Page 6 of Claim the Dragon
He pushed away from the door and took a few steps until he was standing just on the other side of her desk.“You’re doing it too much.You’re gonna get caught.Didn’t you say you thought somebody was watching you?Another enforcer or something like that?”
She had told him that, only because she’d needed to vocalize the thoughts.If they’d sounded ridiculous, she would have let it go and chalked the feeling up to paranoia, something else she’d learned to deal with long ago.
“I don’t know for sure that he’s an enforcer.I’ve never seen him in the navy-blue uniform they wear or carrying any type of weapon.”
“But you’ve seen him more than once.”Cree touched his fingers to the top of the desk and leaned over.“If you’re being followed, this definitely isn’t a good idea.What if he’s like a private investigator, or worse, somebody you’ve already robbed who’s looking to catch you in the act.”
She moved around the chair and planted her palms on the desk to lean over and get in his face.“No worries,” she said slowly.“I’ve got this.”
But an hour later as she stepped out of the rideshare she’d hired to drop her off in Sodesto—Burgess’s version of a high-society neighborhood—she did a double canvas of her surroundings before walking down the street toward the house she intended to rob.
Every house on this street looked like a throwback from some old horror flick.There were Victorians with soaring turrets and colonials with wraparound porches.They were each separated by sprawling lawns and curving driveways.Some had stone walls around the land like a guarded fortress and others had iron gates that were most likely wired to produce electric shocks to anyone trying to gain entrance without permission.She walked slowly down to the very end of the street, her footfalls silent in the light tennis shoes she wore.
The shoes were black and matched the catsuit she’d shimmied into an hour ago.Her shoulder-length hair—the side that wasn’t cut low to her scalp—was pulled back and hidden beneath a black skull cap.A brisk breeze blew, reminding her that it was late September in Burgess and that winter was coming soon.She hadn’t bothered with a jacket because it would have only hampered her movement.The pitter-pat of her heart increased when she stopped at the corner, the droning sound echoed in her mind, annoying the crap out of her.She wasn’t nervous or afraid.She’d done this many times before, so tonight was just routine.
I’m worried.
Those were Cree’s words not hers.She wasn’t worried, she couldn’t afford to be.Her fingers flexed at her sides and she stared at the house that she’d been studying for the past three months.A brick colonial sitting on two acres of land that would have managed to look stately and regal in the daylight if its red bricks weren’t so grungy they looked gray in some areas and a chalky black in others.The shutters on all windows were intact, but the roof was lifting in some spots.Shrubs around the front of the house were cut regularly, as was the grass that rolled out to cover the land surrounding the house.Around the back there was a sunroom, a new addition as of last year, the weakness that would allow her to penetrate the fortress.
Now, she sprinted across the street, flattening her back against the brick columns that held the iron gate allowing entrance to the front of the house.The gate was controlled by an electric box mounted on the column across from where she stood.Once the button on that box was pressed, a computerized voice would ask a variety of questions, and answers were displayed on a computer screen at a security company in a completely different state.It was a ridiculous setup and one she was certain was meant to keep people out.Fortunately, Ravyn wasn’t like ordinary people.Her father had told her that often enough.
“Here we go,” she whispered.
She moved slowly, keeping her back against the brick wall that circled around to the back of the house.There was no camera surveillance, another chink in the armor of security for this place, but a car could drive by at any moment, a neighbor could come out of their house, or be out for a stroll.Okay, maybe not the stroll since it was nearing two thirty in the morning.But she wasn’t taking any chances.
The brick wall was a little higher around back—exactly three feet taller, to make it an even eight feet.Ravyn was five feet six inches.She reached back, lowering the pack she carried to the ground.Pulling out the bungee cords and hooks, she made quick work of getting them assembled and then tossing the line so that the hook soared over the top of the wall.When that was secure, she scaled the wall, taking wide steps so that she was over the top in less than ten seconds, dropping to the ground like a blur in the night.
From there it was a thirty-foot run until she came up against the wall of the breakfast room.This was the only room that hadn’t been lined for security because the owner of the house hadn’t gotten to it yet.Dumbass.She worked the lock at the door and eased inside, walking through one room after another recalling the blueprint she’d bought from Vertis as she ended up in what the blueprint called the “display room.”Again,dumbassrolled through her mind as she thought of the owner, because who really thought it was a good idea to keep valuable artifacts in an unguarded location called the “display room.”He might as well have just put an ad in the paper that said: Please come steal from me at your earliest convenience.
Well, she supposed she should thank him but for now she’d just relieve him of the one thing she’d come all this way for.Now with her penlight in hand, she angled it first at the walls in the room.They were built-ins with what she suspected were other pieces of Dumbass’s collection on each shelf.Changing direction, she aimed the light in the center of the room and found the five dark wood pillars in a staggered line right where Vertis said they would be.She passed the first two, not bothering to inspect what was inside of them because they weren’t what she was here to retrieve.Instead, she headed straight for the one in the middle, letting her light rest on the glass case atop the pillar which was larger than the other ones.Upon closer scrutiny she saw that this pillar was also different from the others because it was bolted to the floor.
She stepped closer and took a deep breath before lifting her hands and moving them around the perimeter of the glass, just in case there was some type of alarm that would go off if she got too close to it.Nothing happened and she figured that was a good sign.The glass was heavier than she’d thought but after a little effort she was able to lift it and set it on the floor.Her gloved hand closed over the hilt of a dirty old knife that she was told was worth a half a million dollars.She lifted it from the base it was set on and slowly brought it up to survey it more closely.There was nothing exceptional about it.A filthy sheath covered the actual blade and she pulled it back slightly just to be certain she was getting what she came for.Dinged metal that appeared dirty or stained.She shook her head and was jamming it back into the sheath when she heard it.A low hum that buzzed soft and long and made her feel as if some type of device was running along her skin.
She stuffed the knife into her bag and made her way back through the house the way she’d come.But a light flashed through the windows of the breakfast room and Ravyn ran in the opposite direction.She flew through the house she’d been told was empty and didn’t stop until she was standing in the center of the hallway on the second floor.A quick glance behind showed there were lights in the driveway.Somebody was definitely coming.Cursing, she grabbed a cord that was hanging and yanked it.In seconds, stairs to the attic unfolded and she hurried up them.Once she was completely inside the attic, she reached back to pull the stairs up behind her.
Now she was trapped.
“Dammit!”
The whisper seemed loud in the drab low-ceilinged space.There were boxes everywhere and large covered things she presumed from their shape were paintings.She walked from one end to the next, stopping the moment she saw the small window.There was no way she would fit, but she didn’t have time to contemplate.Using more strength than she’d realized she had, she finally managed to push the window open and in the next seconds was squeezing her body through the small opening.
Now she was on the roof.With a sigh she leaned over, resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.The light she’d seen outside the house before appeared to be gone as now there was only darkness again.But it wasn’t quiet darkness, that low hum she’d heard when she was inside the house still buzzed in her ears.And that wasn’t all that was strange.Ravyn slowly came to a full stand, easing her hand into her bag to grab the knife she’d just stolen, because while Vertis had assured her nobody would be inside this house tonight, there was definitely someone on this roof with her.Someone she just might have to kill in order to get away.
