Thief in the Night Pt. 03a

"I do rather like thrillers."

"Legal thrillers?"

He laughed, confirming her suspicion. "So why don't we see if we can find this partner, then grab some coffee, perhaps some food, and talk more?"

"Sounds like a plan. Park in the lot for the market. There is only one hotel so we'll try there first."

"And if he's not there?"

"There's a long-term rooming house the north end of town, a B&B by the woods, places it would more difficult to hide meeting with Danny or McCall. If nothing pans out I suppose we'll have to see about rental houses."

He parked and shut off the engine. "Let's try this: what do you know about the tech man?"

She had to think for a long moment. "McCall is likely using either Giancarlo Ferroni from Siciliy or Noah Litt. That would be good, both are under fifty, heterosexual, and single. I could very easily lure them out for a drink and you could plant the bug."

He pulled out his mobile and dialed while she waited.

"Hi, it's me. Sorry to wake you. Can you do a quick check and tell me if Noah Litt and- who was the other?" He turned to Kerry.

"Giancarlo Ferroni."

"Right. Giancarlo Ferroni, if either men are in France."

There was a long three minute pause.

"No? Hold on, let me ask." He turned again with a sigh. "Who else?"

"McCall is particular. I guess- oh, I hope not, but Mary MacDougall is his sometimes ally."

"Mary MacDougal. If we're lucky she's here and traveled under her own name."

Another long pause.

"Thanks. I'll explain later. Bye."

She could hear the man on the other end yelling as Henry rudely hung up. "Well Giancarlo is currently in police custody in Toledo, and Noah is in the middle of purchasing a boat in Venice, so it's likely not them. Who is this Mary MacDougall?"

"Computer whiz. Scottish, young, a prodigy. She was a hacker at seventeen, her first arrest, and a short stint in jail netted her some profitable connections. Not good for us at all, she knows me and hates me."

"And she looks like?"

"Five seven, average build, bright red hair, freckles across the nose, thick glasses, pretty, hyperkinetic."

"And does she like men?"

"The way fish like water."

"Follow me," he said with a smile and alighted.

He walked her to a hat shop and insisted on buying her a wide brimmed floppy hat that matched her casual shirt. She felt foolish in it, such a hat and sneakers! It felt like a sin, but it helped disguise her, particularly when she put on her sunglasses.

They walked to the hotel she had so recently checked out of and Henry proved money trumped subterfuge when a nice bribe for the desk clerk confirmed such a redhead had checked in the night before with lots of luggage, and booked her stay through the end of the auction. Henry's money didn't buy them any phone call or visitor information, however.

"Let's go to the tea shop across the street," Henry said and drove her quickly out the door.

He ordered for them and got her a coffee. Sure, half her DNA was Irish but Kerry couldn't stand so much hot tea in her system. She was Americanized enough to think of tea as an iced summer drink.

"Tell me everyone you know of that this Mary knows. Preferably someone she might likely trust, but doesn't know well."

"Why?" She followed Henry to a small table by the window and slid into the chair he held out for her.

"Well, let's say it is I who offers her a drink, and you who gets into the room. Better that way, don't you think? You, after all, know how to get into a locked room better than I do."

"Well- yes, but-" she sighed. "All right. The flash of jealousy was bile in her system. Henry was an indulgence at the moment, an ill-timed passionate affair, and that was all. Reservedly she lowered her drink and sat up. "Mary is thirty-six but looks in her late twenties. Good genes. She's been a computer whiz for many years, was part of a group in Australia that stirred up trouble a while back, keeping her from legitimate circles. She left the country and came back to the UK to take jobs through men like Georges, albeit men much less honorable than he.

"I'd say, if you can swing an Australian accent, your best bet is to present yourself as a friend of Condor, aka Julian. He was the leader. They rarely met in person and anyone they knew would have had code names. So mention you knew Condor when you started out as a lawyer, or pick something else. Julian was into gambling, so a bookie works, or pimp."

He smiled. "So my choices are lawyer, bookie, or pimp."

He said it all in a nearly perfect Sydney accent.

"Well, color me impressed. Just don't overthink it: keep it simple. She's easily distracted by a pretty face."

"Pretty? Is that revenge for calling you cute?"

"Hardly. You know what I mean."

He sat back, eyes glittering. "Do I?"

"You bloody well know you're handsome so quit fishing for flattery!"

He just smiled at that.

"All right, so when we see her, just stroll out, bump into her. Invite her for a drink. Even if she's busy she'll follow and try to set up an assignation."

"How much time do you need?"

"Twenty minutes. Get a beer. And don't kiss her, I hear she has herpes."

His lips quirked. "Jealous?"

"Hardly, just want to remain clean."

An awkward silence fell as they both thought back to the night before. Twice they had come together without thought of safety, only passion. Both began to ponder the deeper implications of it, but for Kerry it felt like lifting the same lid Pandora once had, and she slammed it shut and sat up straight. "I'll be in and out as fast as I can."

He nodded.

Turning to the window she slammed her coffee down and saw a flash of red hair through the hotel window across the street. "She just got off the elevator. Ready?"

Henry grinned. "As I'll ever be."

She watched him go and narrowed her eyes behind her sunglasses. Sure, he had come over to the dark side, but was it just a game to him?

Collecting her purse she stood with a sigh. It didn't matter, it couldn't. All that mattered was she knew it was her life on the line. She'd sworn a promise to her mother and she wasn't going to fail now. Not for Roger and Interpol, not for McCall's petty ambitions, and most of all not for a handsome, intelligent, compelling man who made her feel as if she'd lost her mind.

***

An hour later her sanity was truly shredded. Oh, the plant had been simple. A little flirting and she got the room number, and with her lock pick kit she was in. One bug in the bedroom under a panting, and the other in the sitting room on the phone. She found a computer, not Mary's only one, but quickly loaded the sniffer program Billy had given her. She'd even managed to get the recorder into a vent accessed in the main hallway, so to retrieve the recordings they wouldn't have to go inside the room.

Even for such a small job, walking out of the hotel, knowing she had pulled it off gave her a high. For a moment she stood in the afternoon sunshine and realized she had just one more thief's high coming. The ultimate score: a world famous jewel stolen along with a dazzling necklace, and a plant of the take on McCall.

And after that...she would hunt thieves, use her contacts with fences the world over and middle men to help track thieves old and new. She'd have a desk, an office, probably a sad little flat in Lyon. She'd have to learn French and give up her beloved tottering shoe collection for...sensible heels. Damn and blast!

Suddenly she needed to ride the high. She needed Henry. A partner in crime who knew what she had done, a lover who could set her body on fire. Such a beautiful rarity, and she needed him at the moment body and soul.

She found him in a pub, settled into a booth on the same side as Mary. Damned woman, she was beautiful in a very unpolished manner, a quiet beauty that suggested innocence, but her eyes were sly, her body draped over Henry in blatant invitation.

For the first time in her life Kerry saw red. Without a thought she barged through the door and started heading towards them, prepared to scratch Mary's eyes out. She was not a woman of violence, quite abhorred it, but she was killing mad to see another woman draped over the man who was hers.

Then a large laughing man stepped into her path and she crashed into him. He began to apologize in rapid French, grabbing her arms to steady her. Henry looked over, surprised, even as she tried to pull free.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She kept trying but he only babbled in French. "I don't speak French!" She shouted, and suddenly her anger ebbed and shame crept in.

She had almost blown their cover...for jealousy.

Once she broke free Kerry made a choking sound and turned on her heel, stalking out. God damn it, they hadn't had enough time to plan how to meet. Oh, that wasn't the issue, it was that she was acting like a silly schoolgirl. If she could have slapped herself on the street without drawing notice, she would have done so. Instead she stalked to the car, determined to wait, praying that Henry took a long time, even went back to Mary's room. She would handle it maturely. She didn't own him, didn't want to own him...right?

Just as she turned into the car park someone grabbed her and she whirled, but it was Henry, eyes darkly glittering.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did anything happen in the hotel?"

She jerked free. "It went fine! Damn it, I was so excited I just-" she steadied herself with a breath, formulating the lie. "We never planned how to meet up. I was...overexcited and rushed to tell you. Then I saw you were still...indisposed, and I crashed into that oaf."

He stared at her and then a smile dawned as he crossed his arms. "I think you were jealous."

"I was not jealous! God you're- oohhh!" She growled and stomped towards the car. "Get in, let's not talk in the open, you twit!"

Still grinning he pulled out his keys and unlocked and opened her door, then whistled as he came around to the driver's side. She entertained herself with images of- oh, violence wasn't her thing, but perhaps she could get Billy to slap him around some.

He revved the engine still smugly smiling.

"So how did you get away?"

"I told her my wife had found me. I said we had...an understanding, but since I didn't know I was meeting Mary it just surprised you. You did play the jealous wife part well."

He angled the car onto the street and she dug her fingers into the upholstery. "I. Am. Not. Jealous! You moron!"

With a quick look he pulled a sharp turn, and instead of heading towards the estate they were heading to the forest.

"What the devil are you doing?"

"Something we both need."

"Turn this damned thing around now! We need to get back to Billy and back on track."

"He's got McCall under surveillance, relax."

Georges had been after her for years to carry a weapon, why had she never listened? Oh, Georges! She knew what he was up to now. He was Satan's own matchmaker! He could have sent any number of retired old thieves, actual bodyguards, con men, anyone who knew the game but he sent the idealistic lawyer who lived a short distance from her own home and physically resembled the wrestlers Georges alone knew she adored. Why, in the name of all that was ever holy, did he send the obstinate, pigheaded , impossible man he knew she couldn't resist now of all times? She was going to kill Georges. She could afford Billy's fee, and she'd make sure his death was quick and painless, more than the scheming dog deserved.

Henry maneuvered the car onto an old logging road and drove them deep into the forest before stopping.

"If you're going to kill me and dump my body, buster, I got news for you. I have good shoes on and I can run fast for hours."

"What!?" he turned off the engine and undid his seatbelt. "What are you talking about?"

"Why are we here?"

He reached over and undid her seatbelt. As she slapped at his hands he jerked off her hat and sunglasses, and before she could stop him he pulled her to meet him over the center console and then he was kissing her.

Her soul split in two. She was angry at him, enraged by her own person, but she was still riding the energy from her plant, and she wanted him with desperate hunger. The struggle was hopeless, his tongue filled her mouth and she was lost to pure, bestial need.

Without breaking their kiss he opened his door and then with shocking ease he pulled her out his side, bearing her weight. They fell to the ground, the door dinging in alarm, and she ignored it as she landed atop him and turned the kiss bruising.

He laughed, deep in his throat, a sound of smug male victory and she growled. Her hands ripped open his shirt and she cursed her short fingernails, necessary for a thief, but god she wanted to make him bleed, make him pay for reducing her to this state.

Henry hooked her ankles with his legs, grabbed her in a bear hug and rolled her over the grass. She struggled but it was useless as he easily pinned her hands above her head. His body settled between hers and she felt his cock hardening, and damn her hide, it felt so good against her. She was already wet.

"Angry sex, then?" he said with a smile.

Before she could respond he transferred her wrists to just one of his hands and rolled slightly aside, tugging up her t-shirt. Struggling against him she arched her back and he took it for the blatant invitation it was. His hot mouth fastened over her thin t-shirt bra and began to suckle.

Cream spurted between her legs as lust shot through her. Yes! a part of her mind shouted even as she seethed. Damn him to hell and back for making her want him so much!

When she told him as much he just tugged up her bra and brutally used teeth and tongue and lips on her breasts to silence her with a swell of demonic need. She needed to touch him, was desperate to know she affected him the same way, but he was impossible to move. The more she ordered him to speed up, do more, the more he stilled, gentled.

Soon his tongue flicked rapidly and softly over her swollen, aching nipples and she swore she might climax from that alone.

His hand moved down to unsnap her jeans and lower the zip and she cried out in triumph. Henry just mumbled something unintelligible and wrestled her jeans off. He tore her pants, grinning at her, and damn her, that only turned her on more.

His hand moved between them again, undoing his own trousers, and then his cock sprung free. Before she could move, protest, beg, plead, or even blink he let go of her wrists and dragged her legs over his shoulders. Moving to his knees she was forced into an awkward angle, helpless as he slid his cock into her.

She could only brace herself on the ground as he settled, filling her thick and deep, one hand holding her hips, the other toying with her clit. Their eyes met and his glittered with ancient promise. At her gasp he finally began to move, and then he blindingly drove into her with greater force than she had ever known, those fingertips almost delicate over her clit in great contrast.

It was more than sex, it was blatant possession. In those moments she could not move, only receive. She could only feel what he wanted her to feel, her will was his own, her body was his completely.

She felt him drive deep, so hard and thick, stretching her to aching limits, and without volition she came screaming his name, snarling with rage and triumph as she crested The forest sounds stilled around them, animals unseen fleeing, and he never let up, just kept going until the last tremor and flitter had been wrung from her.

Then he pulled out and fell beside her on his back, dragging her on top of him. They kissed and she bit his lip, earning a grumble of approval from him and a return bite that had her gasping in shock and odd arousal.

"Damn you. Fuck you!"

"By my guest," he said dryly.

She wanted to strangle him but needed this more, and so she settled himself in his hard cock, still dripping with her juices. She slammed down, forcing her hands under his shirt and dug in. His hands cupped her ass and when her movements were too slow he took over. All the while she felt him watching her, but she closed her eyes, surrendering to the moment, fighting off dark thoughts.

She rode him hard, swiveling her hips, feeling every delicious last thick inch of his cock buried inside her. Surrounded by hard, warm muscle, filled in such an elemental manner, her mind swam. Soon she felt the trail of orgasm flare to life within her. Kerry bit her lip, striving for it-

He jerked her off him, smiling at her cry. He moved her with ease until she straddled his head. Desperate, hungry, needy, she took what she could, settled over him and moaned in a long shudder when she felt his tongue lick the seam of her pussy.

Just when he found a rhythm that stimulated Kerry beautifully he lifted her, sat up, and stood slowly still holding her aloft. She had never been treated this way and was too shocked to speak even as he walked them to the car.

He set her on the roof, on her back and then bent down. The cool metal on her back made her gasp, but it was the feel of Henry's mouth sealing over her pussy, sucking hard as he flicked her clit that stole her breath.

Close, she encouraged him with demands and pleas, squeezing him with her thighs, hands scrabbling for purchase over the roof.

Suddenly he stopped, just as she was on the edge of climax.

"Damn it, say you want me, Kerry."

"Are you fucking nuts!?"

"Say it!"

"I want you!"

The pleasure resumed and she squeezed his head harder, terrified he'd stop again. Quickly she built, her body hot, sweating, hips pumping, mind blurring from the pleasure and need dancing together in her blood.

Then he stopped, and she screamed in frustration.

"You were jealous." When his assertion was met with silence he slowly licked her juices from his lips and narrowed his eyes. "Say it!"

"I was not jealous, you asshole!"

"If you weren't jealous, then you don't really want me. And I am not having sex with someone who doesn't want me as much as I want her."

He started to back away and panic flared.

"Damn you! I hate blackmail! Fine! I was jealous."

He stilled, eyes still narrowed. "Really."

"Yes! God damn it, you're mine. My lover, I could kill her for pawing you like that!"

Seemingly pleased, he returned.

Even as her heart ached at the confession he'd wrung from her her body heated from his attentions. She struggled: against him, against herself, but it was fruitless. He drove her unrelentingly towards orgasm and then forced her over the edge.

She felt her juices gush, her vision narrowed, and she screamed wordlessly as the strongest climax she had ever known swept over her, through her, obliterating her completely. She was left boneless, destroyed, a new creature in place of the old.

He just gathered her into his arms and moved her down to the warm hood. Kerry held no protest as he slipped inside her again, his cock even harder, wet with his own juices. He leaned down, gathered her into his arms, and his thrusting was artless, raw need, pure desire.

Even as he trailed sloppy kissed over her face he sparked her own desire. She returned the favor, clutching him tight, meeting his thrusts, sucking on his neck with bruising intensity. She became dimly aware he seemed to be murmuring something, it sounded like "Damnyoudamnyoudamnoyu," and somehow knowing he was as much victim to the passion between them eased her burden.

He came swiftly and seconds later she followed him, the feel of hot jets of cum filling her was a glorious, forbidden, and primal, and completely satisfying.

They held each other for a long moment after the tremors left. Her throat felt raw, her body sore, but it felt bone-deep right. At long last he pulled back and looked down at his ripped shirt. With a laugh he pulled it off and they used it to clean themselves.