The Cunning Thief (Stolen Hearts #6)(19)
Tristan had his head down and his eyes closed. He wasn’t meditating and he wasn’t sleeping. This was just his way of not talking to anybody. Hunter and Gage had gone through the entire place, making sure no one was hidden in a dark corner. He knew this was necessary. He didn’t want to get ambushed by one of Blackthorne’s men. At the same time, he felt an odd sense of betrayal. As if he shouldn’t be letting these strange men go through all of Shae’s house. It was a stupid feeling. He didn’t owe her anything. They’d only known each other for one day. He’d betrayed people he’d known a lot longer and had a lot less guilt over it.
But knowing that didn’t make the nagging sensation of guilt go away.
“You okay, man?” asked Gage.
Tristan didn’t open his eyes. “I’m fine.”
“You know, I had a girlfriend who told me that once. I asked her, everything okay? I got the great ‘I’m fine’ back. Next thing I knew, she was screaming at me for not doing enough, throwing all my shit out her window. So tell me, are you actually fine, or are you just giving me the chick’s version of fine?”
Tristan opened his eyes to glare at Gage. “Do I have a bullet wound in my chest?”
“Not that I can see.”
“Do I have a hole in my head that’s not supposed to be there?”
“Only your mouth.”
“If it doesn’t look like I’m dying and I say I’m fine, I fucking mean I’m fine.”
“Okay. That’s totally believable. If you need me, I’ll be over here, avoiding your grumpy ass,” said Gage.
Tristan couldn’t help himself. The annoyance got the better of him, and he said, “You gonna call Melissa and bitch about me?”
“The fuck did you just say?” Gage had gone utterly still, the tension creeping through his body.
“Oh yeah, that’s right. She won’t take your calls. I wonder what happened there?”
“Nothing,” he said between gritted teeth as he pivoted around to face Tristan. “She’s Slade’s sister. You know I would never be stupid enough to get involved in something like that.”
Something like that.... Interesting choice of words. He was trying to distance himself from her. Tristan had had a suspicion there was something between the two, but hadn’t confirmed it until right now. He decided not to push too much harder. He didn’t want to get into a physical fight; he just wanted Gage to back the fuck off. “Just letting you know that some things are more apparent than you think they are.”
“Well, just so you know—”
Before Gage could finish, Hunter came back into the room. “Stop bickering, ladies. We’ve got company.”
Tristan stood and rolled his neck, preparing himself for whatever was about to happen. He looked out the window at the black sedan that had pulled into the driveway. Three guys got out. A good number. One-to-one ratio. This would be easy to handle.
“How are you planning this?” asked Hunter.
“Hart is going to want us to go by the book as much as possible.”
“There is no book for this,” pointed out Gage.
“You know what I mean. Call the cops so that they start heading over. Report a break-in. If they catch them, Toni might be able to piggyback off their system to get a valid ID on these guys. And that will give us a few minutes to talk to them ourselves.”
A few minutes might be all they needed. The invaders didn’t use the front door. It was broad daylight, but they didn’t seem to care as they snuck around the porch until they reached the back door and looked into the large windows. Tristan and Gage both bent down so the kitchen counter would provide cover while Hunter stood behind the hallway wall. One of the guys worked on picking the locked back door, and Hunter made his move from behind the wall to behind the couch.
If the invaders had been paying any attention, they would’ve seen it, but they didn’t appear to be particularly great at their jobs. With a team of three, there were enough people to pick a lock, watch the interior of the house to see whether any of the homeowners were there, and watch the perimeter to see whether there were any witnesses around. These guys all just stared at the lock picker, willing him to work faster.
Good strategic thinking wasn’t easy to come by. You had to both be born with it and continuously improve upon what you have. It was like a muscle. If it wasn’t used often, you lost it. Tristan heard the bolts spring free, but he held his position for a moment longer. All three guys were outside now. If they sprung too soon, it would be too easy for the intruders to make a run for it. He counted the steps and listened intently until he made sure all three were inside the house. And then they made the mistake of closing the door behind them.
Without any communication, he, Hunter, and Gage moved at the same time. Hunter tackled the first one who came in; one arm wrapped around his back while his other hand grabbed the gun. The other two reached for their weapons but didn’t have time to draw them. Tristan and Gage were both holding their own guns out and ready and stared menacingly at the guys. Upon closer inspection, Tristan realized exactly how young these three were. No wonder they didn’t know what they were doing. He didn’t even know whether they were out of high school yet. “Think hard and fast about your next decision here, guys.” The two standing exchanged a look, but Hunter had the other kid face down on the ground so Tristan couldn’t see his expression. He decided to up the ante a little bit.