Page 19 of Factory Thief

Victoria gives me a long, scrutinizing look, her eyes hard as diamond. She moves toward the bed in a rush and I flinch, thinking she’s going to strike me. Instead, she unlocks the cuffs, very careful not to look at my nakedness.

“I’ll shoot you in both feet if you try to run.”

“Yeah, yeah. Where would I go if I did run? Like as not, you’re my best shot at avoiding a one-way trip back to Sandpiper Cove.”

The cuffs come off and she takes a step back, hand going to the pocket where she keeps her gun. Her gaze darts for the briefest of moments to my pillow-covered crotch. I can’t resist messing with her a little bit.

I fling the pillow off myself and rise from the bed, stretching like a cat. I turn my back to her while I do so, that she might look to her heart’s content. Maybe I flex a little bit, too.

I head into the bathroom to take care of my business. I glance over at the shower and decide I could really use a shower.

“Hey, is it cool if I jump in the shower?”

“We don’t have the time.”

“Look, Sandpiper Cove dumps all its sewage and nastiness into the Pacific Ocean. The same ocean we swam through.”

“God damn it.” I can hear her scratching. “Fine. Hurry up and shower, but leave me some hot water.”

The hot water feels amazing on my skin. The shower head is badly clogged with lime build up, and it takes a lot of scrubbing to get the soap off my skin, but I don’t care.

While I’m in the shower, the door opens, and I hear a light thump. I peer out of the curtain and find a rumpled pair of blue jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt, still bearing price tags.

Aww. She bought me new clothes. Makes sense. I can’t exactly run around in a prison-issue jumpsuit with the entire state looking for me.

I dress in the garments, and find the shoes are a bit tight but they’ll be okay if I don’t tie them, the pants fit well enough, though they’re about an inch short. When I come out of the bathroom, she brandishes the cuffs.

“Get on the bed.”

“That’s not necessary,” I say. “I’ve got a better chance of staying alive, not to mention out of prison, so long as I’m with you.”

She rolls her eyes and stomps toward the bathroom, making sure to take the keys to the truck while she’s at it.

I can’t help but imagine her naked body as the water sluices over it. I find myself getting hard at the idea. I wonder if her body is as amazing as I think it is under those bulky clothes.

Victoria emerges from the bathroom, wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and matching yoga pants. Her silhouette is every bit as astonishing as I’d hoped it would be.

“You’re still here.”

“Of course I am.”

Victoria’s lips twitch a snarl as she notes the way my gaze runs up and down her body, but she doesn’t offer a comment.

“This flash drive…where did you stash it?”

I tense up. What if finding that flash drive was her real mission, and breaking me out of prison was just the way to get at it?

Victoria sighed. “I know you don’t trust me. I don’t trust you, either. But if there’s even a chance you’re telling me the truth, then I can’t afford not to try and recover that data and get it to the authorities.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Awfully altruistic for a professional criminal.”

Victoria’s green eyes grow haunted. She turns her gaze to the side and stares at a water stain on the wall.

“Let’s just say, I know how shitty it is when cancer fucks up your entire life, okay? Now where’s the damn drive?”

Should I trust her? I balance on the razor’s edge for a few tense moments. I don’t think she’s lying about the cancer thing. Maybe she lost someone dear to the disease?

“It’s in the attic of my grandmother’s house, down in San Jose.”

---