Page 34 of Rising Storm

“Can’t get enough of me, can you?” Gareth asked, reaching for him.

Helix almost let him pull him into the room, but instead stepped back. “I’m here for another job. A quick break and grab we’d have to do tonight.”

Gareth lifted an eyebrow. “Without watching the place first?”

“Shelli found out they’re going to a fundraiser tonight, so let’s go. It’s up the road apiece.”

“Apiece?”

Helix shrugged. “Something we say in Maine.”

Gareth laughed as he grabbed his room key card and slipped it and his wallet into his jeans. “Don’t we need to like, wear special clothes so we don’t leave threads or something?”

“Nah. What you have on is perfect. You’ll blend into the dark.” He gestured down at his own jeans and black T-shirt. “This guy isn’t going to report the theft of a stolen comic book, so it won’t matter what we leave there.”

They drove to the house and circled the block a few times until dark set in, then parked a street away. The houses were all two-story fancy bricked homes with perfectly manicured lawns. They walked casually—just two men out for a stroll in the dark. When they reached the house, they darted into the backyard fast.

It didn’t take long for Helix to break into the house and disable the security system. He and Gareth moved silently through the large, dim kitchen, a light over the stove the only source of illumination. It cast shadows on the dark, granite countertops and light cabinets. Helix moved fast, knowing the collection would probably be in an office. They found that room quickly, but there was only a desk and walls of hardback books. Finding nothing in the shelves or the desk, Helix stood, hands on his hips. “Let’s split up and search. I’ll take the upstairs.”

Gareth nodded and walked out of the office.

Helix hurried up the curved staircase and started quickly going through the rooms. He found pay-dirt in one of the guest rooms that had been turned into a showcase for comic books. Probably thousands of comic books.

This was gonna be a pain in the ass.

He heard Gareth coming up the stairs and he stepped into the hall to wave him into the room. Then he aimed the flashlight across the wall-to-wall tables filled with boxes.

“Well shit, we may need more than one night to find them.” Gareth walked to the first box.

“We’d better get started.”

It would have been easier if they could have flipped on a light, but they couldn’t risk it. So, they used flashlights to dig through the books. Each one was in a plastic sleeve and it didn’t seem like they were in any particular order.

“Feeling okay since this is technically your first steal?” Helix asked as he thumbed through the comics.

“Yes and no. Yes, because this guy bought stolen property on purpose, and no, I’m not entirely comfortable sneaking around this house at night. Not after spending most of my adulthood arresting guys like me.”

Helix couldn’t help but chuckle as he dug deeper into the books. “I wondered how you’d be able to do this.”

“It helps knowing these things go back to their rightful owners. A lot of times in my job, the bad guy got away with it.”

“So it’s nice righting the wrong.”

Gareth aimed the flashlight at Helix’s chest. “You have to admit this feels a lot better than what you used to do.”

“It does.” And it did. Nothing felt this good and re-stealing had quickly become something like an addiction for him. It’s why he preferred being out in the field. After years of stealing, he’d become good at this and doing it for the right reasons was better than anything. He glanced at Gareth, watching the big man go through the boxes. “It’s not so bad having a partner either. Most of my jobs in the past were done alone. Hardly ever had anyone to watch my back.”

“Didn’t you and Lane pull a job together once?”

That was a time Helix had no intention of talking about since it had led to the worst beating of his life and left him with cigarette burn scars from Hayrick. So, instead of answering, he just went to the next box. But the recollection still hovered, remembered fear making his hands shake. He’d thought he was going to die that night and years later, the memory of that terror was still powerful.

He and Lane had pissed Hayrick off and he’d beaten them both, but for some reason, had burned Helix. Lane had escaped with fewer scars.

Two hours later, Helix let out a quiet whoop and held the comic up. “I can’t believe he has this thing filed away with all the others. You’d think something worth so much money would have a place of honor or something. Maybe if I understood more about comics, I would have understood his filing system.”

“I remember about one of these selling for a million bucks. It’s wild having it in hand.” Gareth pointed to the small stack he’d collected. “I found two of the others, so we could just call it a success.”

Unfortunately, as soon as they hit the top of the stairs, the sound of a garage opening drifted up to them.

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