Page 14 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

“What if I told you my name is Queen Elizabeth?”

I gasped, holding my hand over my heart. “Then I’d know ya were a liar as well as a thief. The Queen would never be reincarnated in the body of a shitty, little, Vegas dodger.”

“Oh, haha, very funny.” Cam cackled, holding his middle as he pretended to double over. When he straightened, he looked as sober as a judge. “Okay, so, we’ve established I haven’t taken a damned thing that anyone wants, right?”

I lifted an eyebrow. “’Ave we?” I exchanged a glance with Mickey. “I don’t know. I’m partial to this window wedge.” I patted my coat. “And I’m sure someone wants those Versace sunglasses, yeah?”

“Yeah, me,” Cam said, scooping them up before they disappeared into my coat like his tool.

I couldn’t help myself as I started laughing.

Chapter Four

CAM

I knew I was pretty well fucked if these two FBI agents took me to the cops. The minute they told them what I’d done, they’d lock me up…in an adult prison this time. I couldn’t have that. I needed to get to the first pawn shop I could and sell the stuff I’d found. I had a big bill to pay, looming over my head like a bitch. I was already three days late.

I also had a big contract I’d promised to keep. Being one of the best car thieves in Vegas came with big benefits and if I didn’t come through for him, I knew he’d send his guys out looking for me. They knew where I lived but worse, they knew where mom lived. I couldn’t risk them showing up at the care home to make trouble. The guys he surrounded himself with were some really bad dudes, the kind of people that made mob hitmen look like fluffy, little bunnies. It would kill me if they decided to threaten my mom’s safety because I got cold feet and they were just the kind of thugs who’d do such a thing.

All I knew was I needed to get away from these two feebs as fast as I could. Unfortunately, they both outweighed me and outmuscled me. Sometimes I could outrun guys like them, but on the off chance they could catch me, it might mean a bad beatdown, and I wasn’t going to risk it.

“Well, I guess this means I’m not buying a car this weekend,” Mars said. He opened his car door and leaned in, pulling out a plastic bag.

“Not if we have to take him to the Vegas police station,” Mickey replied.

I felt my stomach drop. “Wait a minute. You’re not turning me in, are you?” I tried to hide the panic in my voice.

“What should we do with ya?” Mars asked, starting to take all the things I’d collected out of my hands to drop them in the bag he held open.

I spotted the red seal at the top and realized it was an evidence bag and closed my hands over both of his. “Please.”

There were questions in his eyes. “What are ya playing at?”

“Please. Please, don’t turn me in. I can’t end up in jail. Things are gonna be really bad for me if you do.”

He cocked his head to the side with a little frown. “Why? Ya got a record?”

I shrugged. “A juvie one, but that’s not important.” He looked skeptical, so I opted for the truth. “Listen, I owe some guys a favor and I have a big payment to make to a—” I stopped, horrified that I’d almost spilled all my private business to these two.

“To who?” Mickey asked, his eyes narrowing. “You got a bookie out there?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s nothing like that. I don’t gamble. I just need money and…and anyway, that’s my business. I need to pawn this stuff, so I can make the payment.”

“Ya ‘ave a loan shark after ya?” Mars asked.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I just have to make a payment, that’s all.”

“Where?” he asked.

“It’s none of your business!” I practically shouted. When he glared at me, I regretted my tone almost immediately.

“It is our business if ya want us not to turn ya in.”

I sighed, knowing I’d have to tell them. “Fine. My mom is sick and I have to make a payment which is already late.”

He lifted a silky brow. “What kind of payment?”

I huffed out a breath. “She has Alzheimer’s, okay? You happy now? She lives in a place and I’m already three days late making the payment. They’re gonna kick her out if I don’t make it. I figure I can get about three hundred for this stuff and that’s enough to have them keep her another month.”