Page 47 of Twisted

Jaeger

Two Years Ago

(Jaeger is 26)

“A heist, eh, Ranch?”

“Can you kindly shut the fuck up and hand me the blue wire?”

Rolling his eyes, Jaeger plucked the wire from the box, holding it before a preoccupied Rancho. They were in the bowels of one of New York’s most infamous banks, and though the lobby this morning had been bright and gaudy, the belly of the beast was dark and dank and the scurrying of rats made Jaeger’s skin crawl. He’d seen the damage those voracious rodents could do to a man.

They had deviated slightly from their typical MO; a heist, but not just any. They needed access to the bank’s timed vault, in which was a set of insanely large safety deposit boxes, and in one of those was supposedly an emerald. Not just any emerald, though. Jaeger had seen the photo of it, had studied the planes of the glittering green gem jutting out from its original stone, as well as the vault that housed it. For four months, Hades’ top two men had schemed and devised this plan. He couldn’t wait for this night to be over, to be back in the confines of his log cabin in the Smokies, or back to simply killing people. That was easier.

He’d been renovating his new cabin piece by piece. The garage was finished finally, just in time for fall so he could store his dirt bikes and four wheeler from the rain. After patching up holes in his tin roof, he’d become so frustrated he’d ripped the entire thing off and started fresh. He wanted to make it homey, cozy. He’d subscribed to Southern Living magazine for design inspiration so it wouldn’t look like a bachelor pad when he was done.

He knew why he was so concerned with how it appeared, and it came to him every night, those memories of Maisie Jane. Now that he was back home in North Carolina, now that he had some roots and his life had calmed considerably, he was ready for the next step. He’d finish his cabin, somehow arrange a meeting with his sister, and then weasel his way back into the fold of luxury and faux happiness for the chance to smuggle his woman away from her lavish lifestyle.

It gnawed at him, the worry that she’d hate it, that she’d turn from the life he had to offer her. He knew she would cave to his flirtations, that she would be secretly eager for an affair, for affection he figured Carter wasn’t giving her. But that was where his confidence ended. Had she become so used to diamonds and pearls and fancy cars that she would turn her cute little nose up at a cabin in the woods and a simple, straightforward kind of love?

He snorted to himself at that thought.

There was nothing straightforward about his job or life, but as far as his personality was concerned, he was an easy man to please. Slow lovemaking in the morning, rough sex by night. He could feel his cock pulse at the very thought of regular encounters with his woman. The wooing would be the most difficult part; he figured she’d be untrusting, cautious, but once he showed her the kind of attention a man like himself was able to give, he knew she’d follow him anywhere.

“Ya know this fucker’s cursed or some shit,” Rancho huffed, snipping at wires and checking the security camera feed.

“Who, Hades?” Jaeger said, bobbing his flashlight around the dank, dripping corridor. It gave him the creeps, of all things, for he knew what kinds of monsters lurked in this particular darkness. Him and Rancho had just made it home from London six months ago after rooting out and killing a man who made his home in the tunnels below the tube and city. The man had been disfigured by some atrocity that Jaeger cared not to think on, but he’d used it to frighten his female victims almost to death before he committed his rapes and murders.

Scotland Yard had reached out to Hades personally, begging for help on this one. They didn’t need yet another Jack the Ripper on their hands. Jaeger mused, wondering how Hades had connections on both sides of the law. He knew the man had been raised for a time in Paris, and then London, Oslo, and Amsterdam, but he would never ask why; no one asked why to a man like Hades for anything.

“No, kid, the emerald. Bahia Brazil, 2001. Some poor fuckers mined the largest emerald in the entire fucking world, and anyone who’s touched it since then has met their downfall.”

“Perfect,” Jaeger said, sounding sour. He didn’t believe in that voodoo shit, always a man of level headed reason, but Rancho…he put stock in everything, and the men often teased him about his supposed encounter with a Chupacabra back home in Mexico. However, anything that would risk Jaeger being able to be with Maisie was a chance he didn’t want to take. Unusual fear clenched his gut, and he mentally berated himself. He’d become so attached to the idea of that woman and he’d only been with her once. What if, after everything, she still didn’t want him? He knew he couldn’t force her to reciprocate, even if he kept her locked away until the end of time.

“We’re in,” Rancho hissed, a gleeful smile on his face as the security cameras flickered and reset to a scene from five minutes earlier. Shouldering his bag, he could hear the groan of the vault above them as it slid slowly open, the maw of a beast gaping in the darkness. All the security guards were passed out, thanks to their spiked coffees. Jaeger may have been a little heavy handed with the sedative, but it had worked.

Into the bank they went, silent, professional. It was odd how alike yet different this task was shaping up to be. Pushing past the teller counters, through the grated gates, they stood before the massive vault. Jaeger turned, facing the lobby, gun drawn, as Rancho made his way inside. It only took a few minutes, and he could hear how heavy the rock was just by the older man’s huffing, but it was soon wrapped tightly in a bath towel and tucked securely in a gym bag.

Jaeger tapped the watch on his wrist, sending their signal to Hades, who had demanded he be the one to take possession of it in the alley as soon as it had been procured. Jaeger was unsure why the wealthiest man alive needed a four-hundred million dollar uncut emerald cluster, but he knew better than to ask questions. Ranch had simply said it was Hades’ rock to begin with, and that they were just returning it to the rightful owner.

That made Jaeger snort. Anyone who had the balls to lift something that pricey off a man like Hades was either brilliant or insane.

“Shit, this fucker is heavy.”

“Should have practiced, Ranch. You’re gettin’ old,” Jaeger drawled, falling in step beside his friend as they made for the emergency exit that led to the alleyway. Just as Jaeger pushed the collapsing handle, a voice rang out, tired and slurring, but alert all the same.

“Hey…hey…stop right there!”

“Fuck,” Ranch hissed, shoving Jaeger through the door as the guard began to pound toward them over the marble floors. Jaeger, on instinct, turned and raised his gun as Rancho ducked his shoulder and attempted to flee instead of fight. It hadn’t been their intention to kill, not this time.

But as the guard raised a trembling barrel and aimed for Rancho’s back, Jaeger fired off three shots, killing the guard instantly. Wasting no more time, he slipped into the alley and was dragged by the collar into the awaiting SUV.

Inside, Rancho was panting and Hades was wide eyed.

“You kill ‘im?” Ranch breathed. Frowning, Jaeger flicked his eyes to his boss and gave a curt nod. Hades sighed, dragging his hand along his face before turning to stare out the window. He knew that this little slip up would cost them, but he wasn’t sure how much.

“Cursed, huh?” Jaeger teased, attempting to lighten the mood as adrenaline pumped hotly through him. No guard should have awoken after the amount of tranquilizer he’d given them. Maybe this thingwascursed.

Hades’ black eyes flashed to Jaeger, a reprimand in their depths that made the young buck snap his mouth shut and sit straight. True to his nature, though, he couldn’t contain any snide remarks even if he tried.

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