Page 6 of Prettiest Little Thief
“No, it’s a relic. A key, to be precise.”
“You want me to steal akey?”
He shifted closer to me. “Exactly.”
“Why do you care so much about a key? It sounds kind of lame.”
“Why I want the key isn’t your business.
“I steal cars. Not keys. I wouldn’t even know how to begin to steal a thing that may or may not be locked inside a freaking vault or something.”
“Technically, you stole my car keys. And I’m pretty damn sure you planned on taking the keys from the valet post too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been dressed in that uniform.” Dude had me there. But I didn’t reply. He tapped his foot on the ground. “If you want to be free, then you’ll figure it out.” He stood abruptly, sliding the chair back against the linoleum flooring.
“I didn’t agree to this.”
“Something tells me you’ll change your mind. And when you do, here’s my card.” He placed a business card into myuncuffed hand before striding out of the room. The door clicked shut behind him, muffling any voices in the hallway.
Unbelievable. This man thought I wanted to do his dirty work when I was just caught doing my own. And now, without a partner.
I flipped the card over in my hand and stared at the name.Lucas Knight.His number was printed into the card just beneath his name.
“What a jerk,” I mumbled but held onto it just in case.
Chapter Five
Monroe
The doctor deemed me well enough to be released the following afternoon. There was no reason for me to stay any longer. The moment I was dreading came as they placed me in the back of a police car and took me to the county jail for booking. They fingerprinted me, took my mugshot, and made me squat and cough while naked. Completely and utterly degrading. But this was my punishment. There was no one else to blame but myself.
The officer gave me a matching beige top and bottom set that looked like scrubs a nurse would wear. Once I was dressed, I was escorted to my cell. When the door closed, I trudged across the small space and sat on the sad little cot in the corner, my roomie for the time being snoring in the bunk above me. Tears pricked my eyes as I laid down and covered my face with my hands. Sobs wracked my body and I sniffled, trying to remain quiet so I didn’t wake up the woman above me.
“Girl, why are you crying?”
I gasped and removed my hands from my face. A blonde-haired woman hung her head over the edge of the bunk, staring down at me. I must have been crying louder than I thought, not even hearing the woman’s snoring stop. “I… I’m sorry.” I wiped my face. The woman’s freckled face didn’t disappear from my view, she just continued to stare at me with wide brown eyes.
“But really, why are you crying?” she asked again.
“Isn’t it obvious? I screwed up.” Her face disappeared for a moment, then she hopped down from the bunk.
“What’d you do to get in here?”
“Car theft,” I replied simply, not wanting to explain the whole ordeal.
“Nice.” She smiled. One of her two front teeth slightly overlapped the other.
I sat up, throwing my legs over the edge of the cot. “Not really. What about you?”
“Oh. My boyfriend was cheating on me, so I stabbed him in the leg with a rusty pair of scissors.” She explained it like it was no big deal. “I told the cops it wasn’t like I tried to kill him this time.”
My mouth dropped open. “This time?”
“Yeah. Last time I tried to hit him with my car, but the bastard is quick on his feet. Just managed to clip him.” She sighed and took a seat next to me on the cot. I tensed, not sure if I wanted such a violent person so close to me. “He’ll forgive me, and the charges will be dropped soon enough.” She shrugged and swung her feet.
“I could get out of here too. I just… I don’t know. I don’t trust the guy.” My shoulders sagged.
“Who is he?”
“The guy whose car I stole.”
