Stolen Heart (4 page)

Annika stopped in mid-stream and took a deep breath.  She was so angry right now that if she had a gun she would have shot him without a further thought. He had found her one weakness and exploited it.  She would find a way to make him pay for this.  But for now, she was trapped.  She could  not risk the safety of those women.

Barely containing her fury, Annika walked over to the door and opened it. “I will help you get The Scepter.  We can leave tomorrow evening.  Now get out.”

“We don’t have time to wait.  We need to leave now.”

Annika hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by standing her ground.  She had some important business to take care of tonight and tomorrow that she could not forsake.  “I have something to do both tonight and tomorrow that is extremely important and cannot wait.  If you want me, you will wait for me to leave tomorrow night.”  Her words were clipped and forced through clenched teeth.

Kieran appraised Annika.  Her face had gone from white to red.  Her lovely lavender eyes were flashing at him with pure hate.  He definitely did not like that. But whatever business she had was important enough that she was willing to take a risk that
Saving Grace
could be harmed.  Or maybe those empathic readings she had done on him gave away the fact that he couldn’t hurt innocent women.  Regardless, it wasn’t worth the argument.  Another day wouldn’t matter and it would be interesting to follow her tonight to see what she was up to.

“What exactly do you need to do?  Perhaps I can help?”

“That is none of your business and if I needed help, you would be the last person I would ask.”

“Fine by me.  Be at my hotel tomorrow evening when you are finished.  We can start to make plans and…”

Annika couldn’t control her feelings anymore.  “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Now!”

Kieran flinched from the fury pouring from her.  He really was going to pay for threatening
Saving Grace
.  He gave her a short nod and walked out the door.  He heard it slam behind him. 
Well, they were off to a lovely start.

Annika was livid.  Her pulse was racing and her head was pounding.  How dare that son of a bitch threaten
Saving Grace
?  She took a deep breath to calm down. 
Not working
.  She took another, and another.  Finally, her pulse lowered and she felt some semblance of control returning.  She had an important job to do tonight and couldn’t afford to be distracted.

Kieran had been correct.  Annika had opened and been operating
Itch
for the past five years solely with the intent to make money to fund
Saving Grace
.  Annika had never needed wealth or other fineries. She’d grown up with it and what had it gotten her? 
Nothing but heartache.
 

Instead, she worked hard and poured all of her profits into
Saving Grace
.  Kieran was correct.  Annika took a very small salary from
Itch
.  Enough to rent her apartment—which was indeed crappy--put some food on her table and buy clothing that wasn’t threadbare.  The rest of the profits all went to
Saving Grace
.  But it was never enough.  With so many charities in New York, Annika couldn’t depend on private donations or federal and state grants.  She had to dredge up the money mostly herself.  And outside of working at
Itch
, the only other way she knew to get money for
Saving Grace
was to steal it.

Yes…that made Annika a very bad person.  Immoral most would say.  But she could care less.  She lived in a world where there were people that were far more immoral than she was.  And she truly did try to redeem her actions.  She stole from the rich and gave to the abused.  A modern day Robin Hood so to speak.  Without the goofy tights and hat. 

And it wasn’t just any rich person she would steal from.  No…Annika’s targets were carefully researched and chosen especially by her.  She targeted only those people that deserved to be robbed.  That were immoral, just like her.

Her target tonight was Candace Weinburg, a wealthy socialite that lived in a Park Avenue apartment.  She had made a career of marrying rich, marrying old and outliving her previous two husbands.  On the outside, Candace lived a squeaky clean life.  She, herself, was on the boards of many charities and considered quite the philanthropist.  Annika knew different.

Before Candace Weingburg became Candace Weinburg, she had been Candace Sanderson.  Same life, just a different apartment on Park Avenue.  Before she had been Candace Sanderson, she had been Candace Peebles.  Candace Peebles was from a tiny town in south New Jersey and had gotten pregnant at the young age of eighteen.  She never married the baby’s father but went on to raise him on her own.  Some may call that admirable…except for the fact she raised a monster.

Candace’s son was Brian Peebles. He was twenty-nine years old and worked in construction.  He was also a raging alcoholic and a wife beater.  His bride of three years, Sarah Peebles, was currently living at
Saving Grace
. She had moved there two months ago after leaving the hospital with a crushed eye socket, broken collarbone and cigarette burns across her breasts.  All courtesy of Brian Peebles.

Now, Annika wasn’t necessarily blaming Candace Peebles Sanderson Weinburg for raising a monster.  She knew that you could be the best parent possible and produce little monsters.  She was blaming Candace for aiding and abetting her monster of a son in almost killing Sarah.  For on the night that Brian Peebles went into one of his drunken rages and attacked Sarah, he did so while his mother Candace watched and egged him on. 

Brian was convinced Sarah had cheated on him and his mother accepted that as truth too.  Now whether Sarah had cheated on Brian was none of Annika’s business. But even if she did, she didn’t deserve what Brian handed out.  She certainly didn’t deserve his bitch of a mother egging him on, screaming at Brian to hit her harder.

That alone would be enough for Annika to target her wealth.  But it went further. Candace used her considerable funds to bail Brian out of jail and hire him the best shyster of a lawyer available who managed to get all of the charges dropped. 
That was a bad, bad use of your money, Candace.  It put you on my radar.

So Annika’s job tonight was to lighten Candace’s load a tiny bit.  It would help to renovate the third floor of
Saving Grace
and add seven more rooms.  It took several weeks to fully research Candace Weinburg.  Annika knew everything about the woman, and had been in her apartment on three occasions so far to do reconnaissance.  She knew exactly where the woman kept her money and jewels hidden.  Tonight she would go in for the last time, take the booty and hand it off to Marcus.  Marcus’ job was to fence the items and bring her the cash for
Saving Grace
…after a five percent cut for himself, of course.

The job shouldn’t take too long.  She knew Candace was out for the evening romancing husband number three.  She had a tight window to work in but wasn’t worried about it.  She almost hoped Candace would walk in on her.  She would quickly morph into the scariest street thug she could imagine and give the woman the fright of her life.  Annika snickered. 
If only.

Following the job, Annika had one more pressing matter to handle this evening then she had a new woman she was going to help move into
Saving Grace
tomorrow.  After that was handled, she could concentrate “helping” Kieran to recover The Scepter

Annika had to laugh about one thing.  It was funny how she had been chosen by Kieran to help him steal something and she had turned him down.  Funny, because stealing was a big part of her life.  And he had no clue that he was recruiting a very good thief.  He thought he was just getting someone with a fancy magic trick that he would use to suit his purposes.  He really was getting quite a bargain.

***

Leaving the nightclub, Kieran had waited outside in the shadows across the street until Annika appeared.  It didn’t take long. Whatever she had to do, it wasn’t something that required her to change clothes. She was wearing jeans, a Counting Crows t-shirt and black Doc Martens.  She hailed a cab and he was lucky to get one right behind her.  His cabbie had no problem with following and before long, they ended up on Park Avenue, where she got out of the cab and started walking.

From there, Kieran followed at an easy distance behind her as she walked north up Park Avenue. Turning left onto 79
^th
street, he watched her duck into the first alleyway.  He couldn’t follow her in without being seen, but not five seconds later, a woman emerged. 

The woman looked to be mid to late 40’s and was elegantly dressed in a high end cream colored suit with expensive pearls around her throat.  Her platinum blond hair was in a tight chignon and she oozed wealth.  Kieran knew right away that it was Annika.  There was no way a woman of that class would be hanging out in a dark alley. 

Kieran watched as Annika, wearing her glamour, walked back to Park Avenue and right up to the  the first luxury apartment building that bordered 79
^th
street.  She talked briefly to the doorman and entered. 
What the hell was she doing?

Kieran waited about forty-five minutes and then saw Annika--aka Rich Lady--walk back out, carrying a light brown leather briefcase. She headed straight back for the same alleyway but before she could get there, he spotted a familiar man approach her from the opposite direction.  It was Marcus.  He watched amazed as they walked right past each other, not even looking the other in the eye.  But he didn’t miss the subtle exchange as Annika handed the briefcase off to Marcus and he walked off with it in his hand.

 Annika made it back to the alleyway and turned the corner to enter it. She didn’t walk all the way back into the darkness this time.  She stood with her back against the brick wall and quickly morphed back into Annika.  Then Kieran watched as she slowly faded away into nothingness. 
Fuck!
  Annika had left The First Dimension.  He looked back down the street to find Marcus.  He would follow him to see what was going on, but couldn’t spot him.  With no other choice, Kieran hailed a cab.  Rather than head back to his hotel, he instructed the cab driver to take him to
Itch
.  He would hang out there awhile and see if Annika returned.

Kieran sat at the bar, nursing a beer.  He’d been approached a few minutes ago by the same blonde he had been eyeing the night before.  She had approached him from behind, unnoticed and raked her nails along the back of his neck.

“I see you came back, sugar.”

Kieran turned toward her and for a brief moment, didn’t recognize her.  But when she pouted her lower lip out, it came back to him.  “Indeed I did.”

“Fancy buying me another drink tonight?  A vodka gimlet?”

“It would be my pleasure.”  Signaling to the bartender, he ordered the drink.

When it arrived, she picked her glass up and clinked it against his beer.  “Here’s to a hot, hot evening,” she purred.

There was a time, in the not too distant pass—like just two days ago—Kieran would have jumped all over that offer.  But instantly, Annika’s sweetheart face and lavender eyes popped into his mind then he remembered her luscious body moving up and down on him.  And he realized—much to his chagrin—that he had no interest in the blonde.  And that mere fact had Kieran’s stomach in knots.  Annika clearly held nothing but disdain for Kieran and he’d be lucky to walk away from this partnership of thievery with his balls intact.  Still, he just couldn’t muster up any interest in the woman standing next to him.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.  But I can’t tonight.  I already have plans.”

Not willing to give up, she leaned her red slicked lips in toward his ear and whispered, “Are you sure?  You’ll never have better than what I’ll give you tonight.”

Nope. Not even a twitch of interest from his boy down below. 
Interesting…and slightly scary.

“Sorry, love.  Not tonight.”  Kieran stood from the bar, threw a few bills down for a tip, and walked out of the club.  Annika had not returned and he figured the best thing he could do was get a good night’s sleep.  For tomorrow night, he was going to follow her again and find out what she was up to.

During the cab ride back to his hotel, Kieran ruminated about what he’d seen tonight.  Annika had clearly left the First Dimension.  He really didn’t know if she was gone for good, or had just made a quick trip somewhere.  She clearly had not transferred.  That spell produced an instant disappearance and reappearance to the new location.  When you traveled to another dimension, you faded away as your body was slowly pulled into the new dimension.  Yes, last night, she had definitely taken a trip out of The First Dimension, but the question is where?  And would she come back?  He’d find out for sure tomorrow night.

Annika had just finished her shower and was getting dressed.  She had slept most of the day as she was exhausted after last night’s activities.  Oh, the stealing of Candace Weinburg’s jewels didn’t tire her out.  That was actually quite thrilling and she couldn’t wait to put the money they fetched to good use.  But the trip she’d made out of the First Dimension had been stressful, and that in turn had exhausted the crap out of her.

She had indeed sought the counsel of an old friend but rather than getting the advice she’d needed, she spent most of the time comforting said friend who was having some issues of her own.  It was an emotionally tiring evening and by the time she had returned to New York, it was close to 4:00am.  Annika had fallen face first onto her bed and slipped into a deep sleep.

Now she was rushing around, getting ready.  Tonight she was going to help Sheila Williams escape her abusive home.  Annika already had a room set up for her at
Saving Grace
.  And if anyone ever needed saving, it was Sheila.

Most women were referred to
Saving Grace
through a network of social workers and police officers that Annika had met through the years. 
Saving Grace’s
location was held in absolute secrecy so the asshole abusers couldn’t find the women who had finally wisened up and gotten the courage to leave.  Thus, if a woman was in danger, Annika would be approached by a social worker or cop, who would arrange for a meeting with the woman.

These moves to safety were never done quickly.  Most of the time, the woman was just not ready to make the move.  Usually burdened with immense fear and shame, they were too afraid to break away from their abusers.  Annika would often spend weeks, meeting with and counseling the women. Building up their courage to make a run for it.

And tonight…Sheila Williams was ready.  She had been with her boyfriend, Monty Shepard, for ten years.  She had dropped out of high school at fifteen and moved in with him.  He was a mid-level drug dealer who liked to frequently sample his own merchandise.  The cocaine high made him mean, and Sheila was his favorite punching bag. 

After spending over a year secretly earning her GED and meeting with Annika for support, she was ready to leave the bastard.  Sheila needed the secrecy of
Saving Grace
.  Monty was possessive and would probably stop at nothing to get her back if he found her.  And if he couldn’t have her, he’d kill her.

Annika’s plan was for Sheila to stay at
Saving Grace
, until they could raise enough money for Sheila to leave New York and start a new life.

Annika’s cell phone beeped. She looked down and saw a text from Sheila:
He’s gone.

That meant Monty was out for the night. He usually went out every night with his thug gang of drug dealers and didn’t return until the early morning hours.  Still, Annika didn’t want to waste any time.  She slipped on a light jacket, tucking her taser gun into the pocket, and walked out of her apartment.  It was show time.

***

Patience paid off for Kieran.  Rather than go into
Itch
to look for Annika, he decided to wait outside the back entrance to her apartment.  He wanted to follow her again tonight.  And there she was, looking just as adorable as she had the night before.  She was dressed all in black and took off down the street on foot. 

Kieran had experienced a rush of relief upon seeing her.  He wasn’t so sure she would return to the First Dimension after she mysteriously disappeared last night.  After the relief over seeing her settled in, he also felt an intense attraction settle into him as he watched her walk.  She was sure and determined…a woman with purpose.  That confidence was sexy as hell.  And there was no sense in denying it. He wanted her again.

He had to admit that he was beyond fascinated by her.  What type of lady, who led a posh lifestyle as a Royal, gave it all up to live in squalor and help women escape their abusers?  Oh, she was tough on the outside but she clearly had some softness on the inside.  Not that any of it was reserved for Kieran.  Nope.  He had her wrath, that was for sure and he had to figure a way to bust past it if they were going to be able to work together.

Which gave him an idea.  Rather than just follow her tonight, he’d help her with whatever she had to do.  And he wouldn’t give her a choice about it.  He smiled internally to himself. 
Brilliant!

Stepping his pace up to a light jog, Kieran quickly caught up to Annika and fell into step beside her.  She glanced to the left when she felt his presence, probably intent on just giving whatever person dared to encroach on her space an irritated glare.  When she realized it was Kieran beside her, her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she actually stumbled.  He reached out, grabbing her arm until she was steady on her feet.  He shot her a blazing smile.  She didn’t return it but put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“What the hell are you doing here, Kieran?”

“Oh, out for a stroll.  Fancy meeting you out here.”

Annika rolled her eyes at him.  “I don’t believe for a minute you just happened upon me.  You were following me,” she accused.

Kieran held up his hands.  “Guilty as charged.  But I’m not just following you.  I want to help you with whatever you have to do tonight. So I can prove my trustworthiness to you.”

Annika snorted.  “What makes you think I even want to trust you?”

“Well, you probably don’t, but I want you to trust me.  I know I screwed up by threatening
Saving Grace
.  I was hoping I could make it up to you.”

Annika looked at him for a moment, as if she was considering his offer.  Then she shook her head. “No.  Go back to your hotel, Kieran.  I’ll come there after I finish this.”  She took off walking again.

With just a few paces, Kieran caught up to her again and fell in step beside her.  She glanced at him but kept walking.  Neither of them said a word.

After two more blocks, Annika stopped and turned to him, glaring.  She blew out a frustrated breath.  “Get lost, Kieran.  I don’t want or need your help.”

“Too bad.  You’ll have it.  I’ll be right by your side tonight.  So you might as well tell me what we’re doing.”

“Are you always this much of a pain in the ass?”

Kieran grinned.  “Not always.”

Annika looked up and down the street, as if she was trying to come to a decision as to what to do with him. Finally, she sighed.  “Fine.  You can help.  It can’t hurt to have some muscle.”  She took off walking again and Kieran followed.

“So what are we doing tonight?”

“We’re rescuing someone.”

“A damsel in distress?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.  We’re going to help a very special woman start a new life of peace.”  The look on Annika’s face was priceless when she said that.  It was a mixture of hope and joy.  Her passion for helping women is what made her happy.

“You make me a bit jealous, you know,” Kieran said.

Annika gave him a startled look.  “Why?”

“Because you have such passion for what you do.  You’re a very lucky woman.  Most people just slog through their days, counting the hours until it’s over so they can start the same thing over again.  They work, only to work.  With no fulfillment.  What you have here is special, Annika.”

As the sounds of their footsteps echoed off the sidewalk, Kieran could see Annika considering his words.  She pulled her lower lip in between her teeth and her brows were scrunched in consternation. 

Suddenly, she stopped walking and turned to look at Kieran.  Her lavender eyes were wide and luminescent.  “Thank you for pointing that out to me.  I thought I did this type of work because…well, because I had to.  But I think you’re right.  I do this because I want to… and I love it.”  She gave him a full smile then and his breath caught.  Had he ever seen a more beautiful woman?  He didn’t think so.

Kieran couldn’t help himself.  His hand reached out and cupped Annika’s face.  His thumb gently traced her cheekbone.  He watched as her eyes widened in surprise, then closed as if relishing his touch.  It was the perfect opportunity for him to lean in for a kiss, but before he got the opportunity, her eyes flew open and she batted his hand away from her face.

“Hey.  Watch the hands buster.  This isn’t a date night, you know.”  Annika was scowling at him and it caused Kieran to burst into laughter.  “And stop laughing.  It’s not funny.”

Kieran’s laugh turned into chuckles.  “I’m sorry.  But you’re such an enigma, Annika.  It keeps me on my toes.  But don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy my touch.”  His last words were seductive yet taunting.  He expected her to blush and look away.

Instead, she actually took a step in closer to him, placing her hands lightly on his chest.  She leaned up on her tip toes, placing her lips by his ear.  “I’ll tell you a secret,” she whispered softly.  Goosebumps broke out on his arms.  “I do enjoy your touch.  But I’ll tell you when and where you can touch me.”

Stepping back from Kieran, she reiterated.  “Now is not the time.”  Then she winked at him and took off walking again.