Page 16 of Rising Storm

“He’s a professional thief, Quincy. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Doesn’t stop me from worrying something will go wrong. We’re taking from people who know they’ve purchased stolen goods. Bad people. There’s nothing to stop them from lashing out if anyone is caught. But I know Lane is good. I’ve seen him in action several times now. It’s incredible to watch. He can pick the lock on anything.”

“I get the feeling Helix is more of the break and grab sort.” Gareth chuckled.

Quincy laughed with him. “I could see that. He certainly doesn’t have the grace of Lane.”

“Not many people do. The guy’s a damn gymnast.”

“And I benefit from that greatly.”

This time Gareth laughed louder. Lane was a very attractive man who was probably bendy as Hell. Still, he was more attracted to Helix’s type and after that morning, he was even more so. But he could easily understand his best friend’s attraction to his boyfriend. Lane was a good guy through and through, and he’d suffered a lot being a thief for Hayrick. But he was also brilliant and had been creating a security system with a convenient backdoor during those years. He’d talked Hayrick into using it and Hayrick, in turn, had recommended the system to a lot of his clients, which helped them a lot.

“Guess I’ll let you go. I just wanted to check in and see how things were going.”

“I think we’ll be here another week, but that should be it. We really want to get with the thief here and unfortunately, I scared him off. So ask Shelli to see what more she can find on him.”

“Will do. Take care.”

He clicked his phone off and drove the car out of the mall parking lot. He was as ready as he could be to do this thing.

Chapter 7

Helix looked damn good in a suit. He stepped out of his motel room, the black suit jacket open over a white buttoned shirt and Gareth’s breath caught. Sunlight turned his hair to a burnished coppery brown. He still had an air of bad boy about him that a suit couldn’t cover, especially with the hint of ink at his neck. Apparently, Gareth liked bad boys because his dick perked up big time. It didn’t help that the morning before had been replaying in his brain since it had happened. There’d been something powerful between them and it had rocked Gareth’s world. Willing his cock back down, he watched Helix stride to the rental car and get in.

“You dress up nice,” he said once the man was settled into the seat.

“Thanks.” Helix’s gaze raked down his body. “So do you.”

He sat there a minute, taking in the slight invitation in Helix’s eyes, so surprised, he thought he must be imagining it. Then it was gone, his usual disinterested expression coming back with a vengeance. Gareth let it go and started the car.

They drove to the building and parked in a pay parking lot two blocks away. Walking next to Helix to Kavaugh’s place, Gareth worked on bringing his nerves under control. He tugged on the sleeves of his jacket, then smoothed his hands down his shirt. They were here to scope it out and get information only, but he felt like they were already going to steal the statuette. The sun beat down on his head and body, making sweat build up on his skin. His suit felt cloying and uncomfortable in the heat as he fidgeted some more.

“You good?” Helix asked. “Because you’ve fixed your sleeves several times and they look fine to me. Jacket a bit tight?”

“In the shoulders. Makes me feel like the sleeves are riding up.”

“Nerves?”

Gareth snorted and skirted around a woman on the sidewalk. “A few. This is all still pretty new to me.”

Helix looked around, probably to make sure nobody was listening. “We’re here to figure out the cameras and what elevators go to the right floor.”

“And what kind of locks they have on the doors. Key cards are a pain. Got it.”

They walked into the building without any issues to find there wasn’t a reception area with a receptionist, just elevators and a few offices. Two chairs and a small table were outside one set of offices and the smell of burnt coffee filled the air. It was close to five o’clock when most were getting ready to leave, so people milled about the area, several talking in low tones. Nobody paid them any attention as they got on the elevator and took it to the top floor where they knew Kavaugh’s office was.

His office had glass windows and doors and people were still inside, so they walked around to get the layout of the top floor. It was a nice building with beige carpet and walls, interspersed with generic art on the hallway walls. Cool air pumped quietly into the place.

“I’m not seeing any cameras,” Helix murmured under his breath. “But there is a janitor’s closet we could hide in. I’m thinking we go in there now and wait until everything’s closed up. We can see what their night security is like then.”

Gareth agreed and they took turns slipping into the janitor closet, Helix going first. Gareth walked around a couple of minutes before following him in. Helix had a mini flashlight that he kept lit while they waited in the claustrophobic room. He aimed it near his face and grinned at Gareth.

“You get off on this, don’t you?” Gareth asked, grinning back, though his nerves were driving him crazy.

“I may be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, but mostly I just love taking the stuff back. It’s the best sort offuck youto Hayrick and everyone who bought things from him.” He was quiet then as they listened to the activity outside the doors. There were voices several times. Gareth had counted four offices on this floor.

“There was a lot of waiting around working for Letsen, wasn’t there?” Gareth whispered.

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