Page 42 of Tracking Luxe

As soon as the Renegade Souls men began to occupy Grigori over by the corner with a black woman perched on his lap, it was time.

She felt her phone vibrate.

Nathan:4th floor. Last door right. 3 mins.

Short and to the point. Three minutes, not four, or two. Bikers were so dramatic, she thought, watching him slip through the crowd and disappear into a hallway.

Show time.

He was crouched on the floor when she found the room, two floorboards were pulled up.

“A safe under the floor? Smart.”

“Not smart enough, love, if I found it. We only have a few minutes, my boys will keep Grigori busy, but he has a lot of his goons floating around.”

And this was why she’d worn her boots, heels were inconvenient for fast getaways. She watched as he uncovered a third board and a lockbox was under the floor. Breaking safes were not her forte, she liked easy things in plain sight she could grab and run. Having seen how effortlessly Nathan had broken into her motel room without her realizing anyone had been inside until it was too late, it was a no brainer to use him for this, even if it meant using his own culpability against him to force his hand in helping her, as was the case.

She held his little black pouch of tools, he tried one and then another, muttering to himself.

“Can you do it?”

He turned a scowl on her. “Give me a second, thief.”

“We don’t have long.” She whispered back.

He wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

“Stop fucking crowding me then,” he grumbled and got back to it, she moved back an inch so her hip wasn’t brushing his shoulder. “Any lock in the world can be picked with the right time. All they are is just big puzzles. I happen to like picking apart puzzles. Aren’t you my lovely… ah, there you go, letting me inside you.” Fingers steady and sure she watched him aptly with long thin tools and a palm sized electronic device, Luxe wouldn’t recognize any of them in a line up, but she was fascinated observing, his shoulders hunched, she admitted begrudgingly to be a little in awe of his skill as he murmured to the silver steel box in front of him.

“Fucking got you, you little bastard, she was a shy thing but I got her open,” he declared thirty seconds later as the box gave a distinct click and the lock sprang open.

Anticipation clung to Luxe’s skin.Please be in there.

Slipping the tools away in his inside pocket, Grinder moved back a tad, and gestured with a jut of his chin. “Go ahead, thief, get your spoils.” He smirked.

Luxe dived inside with greedy fingers.

This was always the fun part, discovering what was hidden. Sometimes it was trinkets and not worth a dime. Other times she went home with rich pockets bulging.

Two shelves, not overly full. Her eyes bled greed. She couldn’t help it, she was a thief after all. Bundles of dirty money neatly piled in one corner that must run into the thousands, bags of powder, a few pieces of jewelry she knew some criminals preferred to use in moving easy currency from one place to the next without it being detected, she pushed them aside, though her fingers really wanted to take them all.

And then.

Her fingers caught around a tube no bigger than her palm behind the money on the bottom shelf. Grinder had moved over to the door, peering out. “Hurry it up, love.”

“I am,” she said absently unscrewing the tube and----- yes! It was them! Six little scraps of faded paper rolled up inside.

It was the sketches by the German painter whatshisname!

To anyone not knowing what they were looking for, they’d mean nothing, silly little sketches. Just like the jewels, art was a savvy cloak to move illegal money through the channels.

Adrenalin struck her chest until she was filled with euphoria as she stuffed the empty tube back into the safe and the sketches went into her purse, she closed the lock box and listened to it reengage its locks, she wiped the safe with a handkerchief she’d tucked into her boobs, quickly replacing the floorboards.

“Okay, we can go.” She told him.

Grinder stopped her in the doorway, towering bigger than he’d ever been. “Hold up.”

“What? We have to go!” she hissed and found she couldn’t say another word once his mouth crashed down on top of hers, forcing her lips wider he went at her mouth like he never intended to leave ever again.