The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts #3)(40)

“Aren’t there cameras in Belli’s office?” bit out James.

“No!” yelled Toni into his ear. “It’s a dark zone.”

“There’s someone here,” whispered Jennifer.

“James, you need to be up there now,” said Austin.

“Weston, you’re going to get there first,” said Hart, the only one left who seemed to be keeping a cool head. “The second those doors open, make a run for it.”

And then the doors opened and James ran. He already knew right where Jadon’s office was. He slammed into the door and saw the strange guy in the middle of it. “Drake Securities, right? Where’s the intruder? I thought you were supposed to have him in custody already.”

“I’m going to be there in twenty seconds,” said Austin.

“Jennifer, I want you to make a run for it once Austin is close. Weston, I want you to clear the way for Jennifer to make it to the elevator. It’s more vulnerable than the stairs, but you’re too high up for the stairs to make sense. We’re going to shut down the elevators once Austin and Jennifer are clear, so get ready to deal with the fallout, Weston. If things look too heavy, get out with them.”

While Hart was giving orders, the Drake Securities guy was talking, but James only caught every other word. The gist of it was that he was still clearing the room. “Shriver will be here in a few minutes,” he said to Austin and the Drake man. “If I were hiding, I’d try to get to another room.” James glanced around, trying to figure out where Jennifer would be. “Have you checked out the attached conference room yet?”

The security man shook his head. “I got here too fast for that. I would’ve seen. Let me do one more sweep around the room.”

“Austin’s coming up on Shriver,” said Toni in his ear. “Weston, clear a path for Jennifer now.”

Damn it. Weston hated to do bad at any job, even a fake one. But the second Jennifer popped out, James threw himself between her and the new security guy. Jennifer didn’t kid around and slammed her elbow into his gut. Normally he’d be able to shrug it off, but he made his grunt believable and fell back against the new guy. It was shit for a tactic, but it was just enough to let Jennifer and Austin make a run for it. James got up and ran after them, hopping over Shriver’s limp body. Whatever Austin had done, it had knocked him out cold.

James pointed his gun at the elevator as Austin and Jennifer got on. Jennifer was already pulling at her jacket and pants, changing her outfit so when she stepped off the elevator she’d probably be unrecognizable. To make it look good, James aimed his gun in the general direction of the elevator and fired off a few wide shots.

He didn’t take a fully deep breath until the doors had closed.

Fuck. So much for an easy job.

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Willa sighed as she took another drink of water. Yet another day that would be better with alcohol. Considering how often she was thinking that lately, she was going to have to be in a twelve-step program.

“Earth to Willa. What’s going on?” Stephanie was tossing her salad on her plate and looking rather unimpressed. Willa wasn’t sure whether her friend’s dejected expression was because of Willa’s distant behavior or the fact that the salad was eighty percent dressing and twenty percent greens.

“I’m sorry.” Willa checked the burner phone Toni had given her one more time. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. “I’m a little distracted.”

“Gee. If only there was someone you could share your problems with. Maybe over a lunch at the newest and apparently overrated cafe in town.” Stephanie threw her fork down, giving up on the salad. “Please make me feel better about the shitty food by telling me about your problems.”

“At least my pain can bring someone else joy.” Willa pushed her own dish aside. The chef must’ve screwed someone to get this job because it sure as hell wasn’t their cooking skills keeping them employed. “Steph, I really don’t want to get into the details. I don’t want to think about my problems right now.”

“Well, I don’t want to think about mine,” she said in a slightly annoyed voice.

Willa immediately felt guilty. She might be going through some first-class, serious stuff, but that didn’t mean she had to act as if she were the only one with problems. It wasn’t as if she could help any of the Murray family. “Well, if you want to talk about anything, I’m here.”

“Let’s just pay the check and leave.”

Useless in taking down her father. Useless as a friend. James had liked her French toast, though. So she had one thing going for her. She could cook basic breakfast foods. Yay her.

The waitress brought the check and Stephanie picked it up before Willa could, slipping her credit card inside.

“Where is AJ today?” asked Willa, deciding that changing the subject was the best idea.

“I don’t know. He hasn’t been talking to me much recently.”

Well, apparently trying to change the subject had led her right back to Stephanie’s problems. “Are you two fighting?”

“No. It’s not me. It’s....” Stephanie took a deep breath. “If I tell you this, you need to swear yourself to secrecy.”