Page 1 of Lucky Boys
CHAPTER 1
BROOKS
“Got it,”I whispered as I placed the flash drive into the hidden pocket in my bag.
“Good. Now get the fuck out of there.”
I rolled my eyes even though Diego wouldn’t see me. Seriously? I’d been doing this since I could barely talk. I knew how it worked. But I guessed one thing you could rely on was Diego being the ridiculously overprotective big brother, even when it was unwarranted.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled. I hitched the bag over my shoulder and looked around to make sure nothing was out of place.
This wasn’t my typical B&E, which made Diego being so on edge a little more understandable. I typically snatched objects—jewelry, paintings, shit like that. That was my bread and butter, literally. I had even grabbed some stolen Cherokee pottery from a museum that had been trying to act like they had the rights to it. Fuckers.
I’d gone with my pops to his jobs for as long as I could remember. Most people would say that made my parents shitty, but they’d literally taken me off the street when they’d found me at around 3 years old in nothing but a diaper and had given me a good life. My feral ass hadn’t been like normal kids. Going onthose jobs had been the only thing that had kept me from losing it in those early days.
Filling a flash drive with stolen information, however, was new to me. It wasn’t that I wasn’t capable, and with Diego running things back home, the job was easy peasy. But there was too much wait time. I hated sitting around and waiting for information to load, even if I knew I was safe. I liked to be in and out. Still, Diego had no reason to be worried about me. I had this.
I casually walked out of the upstairs office space and into the hallway. The owner of the house was currently fucking his mistress in his apartment in the city. His two kids were in boarding school, and his wife was on “holiday,” whatever that meant. Didn’t matter. I’d had an open window for Diego to bypass the security so I could get in.
I whistled as I walked, the usual adrenaline I felt during a job thrumming through my veins. It was even stronger today, and I’d probably have to head to the club after this to come down some. I turned the hallway and headed toward the staircase.
“Shit. Someone else is there,” Diego hissed into my earpiece.
“Fuck.” I stopped mid-step, my favorite blade already in my hand. I could hear footsteps on the floor below me. They didn’t seem urgent, so maybe whoever it was didn’t know I was there?
“They’re coming up. Fucking hide, Brooks.”
“Damn it, D,” I whispered harshly. I was already scanning the area for a hiding spot as I heard the footsteps on the staircase.
There was a door across the hall, and without thinking, I went to it, wrenching it open. It was a closet of some sort, dark and narrow and smelling like leather from the fancy coats that hung from hangers.
“Damn, damn, damn.” I hated small spaces. And dark ones. They always triggered some of my earliest memories from before my mom and pops had found me. They were never clear, justvisions of pitch-black rooms and spaces so tight I couldn’t even stand, but it was enough to send me into a full-blown panic if I let it. My meds helped most of the time, but they were doing a shitty job now.Shh, don’t tell Diego. He’d fucking lose it if he could tell how close I was to panicking.He also didn’t know about the dreams, flashbacks, whatever you wanna call them, so it was even harder to explain.
“You good, B?” Diego asked me.
“Yeah,” I rasped, trying to catch my breath. I closed the door and squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe if I couldn’t see how fucking tiny this place was, I’d be okay. The footsteps got closer, but I almost hoped whoever it was found me. I’d rather take my chances with this stranger than be in this fucking closet.
“I don’t think he saw you. Just hang on.”
I nodded even if Diego couldn’t see me. He was monitoring the house from the security cameras the owners had installed, but I doubted there was one in the coat closet.
Finally, seemingly years later, the footsteps passed me and made their way down the hallway. I still didn’t move until Diego gave me the all clear, because I managed to have some self-control.
“Okay, Brooks. You’re good. Go.”
I kept all my questions to myself, like who the fuck was it in the house since it was supposed to be empty. All that could wait till I was safely back and the flash drive was handed to our client.
I slid out of the closet, my blade at the ready, but the hallway was empty. I turned back to the staircase and silently went down.
“Okay, back door is clear. Go out the way you came.”
“Got it.”
Like most of these rich fuckers, the house was gated and secluded with a mile long driveway that kept it away from prying eyes. It made it easy for me to casually walk out and intothe woods that surrounded the place. For whatever reason, this asshole didn’t have in-person security, just the kind that Diego could hack. Worked for me.
It didn’t take long for uneasiness to wash over me. I slowed, taking in my surroundings, but I couldn’t see or hear anything. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me.
“D, something feels off. You’re sure no one is around?”
