Steal the Light (Thieves) (9 page)

“I don’t believe it was a mistake. At first I was a bit worried you were a companion who had run away from her vampire master. But you haven’t, have you?”

Master? Yeah, I wasn’t going to ever call Daniel that. “No. Daniel and I used to be friends. Now we’re just business partners.”

Albert nodded as though my answer had pleased him. “Then this was not a mistake. You must forgive my employer. He grew up with a brother. They were very close. I believe he misses male companionship greatly.”

“Well, he’s getting plenty of it tonight.” The coffee was doing its job, helping to banish the slight buzz I had gotten from the cosmopolitans I had downed at dinner. I’d quickly realized on Daniel’s arrival that further alcohol would probably result in me crying in a bathroom somewhere.

“It shouldn’t reflect on his interest in you,” Albert said. “He was excited about his date with you. He doesn’t date often. He’s become selective in the past few years.”

I turned to the halfling. Despite the demonic nature of his body, his eyes were blue and strangely human. It was disconcerting, and I had to wonder how much of him was human. Did appearances deceive? He looked like he could rip me in half and greatly enjoy feasting on my intestines, yet he was staring at me with understanding in his soft eyes. How hard would it be to have a gentle soul trapped in a monstrous body?

“I appreciate the talk, Albert, but I think it’s time I called it a night.” I tried not to think further on Albert’s situation. I had plenty of my own problems to worry about. “Could you have someone call me a cab?”

“I wish you wouldn’t. He will be devastated when he realizes how he has treated you,” Albert said quietly.

“It was a mistake to go out in the first place.” I would have to call my own cab. I pulled out my phone and hoped I could get a decent signal. “I’m in too much hot water to be playing around like this. I need to focus on the job at hand, not my sad love life.”

“Mr. Quinn mentioned your somewhat unusual career.” I sensed a slight disapproval in Albert’s voice. I didn’t take it personally. “Thief” doesn’t exactly look good on a resume.

“Well, I have a job right now, and a rather demanding client who quite frankly scares the crap out of me.” I gave Albert a quick rundown of the story thus far. I didn’t usually open up to strangers, but I found Albert easy to talk to. It was also nice to tell the story and not get screamed at for my stupidity.

“Did you get the demon’s name?” Albert asked, leaning toward me.

“Only the one he chose to give me. He called himself Lucas Halfer.”

Albert nodded. “Typical. It would be helpful for you to know his true name. It would give you some measure of control. It would allow you to summon him, and it might give you some insight into his true motivations.”

“Yeah, that would be great. But unfortunately, he declined to be listed in the demon Yellow Pages, so I’m shit out of luck as far as I can see.” I sighed. No bars on my phone. I would have to ask the bartender.

Albert looked at me for a moment, and I sensed he was coming to a decision. “I have deep connections with that world. My mother is well placed. I could attempt to find out his name for you.”

“You would do that?” I was surprised. I had assumed he didn’t spend much time with demon kind.

“I would, but I need you to do me a small favor.” For the first time I saw a hint of calculation in his eyes.

I should have seen this coming. My search for a cab would have to wait. If there was any possibility that Albert could give me information about Lucas Halfer, I had to do whatever I could to make that happen. If that meant suffering through playoff hell, then so be it. “Fine, I’ll give Dev another chance, but I can’t promise you anything.”

“I’m not asking for anything but understanding.”

“All right. The first part of the date was great, so I guess I can stay a little longer. It will give me time to talk to you about how crappy your security is.”

Albert’s eyes widened and a frown turned his mouth down, his fangs peeking out. “It isn’t bad. It can’t be. We paid top dollar to a security firm.”

I made note of the slapdash way the security cameras were installed. There were far too many blind spots. A nasty little thought struck me. “How long has this club been open, Albert?”

“It will be six months next week.”

Nightclubs aren’t the richest hit in the human world. Most humans had given up carrying huge wads of cash, but our world was different, and human law didn’t govern this club. I was betting there were a few differences between Ether and other more mundane clubs.

“Do you have a poker room?”

Albert nodded a bit sheepishly, if a seven-foot demon can ever resemble a sheep. “Yes, Master Dev insisted it would be a good draw. There is a room for poker and several other games. It is very popular.”

“And the house takes a cut, cash only, I assume.”

“Most of our business is cash.”

“Oh, Albert, you’re such a lucky little demon,” I said with a smile. “I’m about to save your boss a ton of money.”

* * * *

If you want to rob an establishment, the best, easiest way to do it is to install the security system yourself. No muss, no fuss, you can just walk in, get what you came for, and make it look like anything you want on the way out. Break a few locks, mess up a few cameras, and the cops never think it’s an inside job. You would be surprised at just how much trust people place in security professionals. Get a good ad in the Yellow Pages, establish a few legitimate clients, and let the suckers walk right through the door. I didn’t know the whole story behind Dev’s security firm, but I would bet they had been in business for less than five years, had good but not amazing recommendations, and placed the lowest bid.

I could feel Albert’s eyes on me as I walked back to the VIP room. I knew he was hoping I would fail in our little bet, but I had a feeling he was out of luck. I pulled the gold hoop out of my right ear and slipped it into my bag before smoothing down my dress. I walked up to the sofa and smiled my brightest smile. Dev looked up and smiled back.

I wasn’t privy to the same insider knowledge the security company would have, so I had to use whatever assets I had at my disposal. I was going to do this the old-fashioned way. My first and most important asset was Dev himself. The safe would be located in his office on the second floor. I noted that the place seemed to be using keycards on all their private doors. Keycards are better than everyday keys but not by much. I prefer systems that require something personal from the user, whether it be a retinal scan or thumb print. Nothing is foolproof, but at least that requires some planning. All one needs to break into a room guarded by a keycard is sticky fingers.

“Hey, Zoey.” Dev looked slightly chagrined, and I knew he was about to apologize, but I really didn’t have time for that.

I sat down on the couch next to Dev and draped my arm around him. I did this for two reasons. I needed to put him at ease. I needed him happy and thinking about how nice it was to be close to female body parts. It also put me in the perfect position for what I was about to do.

I looked up at the basketball game with what I hoped was interested eagerness on my face. “Who’s up?”

Daniel was immediately on his guard, but luckily Dev didn’t know me as well. He immediately started discussing the game. I feigned interest, occasionally patting his chest flirtatiously. Dev obviously enjoyed the attention. He scooted closer to me, his hand moving dangerously close to my thigh. I found what I was looking for on the second try. There it was. A little piece of plastic in his right jacket pocket. It was the simplest thing to slip it out and into my purse while he was pointing at the screen and complaining about the Mavericks’ lack of defense.

I safely tucked the package away, flipped my hair back and “discovered” I’d lost something.

“Oh, my gosh,” I said in a panicked tone. “I lost my earring. Does anyone see it? It’s a gold hoop.”

Everyone gamely looked around the room. After a moment, I sighed. “Duh, I’m so stupid. I know where it is. I probably dropped it in the bathroom.”

“Do you want me to have my staff find it?” Dev asked.

“Oh no, please, don’t go to any trouble. I think I know just where it is. You keep track of the game for me.”

Dev gave me a huge smile and squeezed my hand before he let go. “Okay, but hurry back.”

I promised I would and headed off toward the bathroom. I stood by the door for a moment, watching the movement of the security cameras as they swung back and forth. To a layperson, it would simply look like a bunch of cameras moving carefully to try to catch as much of the building as possible. To a thief, it was a path to success. The person who installed the cameras timed them perfectly to create a path from the back door of the club to the stairs that led to the second floor, all the way to Dev’s office where the safe was kept. It was just a matter of timing. It took me a few minutes, but I got the sequence down and then I was off.

I realized I was smiling as I managed to make it to the stairs. I was sure the cameras had caught nothing of my journey across the club. It had been a long time since I ran a job on my own, much less one where there was no pressure, and I enjoyed it.

A large bouncer guarded the base of the stairs. I wasn’t sure exactly which species could lay claim to him, but I was betting he was one of the weres who hadn’t called in sick. Carefully keeping my back to the camera, I approached him.

“Sorry, miss, the second floor is off limits,” the big guy said.

I smiled brightly. “Oh, Dev said it was all right.”

“The boss sent you?”

This was the part where I blushed and stumbled over my words in an entirely charming manner. “Um, I kind of left something in his office this morning.”

“No problem, I’ll have someone run up and get it for you.” He pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket.

“Oh, god, no!” I practically shouted. “Please, you can’t do that. Look, it’s kind of personal, and by that I mean it’s entirely personal, and I would be horrified if anyone else had to find it. It’s just Dev and I were…this is so embarrassing. I left my panties in your boss’s office…there I said it. I’m so sorry. I could just die now.”

The big guy tried to contain his laughter, and I knew I was going to make it in. There was no way the big bad werewolf saw me as anything other than some bimbo his boss had banged, and a human bimbo at that.

I smiled my best “humans are harmless” smile and pulled out my trump card. “He gave me the key, you see. I think he realized how embarrassed I am.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you then.” He gestured me on.

Then I was home free. I slipped the keycard into the door and sighed with pleasure as I heard that loveliest of sounds—the click of a forbidden door opening just for me.

I waltzed into Dev’s office. Normally I would leave the lights off, but Dev obviously wasn’t concerned with conserving energy as the lights were already on. I looked around the office and realized this was much more of a window to his soul than the club. The club was a marvel of hard-edged decadence, but this office was softer. It was comfortable, with none of the pretense of the floor below. The desk was large and looked good, but it was obviously old and had a sturdy feel to it. There was a comfy-looking chair in one corner with a small bookcase beside it. I let my fingers glide over the spines as I read the titles. He seemed to like thrillers as books by Steve Berry, James Rollins, and Preston and Child populated the shelf. I could see Dev sitting in that chair, reading escapist fiction just like I did late at night when I couldn’t sleep.

A small framed picture caught my eye. I picked it up and saw a smiling man in clothes that looked like they were from sometime in the seventies. It must be his human father. His mother and the Fae side of his family would never allow themselves to be photographed. Dev said his father died, and his Fae family no longer spoke to him. This might be the only piece of family he had left. I suddenly felt like I’d seen something he might not be happy sharing with me. I felt the weight of my intrusion and decided it was time to finish the job and get out of here.

I was just about to find the safe and leave the note Albert and I agreed on when something pushed me roughly against the wall. I felt the breath knocked out of my lungs and the pressure of a hard body against my back. I hadn’t heard a thing and knew that whatever was behind me was dangerous. I knew in that moment what it felt like to be a rabbit just before the rattlesnake struck.

“Thief.” There was a harsh whisper against my ear. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

Chapter Seven

“Jerk!” I muttered as I shoved an elbow into Daniel’s chest. I used every bit of force I could muster from the position I was in, but my hearty attempt at violence didn’t even illicit a groan.

Though I couldn’t really hurt him, Daniel took the hint and backed off. I turned around to face him. He stared at me with grim intensity.

“I started the night thinking I needed to save you from Dev, but it turns out Dev is the one who needs protecting.” I could hear the disappointment dripping from his quiet condemnation. “I didn’t realize we’d started stealing from our friends.”