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It was as if the universe was playing a huge part in all of this. I hadn’t asked to be part of the next job, in fact, I hadn’t mentioned anything about what they did since that first night with Ronnie. I’d wanted to keep a low profile, but also, deep down, I wanted to pretend that he wasn’t the bad guy I’d been told he was.
But now it was too late. Now I had no choice but to tell the Chief.
So I pulled out my phone, clicked on his number, and waited for him to answer. After several rings it clicked and then a woman said to leave a message. I ended the call, biting down on my bottom lip as I tried a second time.
“Lena?” Chief’s gruff voice answered.
“Chief,” I responded, but I didn’t know what to say after that. Part of me wanted to keep it a secret and act like I hadn’t known it was happening until I was there, just like when he’d taken me on my “test.”
But the other part of me that had trained for years to get to this point knew what I had to do. I had to come clean—at least, as much as I could without getting into trouble.
“The hit is happening in three days,” I blurted out. “And he wants me as part of the team.”
The line was dead, not a single sound coming from the other side until, “Details?”
“Don’t have them yet.” I felt excitement bubbling up. “I’ll have them all on Wednesday.”
“Good.” I heard the creak and I instantly knew that the Chief was in his office. “As soon as you have them, call me. We’ll take him and the crew down during the hit.”
That excitement dissipated into thin air. “Oh, okay.”
“There’s no better way to take them down than in the middle of a crime, right?” Chief laughed, his happiness at the situation loud and clear. “I’ll get that motherfucker if it takes another decade.” There was something in the Chief’s tone, something that hadn’t been there before. It felt…personal. “Call me as soon as you know more,” he demanded, sounding giddy at the prospect of bringing Theo down.
But I…I just felt like I’d betrayed someone. The problem was, I wasn’t sure whether that was the Chief or Theo.
Chapter Twelve
THEO
I stared down at the blueprint on my desk, pointing at different vantage points as I told each crew member what their job would be, and exactly how it would go down.
“There’s a safe in the back, that’s our main target.” I stood upright, my gaze veering to Lena. I hadn’t meant to look at her, but from the moment she’d walked in here, there was something…off about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I had every intention of finding out when everyone else was gone.
Leaving her in her apartment alone last night shouldn’t have affected me, yet…it did. I missed the warmth of her body next to me as I got into my bed last night. I missed how she put her cold feet on my legs to warm them up. But most of all, I missed looking directly into her eyes, something that she refused to do right then.
“They’re expecting a delivery today, so they’ll be on high alert for the next two days.” I rolled my shoulders, hating the tension that was building. “But they’ll drop their guard by Saturday. Not only that, but they’ll be busy with customers out front so it’s the perfect time to hit.”
“Specifics of the safe?” Leroy asked.
I rifled through some papers on the edge of the blueprint and grabbed the booklet I’d ordered then handed it over. “It’s all in there.” I tilted my head at him. “Shouldn’t take you more than four minutes to crack.”
“Four minutes?” Lena asked, her brows raised. It was the first time she’d spoken since she’d entered the room, and although I wanted to ask her there and then what was up, I knew I had to keep it all business.
“Yeah. Four.” I pointed back down at the blueprint. “You’ll be here with Jared, guarding the only door to the safe.”
Lena nodded, staring down at where I was pointing intently.
“Weapons will be supplied. Vans are in storage. We'll go in three separate ones.” I lifted my hand and pointed to the crew members who were always our getaway drivers. “Case the place and figure out the best points to drop off and pick up.”
“On it,” one of them replied.
We were all business. There was no time for laughs and jokes or drinks at the bar. When we had a firm date and time for a job, we all went into the zone, knowing that one mistake wouldn’t just mean we were caught, but could also cost us our lives.
“Meet at the warehouse at 1pm sharp. No contact until then.” I pulled out a stack of burner phones. “Take one in case of an emergency.”
They each reached for one in turn, and as soon as they’d taken one, they were gone, the same as always.
Lena was in front of Jared, her head down and her gaze focused on anything but me. My gut told me there was something wrong, but I couldn’t ask her, not with Jared still in the room.
