Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(20)

The tendrils of dread curling round my heart squeezed further. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t know,’ she babbled. ‘There wasn’t time for him to explain. It has to be the bank job. How did they get onto us? How…’

Cold rationality replaced my fear. ‘Leave now, Lexie,’ I told her. ‘Don’t pack anything. Get out of your house and find somewhere to lay low. Someone’s after us and I don’t know why.’

‘But…’

‘Do it! Dump your phone too. I’ll come and find you when I know what’s going on.’

‘I’m scared.’

I swallowed. ‘Me too. But go, Lex. Now.’

I sprinted the last few hundred metres home, flung open my door and bolted inside. Taylor’s strained expression greeted me.

‘Who else knows about the bank job?’ I demanded.

He blinked. ‘What?’

‘The Lia Saifire, Taylor. Who else did you tell about it?’

Confusion was written across his face. ‘No-one. I’m not stupid. What’s happened?’

I cursed, flipping on my laptop to scan the news. There was nothing. It was still the holiday; in theory no one would have noticed the break-in yet. But then why had both Brochan and Speck been arrested?

‘Tegs,’ Taylor said again, ‘what’s happened?’

‘Brochan was just arrested for assault, right in front of me.’

He rose up from his chair, staggering slightly. ‘Assault? But he would never…’

‘I know,’ I answered grimly. I pulled out my phone again, smoothing back my hair and trying to adopt a calm, professional tone. It took seconds to find the number I needed. ‘This is Joanna Smith,’ I said into the receiver. ‘I believe you’ve just arrested a client of mine, Mark Specton. What are the charges?’

I waited while the person on the other end tapped at a keyboard. When I got my answer, I muttered a brief word of thanks and hung up.

‘Speck’s been arrested for hacking,’ I told Taylor grimly.

He sank back down into his chair. ‘Now that I could believe,’ he said, ‘except for the fact that Speck’s too damn good.’

I agreed. Never mind being one step ahead of the cyber-crimes unit, Speck was about a thousand. He was too skilled to leave a trail and get caught. I shook my head. ‘This isn’t a coincidence. Your loan. Brochan. Now Speck … it’s all connected.’

‘What about Lexie?’

‘Hopefully she’s safe. I told her to get away.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Taylor whispered.

I was right there with him. We were criminals – all of us – and we knew there was always a possibility we’d screw up and the police would come knocking at our doors ‒ but for stealing. Not for these other things. And why the hell didn’t they scoop me up at the same time as Brochan?

Taylor’s phone chirped with an incoming message. We exchanged a look of dread then he reached down to check it. He squeezed his eyes shut, confirming my worst expectations. I peered down.

Get my money and your friends will be released.

I felt sick. ‘Who has that kind of power?’ I asked. ‘Who has the police in their pocket like that? It couldn’t be a Sidhe. Not unless it’s a previous target who’s found out who we are and wants revenge.’

Taylor opened his eyes again and stared at me miserably. ‘If that’s the case,’ he said flatly, ‘then we’re fucked. But truthfully, I have no bloody idea who is behind all this.’

‘Whoever he is, we need to pay him. We need to get that money and get him off our backs. What else do you have? There must be other jobs on the back burner that I can…’

‘There’s nothing.’

‘But…’

‘There’s nothing, Tegs.’ A shadow crossed his face.

I glanced at the paper-strewn table. Bob was going to get his day of glory, after all. I started to reach for the letter opener but Taylor jumped back up. He adjusted his cuffs, drawing my attention to his hands. My eyes narrowed. He might be getting old but he didn’t make any movement that wasn’t deliberate.

‘What’s going on?’

‘You mean apart from being threatened by a Wild Man? Nothing.’ He fiddled with one of his buttons.

I hissed through my teeth. ‘Seriously, Taylor?’

He blinked at me innocently. Too innocently. ‘What?’

‘You trained me. Everything you know, I know.’

He shrugged. ‘So?’

I pointed down. ‘Do you really think I’m not going to notice that kind of sleight of hand?’

He cursed. ‘I knew I should have kept back a few tricks.’ He sighed and slid a rolled-up piece of paper out of his sleeve.