The Cunning Thief (Stolen Hearts #6)(5)

Toni didn’t pull any punches. “Do you want to tell me what exactly happened tonight? You were only supposed to be taking a look around. Reporting back how many guards there were. If there were cameras. If it looked shady. How the hell did an entire SWAT team get called?”

“I was doing exactly what you told me to. I was counting cameras and I got caught.”

“Don’t bullshit me,” said Toni. “You were inside the building when you got caught. And why didn't you use your watch to signal that you needed help?”

Because I forgot I had the watch... "If I thought I was in real danger I would've signaled for help. Besides, I was doing what you asked. Sometimes, for reconnaissance, you have to make decisions on your own. I weighed the risk and decided it’d be worthwhile.”

Hart pushed away from the desk and stared Tristan down. “You’re not working alone here. You have an entire team to back you up. If you were going to go inside, we could’ve had eyes and ears on you the entire time. We could’ve been monitoring you. You got taken in there and you were completely on your own. We wouldn’t have been able to get there in time to help.”

“So fucking what? Do I look injured to you? I got out just fine. I didn’t need anybody to get me out.”

“You got lucky,” said Toni. “If that door had been made of anything else, how would you have gotten out?”

“I would’ve figured something out.”

“That’s the beauty of being on a team,” said Toni. “We can help you figure things out. Things that won’t give you a bruised shoulder for a week.”

“I don’t have to listen to this. If you’re so pissed off at me, why don’t you give me a negative evaluation on the next performance review,” he said bitterly. This wasn’t a normal job. He didn’t have to sit here and be berated about his performance when he’d gotten out just fine. And he got all the information he needed about the security inside the Blackthorne building. So technically he’d done his job.

“They’re going to be at least doubling security there,” said Hart. “You’ll have to do a completely different reconnaissance mission once they get all set up, and who knows how long that could take?”

“Fine. I might’ve gotten shit for the cameras and security, but I got something better. I have a name. Damask is the man behind Blackthorne.”

Toni frowned. “That sounds familiar.... I’ve definitely seen that name before. What makes you think he’s behind everything?”

“Because when I was thrown into the closet, there was a girl in there with me.” He was half surprised Toni didn’t know about this, considering she seemed to know everything else. “She said that Damask had been threatening her, and when she came to tell them to back off, that’s when she got stuck in the closet. I guess they thought we were working together.”

Everyone in the room looked just as confused as he’d been. “She was thrown in the closet? Why didn’t they just kill her?” asked Hart.

“All very good questions. When I find Damask, I’ll ask him.”

Toni shook her head. “No. Hell no. You’ve already compromised yourself. They know your face. They probably have pictures of it from the cameras. You can’t go investigating this guy. I’ll have someone else do it.”

“You’re fucking kidding me. You’re benching me?”

Toni rolled her eyes. “Of course we’re not benching you. You’re useful. You’re better at what you do than pretty much anybody else. Why do you think I’m so pissed that you went off script?” Her thumb tapped against her thigh. She seemed to be working through things.

Hart set a hand on her shoulder. “He’s compromised, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be used.”

“I love being talked about as if I’m not here,” muttered Tristan.

Hart frowned but kept his attention focused on Toni. “If they kept the girl alive, it’s probably for a reason. And if they suspect Tristan is working with her, maybe we can use that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Tristan.

“That means you leave Blackthorne to us,” said Hart. “I want you to find out who the girl is. Figure out why she’s so important to Blackthorne. See if there’s any way we can use her to help us, or if she needs help from us.”

“So what is it?” asked Tristan. “Do you want me to use her, or do you want her to use me?”

Toni smiled. “Well, I guess you’ll have to use your best intuition.”

Great. Because so far, his intuition had gotten him nothing but trouble.





Shae cursed as something sharp pierced her foot. She jumped backward on the uninjured foot until she could lean up against a wall and look at the offending little piece of glass that somehow survived her intense cleanup efforts.

It was big enough that she was able to tug it out with her hands, and she stared at it in anger for a second. One more reminder about the entire Blackthorne fiasco from last night. After the brick had crashed through a window, she’d swept and vacuumed and Lysoled and put plastic over the window, but apparently she hadn’t done well enough. As much as it hurt when she stepped on the glass, her foot didn’t appear to be badly injured. There was only a drop of blood that she wiped away.