Page 1 of Just A Dash of Holiday Magic
STOLEN HEARTS
Chapter 1
WILL
Breaking in isn't what I have to be worried about. It's getting out before the police show up that concerns me. I have one objective—steal the ruby heart necklace. If I’d been given some time to prepare for this job, to do the recon, have my tools, then I could have ensured that I could be in and out with no trouble. But here I am on Christmas Eve, working on the fly to do what I need to do. A year ago, I walked away from this life of crime—or so I thought.
The window sticks as I push it open. It’s not surprising in these old brownstone apartment buildings. People spend a ton of money redesigning the interiors but spend little to no money repairing the one thing that ensures that people like me can’t get in.
The apartment is dark beside the glow of the lights on the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. Harry, my old crew boss, assured me that the entitled heiress that lives here would be out for the evening. I'm sure she's downtown at some holiday party, spending more money on food and drinks in one night than someone like me makes in a month. Living her life without a care in the world. If only we could all feel that way, but some of us have to deal with the dark sides of life.
I slip inside the window and wait for some sound of an alarm. Looking around, I check for any keypad on the wall near the front door. I don't see anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't a system. I've done this too many times to get fooled. If this chick is as rich as Harry claims, there is no way she’s leaving her safety to just a latch on the window.
Harry said that the necklace would be in the bedroom. I move quickly and quietly down the hallway, careful not to make a sound with my footsteps. She may not be home, but I don’t need some nosy neighbor coming up here to investigate.
Once inside the bedroom, I bypass the vanity table laid out with makeup and an open jewelry box. I’m here for one item, and it's not going to be just sitting out in the open.
“The safe is behind the Degas,” Harry instructed me before sending me in here.
I look around the room and see the painting of the ballerina on the back wall. Without thinking, muscle memory from my past life of crime kicks into gear. I remove the painting and get to work on cracking the safe that is mounted in the wall. This is my specialty. There isn’t a safe in this world that I can’t crack. Harry knows this and dangled a ruby-hearted carrot in front of me when he knew I was desperate enough to come back to this life for one more job.
Listening for the last tumbler as it clicks into place. I turn the handle and pull open the safe door just as I hear the sound of the front door opening.
MARIE
I used to love the holidays, but with each year I grow older, the magic seems to fade. As a child, I never wanted for anything. It was the one consolation for the fact that my parents were never around. They shipped me off to boarding school after the au pair that raised me moved back to France when I was nine years old. I know what people think when they see me, poor little rich girl, but there’s more to me than my trust fund and my apartment and the ruby heart necklace my parents sent me last year for Christmas. At least, I’d like to think there is more to me.
I set my bag and my keys down on the side table when I walk in. The sad glow of lights on the Christmas tree is all there is to greet me upon my return. I’ve been trying to keep myself busy for the last few days, to try and forget about the fact that I’m all alone again on Christmas.
I click on the tv, andIt’s A Wonderful Lifeis playing. It’s the scene where George Bailey is standing on the bridge looking down at the water, contemplating jumping. It’s unsettling how easy it is in this moment for me to relate with his character and the thoughts going through his mind right now. I feel lost and so alone.
A sound, like a floorboard creaking down the hallway, has me looking up.
“Hello?” I ask, my voice shaking slightly.
There is no answer. Not that I expected to have someone answer back. It’s all in my head. There is no one here. I have iron bars on the windows in my room, and—I turn to the windows in the living room and see that one of them looks like it's open slightly.
“What the—” I start to say when a shadow moves in the corner of my eye.
Everything happens at once. I turn and see a man standing in my hallway dressed all in black and the sound of police sirens coming in the distance.
“I don’t want any trouble,” the man says, holding up his hands. The ruby heart necklace is hanging from his fingers.
I can't move or speak. Fear has struck me frozen in my spot. The man moves quickly to the windows in a few large strides. We both hear the sound of tires squealing against the pavement just as the police sirens get closer.
“Fuck,” the man says and turns around.
There is a look in his eyes, a sadness I don’t understand that eases the fear in me. I can’t explain why, but I know that this man isn’t going to hurt me. Our gazes are locked on one another when the door to my apartment bursts open and two police officers run-in with their guns drawn.
