Partners (Fire & Lies - One) (12 page)

Those
specialist jobs are becoming increasingly regular, and we’re
looking at calling in some extra guys. They’re far more lucrative
than club security, because we’re generally being paid to do
something that the authorities can’t or won’t do because it’s
either out of their power, or just plain against the law. But the
money is amazing, and when you’ve been trained to be invisible,
it’s not hard to get in and out without getting caught. In theory,
we could do two or three of these jobs and line our pockets thick
enough that we could take off for the rest of the year. But a
business that’s closed for months at a time is a very suspicious
one indeed. So we keep our doors open, booking events and clubs,
and slowly syphoning money through so it comes out the other end
all nice, clean, shiny and legitimate.

Jared is the
brains behind all of our computer related stuff. Whenever we have a
new intake of recruits, he’s the man who checks out their
background to make sure they’re clean enough to let through our
doors. His skills with a computer far outweigh my own. He can find
out any information about anyone–he can probably find things about
you that you didn’t even know. He’s that good.

Jared had
actually been a new recruit at Donovan’s when the company fell. I
hired him myself, a month before I’d gone on leave then lost my
job. With his excellent credentials he could have easily gotten a
job somewhere else. He wanted to join Price Security, and he’s been
my most valuable employee ever since.

I check my
watch as I reach the door to my office. “How long until that
meeting?” I ask.

“About two
hours,” he replies, watching as I head toward my desk and lift the
pile of files off my desk.

“Narrow these
down to the absolute best for me. I’ve got something I need to look
into.”

“Is that where
you were yesterday–meeting with a new client?”

I give him a
wink. “Something like that. Give me a buzz when it’s time to go.
We’ll take my car.”

The kid’s face
lights up like it’s fucking Christmas, and he takes the massive
pile eagerly from my hands.

“Can I drive?”
he asks as he’s backing away.

“Can I break
your leg?”

He laughs and
heads to his desk, knowing he was never going to drive my car but
risking the ask anyway. No one drives my car but me. I’m not an
overly flashy guy, and I live a fairly modest lifestyle, but my
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series, is one of the few status
symbols I maintain–nothing rivals the feel of a beautiful piece of
machinery that grips the road and corners like a dream. Cars are
somewhat of a weakness for me, well, cars and weapons, my favourite
being my Colt M1911 pistol. It’s hailed as the handgun of the
century, and I have to agree, that thing is still as accurate as
the day I bought it–a fucking piece of art. I’m a sucker for good
craftsmanship. And I guess we can add women to that list too–well,
one in particular. Chloe Donovan will always be a weakness of mine.
Whether I want her to be or not. She just has some sort of hold
over me. I can’t get my head around it but I can’t fight it either.
It’s this draw, this want, this
need.
I haven’t been able to
shake it, not since that very first moment I found her leaning
against her father’s desk.

I had thought
that when she left me, that was it–I wasn’t going to see her again.
But here she is, three years later, suggesting that I help her rob
the safety deposit vault in a bank. I know I do recovery work, but
fuck, this may even be riskier than I’m willing to try. Stealing
onto properties in the dead of night to get back some artwork, or
to download computer files is one thing. But getting in and out of
a bank undetected, is going to be a whole new set of risks that I’m
not one hundred percent sure we can get away with.

But the gain
could be incredible–who knows what riches could be hiding in those
boxes. And Chloe’s idea has merit. It’s something I wouldn’t have
come up with myself. I’m just not fully on board with this whole
Audrey-Sargent-did-it story.

Shutting my
door, I switch on my MacBook before performing a search on Audrey
Sargent to see exactly who and what she’s become over the last few
years. Chloe had a lot of information on her, but without my
access, she hasn’t gotten as deep into her records as I’d like.

Audrey looks
and behaves as though she’s won the lottery in recent years. Her
mansion of a house is in one of the most affluent suburbs on the
city’s coastline. She has a private piece of beach and her own dock
where she keeps a fucking yacht. She hasn’t put a tax return in for
the last two years, which backs up Chloe’s findings–Audrey is
obviously a kept woman.

I save her
search in an encrypted file and pull up information on Michael
Goldsmith. I find all of the usual stuff–legal background, tax
information, and his extensive asset list. A small shell company of
his seems to own everything Audrey is using, which means if
anything happens and he decides he’s done with her, then she’ll
most likely be homeless. No wonder she stopped talking.

I dig deeper,
trying to get a look at some of his more detailed financial
records, but there’s a lot I can’t get access to. I’d need to be a
hacker to dig any deeper. Luckily for me, that’s exactly what
Jared’s special talent is. But I’m not keen to bring him on board
just yet. I have a bit more work to do from my side before I’m
comfortable helping with this plan of Chloe’s. From where it stands
right now, I just don’t see how she’s going to get into that bank
on her own. I’ll have to check it out myself to work out the
logistics, and then I can talk to Jared and see if it’s worth
it.

Before I know
it, Jared is tapping on my door to remind me that it’s time for our
meeting. In his hand he has the files of those he thinks are the
best of the pile. I tell him to keep a hold of them, so that when
we get back, he can run further checks on them. If they’re all
good, he can call them in.

“So this thing
you’re preoccupied with – is there anything you need my help on?”
he asks as we head to my Merc.

“Maybe. I need
to assess the situation a bit more before I get involved.”

“I’m guessing
this one will be off the books.”

“You guessed
right. Now get in,” I say, opening my door and sliding behind the
wheel.

As we drive to
the meeting, Jared changes the subject, chatting happily about his
ideas for legitimately expanding the company, so we can put more
money through it without raising any flags. I only half listen
though, because my mind is stuck musing over what Chloe has asked
me to do.

Rob a bank.
I’ll admit that her plan sounds almost fool proof, and if I can
teach her how to get into those security boxes and how to disable
their systems, then she may just get away with it. But a bank job,
these days, with only two people…I don’t see it working. And then
there’s her friend, Leah. I don’t understand what his involvement
is. I don’t understand what he has to gain by being a part of
this…

My thoughts
continue as I go through the motions of the meeting, answering all
of the questions on autopilot, and letting Jared take point on
mapping out the venue and discussing a roster with the club
owner.

A slight buzz
of excitement begins to hum through my body as I continue to mull
over Chloe’s idea.

A bank
job.

Even with our
recovery clients, I haven’t had a taste of real danger for
years–not since I left the military. When it was over, I didn’t
think I’d miss the risk of gunfire or getting caught by the
opposing side. But I do. Surviving the danger was a fucking rush.
Shit
, I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. I can’t
believe I’m thinking about doing it
with
her.

I begin to get
jittery, an excitement surging through me that spurs me on and
makes this seem like it may be a good idea. Then as soon as we get
out of the meeting, I pull my phone out of my pocket and send Chloe
a text.

All right.
I’m in.
I write, hitting send before I have the chance to think
any more and change my mind.

She sends back
a reply almost immediately.
That was fast. Call me.
We’ll discuss your fee.

I grin to
myself, typing out my reply.
My fee is open. I’ll decide when,
how and how much.

Fine
, she sends without hesitation.

Think you can
you afford me?

That
depends

On?

I wait for a
moment, but when she hasn’t answered, I quickly type and send,
Are you afraid of me, Miss Donovan?

Her reply is
fast this time
.
No more than before

Good,
I
send back, smiling to myself. As stupid and as risky as this is
going to be, I can see that it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
I’m actually looking forward to a job where I’m dealing out a bit
of justice. Especially if it involves that ant, Sebastian
Goldsmith. He’s the guy that got the girl, and he’s the guy that
threw her away like yesterday’s news. He was scum when I met him,
and he’s still scum now. I’ll never understand what Chloe saw in
him. But I suppose it can’t have been much, she happily stepped out
on him with me…

JULY,
three years ago

“
OY, YOU.
Get your head into gear. These walls aren’t going to paint
themselves,” Aiden’s sister Marli said when she saw him get lost in
thought yet again. “What’s up with you today?”

“
Nothing,”
he grunted, dipping his roller into the charcoal coloured paint and
running it over the drip tray before lifting it to the wall to
paint over the powdery blue that was there before.

When their
father had passed away the year before, Marli and Aiden had
inherited his old, failing bar. Together, they had decided to turn
it into a nightclub but the decorating was all Marli. She had
decided that they should paint the walls with black and then put
some sparkly metallic shit all over them so they resembled the
galaxy or something.

Aiden and her
husband, Jeff, couldn’t really see the point in making the walls
any colour–nightclubs were dark. No one would see anything anyway.
But they both thought the world of Marli and would do anything she
wanted to keep her happy.

“
That isn’t
a nothing face, Aiden. Spit it out. I’m not going to leave you
alone until you spill.”

“
Can you
drop it?” he replied, focusing on the wall in front of him.

Of course,
being a woman who was used to deciphering the men in her life
through her own intuition, she didn’t leave it alone at all.

“
Did
something happen at work? Is there a problem with you taking so
much leave?”

“
No.”

“
No? Do you
hate the wall colour?” she tried again.

“
No,
Marli,” he laughed. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“
Are you
coming down with something?”

“
No.”

“
What’s
going on?” Jeff asked, as he entered the room with more
paint.

“
Nothing is
going on,” Aiden replied, beginning to feel a little
exasperated.

“
Aiden’s
been staring off into space and he won’t tell me why,” Marli
supplied.

“
He’s
probably affected by your galaxy paint idea,” Jeff teased with a
laugh.

“
Very
funny, fuckface,” she said, flipping her middle finger up at him as
she grumbled about neither of them having an idea that was any
better.

“
It’s
probably about a girl,” Jeff added, using the corner of a paint
scraper to work at the rim of the paint tin to lift the
lid.

Marli laughed.
“A girl? Aiden? I’m sorry, that’s just hilarious. Have you ever
seen Aiden spend more than the necessary time to bed and move on
from a girl?”

“
I don’t
know. He’s got that look about him. I remember feeling the way he’s
looking when I started dating you. Look at him. He’s got this goofy
grin twisting his mouth up.”

“
Would you
two just fuck off and get some work done. You were bitching about
me not working, and you’re both too busy standing around gawking at
me to get any bloody work done yourselves.”

He glanced
around at the two of them, glowering before turning back to his own
section of the room.

“
Oh. My.
God,” Marli gasped, after taking that opportunity to study his face
properly. “You’re right, Jeff. Holy shit, Aiden. Who is she? I have
to meet her.”

“
No. No one
is meeting anyone. It’s nothing. There’s nothing wrong. There’s
nothing going on that you need to know. Just stay out of my
business all right?”

Marli turned
to Jeff. “You’re so right. It’s definitely a girl.”

“
I know,
right?” Jeff agreed.

“
Fucking
hell,” Aiden grumbled, throwing his roller down on the drop sheet
and storming out of the club.

“
He’s got
it bad,” Jeff commented, watching after him as the door slammed
shut behind him.

“
I can’t
believe I missed that,” Marli said, moving over to pick up the
roller Aiden had discarded. “Aiden’s smitten over some girl… I
never thought I’d see the day.”

PRESENT,
12 days before the job

ARE YOU afraid of me, Miss Donovan?
The text sends a
shiver down my spine as I entertain the idea of spending some time
with Aiden near me. I shouldn’t be feeling this way but I can’t
help it. Aiden is my dream–my fantasy. He’s the happy ending I’ll
never have. Just being near him will make all of this worth it. I
don’t know that he’ll allow anything to happen between us again.
But the sexual tension between us is still so palpable that I’m not
sure we’ll be able to work side by side without something
happening. I think I’m going to have to talk to him to clear the
air about what happened between us–why I left and what he meant to
me. It doesn’t matter if he thinks I’m shallow because of it. All
that matters is that he understands that I’m trying to fix what I
broke, even if he and I are far too broken. There’s still a lot of
other people who suffered because of me.