Page 7 of The Triplets and the Blonde

Using my core I did an incline sit up to become face to face with Aiden. If he was shocked he didn’t show it. Before I could get lost in his dreamy eyes, I slammed my head into his nose. Head wounds bleed a lot and fast. His nose proved that as blood splattered on my face as well as his.

He screamed and stumbled back, releasing my ankle. I fell backward into the bushes. Way too many pricklers bore into my back and side.Fuck.

“You are gonna be punished for that!” Aiden growled.

I scrambled and crawled out of the bush. Once my feet were firmly on the ground, I ran.

“I will find you!” Aiden screamed. It sounded like he gurgled on blood, but I wasn’t looking back to see. He would be fine. The Elite had people that could mend a broken nose in minutes, at least that was the rumor.

That was another reason I hated The Elite. Every time I had a broken bone, and there were plenty of times, I had to wait for them to heal. I was pretty sure one of my rib bones never did heal.

Tang, the man who taught me to be a better thief, asked me to steal a book for him. It was a first edition Death Divides Us, so yea I understood the appeal. It was one of the only fantasy books not on the ban list so it was very popular. A first edition was priceless.

The owner had booby-trapped his basement.Who even does that?Well, one trap door got me and broke a few fingers along with a rib. I got out with the book, thank you very much. As a reward Tang gave me a week off and fresh strawberries. I showed up the next day refusing to take time off from training.

That was why I was the best. Years of training would pay off with this one score. If I could get away. Aiden had to have alerted his security. People were running at me and shouting. A metal fence started popping up from the far end of the property. According to my research, I had fifty-five seconds to make it before there was no escape.

Ignoring the pain in my back, I ran. Jumping over a puppy that was taking a nap in the grass, I pushed forward with everything I had. More of the fence locked into place, getting closer. If they caught me, nope, I would not think of that.

They wouldn’t catch me, I was too good. I ran. Pumping my legs faster I gave it everything I had. My foot connected with metal. The ground shook. For a brief moment I was suspended in the air. Using the momentum I flung myself forward. My face slammed into the ground. Shit, that stung. I had caught the fence as it was springing up.

I rolled onto my back to see the fence I was just on, clicking into place. It was electrified which was why the security skidded to a halt. I was free. The Trips stormed out of their mansion. Aiden had his hand still covering his face. Served him right.

After flipping them the middle finger, I turned and took off. It looked like all the security was on the other side of the fence, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I ran.

My alley was miles away. Even though I was good at running, I wasn’t one that did it for fun. Stopping to catch my breath I leaned against a wall. A few guys whistled at me as they walked by. Creeps.

I rolled my eyes and started walking again. It would be dark soon, which meant midnight was closing in. Soon, I would hand over the bag and I would have enough money for me and Vickie to get to safety.

Sticking to the walls and shadows I made it home in about an hour. A few of the other people in the alley gave me questionable looks. I ignored them all. It wasn’t the first time I came home in an odd outfit. At least I didn’t have my hair in pigtails.

Once I was at my spot I moved the dumpster forward to block me. I draped a sheet from the brick wall to the dumpster. Now fully blocked I pulled out my bookbag and changed into sweatpants and a hoodie. A t-shirt and bra were out of the question. My back was still in pain from the bushes. Vickie would bandage me up when she came by later.

I took the bag and hid it behind a brick that I had loosened years ago. Until Carlos gave me the money it would stay there. No way would he get the product before I got my money.

“Hey, you home?” Vickie asked on the other side of the sheet.

“Right on time. I need some patching up.” I pulled the sheet down.

“I figured.” She lifted a small green bag. It was her first aid kit. She kept it stocked. At times both of our jobs were dangerous.

A few years ago, I had to bandage her up from a violent customer. It took her weeks to recover. That was part of the reason this bounty meant so much to me. Never again would she come home bleeding from a guy that couldn’t control himself. Never again would she be in pain.

“How did it go?” She sat on the milk crate waiting for me.

“That sounded like doubt?” I sat on the ground in front of her and lifted the hoodie to expose my back.

“No doubt. But geez, Kira, this is bad. Did they catch you?” She poured alcohol on the wounds. “I’m gonna have to pick out all these thorns.”

“Fuck, that stings. No one can catch me.” I ground my teeth.

Barney came running toward us. He was an older man that normally kept to himself. I would give him food when I had extra. Never once had I seen him run, I didn’t know he could. His jacket swayed behind him as he got closer.

“What’s wrong?” Vickie stood, spilling more alcohol on my back. Shit, that hurt.

“Kira, you gotta go. Some people are looking for you. One has blood dripping down his face. They look pissed.” Barney looked behind him. “I can distract them for a bit, but you gotta go”

Fuck! How the heck did they find me?New Boston was huge. It took them no time at all to find me. I may have slightly underestimated them. I pulled down my hoodie and grabbed my bookbag. “Thank you Barney, go, don’t get involved.”

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