Free The Con (Men Who Thrill Book 4) by Kaye Blue

Chapter One
    I love it when a con comes together. My favorite part of any job—after the money, of course—is watching as weeks, months, or years of meticulously planned work is flawlessly executed, the end result an inevitability.
    Unfortunately, my current con isn’t like that, not at all. It’s more like a train wreck that’s about to end in a fiery crash that will send my work, and my money, up in smoke.
    “Explain this again.”
    I glared at Daniel in disbelief of what he’d just told me.
    “It’s over. We’re done.”
    I exhaled, closed my eyes, and prayed for the strength not to choke him out, at least not until I got an explanation.
    “Daniel, what happened?” I said in a voice that was less lethal than I felt but that still conveyed my lack of patience.
    And if the look on Daniel’s face was anything to go by, he understood the gravity of this moment, knew that his fate, whether he’d meet his end in the dark, rather unpleasant alley, was hinging on what he said in the next thirty seconds.
    He started, words tumbling out in a rush. “Susan’s dead. Jordan’s not at Titan anymore. We don’t have access; there’s no way in. It’s done.”
    This was all news to me.
    “What you mean Susan’s dead? And who’s Jordan?”
    “Yeah, she died three weeks ago. Car crash on the interstate.”
    I’d had no idea. And more importantly I didn’t appreciate my “partner,” a fact that I regretted more and more as each moment passed, keeping such vital information from me.
    “No. I hadn’t heard. But thanks for the heads-up,” I said sarcastically. “So who is Jordan?”
    “She was, potentially, another way in if Susan hadn’t worked out,” he said. “But she left, right around the time Susan died. Same day as a matter of fact.”
    I grit my teeth. “We never discussed putting another avenue in place. I’m assuming this woman worked with you in data analysis?”
    “Yeah. She was under me, so I had access to her username and password. I used it to test the system, see how far I could get, but since I used her credentials, she’d be on the hook for it.”
    I’d seen almost everything, but I couldn’t help but be stunned.
    “Are you a fucking lunatic?” I said, voice a growl.
    He looked taken aback, eyes wide. “What you mean?”
    “Do you have any idea how fucking stupid it is to implicate someone in your own group, asshole? You don’t think that kind of behavior from one person in the group might cause the powers that be to wonder what else data analysis might be up to? And it never occurred to you that your partner dying and someone in your group leaving on the same day might be connected?”
    The expression on his face told me that it hadn’t, something that was confirmed with his next statement. “No. I mean it was a car accident,” he said.
    If I didn’t need him to finish the job, I would have killed him where he stood. Or even smarter would have been to walk away. He clearly had no concept of what kind of people he worked for, the lengths they would go to. This whole project was a fucking mess, and I should have cut and run. But I couldn’t let go, not yet. The score was too big, and I’d exhaust absolutely every resource before I gave it up.
    I took a deep breath, focused on the best way to get things back on track. Then I looked at Daniel.
    “There’s been a change of plans,” I said, working on the fly. “Do nothing. Say nothing, until I tell you to.”
    “What you mean? We don’t know how much longer it’s going to be there, or even if it’s still there,” he said. “We have to act before it’s too late.”
    “It’s there. And let’s get something straight,” I said, squaring up to tower over Daniel, who shrank back. “You don’t make decisions. You don’t give suggestions. You do as you’re told. And right now you’re to do nothing and say nothing until I tell you otherwise. Understood?”
    The last word was deceptively light, not even a fraction as