The Thief Redeemer (6 page)

I AWAKE TO a sniffling nose. I crack
open an eye and see the sunlight pulling itself through my window. I’m guessing
it’s about eight am.

I glance over to Claire. She’s lying beside me, her free
hand over her face, and she’s crying. Shit, I’ve done it again. I want to reach
over to touch her, to comfort her, but I know my touch would have the opposite
effect.

I don’t know what to do. I have really gotten myself into a
mess this time, and I’m not sure how to make this better. I don’t think I
can
ever make this better.

“Why do I have to sleep in the bed with you?” She cries
through her question. She must know I’m awake.

“Because you’re safest with me.” I pause for a minute and
then realize what she’s really asking. “Don’t worry. I won’t touch you.”

She seems satisfied with my answer At least she doesn’t ask
me anymore questions.

I sigh and turn on my side, away from her. I’ve never had a
woman not want me. Most of them throw themselves at me and I can have my pick.
It’s been that way since high school. It’s ironic that I will never be able to
have the one woman I want so badly that it hurts.

This story won’t have a happy ending, and I wonder why I’m
protecting her. Why do I have her in my bed, and why have I kept her away from
Carlos?

This is the worst predicament I’ve gotten myself into yet,
and not just me. The only possible outcome is that Claire is going to be hurt
and separated from her family. I really should have thought more about this
entire kidnapping thing before I agreed with Richard.

All I had thought about for three straight days was getting
this girl into my bed, and now that I have her here, I won’t touch her. I even
won my bet and got her here in four days.

But it’s different when she’s here by force. It’s a new
story all together.

I turn over on my back as she lays her hand down on the bed.
She’s staring at the ceiling, and tears run down her cheeks. I long to comfort
her, but reality out-weighs the urge. I gently place my hand over hers and
interlock our fingers. She doesn’t look at me but only cries more. I’ve made
things worse. She closes her eyes, but she doesn’t pull her hand away. She
allows my hand to rest on hers as the tears softly fall down her face.

What I really desire is the connection that passed between
us that day in Birch’s office. That connection that was ours, and ours alone,
has disappeared. I know I’m the reason it was broken.

At this point, I’m pretty sure it will never again
resurface.

“SALLY, I NEED your help…again,” I
say as I fix a pot of coffee. Tommy and Sally have always been there for Marcus
and me, but I feel like I’ve been asking too many favors of them lately. First,
I asked them to watch the redheaded girl – whose name turned out to be Sarah –
and now this.

“What do you need, Brandon?” Sally is standing there in a
tank top and jeans. I have a great view of her ink running up and down her arms
and neck. She’s told me the stories of all her ink and why she has what she
has, but it’s her demeanor that throws you for a loop. One look at her and you
think
hard ass
, but when she speaks, her voice is soft and soothing.
Almost like the mother she never was.

“Can you purchase some clothes for Claire and Sarah? They’re
going to be here a while, and they have nothing but the clothes they’re
wearing.”

“Sure thing, Brandon.” She looks at me with a worried
expression in her eyes. “Brandon, what are you planning on doing with these
girls? They’re scared. Sarah’s about to have a heart attack, and I’ve done
everything I can to calm her.” She releases a deep breath. I know she’s angry
with me.

I sigh and run my hand down my face. “I haven’t made it that
far, Sally. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with them.”

“Will Richard take care of them eventually?”

She’s asking a question that I don’t have the answer to.
“That’s the plan as of right now.”

I don’t tell her that the plan all went to shit when I
discovered one of the girls was Claire. The coffee is ready and I pour myself a
cup. I wonder how Claire takes her coffee, and I start to leave the room to
ask. I stop in the doorframe and turn back to Sally. “Just make sure the Sarah
girl is okay. I’ve got my eye on Claire, but Sarah is a friend of hers. Plus,
she doesn’t look a day older than eighteen. Just…keep an eye on her for me.”

Sally nods as she sips her coffee. I’ve never asked her to
take care of a woman before, and she’s probably wondering where on earth this
soft spot in my heart is originating. I walk back into the room and see Claire
lying on the bed, one arm chained to the bedpost. It breaks my heart to tie her
up, but I still feel I have no other option.

“Hey.” I sit down on the side of the bed, but she doesn’t
even acknowledge me. “I made coffee. Would you like any? Or any breakfast?”

“I need the bathroom and a shower.”

She answers me but never takes her gaze off the wall. I feel
the hatred oozing from her, and it makes me hate myself even more.

“Sure.” I unlock her handcuffs and show her the door to the
bathroom. I walk in behind her and hand her a towel. I close the door to give
her some privacy and walk back to sit on the bed.

About twenty minutes later, she walks out, back in her same
clothes. “I’m sending Sally to the store to get you and Sarah some clothes,” I
say. “She’ll be asking you what size you wear.”

“Do you have a brush and a toothbrush?” She asks, this time
staring at the floor, and it kills me knowing I’m the cause of this hate.

“Yeah. Hold on.” I leave her in the room and walk into my
bathroom. I bring her my own brush and an extra toothbrush. She takes them
without saying thanks. She removes the towel from her hair and starts to brush
her long blonde locks. I find myself distracted, watching her, wishing she were
mine.

This kidnapping plan is
really
going to backfire. Not
only will I have another strike on my record, but I’ve kidnapped a girl I have
feelings for, but cannot touch. Not unless I force myself on her. I might be a
bad guy, but I’d never do that.

I notice her eyes wandering around the room, and they stop
at my bookshelf. She sees the twenty plus John Grisham books and walks over to
the shelf. “So that part about you was true. You like to read.”

I run my hand down my face because she sounds like she
thinks I’m a total liar. “Claire, I never really lied to you.”

“You said you were an intern…and you weren’t.”

Okay, she’s got me there. “Claire, please sit on the bed and
let me tell you the story.” She walks back over and sits on the end of the bed
as far away from me as possible. I divert my eyes to the floor because I hate
this feeling. “That’s the only thing I’ve ever lied to you about. I was in
there for some business, and I was seriously distracted by you. I had seen your
picture online and thought you were hot, but then when I saw you in person…I
don’t know, I lost my head. Without thinking, I asked you to lunch. Then once
we got to lunch, you were so easy to talk to…I’ve never felt that way about
anyone before.”

I breathe deep, trying to figure out the best way to tell
her what I need to say. “And then, it all came crashing down. I realized what
an idiot I was to ever think I could have a girl like you. Once I realized
that, I clammed up and sent you home.”

I pause to run my hand down my face, and I turn back to face
her. She’s totally still, looking at me with those mesmerizing blue eyes. “My
cousin staged the whole kidnapping scheme. Your dad and I…we go pretty far back
and this was in retaliation for something he did to me. I swear, I never knew
you were his daughter.”

She doesn’t say anything as she continues brushing her hair.
After a few seconds of silence, I look back at her and see the troubled look on
her face. “Brandon,” she starts and the look on her face is sad. “It doesn’t
matter if I am or am not Philip Birch’s daughter. What matters is that you
kidnapped two people with two different lives and two different souls. We are
both daughters, aunts, cousins, and more. Doesn’t the human life mean anything
to you at all? You spoke of your brothers at lunch. What if someone did this to
them?”

I freeze and forget how to breathe. She’s hit me right in my
Achilles tendon. If anyone did this to my brothers, I would cut out their
tongues and watch them suffer. The rage pounds through my system when I think
about someone hurting my brothers. Claire has a point, although I’m too
prideful to admit it.

I think of Claire, Sarah, and even more recently, Nick, whom
Richard made disappear. He was a father, husband, and son. Guilt slowly eases
its way into my system, a remote feeling I haven’t felt in years. I look at the
ground and swallow a few times. What is it about this girl that does this to
me? She’s only been here 24 hours, and already I’m falling under her spell. No,
that’s not right. I was seriously under her spell way before the kidnapping.

“Do you like John Grisham?” I desperately need to change the
subject. Although Claire has successfully gotten me to feel guilty, it doesn’t
change anything. I nod towards my bookshelf.

“Yeah. I’ve read some of his books,” she says, glancing at
the sea of novels behind her.

“Feel free to help yourself to any of them. They’re yours
while you’re here. I can have Sally get you some others if you like different
authors.”

“No, John Grisham is fine,” she says, her voice small. She
must be upset that I changed the subject, but I can’t let her have this effect
on me. I can’t.

“Are you ready for breakfast?”

She nods and I grab the cuffs to put them back on.

“I hate to do this to you, but I have to.”

“Okay.”

I open the door to let us outside. We walk into the kitchen
to find Sally still cooking. She asks Claire what she would like as she makes
our breakfast.

“Claire, what size clothes do you wear? I’m going to the
store today, and I’ll pick something out,” Sally says while pouring our drinks.
Claire tells Sally her size, and we eat breakfast in silence. Sally fixes a
plate I’m assuming is for Sarah. Then she leaves the kitchen.

“Does she know what you do for a living?” Claire asks under
her breath.

“Yes.”

“Do you kidnap people all the time?”

“No. You and Sarah are the first.” I want to promise her
they’re going to be the last, but in the business I’m in, you just can’t make
promises like that.

She doesn’t ask any more questions. I decide from this point
forward, I’ll be open and honest. What have I got to lose anyway? I’d already
lost any chance I’d had with Claire before I even got started.

A WEEK HAS passed and I’m pretty
much back on my old routine. The only change is that I don’t venture out with
Marcus anymore to steal cars. I send Sean in my place. He’s an
eighteen-year-old who is quick on his feet. I stay back so I can watch Claire,
but make up some lame excuse to the other guys. The truth is, I don’t trust
these guys to treat her right if I leave her here by herself.

Carlos is getting agitated. He knows the real reason why I
won’t leave Claire alone, although I’ve never told him. He says I’m
“babysitting.”

Claire’s in a fragile state and needs me. At least
I
feel she needs me nearby. Or maybe I’m the one causing all her problems.
Whatever it is, I don’t want her out of my sight. I have huge urge to protect
her, not only because she reminds me of an angel, but because of what I’ve done
to her, the pain I’ve caused.

The kidnapping of Claire and Sarah is the top story covered
on the Atlanta news. There is a massive manhunt for them both, requiring them
to remain indoors at all hours of the day. Sarah mostly stays upstairs with
Tommy and Sally while I keep Claire by my side. I have instilled the fear of
God in her to remain with me at all times. I’ve done the same with Sarah. I
can’t guarantee their safety if they venture away.

Richard’s tactic has worked. Birch and Hamilton are off my
case for the time being, and I’m pulling three to four nights a week. We’re
getting larger and faster while banking money. A few years back, I had Richard
set up a bank account for me under a pseudonym, funneling all my cash into
investments. One day I will have enough to quit this job and move out of the
country. That is, if I don’t get caught before then.

The night starts out as a normal one. I am barking orders
and Claire sits on the sofa, hands cuffed together, reading one of my John
Grisham books. I think this is her second book and it’s only been one week. I
will have to purchase her something else once she goes through my entire
Grisham stash.

The ball is rolling with the cars so I walk over to Claire.
I glance at her book and then notice her wrists. They are red and chapped from
the cuffs. It’s been a week. Surely I can trust her without the cuffs?

An internal debate runs through my head as I wonder what I
should do. She’s cried almost every morning when we’ve been lying in bed, and I
know she would like the cuffs removed. She is sitting across the couch with her
feet tucked inside the second cushion. I sit down beside her with my back to
her knees.

“How’s
The Client
?” I ask, referencing the book she’s
reading.

“Good.”

It’s the only word I receive from her, but I didn’t expect
more. She hasn’t had much to say since I brought her here, and the only thing
keeping me from giving up is the guilt that I have put her in this situation.

“If I take the cuffs off you tonight, will I have to worry
about you?” I ask her this question to put the ball in her court. I don’t know
if I’m being kind or an idiot. Her amazing blue eyes look into mine.

“Really?” Her words are soft and I see gratitude on her
face.

“Really. But don’t give me a reason to doubt you.” My voice
is firm, but nothing like how I speak to my employees. Claire deserves to be
spoken to with much more respect and therefore, I’m much gentler with her in
all my mannerisms. Carlos says she’s making me soft, but I don’t see it that
way. I’m not going soft. Claire brings out a lost and stolen side of me; a side
that had been dismissed and forgotten. A side I thought had died along with my
past.

I remove the cuffs and she rubs her wrists. She flexes them
back and forth. I take them in my hands and see how chapped and swollen they’ve
become. I take my phone and call Sally.