Free Thief by C.L. Stone Page A

have told me himself instead of through the guys. I had to agree with him, though. At least someone outside of myself thought this was a crazy idea.
    Brandon sat forward, looking at his buddy. “Let her decide for herself. It’s just one job.”
    Kevin grunted. “I’m just saying, we should find another guy. This isn’t going to be worth it.”
    “Don’t worry,” Marc said. “We’re all together on this. You won’t spend a lot of time with her. Mindy isn’t going to know.”
    “I don’t like keeping secrets from her. We do that enough,” Kevin said.
    I pressed a fingertip to my brow, sliding it back and forth to smooth it. They’d already lost me. Kevin had a girlfriend? I got that. But did he have to be mean about not letting me work for them? And they worked for someone, he just admitted it. If they weren’t supposed to work with girls, it meant someone established the rule. Who established the rules around here? The pieces were in front of me, I just needed more time to process. “Let me understand this right. Somehow my pinching wallets is going to help you guys figure out what this guy’s new nighttime habit is?”
    “We need his security card,” Marc said. “He carries it in his wallet. You’re going to snag it, let us take it to his office and use it. We’ll bring it back, you drop it back into his pocket and no one knows the difference.”
    “Wait, wait,” I said, sitting up, holding my hands out. “Pinching a wallet is one thing. I’m supposed to put it back?”
    Marc nodded. “In his pocket.”
    My mouth unhinged. “Why do I think this isn’t as simple as it sounds?”
    “It is as simple as it sounds,” Marc said. “This is it. We go in, find out what’s going on and get back out. You and Brandon will stay at the party and make sure he stays there. We’ll take care of the rest.”
    “So you were nagging at me for stealing wallets, and offering me a job to steal a wallet so you can steal his drugs?”
    “We just want to look at what he’s doing. We don’t want to touch it.”
    “Well, forgive me if I don’t believe you. Who in the world is curious enough to break in and look at something and not want to steal it, or use it, or whatever? What kind of job is this? How does this make money for you?”
    “Don’t worry about that,” Marc said. “All we want is information.”
    “What’s in it for me if I do?”
    Marc pursed his lips, he glanced at his companions. Raven shrugged at him. Marc turned back to me. “You do us this favor, we’ll get you a job. A real one. We’ve already agreed to pay your rent for a month, but we’ll get you a job where you won’t have to steal wallets any more. You can get a real apartment, too.”
    “Who would hire me?”
    Marc tilted his head at me, as if surprised I would ask the question. “Pick a place.”
    “What?”
    “Where do you want to work?”
    “You can’t just get me a job anywhere. I have to apply. And there’s interviews.”
    Marc leaned in on me again. He reached out, dropping a hand on my knee, and stared me right in the face. “If you do this, help us, you can name the place you want to work, and I can guarantee you, you’ll have a job there. I can’t do the work for you, but you’ll have a job.”
    I couldn’t believe this. I was sure I must have been dreaming. Maybe I thunked my head and was still back in the hotel room, just not having woken up yet. “How can I trust you?”
    Marc flinched. He sighed, pulled out his phone from his back pocket. He dialed a number and held it out to me. “Talk to the manager at the hotel,” he said. “Ask him to confirm your room is reserved.”
    “What?”
    He held out the phone to me. I took it.
    “Hello?” The voice was Colby. “Who is this?”
    “It’s ... Kayli,” I said. Marc made hand gestures to me to keep going. “I was just calling to ask about the room—”
    “Oh yeah. Yes, we got it for the next four weeks. Your room is reserved. Listen, I’m sorry I