Page 49 of The Thief

“I’ll see you tomorrow, dimples.” I smirked down at her, then leaned forward to kiss her cheek. I couldn’t stop myself, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do.

Her face was so soft, the smell of vanilla and her made me want to stay close. To breathe her in. She felt like... mine.

She gave a little laugh, her head dipping to the floor as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

“Dimples?” She quirked her brow as she peered up at me from under her lashes. “I guess that’s cute.”

I wanted to say it suited her, that shewascute, but I didn’t want to come off as a creep, so I grinned like an idiot and opened the door, stepping outside.

“Any problems and you ring me, okay?” I waited for her to acknowledge me, my eyes widening to make sure she understood how important that was to me.

“We’ll be fine... but yes, I’ll call if we need you.”

That was good enough for me.

“See you tomorrow,” I said, turning to leave.

She stayed at the door, only closing it once I’d gotten into my car.

Before I started the engine, I heard my phone ping, and I checked my messages. It was a text from Adam.

Adam

We have an address for Holmes. We’re heading there now. I’ll send you the location.

Me

I’m on my way.

Chapter Nineteen

TYLER

Iparked up alongside the van Adam was driving, with the others inside.

Winding down my window, I asked, “Is he in?”

“No. But that’s even better,” Adam stated. “We can go in, wait for him, and catch him when he least expects it.”

I nodded. “The best way to introduce ourselves.”

We got out of our vehicles, pulling our hoods up as we headed to the alleyway at the back of the property. Holmes lived in a rundown cottage in the middle of nowhere. All that surrounded him were fields and cows. Perfect when he was home, and he could hear visitors arriving. Not so great when he was about to walk into an ambush with no one around to hear him scream.

We edged along the fence, careful not to set off any security he had set up out here. In my absence, Will had managed to hackinto his CCTV and disable the systems. But you never knew what else was waiting for you on a job like this. You could never be too careful.

Once we’d cleared the fence, we made our way to the back door. I broke the lock and we let ourselves in, checking each room to make sure the place was definitely empty. When we were satisfied, we headed to the living room, and stood against the back wall in the dark, waiting.

“He’d better be home tonight,” Will whispered.

“I’ll stay here until he shows his fucking face. I don’t care how long it takes,” I shot back, and I meant it. It was time for payback.

“Do we know anything else about this guy?” Devon asked.

“Just that he has links to various gangs,” Adam replied. “He’s got his fingers in a few pies, but he’s a bit of a loner. He’s a nobody who knows a lot of somebodies. In the grand scheme of things, he won’t be missed when we take him out tonight.”

Eventually, the lights from a car shone through the window into the living room, lighting up the wall opposite where we stood. Then the lights disappeared, and we heard the sound of a car door closing, followed by footsteps over the gravel drive.

Adam peered cautiously out of the window and confirmed to us, “He’s alone.”