Mason: The Sinner Saints #4 (16 page)

Her dad’s eyes went wide with a mix of amazement and pride. “You’re planning on blowing the roof.”

Sara didn’t waste a second to nod. She grabbed the card table and started pulling it over to the only ceiling vent in the room. She only prayed that the rickety thing would support her weight. Not that she had much of a choice. It was the only thing in the room she could possibly stand on and get the height she needed. She pulled her tummy muscles in tight as she climbed up on top. As delicately as possible, she reached above her head and unscrewed the grate.

“This is the only weak spot in the whole strong box, but if I pack it with just enough explosives at the right place, then the explosion should tear a big enough hole in the steel for us to escape.”

“If it doesn’t rip through us first,” her father said.

Sara didn’t glare at him. She kept busy on her task, just like she could tell that he was sticking to his. Even now, she could hear him sliding the metal boxes from their homes.

“It won’t,” she said.

“How can you be so sure,” her mom said. “You’re a lock pick. Explosives have never been your specialty.”

“Because I had help,” Sara said.

The room went quiet for a quick beat.

“One of your
uncles
?” her mom asked.

Hardly.

“No,” she said. “A friend of mine.”

“A friend?” her mom pressed. “What kind of friend?”

Sara fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Just a guy I know.”

“
A guy
?” her mom asked. “Do we know this guy?”

“No,” she said. “Even if you did, you probably wouldn’t like him.”

“Why not?” her father asked.

“He’s a…” How in the world did she describe Mason to her parents? “He’s a mark.”

“He can’t be too much of a mark if he’s giving you boxes of explosives to stuff in a vent.”

“Yeah, well,” she said, finally ripping off the grate. She let it fall from her fingers and clatter to the floor. “He’s a mark with skills. Really useful skills.”

“The worst kind,” her dad said.

“You can lecture me all about it once we’re sucking some of that fresh bay air, Dad.” She motioned to her mom. “Hand me the explosive.”

Sara lifted herself up on tiptoes in order to get the bar of C4 all the way into the vent. She had to stretch even farther to slide it past the first turn in the pipe.

“All right, one of the boxes,” she called out.

She quickly pushed it into the gap as soon as her father placed it in her hand. It was a tight fit, just like Mason had promised. She gave it one last smack, making sure it was wedged in there tight, before jumping down to the ground.

“Get underneath your mattress,” she said, tipping the table onto its side and sliding it over to the far corner. In truth, she didn’t think that the thin piece of plastic would do much to shield them from the blast, but, hell, at this point she was willing to take anything she could get.

Sara tucked herself under one corner of the thin mattress before pulling the remote detonator out of her pocket.

“You’re sure this is going to work, sunshine?” her dad asked, his voice shaky.

Honestly? No. But Mason was. And that was good enough for her.

“Positive,” she said, looking down at the red button her finger was resting on. What the hell, right? “Here we go,” she said, and pressed the button.

A massive wave of pressure filled the room. It pummeled her hard, squeezing all the air from her lungs in the space of a heartbeat. It battered her body, pushing her back against the metal wall behind her. Her ears rung. Her eyes watered. Drips of blood ran from her nose.

But she
felt
.

Dear God, she could still feel, and that meant she was still alive.

Sara turned her head under the mattress and saw her parents, both of them staring at her with wide, blinking eyes. They’d all made it.

“You okay?” she managed to say.

“What?” her parents asked in unison.

She took that as a yes.

It was nothing short of a miracle. That was a hell of a blast, bigger than Sara had expected. Which meant that they didn’t have any time to waste getting out.

Sara had to use all her strength to push off the mattress. It felt heavier now than it had before. Much heavier. She found out why once she’d managed to shrug it off and saw blue sky.

Crap. There was no hole just big enough to shimmy through. Half the damn roof was gone. Tiny chunks of plaster and concrete were scattered everywhere. At least there was no bent or twisted steel anywhere to be seen. True to Mason’s word, all of the debris seemed to have been blown out and clear.

Sara rose to her feet and reached her hand out to her parents. “Can you walk?” she asked.

“Huh?” her mom asked, rising to her feet under her own power. Her dad managed to pull himself up a moment later. “No time to talk, sweetheart. We need to get out of here.”

Well, their hearing might be blown out, but at least they could move. Right now, that was all she could ask for.

She herded them toward the pile of rubble just under the gaping hole. They were almost there when her father hesitated, looking down. Sara followed his gaze.

The champagne-colored diamond of the Evening Star sparkled beneath the thin sheen of dust.

Sara let out a sigh.

“Leave it, Dad,” she screamed loud enough for him to hear. “The cops need to find it with Malcolm.”

“But—”

She put both hands on his back and physically shoved him toward the outside world. “I said leave it.”

His bottom lip pouted out, but he went.

Sara waited until her parents were all the way out before scrambling after them. A few moments later she stepped onto the warped roof of the old bank.

“Well, now what?” her mom asked.

Good question. They might be outside, but they were hardly out of the woods. The parking lot was full of people who were trying to kill her, and Malcolm was only a few seconds behind them.

She hurried over to the back of the building. Once they made it down the side, the edge of the bay was only about fifty feet away across a small strip of asphalt and a line of rocks. It wasn’t a perfect choice, but what other one did they have?

“Now, we go for a swim,” she said.

Her mother glanced over at her dad. “Did she say a swim?”

“I think she did.”

“Do we have to?”

Sara nodded. “Only if you want to live to complain about it later.”

Suddenly, the high-pitched wail of sirens cut through the air. Lots of them. Enough that even her mom couldn’t pretend that she didn’t hear them. Her face went pale.

“It’s the cops, Oscar,” her mom said. “Looks like we’re going to have to swim for it.”

Sara rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to think what it said about her parents that they were more afraid of the police than the people trying to shoot them.

“It’s okay, mom,” Sara yelled. “This is all part of the plan. They’re here to help.”

Her father’s brows pulled together. “Of course, only a mark would think it would be a good idea to call the cops.”

“Be careful,” Sara jokingly warned him as the flash of red and blue lights filled the parking lot. “That mark just saved our lives.”

Just then the roar of a familiar engine filled the air. Sara turned in time to see Mason pulling around the corner of the building. He skidded to a stop below them and jumped out of the car.

“Sara,” he called. “Thank God. I was scared I was too late.”

Tears of relief filled her eyes as she looked down at him.

“Five more seconds and you would have been.”

“Ten minutes, just like I said. Not a second more.”

A wide smile spread across his face, but there was nothing manufactured about this one.

Sara’s father stepped to her side.

“So, that’s your mark?” he asked.

“That’s him,” Sara said with a nod.

“You’re right,” her dad said. “I don’t like him.”

Sara didn’t hide the laugh that bubbled up in her throat.

“It would be weird if you did, Dad.”

Chapter Fourteen

Three Weeks Later

“I want to hire you, Sara.”

“Excuse me?” Sara leaned forward in her chair a notch. Even though she was sitting not five feet directly across from Carter Macmillan, she knew she couldn’t have heard him right.

“I want you to work for me.”

Sara’s mouth fell open. Now she knew something was wrong with her ears. There was no way Carter was offering her a job.

Sure, she’d been wondering all morning why he’d asked for this private meeting, but she’d figured it had something to do with tying up the last of the loose ends from the Evening Star heist. After all, the authorities had only wrapped up their investigation two days ago, clearing her and her parents of all charges after locking up Malcolm and half his organization. She’d figured that he’d had a few final questions, same as everyone else.

Guess she’d been wrong.

And going by the look on Carter’s face, she wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it. The barest hint of a smile played at the corner of his lips as she snapped her jaw shut and straightened in her seat. It didn’t take long for her to regain her composure, not with the healthy dose of skepticism rushing in to take its place.

“Did Mason put you up to this?” she asked.

“No.” Carter shook his head. “He doesn’t know you’re here.”

Well, if he didn’t know before, he certainly did now. Charlie had met her at the door, and if there was one thing that Sara was quickly learning about that woman it was that she practically ran on gossip. There was no way that Charlie hadn’t gone straight to Mason the moment Carter’s office door had closed.

“What kind of job?” she asked.

“I’m still throwing around ideas for the exact job title, but I’m thinking of a position that would utilize your unique talents and skills.”

Her brows shot up. “You want me to be your own personal lock pick?”

“That wasn’t what I planned to print on your business cards, if that makes you feel any better,” he said. “I was thinking something along the lines of Secure Location Analyst.”

Sara did her best not to roll her eyes. “Yeah. That’s not much better.”

“Like I said, I’m still throwing around ideas.”

“Why me?”

“Do you really need to ask?” he said. “Sara, I don’t think you’ve ever met a lock you couldn’t pick, a security system you couldn’t beat. You’re the best damn thief I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m not a thief,” she rushed to correct him.

“Of course not,” he said, holding up his palms in contrition. “Allow me to rephrase, you’re the best damn law-abiding citizen with the finely honed skills of a professional thief that I’ve ever seen.”

“Maybe.” Sara shrugged. He wasn’t wrong. “But you’re going to have a hell of a time fitting that on a business card.”

Carter’s eyes widened. He leaned back in his chair, tenting his hands. “Does that mean you accept?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she said. “You haven’t even come up with a formal job title to offer me.”

Carter leaned forward slightly. “But if we were able to come up with one that we could both agree on?”

Sara let her head bobble back and forth on her shoulders for a moment as she mulled it over. She didn’t know why she was hesitating. What Carter was offering her was as close to perfect as she could hope for—a career where she wouldn’t have to hide what she was, who she was. A chance at a normal life.

Well, as close to normal as people like her and Mason could hope for.

Mason.

Maybe that was why she was hesitating. They seemed to have a good thing going between them, but it was still early in the relationship. God only knew what could go wrong if they were working together every day.

Then again, who knew all the ways it could go right.

“I don’t know. I feel like we need to get a couple of things straight,” she said. “I’m not willing to break the law.”

“I would never ask you to,” Carter said. “Though just to be clear, what is your position on bending it?”

“I’d consider it on a case by case basis.”

“Fair enough.”

“What’s the company’s position on interpersonal relationships?”

A full-blown smile spread across Carter’s face.

“There’s nothing expressly against it in the official employee handbook,” he said. “Just so long as you and Mason stay off my desk.”

Sara let out a little chuckle as an embarrassed flush burned her cheeks. She wondered how many job offers had to come with that stipulation. “Sounds reasonable,” she said.

“Are those your only concerns?” he asked, arching a brow.

“For now,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll come up with more as time goes on.”

Apparently, that was the right answer. Carter gave the desktop a contented slap, and stood, his genuine smile still in place. “Then I look forward to continuing this conversation later.”

Sara nodded as she rose. Deep down, she had to admit, so did she. They shook hands across his desk, and she walked over to Carter’s door.

She wasn’t prepared for the welcoming committee waiting for her just outside. She should have been, but she wasn’t.

Charlie and Mason were both standing there, their arms crossed, their brows raised. Sara caught Jake’s head peeking out from the next cubicle down. Bowie was right behind him. She looked around for Rhys but didn’t see him. Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t out there listening.

“Well?” Charlie asked.

“Well what?”

Charlie’s lips pulled together. She obviously wasn’t in the mood to play games.

“What did he have to say?” The playful glimmer in Charlie’s eyes led Sara to believe that she knew exactly what Carter had been talking to her about. Hell, the woman was probably the one that had planted the idea in his head in the first place. And if that was the case, then Sara owed her a big thank you.

Sara had woken up today with no job and no permanent place to call her own. At least one of those problems seemed to be fixed.

“He offered me a job,” Sara admitted.

Charlie’s hands flew up. She let out a high-pitched squeal as she rushed forward, embracing Sara in a jubilant hug.

“I just knew it,” she said, pulling back. “When do you start?”

“I haven’t accepted yet,” Sara said. “I told Carter I needed some time to think about it.”

Charlie dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand. “Oh, you’ll come around soon.”

“What’s holding you back?” Mason asked.

Sara looked over and met his gaze. She could tell that he was doing his best to keep his expression neutral, probably hoping not to sway her one way or the other, but Sara spied the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

He liked the idea of working with her. The realization eased some of the pressure on her chest.

“I’m not sure how qualified I am,” she admitted. “I’ve never worked in an office before.”

Mason stopped trying to hide his grin. “Somehow, I think you’d fit in fine around here.”

“And I do need a job,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, it’s not like I can keep crashing at your place forever.”

Mason’s eyes widened slightly. “Actually, that part’s fine. You can stay as long as you need.”

Sara shrugged. “That’s the thing, I’d like it to go from a need to a want.”

He stepped forward and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“I understand. You’ve always made your own way,” he said. “But until the day that you’re all set up in your corner office, you’ll always have a place with me.”

She turned her head and looked up into his eyes. “And after that day?”

“I’ll always be here, Sara, as long as you want me.”

Her cheeks began to burn again, and this time it had nothing to do with embarrassment.

***

Another happy ending.

It was all Charlie could do to hold her contented sigh inside as Mason and Sara left together.

They were going to make it. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind. Not a single one.

Sure, she’d had a feeling that the pair were perfect for each other from the very beginning. She’d known it from the moment she’d started looking into Sara. On paper, the match was amazing. Still, it was gratifying to see it come true in real life too.

It was the kind of feeling that a girl could get addicted to, seeing the people that she cared about find love. Real love. Especially, since Charlie wasn’t able to find it in her own life.

Charlie felt a warm tingle race up the length of her spine, all the way from root to crown as someone stepped into the space behind her.

Check that.

Maybe, the girl didn’t have any trouble finding it at all. Maybe, it had trouble finding her back.

“She take the job?”

Bowie’s rich, deep voice practically wrapped around her like an embrace.

Charlie let the breath out of her lungs in one long rush. Most days, she wasn’t as susceptible to the pull of his voice. Most days, she was able to keep her walls up—those walls that let the days go by without incident. The ones that let her smile, and joke, and banter with him without consequence.

Today was not turning out to be one of those days.

She blamed the emotional high of seeing Mason and Sara walking off into the sunset together. It had lowered her defenses and let her heart wish for something more. Something of its own. Something real.

Charlie squared her shoulders, but she didn’t turn around.

“Not yet,” she said. “But she will.”

He stepped closer. Charlie didn’t hear him move. He was much too quiet for that, but she didn’t have to. She felt him.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea for her to join the team?”

A smile lifted Charlie’s mouth.

“Yeah,” she said without hesitation. She built up the courage to turn around and face him. “Have I ever been wrong before?”

He arched a single brow. It wasn’t much, but the subtle change was enough to soften Bowie’s otherwise harsh features. It was all Charlie could do not to laugh.

“About anything that truly mattered?” she amended.

“No,” he admitted. “Not when it mattered.”

A silence fell between them. A comfortable one. Come to think of it, Bowie was the only person that happened with. The only person that she didn’t feel compelled to speak around.

But today, she couldn’t help it.

There was a question burning in her mind. One that she’d been holding back for days. Weeks. If she knew what was good for her, she probably should have held it indefinitely, but the walls were already down and her heart was already hammering.

“I was sorry to hear about you and Diane,” she said. “Are you seeing anyone now?”

Bowie didn’t move. Not an inch. Not even his eyes. They stayed locked on a distant point on the far wall. His expression remained the same, unmoving. Only a tiny muscle twitch along the strong line of his jaw let her know that he’d heard her question.

“Why do you want to know?” he asked after a few seconds had passed.

Charlie shrugged, trying to make the moment seem lighter than it was. “Everybody knows how much I love gossip.”

“No.”

Charlie shook her head. “No, everybody doesn’t know that, or—”

“No, I’m not seeing anyone right now,” he said.

“Oh,” she said, her lips curling around the sound for a long time before she could fully regain her composure. “I-I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” he said, somewhat cryptically, before turning and striding away into the heart of the office.

Charlie paused, then walked to her office. She couldn’t hold back the smile that grew broader and bolder with each step. Hell, she didn’t want to.

Maybe a few moments without those walls wasn’t so bad after all.

And if a few seconds wasn’t so bad, then just imagine what a whole day without them might bring.

Not today, Charlie thought to herself as she rounded the corner of her office. But maybe one day.

Maybe one day.