“I can’t believe we’re doing a job that we’re not getting paid for,” Gray grumbled as I cut the chain on the warehouse doors.
“Aren’t you curious to see what kind of jobs the famous Sapphire gets?” I asked, slipping the bolt cutters back into my backpack. “This is easier than jobs we do.”
“We do all the work, and the payment goes into her account.” Gray shook his head. “Too bad the email didn’t include that.”
I scoffed. “It’s not like she can use the money while she’s stuck in a cell.”
It had been about five hours since we’d left Mili with the cops. We were an hour out of Ridgewood, and after parking our car a few blocks away, we’d come to the warehouse. We had scoped it out first, making sure it seemed like a legit job.
“We have two hours to get the cars to the dock.” I set my watch. “I want to be in and out within twenty minutes.”
He nodded, slipping on black leather gloves. He pulled the warehouse door open, and I followed him inside. It was pitch-black, and I flicked on a small flashlight to search for the lockbox that had the car keys. The email had said the box should be on the wall near the door. Gray nudged me, pointing a little farther down the wall to where a black box was.
Gray took out his lock picking kit before sliding it into the keyhole while I held the flashlight. I stared out into the dark, listening to make sure there were no unusual noises. All I could hear were the small clicks when Gray got the box open. He tossed me a set of keys, keeping one for himself.
We stepped lightly on the concrete floor, moving quickly to the back where the cars should be. I halted, shining the light in front of us. Spinning around, I scanned the entire warehouse. The empty fucking warehouse.
“Where the hell are the cars?” Gray hissed.
“Not here,” I muttered.
“Was there even a job?” he asked, thinking out loud. “Or was she just messing with us? The email was detailed.”
“Maybe she planned a trap for us.” We jogged to the exit, tossing the keys onto the ground. “Probably a good thing she didn’t come with us, if that’s the case.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Gray muttered.
We walked down the street, going slow so we didn’t attract attention. Gray pulled off his gloves, shoving them back in his bag. My heart was hammering, my mind racing with scenarios about what this job really was. We turned the corner, and Gray stumbled a step before grabbing my hoodie to stop me.
“Shit.” His eyes were focused straight ahead, and when I followed his gaze, my stomach dropped.
Mili was leaning against the small white sedan we had brought for the job. We never took our own cars when we worked. She was wearing the same clothes as earlier, and as we slowly moved closer, I could make out dark stains all over her shirt. If I had to bet, I’d guess the stains were blood.
Once we were about fifteen feet away, she raised her head, meeting our stares. A wicked grin spread across her face, her eyes dancing with a dangerous fire. Her arms were at her sides, and in one hand, she was holding a handgun.
“Did you kill those poor cops?” Gray asked, stepping in front of me so I could get my gun out without her seeing. “They were just following orders.”
“If you wanted to get rid of me, you should have killed me while I was still in your car,” she responded, her voice light, which was completely contradicting the look in her eyes like she wanted to bury us alive. “I warned you.”
My grip on my gun tightened. “We’ll remember that for next time.”
“There won’t be a next time. You two are adorable.” She chuckled, tapping her gun on the outside of her thigh. “You really think you forced me into that car against my will? That Gray grabbing my shirt was enough to overpower me? I got in the car because I wanted to sate my curiosity. And your grand plan to fuck me over was very underwhelming.”
I spied a car parked behind ours, and my eyes widened. It was one of the cars that was supposed to be in the warehouse. She noticed what I was looking at, and her grin grew.
“I already did the job. A little earlier than scheduled, but it all worked out. I just need to deliver this one and collect my cash. Too bad for you both, you won’t be seeing a fucking dime of that.”
“How’d you get away from the cops?” Gray asked gruffly. “By taking your clothes off?”
Her gaze cut to him. “You two have no idea who the fuck you’re messing with. I’m Sapphire. The name known by everyone in our world. You want to play games with me? Go for it. I love competition. But you better up your game before trying something again. If you don’t—it’ll all blow up in your faces.”
She giggled as if she’d told a joke and pushed off the sedan. She raised her gun when I aimed mine at her. Her finger curled around the trigger without hesitation.
“I’m not going to shoot you,” she said, looking between us. “I have a feeling you’ll light the fuse, killing yourself before I do.”
I tried processing what the hell she meant by that as she backed away. I kept my gun aimed at her but slid the safety back on when she lowered her weapon.
“Leaving town?” I called to her as she opened her car door.
“Nope. I’ll text you about the next meeting. We still have a lot to plan.” She glanced at our car before shooting us a smirk. “Enjoy the rest of your night…I’m sure it’ll be a blast.”
With those words, she got in and slammed the door. Putting the car in reverse, she did a U-turn in the street and sped away from us.
“There’s no way she still wants to work with us after what we did,” Gray said, staring uneasily at our car.
“I think that Panthers job is more than just a car,” I replied. “There’s something about it she’s not saying.”
“There’s a lot she’s not saying.”
“What are the odds she really isn’t doing anything to get us back for what we did to her?” I asked, replaying her words in my head. Something wasn’t right.
“Zero,” Gray answered. “I’m honestly shocked she didn’t try to kill us.”
“Or she is,” I mumbled, her words echoing in my head. It’ll blow up in your faces…light the fuse…it’ll be a blast.
Gray cursed under his breath, coming to the same conclusion as me. We backed up while he pulled out the car key. I braced myself when he hit the engine start button. The car hummed as the engine started, and we waited for a few moments before I began to relax.
“I guess we were wrong—”
A loud explosion ripped through the car as it burst into flames, causing both of us to hit the ground. A second blast had my ears ringing, and I covered my head as metal pieces rained down on the road.
“Jesus Christ,” Gray hissed, grabbing his bag from beside him. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”
We jumped up, bolting to the closest alley. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing the entire car engulfed in flames. I followed Gray to another street, where we both slowed down. I spotted a car we could boost easily enough, and we made sure we were alone before I broke the window. By the time Gray hot-wired the car, sirens were already getting close. Gray stayed under the speed limit until we got on the expressway.
“That was way too close,” I grumbled, my heart still racing.
“I don’t care how much money she’s promising us. I want her fucking gone.” Gray glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure we weren’t being followed. “We already know we can’t kill her. The next best thing is to get her out of our town.”
“What? Piss her off enough that she wants to leave?”
He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the road. “But we also risk the chance of getting her mad enough to actually try and kill us.”
“I think we’re already there. If she wanted us dead, she easily could have done it already. For some fucking reason, she needs us.”
He frowned at me. “You want to take that gamble with your life—and mine?”
I shrugged. “You heard her. She practically told us to try again. She thinks it’s a game.”
“I’d rather not play a game where we have a chance of getting blown up.”
I sighed. “She apparently doesn’t want to leave. So either we make her, or we’re stuck with her.”
“Fine,” Gray grumbled. “But we both have to agree with what to do with her. No going off by yourself.”
“I know.” I ran a hand through my hair, calming down more as we got closer to Ridgewood. “We have a meeting with Vic and Juan tomorrow. We tell them the job went fine. They still want us to work with her. They don’t need to know all the shit that went down tonight.”
Gray nodded in agreement, turning on the radio and finding the classic rock channel. We drove in silence, and like me, I was sure he was thinking of Mili. This one fucking girl was flipping our world upside down, and I hated it. This was our city. And if she didn’t want to leave, then she’d learn the hard way.
