Page 36 of Forbidden Hearts

“I’m not sure,” I lie. “But I can test your idea. If Alonzo is falling for me, maybe I can get him to lend me some money. That should be enough to keep me afloat until we rob him.”

Jacob remains quiet.

“Fine,” he says. I can tell he’s upset. “You can quit, but you’re still mine. Don’t forget that. You will come and visit me whenever I ask you to.”

“Okay,” I say.

There is no way in hell I’m going to sleep with Jacob again.

I already won a victory tonight by quitting The Den. I’m not going to push my luck any further. I’ll let future Alex deal with Jacob when he’s in a better mood.

Who knows what he’s capable of when he’s angry?

Chapter 17

Alonzo

I stand in the alleyway behind the government building. As soon as the night shift guard arrives, I slip on a black mask and approach the fence behind the building.

Even though it’s almost midnight, the small city is buzzing with life. Many college students start their weekends on Thursday nights because they don’t have Friday classes. The crowded streets worked out for me because I blended into a group of college students right before slipping into the alleyway.

Like they always do, the two security guards chat by the front entrance of the government building. The night breeze carries the echo of their conversation. They’re talking about college football, which is just about to start.

Knowing how much this town loves football, I estimate that my nine minute window of opportunity just increased by another five minutes.

Quietly, I scale the chain-link fence behind the government building, keeping an eye on the two guards. They’re about thirty feet away, so they shouldn’t hear me if I’m extremely quiet.Besides, their conversation is so loud that their voices drown out any noise I make.

There are headlights and cameras overhead, so I need to make sure to stay in the shadows. Even if the cameras capture my movement, they won’t know I’m here unless they go back and check the footage. But I won’t give them a reason to do that. I’ll be in and out undetected.

When I finally jump over the fence, I crouch to reduce my height and glance at the guards. They’re still in full conversation about the upcoming football game. Good.

If I’m right, I should have about twelve minutes before the night shift guard comes back here to his office. I need to find the prosecutor’s documents and get the hell out of here before that happens.

Slowly, I make my way to the backdoor and unlock it with the copy of the prosecutor’s keycard. The lock beeps twice before the doorclicksopen.

Inside, everything is nearly dark except for dim ceiling lights placed a few feet apart. There are desks throughout the floor and a few closed offices along the left wall. I bet what I’m looking for is in one of those offices.

Still crouching, I look at the names on the doors until I find the one that belongs to the prosecutor I’m looking for. I use the keycard to unlock the office door and walk inside, closing it behind me.

Ten minutes left?

Now that I know I’m out of sight, I rise to my full height and search her desk. I shuffle through the papers on her desk, flashing them with my phone’s flashlight.

Nothing.

I move everything back to how I found it and look around the room. Two filing cabinets are by the door, but they have locks on. If I’m lucky, they’ll be unlocked.

Locked. They are locked. That’s okay. I can open them.

I take out a small lock pick kit and work on the lock, opening it after a few minutes.

Seven minutes left?

I search the hanging folders but can’t find what I’m looking for. If it’s not here, then where the fuck am I going to find it?

Just as I’m about to slide the cabinet shut, I spot a folder tucked all the way to the back of the drawer. It’s almost as if it’s been secretly hidden away. The label reads THE DEN.

I place the folder on the desk and open it. The first page has a photo of the club and mentions Jacob as the owner. It’s exactly what I need. Unfortunately, there’s no time to read through the documents.

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