Page 5 of Sean Collins

Chapter Six

Sean

The red dot on my chest has me diving for cover at once. I watch as the little thief hops up on the desk and out the window. The red dot moves away from my chest, and I follow her just in time to see a blonde woman pull a laser pointer back into her window before squealing off into the night.

Jumping through the window, I watch as my little thief climbs behind the wheel of a jet-black Camaro and peels out of the parking lot after her friend. I start to laugh despite the situation. She really got me this time. Instead of getting shot, I was fooled – by a laser pointer, of all things. This woman is clever.

Walking back into the armory office, I look around to find what she is after. It isn't guns or money this time. There was a little cash in the safe; it was about 10,000 dollars or so – not too small but not too big for us either. The woman didn't even glance at it as I watched her rifle through the documents.No, she was looking for information. She didn't find what she was looking for, so I’m sure she will be back.There is a part of me that lights up at the thought.

I sleep with women occasionally, but relationships are not for me. Some of my good friends in the club have met the perfect women for them and are starting to settle down. I am all for it as I am trying to take the club out of the shadows and into the light. If my guys have families to protect, they are less likely to fight me on that. Having mobsters break in and hurt your wife and children is the last thing anyone wants.

It brings me back to the little thief and what she said about parents. I have a feeling that her bold actions are connected to their death. Without any clue about it, I close all the drawers she opened and lock the safe again before leaving the armory. Sending out a group text that it's time for church and asking Brandy to prepare the drinks, I fire up my bike and head back to the bar.

****

“First of all, thanks to everyone for assembling here on such short notice. I know some of us have had a long night." I stop and wink at Cash, who just rolls his eyes and puts his arm around his girl, Samantha. “I discovered the thief at the armory.”

"Do you want Dice and I on body disposal?" Torque asks, getting ready to stand.

I waive him down and frown. "There isn't a body to dispose of. She got away."

"She? You were bested by a woman?” My brother snickers, and I give him a glare. He is the only one in the club who would dare say something like that to me.

"She was slick,” I reason. “She got past all our security in the blink of an eye and got away with a good chunk of money, Dad’s antique guns, and some documents about our previous activities."

"We need to find and eliminate this chick before she causes us any more problems," Marshall utters, his voice hard. He is all for the straight and narrow path we are on unless it threatens the club or his family.

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” To prove my point, I play the surveillance footage from earlier in the night. "This is who we are looking for. She was in the bar earlier. If you get a glimpse of her, be careful. She might be tiny, but she's mighty." I let a small smile cross my lips, thinking about the tension between us and the banter we had. It was the most fun I had ever had, even though the woman broke into my properties.

"What do you want us to do with her if we find her?" Dice asks.

I give him an icy look. "Don't hurt her. Just bring her to me. If one of you harms her, there will be hell to pay.”

The guys stare back at me, some with open mouths. They don't know how to take this order. As the president of the Steel Kings, my reputation as a ruthless leader is known far and wide. For me to want to just talk to someone who stole from me in this manner is unprecedented, to say the least. I wait for each of them to nod before I end the meeting and walk back into my office.

I start counting and barely get to three before Dice and Marshall are barreling through the door. Knowing my members, they can’t let things slide without a proper explanation.

"What is up with you? It isn't like you to let a thief off the hook," Dice utters, leaning against the door and eyeing me curiously.

“The woman is looking for something – I don’t think she stole from us out of habit. She said something strange about seeing her parents getting murdered. She seems to believe that we were part of it, and she is out for revenge."

Marshall whistles. "Boss, even in our roughest days, we never got down like that."

I nod. "She will be back; she didn't find what she was looking for tonight. So, just keep your eyes peeled." The two men nod and file back out of the office. I, for one, can't wait for my next encounter with the little thief.

Chapter Seven

Elora

I know I should get out of this little town, but the siren's call of information about my parents keeps me rooted to the spot. Eliza has called at least ten times, begging me to leave Truth and Consequences before I run into one of the biker guys, but I just can't do it. I need to know what happened to my parents. Seeing them brutally murdered when I was a teen messed me up beyond repair. My mission since that day has been to financially cripple every bad guy I can find. I don’t need the money or items I steel; I donate everything to charities or people in need. My parents were ultra-wealthy; they left me more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime. I live for the thrill of the hunt. I plant cameras in each location I hit so that I can watch the faces of the people I have taken down when they realize they have been robbed. It’s just like how they rob the people they kill.

I was something of a child prodigy and graduated high school at fourteen. I had just turned sixteen at the time of their death, and my letter of acceptance to Harvard had just arrived. That’s what we were celebrating that night when someone bashed our main door. The look on my mother's face told me that she knew it was coming. She ushered me under the couch and told me not to make a sound no matter what happened. Then, I had to lay there, covered in their blood, until I was sure that the men that did it to them were gone.

That night changed the course of my life forever. I went from a spoiled intelligent, rich girl to a woman bent on revenge. I still went to Harvard, got a law degree, and became a kick-ass lawyer. But it did nothing to curb my hunger for revenge.

I took a part of my fortune once I was emancipated and spent it on learning all the skills I needed to become a successful thief. For the right amount of cash, people would teach you anything, and I learned the fine art of breaking and entering from experts. Then, I enrolled in martial arts courses, making sure that I could take out a man three times my size. It was good for me, not just because it honed my body into a weapon but also because it taught me the discipline of the mind. That helped me channel my grief and anger into something positive.

Now with my new last name and untraceable identity, I live to search for villains, suck them dry, and give their possessions to their victims’ families. I had bought houses for poor families and set them up with a trust that would last their entire lives. It didn’t bring their loved ones back, but it helped to let them grieve in peace without all the stress of just trying to survive.

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