CHAPTER SIX

Cora

Cora shut the door behind her, always using the back entrance to the modest home ten miles outside the city. After driving through various neighborhoods for a half hour and circling the block four times, to make sure no one followed her.

Her typical routine when visiting Tom.

“You’re crazy.” The familiar voice called from the office just off the kitchen. Where the counters were bare, and only a few dishes sat in the sink in the otherwise untouched, pristine room.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” She locked the door, and pulled the blonde wig off her head. She stuffed it in her black leather purse and dropped it on the table, then she pitched against the doorway, staring at her last friend on the planet.

Tom Matthews sat in his ergonomic chair in front of his desk, his back to the door, and his twenty-one year old focus glued to the six computer screens in front of him.

Three were on the desk, the other three were mounted to the sound-proof wall, with large speakers on either side of the room. Cocooning him in a wall of sound and electrical currents.

He shook his head, his dirty-blond hair falling just over his eyes. Then pressed a key on the keyboard built into his chair arm, instantly muting the music. “You used up your cards on the escort? Why risk getting caught over him?”

Cora sighed, and scratched her scalp. “When was the last time you slept?”

“What day is it?”

She snorted. “Friday.”

“Three days ago. Don’t change the subject.”

“I see you haven’t eaten anything either.”

“I was a little busy setting off fire alarms, and jamming security feeds for your last mark. The one we’ve been working on for six months. Did you forget? When was the last time you slept?” Tom smirked.

She crossed her arms. “Try to stand up.”

That wiped the humor from his face. “I’m standing up because I want to, not because you told me to.”

“Fine.”

With a grimace, he pulled himself out of the chair, the leather literally peeling from his body. The indent from his impression lingered on the cushions, and his joints cracked with the first few steps. “Are the shades drawn?”

“Yep. I bet the neighbors think this house has been abandoned. Eat something. Come on. I’ll make you a grilled cheese.”

“That sounds good.”

“You need to get out more. We’ll take an extra week before we start the next job. Get some vitamin D into your skin.”

In the kitchen, she busied herself making her friend the first meal he’d had in probably two days.

Tom stretched his back, then his arms, followed by his legs. Several bones audibly popped. “You just put us both at risk by involving him.” He bent over at the waist, his fingertips skimming the linoleum floor.

“There was no other way to distract her. Leveraging Conway’s cougar behavior was the most effective way to give me the time I needed in her office.”

“Well, in exchange for your successful mission and satisfied client, you’re risking the escort ratting you out. Which will lead them to finding me.”

“He’s a Knight, not just an escort. And I don’t think he’ll talk.”

Her friend snorted and glared with his sand-dollar eyes. “Have you forgotten what your father told you?”

“Of course not. Sit down, Shaggy.”

“Who’s that?”

Cora rolled her eyes, and pulled a few ingredients from the sparse fridge. “You’re so sheltered. Seventies cartoon character, scruffy, long hair, and rail thin. We have to get some meat on your bones.”

“Calev would never have let you do that.”

She slammed the cheese packets on the counter. “You didn’t know my father that well before he passed. And if he followed his own rules, do you think I’d be standing here doing his job?”

“Duh!” He shot back, just as loud. “Which is exactly why he told us not to clue in our families on what we were doing! Trying to keep us from making his mistakes.”

“Mistake? You think him pulling you into this career at eighteen years old was a mistake? You think all the families who’ve property we restored would consider this a mistake?”

“I wasn’t his friend,” Tom replied calmly, and sat at the table. “Just a stupid hacker kid who got caught. He helped get the charges dropped if I helped him with your marks.”

“You’re far from stupid. Stop complaining.” Cora rolled her eyes again, finishing off his lunch. “You love this job.”

“Again, duh. Why do you think I’ve stuck around after he died?”

“Shut up, and eat your damn sandwich.” She practically threw the plate at him, the contents slipping off the edge. “You have to start taking better care of yourself. Get up and move around every hour. Use an egg timer if you have to.”

“What the hell is an egg timer?”

She growled, and scraped her fingernails through her hair. The wig might as well still be caked to her scalp for all the itching this kid caused. “Do you have to be such a Linkster?”

“I could throw so many names back at you, as a Millennial. Don’t start that.”

Bracing her hands on the back of the metal chair, Cora forced a deep breath to calm down. “Vaughn won’t be a problem.”

“How can you be so sure?” Tom bit into the sandwich, breathing in through his mouth to cool off the hot cheese.

“Because I know him.”

“From high school, yeah. You told me.”

“No. I know him. He’s not a rat.”

He gave her a doubtful glare as he chewed. “Better safe than sorry. After you visit the bank later today, we should pack up and head out.”

She plopped down in the chair beside him. “Can’t. Not yet.”

“What? The safe deposit box? We can’t wait. You have twenty-four hours after a heist before all the security flags are thrown up. You have to get into that box today. Conway will know you’ve jacked her key.”

“I know. That’s not what I meant.”

Tom stared, and stopped chewing.

“I have a date.”

He swallowed. A long moment passed, before he spoke. “Are you paying for it?”