hey, baby,” I said with a smile I was sure didn’t come anywhere near my eyes. “I’m going to run back to the room for a minute.”

“Don’t be too long,” he murmured.

“I won’t.” I wouldn’t. I would be fast because I was good. I might be a crappy girlfriend, but I was a good thief. As I walked out of the parlor, my hands were already pulling out my kit. I walked quietly to the back of the house. Out the back window, I watched as Mary Jo and her husband led the older couple up a wooded path, and when they were safely out of sight, I got to work.

The door was small, but the minute I stood in front of it, I knew there would be no reason for Daniel to cut short his meeting with Jasper tonight. It was here. I could feel it behind the door almost calling to me. It was like Felicity had said. This was an item of angelic origin. It wanted to be with its own kind. I was the closest thing to it, so it had decided I would do. I put my hand to the door and felt it vibrate gently beneath my fingers. If every job was as easy as this, I would be rich. It would be so much simpler if every item I decided to steal just called out and said “hey, I’m right here.”

I slid the torque wrench in first and then the pick. I raked the pins quietly, holding them in place with the wrench when it slid into the right place. It wasn’t long before I felt the lock pop gently into its correct position, turning in my hand like a soft caress. I loved that sound, the simple click of a lock opening just for me. It was intimate and always felt like a victory.

The others might be able to yank a door off the hinges with a single pull. They were able to yank a safe from a wall and gut it to take its contents. I was just a little human with female strength, but they couldn’t do what I could do. They couldn’t seduce a little lock into sweetly offering up its treasures.

I slipped into the dark room, closing the door quickly before anyone could fumble into the hall. Darkness swallowed me, and I had to take a deep breath before starting to feel around for a light switch. My hands ran up the wall, though if that slight stench was what I thought it was, I might be better off not seeing. The switch was next to the door on the right side. I was glad it was daytime so I didn’t have to worry about light spilling under the doorframe and giving away my position.

The light blinked on, coating the room in yellow harshness. I did a double take because it was hard to believe what I was seeing. Looking around that little room, I realized that my crazy-ass bitch meter was functioning just fine.

It was an altar room, and Mary Jo was definitely a witch, and not the white kind.

There was black magic all over that room. The rest of the house was a distraction. This little room was Mary Jo’s soul. It was where she did her real work. Small and devoid of any of the fussy trappings of the rest of the house, the altar room reeked of darkness. Hex bags sat on a small work table. A small clump of red hair was waiting to go into one of those bags. Mine, I would bet. For the thousandth time, I considered cutting my long hair. I might just shave it all off and wear a wig because I really hated hexes, and they worked better when a piece of the person being hexed could be included. Hair was the easiest way to go. I picked up the hair and shoved it in my pocket because I wasn’t leaving a piece of myself behind for her to play with.