Page 6 of Steal Me (Rebel Hearts Heists 1)
Chapter 4
Taken
Sloane
To think that my biggest concern this morning was Sasha’s phone call. I had even tried to convince myself that she’d found my number somehow, with the holidays coming up as an attempt to communicate however small. Instead, it had been Pierce. I was just beginning to get over the uneasiness that Sasha’s phone call caused this morning, convincing myself that maybe she just missed me and that she somehow managed to find my number.
It didn’t make sense but I kept trying to keep myself from panicking, telling myself that if Pierce had any idea where to find me, he’d have shown up, not got Sasha to call or text. And I almost forgot about it, preoccupying myself with work and with avoiding Mr. Jameson’s sleazy attention. I almost succeeded in convincing myself that the only thing out of the ordinary today, would be the fact that I had let my roommate Kat convince me to go to the parade and pep party on campus to celebrate UCLA’s football victory in last week’s State Championship final.
A few of the football players attend some of my classes and even I admit that there are some legit hotties that play football in our starting team but that life is not my life anymore. No more spotlights and roaring crowds, no more cheer practice, just flying under the radar and looking over my shoulder.
This is why I hate Pierce the most … I could’ve maybe forgiven his sociopathic, psychotic ways and his jealousy. I could’ve forgotten about the fact that he dared hit me and just chalk him up as a huge mistake I fortunately didn’t make, because I didn’t go through with the wedding that he kept moving up, rather than waiting for my college graduation like we’d originally planned. I could’ve moved on and healed in time. But threatening my family? No. I couldn’t forgive that.
What I realized in the past few months is that what I hate Pierce the most for is that he took everything away from me, he made me a ghost, like he wanted to. I’m still living in his shadow, but rather than doing as told to appease him, I hide from him. I shy away from any friendships or any kind of attachment, just in case he finds me and I have to run again. If I care about someone, it’s someone else he can threaten like he did with my family. This is why I hate him the most, because even though he’s thousands of miles away, he still controls me.
I’m lost in these kinds of thoughts when I spot him and my immediate reaction is incredulity. I shake my head as if doing that could change what I see. My ex-fiancé, my abuser, my worst nightmare is standing right there, third in line at my till and all I can do there and then is to avoid his gaze and let him think that I didn’t see him.
Pierce’s eyes are black and emotionless, glassy and cold like those of a great white shark, or at least how I imagine a great white shark’s gaze to be: a cold, heartless predator. It’s crazy that once upon a time I loved that man and I looked into those same eyes thinking that he’d be the father of my children, that we’d grow old together. My mind goes into overdrive, my fight or flight instinct immediately kicking in. I gotta go and possibly without him realizing it. I gotta alert campus security that I’m being stalked and not to let anyone into the building. I keep a packed suitcase in my closet just in case I need to run and I know I’ll need to take the car, because the asshole chose the day before Thanksgiving to show up, when the chances of me getting on any flights are slim to none.
I barely finish that thought as all hell breaks loose: there’s a loud noise, like a gunshot and an imperious voice yells: ‘Everybody freeze! This is a bank robbery ladies and gentlemen. As long as everyone stays put and doesn’t try to be a hero, you’ll be back on your way before you know it!’
I look toward the entrance where three tall, masked figures are pointing guns in my general direction. Before I can spy on Pierce’s reaction, two of them walk toward the tills and I can hear Mr. Jameson’s loud, troubled breathing by my side. This would be the perfect time to run, while Pierce’s attention is focused on what’s going on but I don’t get a chance to move because Captain America walks straight to me and orders me to empty the contents of my till into his duffel bag. I try to keep my voice steady as I explain that our cash delivery today didn’t happen and I’ve got very little in my till.
So he orders me to open the vault and when I explain that only the manager’s badge opens the vault, Deadpool literally rips the lanyard off of Mr Jameson’s neck and I’m hauled over the counter and dragged to the vault with a gun pressed into my temple and a strong forearm keeping me in a headlock. I must be in shock because of spotting Pierce and the whole bank robbery because as Captain America pushes me against the vault’s walls, all I’m aware of is that he smells nice. He smells clean, like clean cotton and sunscreen and the loneliness of the last few months must be to blame for the fact that I almost miss the contact with his solid body when he lets go of me.
There’s no other explanation,I must be going insane. I’m being held at gunpoint and all I can think about is that the robber smells nice. So much so that for a second I doubt that I even saw Pierce. Maybe my paranoia has finally gotten the best of me and I am seeing my tormentor in random places. Because this is the worst part of my situation: I left everything behind to get away from Pierce but I took Pierce with me, because he’s in my every thought and my every action. Everything I do, I do it to sever the bond we once had but I’m not free of him.
Time seems to be flowing in some kind of warped slow motion, because while my mind has been frantically trying to analyze the situation, Deadpool has joined Captain America and they quickly filled one duffel bag with cash. I wasn’t lying when I said that we didn’t get our normal influx and even the vault today isn’t that full, it’s just this morning’s and yesterday’s deposits.
“Ninety seconds!”
The voice of the third bank robber, the one who’s keeping everyone at gunpoint on the shop floor reaches us and that spurs the other two robbers into action. Deadpool hauls the duffel bag onto his shoulder, balancing his rifle on his other side and Captain America steps in front of me: his eyes are a vibrant, intense blue and his voice is low and despite the situation, his tone has none of the harshness I’d expect. “We’re leaving. Follow us out of this room and make sure that your manager doesn’t do anything stupid like pressing some panic button and no one will be hurt. You got it?”
I nod and he signals for me to walk in front of him but I freeze in terror when I see Pierce standing at the vault’s door. Everything happens so fast, in a split second. Pierce opens his coat revealing his FBI badge and his hand moves up, to grab the gun secured to his holster.
“FBI! Give me the girl or—”
My eyes dilate in terror and I take an instinctive step back towards Captain America, who wraps a strong arm around my waist, pulling me against his hard body.
The cold metal of his gun returns to press against my temple and his voice reverberates down my spine, making me shiver: it’s a mixture of fear, anxiety and something else. Oh yes good, step back into the safety of the man holding you at gunpoint … except, that isn’t a completely false notion. Something I shouldn’t feel for someone who’s pointing a gun at me, a physical reaction that feels totally out of place and yet it feels better than anything I’ve felt in the last twelve months, courses through me. Don’t get me wrong, I know I should feel threatened and I do, but the threat doesn’t come solely from the masked robber, Pierce is just as scary.
And then everything happens so quickly. Captain America lifts me against his chest with one arm that’s wrapped around my waist with a vise like grip. Pierce’s eyes are fixed on mine as the robbers walk toward the vault’s door and he aims his gun at Captain America’s head. I’m terrified but being hit by his gun is the least of my fears, I’m more worried that Pierce will get his hands on me again. But when he cocks the trigger of his gun with an audibleclick, Deadpool fires his gun down low, knocking Pierce off his feet and I barely register what’s happening until I’m hauled out of the bank. Captain America is running, carrying me as if I weigh nothing, followed by the other two Avengers.
It’s a short walk, barely a block then I get stuffed into a black SUV sandwiched between Captain America and Deadpool, as the Hulk sits shotgun and the car speeds away. Well, this was not the Wednesday I was expecting.
???
River
I turn on the engine as soon as I see my friends round the corner running towards me. What the fuck’s going on? They have a girl with them, Kaden is carrying her. I have a zillion questions but I know full well that I can’t ask them until we’re at the very least on the highway. There’s no police cars chasing us but I can hear sirens in the distance and I decrease my speed so as not to draw attention.
This is when my eyes meet hers in the rearview mirror:I know this girl. Fuck.
She’s in my Political Science class and I’ve always thought that she was smoking hot but she never talks to anyone, so I concluded that she’s either really shy or really stuck up. In both cases, not hookup material. She recognizes me too because she gasps when her jade green eyes meet mine. My gaze shifts to Kaden and I almost take pleasure out of telling him to take his mask off.
“Dude, take those masks off. If we cross paths with a police car, you’re all painting a giant target on our foreheads. Hiding in plain sight, remember?”
“I don’t know, Rivs. As you can see, we have a guest.”Yeah, no shit!I know this girl has got classes in common with all of us, because we did discuss hot girls on our courses several times and she was always mentioned. So I understand why they’re hesitant to show their faces, because she’ll recognize us all. But being recognized by her is the lesser of two evils as opposed to being spotted by the cops.
