Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(17)

‘You might not be in one piece, that’s all,’ Brochan muttered under his breath.

I laughed, trying to sound more confident than I felt. ‘If this moneylender guy wants a piece of me, then he’s got good taste.’

‘Let me speak to the others. I’m sure between the three of us we can scrape together enough money to sort things out.’

A part of me really wanted to say yes but it wasn’t fair. ‘If you don’t think I should be involved,’ I said firmly, ‘then you lot definitely shouldn’t be. Taylor and I will work something out. There’s still time.’

‘Integrity…’

I met his eyes. ‘I promise that if I can’t find an alternative solution then I’ll come and talk to you, alright? I’m sure it won’t come to that though.’ It definitely wouldn’t. I’d use Bob’s wishes before I involved the crew. The scarred man was dangerous, even if he’d laid me down on the sofa after knocking me out. I remained convinced that his boss wanted something more than money – and until we knew what that something was, it made sense to keep things between Taylor and me. ‘This isn’t your problem,’ I reiterated.

‘Why is it,’ he complained, ‘that you can say that to me and believe it, but I can’t say it to you?’

I smirked. ‘Sheer stubborn contrariness, of course.’

He gripped my fingers tightly, bare seconds before there was a squeal of tires and the sudden sharp howl of a siren. My stomach dropped. Oh shite. We were cornered and there was nowhere to run.

‘Iain Brochan! You’re under arrest for assault. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

I gaped. Assault? What the hell? A burly police officer jumped out of the car, snapped a pair of handcuffs round Brochan’s wrists and flung him into the back seat.

‘Wait!’ I shouted. ‘He’s not done anything! You can’t do this!’

The car door slammed shut. From the other side of the window, Brochan stared at me with wide eyes. ‘Get the others,’ he mouthed.

‘Stop!’ I shrieked again. It was pointless. The police officer didn’t give me so much as a glance; he simply clambered into the driver’s seat and the car took off, leaving me standing there frozen with shock. Dry leaves skittered across the road in the wake of the car’s departure.

With shaking fingers, I pulled out my phone. Before I could dial, however, it rang and Lexie’s name flashed up on the screen. Thank the stars.

‘Lexie,’ I said, urgently, ‘listen. Something’s happened. Brochan…’

‘It’s Speck,’ she broke in. ‘He’s been arrested. He sent me a text message just now. They broke in his door, Integrity.’

The tendrils of dread curling round my heart squeezed further. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t know,’ she babbled. ‘There wasn’t time for him to explain. It has to be the bank job. How did they get onto us? How…’

Cold rationality replaced my fear. ‘Leave now, Lexie,’ I told her. ‘Don’t pack anything. Get out of your house and find somewhere to lay low. Someone’s after us and I don’t know why.’

‘But…’

‘Do it! Dump your phone too. I’ll come and find you when I know what’s going on.’

‘I’m scared.’

I swallowed. ‘Me too. But go, Lex. Now.’

I sprinted the last few hundred metres home, flung open my door and bolted inside. Taylor’s strained expression greeted me.

‘Who else knows about the bank job?’ I demanded.

He blinked. ‘What?’

‘The Lia Saifire, Taylor. Who else did you tell about it?’

Confusion was written across his face. ‘No-one. I’m not stupid. What’s happened?’

I cursed, flipping on my laptop to scan the news. There was nothing. It was still the holiday; in theory no one would have noticed the break-in yet. But then why had both Brochan and Speck been arrested?

‘Tegs,’ Taylor said again, ‘what’s happened?’

‘Brochan was just arrested for assault, right in front of me.’

He rose up from his chair, staggering slightly. ‘Assault? But he would never…’

‘I know,’ I answered grimly. I pulled out my phone again, smoothing back my hair and trying to adopt a calm, professional tone. It took seconds to find the number I needed. ‘This is Joanna Smith,’ I said into the receiver. ‘I believe you’ve just arrested a client of mine, Mark Specton. What are the charges?’

I waited while the person on the other end tapped at a keyboard. When I got my answer, I muttered a brief word of thanks and hung up.

‘Speck’s been arrested for hacking,’ I told Taylor grimly.

He sank back down into his chair. ‘Now that I could believe,’ he said, ‘except for the fact that Speck’s too damn good.’

I agreed. Never mind being one step ahead of the cyber-crimes unit, Speck was about a thousand. He was too skilled to leave a trail and get caught. I shook my head. ‘This isn’t a coincidence. Your loan. Brochan. Now Speck … it’s all connected.’