The Heist (22 page)

“Anything, beautiful.” He touched her face.

“Why did you reject me all those years ago, Lee? I came to you, I wanted you, and I know I’m not crazy, you wanted me, too.”

She waited and listened to his breathing. Would he finally open up to her? There was nowhere for him to hide his true feelings between them now. “Lee?”

“I loved your father like a brother, Michelle. You meant the world to him. I watched you grow and bloom, I couldn’t be that bastard to corrupt you.”

“You’re that bastard now,” she noted.

“I am.”

“Then what happened? What changed?”

“I changed. You changed. And most importantly, Pops changed.”

Michelle heard the bitterness in his voice. It saddened her. Pops was the only one who’d remained the same. He was a drunk, a thief, a disappointment. How could Lee feel he’d changed, when Pops was dead and incapable of it?

“What’s your story?” Michelle asked.

Lee laughed. “My story?”

“Your story…who were you before? Before Pops, before this.”

“I was nobody.”

“I want to know.” She smiled.

“My name is Leith Sullivan, born in Dumfries, Scotland, to Margret and Thomas Sullivan.”

“Wow, the Sullivans. I imagine your mama was some pretty brunette with freckles and your father a dashing bloke with sexy blue eyes like you.”

“Close.” He pinched her side.

“What happened to them?” She rose to maintain his stare. “Are they alive?”

“My father died of pneumonia shortly after my sister was born.”

“What? You have a sister?”

Lee just smiled.

“Wait, how old were you when he died?”

“Fourteen.”

“So what happened?”

“Why?” Lee asked, his face growing hard as stone.

“Because I want to know. Tell me.”

“My mother remarried,
Chocolat
. Me and my stepfather didn’t get along. So I turned to the streets and others, before I just left altogether. Ended up living in Australia, met some men that taught me a trade.”

“The jewel-smuggling trade.”

“Yes, among other things, and that’s how I met Pops. He was pretty powerful then. Young, not much older than you are now. He saved my life. I went for a heist....”

“The Jesus Stones?” Michelle asked, picking up his hand and checking the purple diamond on his pinkie finger. “You almost got caught stealing them?”

“I got shot, by a guard, and arrested.”

“
What?
”

“Pops made it all go away. He took me under his wing. He saved my life; he made me the man I am today.”

“I had no idea.” Michelle lowered over him. She always thought Pops was the lesser man. Hell, Lee was calling the shots by the time she knew him. “I don’t understand my father.”

“I told you, sweetheart.” He reached and touched her face. “Pops gave it up when he found you and Sasha. He had to.”

“Then why do you hate him? Why are you so hell bent on revenge?”

Lee lowered his hand and made to rise. Michelle forced him back down. “Wait. One more question.” She kissed his chin then touched his nose. “Have you ever been in love?”

He stared at her for a moment as if the question was the first time it was ever asked. “No.”

“I have, with you. And you broke my heart, just like you said Pops did to you. I know you don’t think it matters because I was kid. But you were the man I compared all other men to. Isn’t that sad?”

“No, I just think it reminds us that at the end of the game, we’re all alone,” Lee said.

“True…we’re alone,” she agreed. He pulled her back to him and she lay on his chest. “But it doesn’t have to be that way, Lee.”

***

Dinner was ready. Showered and refreshed, Michelle was happy about the intimate dining Lee had prepared. After their swim and lovemaking, how could she not be? Everything he had done and said to this point had melted away defenses she thought impenetrable. She was seduced by the power he wielded and the sad history they shared. Little by little, she was forgetting her dreams to be a doctor and not a thief. Maybe Lee was right. She wasn’t born for the straight life. Hustling was in her blood; it was who she was.

She went through the private bungalow in search of him. His voice greeted her first. Michelle stopped. Lee and Abahti were near the open deck. Lee seemed upset. She crept closer. Close enough to listen.

***

“So they found the Raspberries. Rawhead did have them?” Lee asked. He rubbed his fist into the palm of his hand. “I thought…I thought maybe it wasn’t true. That Pops hadn’t given them up.”

“He betrayed you, boss. When are you going to accept it?”

Lee cut Abahti a look. His second-in-command put his hands up. “I’m not questioning you, boss. But it’s clear Pops deceived you from the beginning. Those Raspberries were on the chalice. Pops had the chalice. He got the son-of-a-bitch and then sold it to Rawhead?”

“
Chocolat
doesn’t know how Pops betrayed you? She might know why he did it, boss.”

“She doesn’t know anything,” Lee snapped. Things weren’t going as planned. Because he never planned on losing his anger for something else—love.

“But you said...we’d get the Dixon sisters to lead us to the Chalice. To regain control of the Order, ensure your position.”

“I was wrong. She wasn’t talking to Pops during the hustle. I’ve already broken Sasha. She doesn’t know shit. No, no, this was Pops. He fucked me over. He fucked us all over. I just can’t figure out why.”

Abahti shook his head “Maybe Pops knew it would all play out this way. Maybe what he did was to protect you too, boss. If you had the Chalice, or them, it could be war. Maybe he tossed the stones and got rid of the Chalice to keep it from everybody.”

“No! Pops betrayed me. I put my reputation and my position with The Order on the line. He played me for a fool. He sold out to the Feds, and he sold me out to my enemies. He made all of this shit we built mean nothing! I want that fucking Chalice before one of them finds it. Do you hear me?”

Abahti nodded. “Pops died for that Chalice. Someone murdered him, boss.”

“I think I know who,” Lee said. He cut his second-in-command down with a look. “Now, you owe me an explanation. How the hell did Cumminskey get next to her? Why am I just hearing this?”

“Not sure, he’s fishing. She dropped a hint to the women that she knew where the Chalice is. Cumminskey and all of them are sniffing around.”

Lee paced as he clenched his fists and his jaw. “You know why the fuck we’re here; that poker game is to go off as we planned. I don’t like surprises, Abahti!”

“Got it, boss, I’ll take care of it.”

***

Michelle stepped back. She put her back to the wall and closed her eyes. She was so stupid to have trusted Lee, to even consider trusting him. Pops was murdered, for that damn Chalice and Lee could give a damn. Lee wanted revenge? Well, she’d get hers first.

Chapter Nineteen

Sasha stared at her worn, thin reflection in the bathroom mirror. She took a long hard look at the woman before her. The woman she was becoming. Just three weeks ago, she was an assistant teacher to third graders, helping with lesson plans and testing schedules. Believing her life and career choice to be the lamest of the professions, she wanted more. But she had no idea what
more
would mean. How could she go from that life to the house of horrors she had barely escaped?

A headache formed at the back of her skull. Sasha opened the cabinet above the sink. Her search for Advil or ibuprofen turned up empty. She knelt and opened the bottom cabinet doors beneath the sink. There was shaving cream, bars of unopened soap, mouthwash, shampoos, and a man’s carrying case.
Maybe he’s stuck some in there?

She grabbed the case and threw it up on the counter. A flash of the blood and gore she had seen in that room popped into her head. Sasha squeezed her eyes shut as her heart pounded. She waited for it to pass. “Please…please…go away.” She counted down the panic, not wanting to relive it again.

And it did.

It took a minute to recover before she drew down the long tab to the bag. She parted its leather opening for the contents inside. Her hand froze.

“What the hell is this?”

Reaching inside, she removed a hypodermic needle, rubber tubing, a spoon, and a small flat tin candle. Tiny pieces of foil were crumbled up as well. She held up the needle and stared at it. She wasn’t a fool. This was a kit for heroin use. Why the hell would Kumar keep something like this?

“You okay in there?”

Sasha dropped the things back in the bag. “I’m fine! I’m fine!” she called, throwing the bag back under the sink. There had to be an explanation. Of course he wasn’t an addict. This stuff was probably someone else’s. Didn’t he say he had a roommate?

***

Kumar looked up when the bathroom door finally opened. Sasha appeared in his oversized robe. He was at his small kitchen table mesmerized by what she had stolen; they were the most beautiful things he had ever seen, next to the beauty she carried so effortlessly. Kumar rose and met her halfway. She smelled of soap when she came into his arms.

“Want to talk about it? What you saw?”

“No, no, never…I don’t ever want to talk about what was in that room.”
Or your bathroom
.

“Okay, you don’t have to.”

She wiped at the tears she couldn’t conceal from him. “I’m so stupid. I thought we were doing something adventurous. Well, we aren’t. We’re just like them, scum.”

“Come with me, I fixed you something to eat.” He led her to the kitchen.

“I can’t.” She pulled back.

“You sure? We can….”

“No, I can’t touch food after what I saw. I can’t.”

“Okay, it’s okay.”

Instead, he took her to his sofa; he sat and she came down on his lap. Kumar pulled her legs up so he could hold her. “The diamonds are beautiful, you were right about them.”

“They came from that place. They’re disgusting.” Sasha was unable to stop shivering. “I swear that place was evil.
Evil
.” Kumar kept her close. When her tears stopped, he lifted her chin.

“It’s over, Sasha. We’re done, we can leave it alone.”

“Yes, we’re done. I don’t ever want to do it again.”

Satisfied, he kissed her then squeezed her to him. They remain in the silence of his loft, staring out at the city lights beyond his windows. Neither spoke. Doubt was the third person in the room. It whispered to Sasha the dangers of believing an addict. She refused to listen or give in to her anxiety. She shared something special with Kumar. This was the start of something good between them.

***

In his sleep, he heard giggles—odd, maniacal giggles. Kumar opened his eyes to find his loft in complete darkness. Sasha lay next to him on his bed, sleeping peacefully. Hearing the soft rustle of the emergency exit outside of his loft windows, he turned his head and squinted. Darkly clad figures in long trenches were scaling up the ladders, one with a blonde Mohawk. It had to be Casper’s crew. Before he could react, they began to kick in the windows with their feet, trying to break in.

Grabbing Sasha, he flipped her off the bed on to the floor and put his hand over her mouth. She looked up at him, terrified.

“Don’t say a word. They’re here.”

She nodded.

“Closet, when I get up, you run for it. Okay?” he whispered. They weren’t made for this part of the business, and in that moment they both knew it. He made sure she could see where he wanted her to hide. The closet was only a few paces behind her. She could make it. She looked back into Kumar’s eyes and nodded that she understood. Then it came: a loud crashing noise that terrified them both. It was evident the raiders were now inside the loft.

“Now! Go!” he grunted, leaping to his feet.

She flipped over and half-ran, half-crawled for the closet. Kumar was close behind her, shutting the door on them both. They were trapped, the two of them naked and defenseless.

***

Kumar rubbed her arms and felt her shivering. Taking a shirt off a hanger, he put it around her shoulders. Sasha shoved her arms through the sleeves as he quickly buttoned the front. “It’s okay, you’re doing fine.”

She nodded. She blinked away her tears of disbelief. Sasha had seen that bloody room and she knew what these people were capable of. Shrill squeals of laughter and merriment echoed very close. Things smashing in the front of the loft could be heard as well. Kumar went into action, knocking down boxes from the top shelves.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“Shhh!” He hushed her, then removed an odd-shaped box. Sasha’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, thanks to the moonlight that filled the room from the window. It came through the divides of the closet door like rays of hope. She watched in silence as Kumar opened the box. A snub-nose revolver lay inside, with a cell phone. She had never been so happy to see a cell phone in her life.

“Why do you have a cell phone with a gun?” she whispered.

“Why do we have freaks out front that think they’re vampires?” he whispered back.

“You’ve got a point.”

They heard the bedroom door next to the one they hid in, being kicked open. Kumar’s hand shook as he dialed. “It’s Kumar, I’ve been made. They’re here now. Don’t know how many. Yes. Yes. Hurry.”

Sasha sighed, relieved. “Call the police next, just in case, okay?”

“We can’t.”

“You don’t understand. These people are crazy. Remember that room. The one I couldn’t talk about?”

Kumar nodded.

Sasha hugged herself. “Bodies, club-goers, transients, they were in there. And get this, they looked chewed. Teeth marks all over them. Stacked in corners…rotting.”

“Okay, okay,” he told her, touching the side of her face. He kissed her forehead. “No matter what happens, you stay in the closet. Promise me.”

“Wha…no….”

“I mean it!” Kumar put on some pants and got the gun. Placing his hand to the door, he looked back one last time. “Stay in here!”