Sweet Pain (Amatucci Family #3) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,24

his toes as he shifted to look around the dumpster.

He pulled a gun from somewhere on his person. Had I not watched him pull it, I don’t think I would have realized he even had one. The shortest of the Amatucci brothers was definitely the most deadly.

With a finger to his lips telling me to be quiet, he eased around the dumpster. His passage was silent. I’m pretty sure I heard the sunlight make more noise as it danced across the ground. The man was a fucking wraith.

He moved into position behind the man who was hunched over the piece of luggage on the ground. The vagrant’s dirty hands sifted through a pile of lace and satin. A heavier thunk that didn’t have any association with panties sounded in the quiet alley.

The thief scooped up whatever it was. Held it up to the sun. Brilliant flashes of color shot through the dead end passage. Apparently, Willow had put her jewelry, her panties, and two of her guns in a single bag.

I shook my head. She’d only mentioned the guns. We were going to have some discussions about the importance of full disclosure.

Mas pulled back the hammer of his pistol. Laid the barrel to the man’s head. “You do not want to scream. If you do, I will put a bullet through your head before the first note can rise from your throat. Nod if you understand me.”

The man, who’d stilled at the feel of steel against his skull, nodded quickly. He thrust both hands up towards the sky. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was just sitting there.” He lowered his arms. Reached out and caressed the suitcase. “It winked at me. It winked so pretty like in the sun. You can have it back. I don’t want what’s in it. Can I keep the case? I’ve never seen one so pretty. Can I? Can I keep it?” He cuddled it close to his chest.

The rest of the bag’s inventory clattered to the ground with solid thumps.

“Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. That’s not mine. That’s not mine.” His voice raised as he began to shake and rock back and forth on his haunches. “Take it. Take it. That’s not mine. I don’t play with those. Those are bad. They hurt people. Take it. Take it. Take it!” he screamed the last.

Mas pistol whipped the back of the guy’s head. The vagrant tumbled forward, face first, into the dirt and gravel. Mas turned back to me. “Call for Rafe to check him. Have him bring Willow.”

I went back to the opening of the alley. Called for both of them to join us.

Willow rushed forward, slid her hand into mine. “Are you okay?” She slid her gaze over me quickly. “You’re not hurt?”

I nodded, then shook my head. “Yes to the first. No to the second. Come on.” I tugged on her hand to get her to follow me.

Rafe had passed us. When we caught up, he was kneeling down next to the grubby man. Ran his gloved fingers over the other man’s head. The thief’s hair was greasy enough that it stood up in spikes as Rafe did his check. “Should be fine. A little bump.” He looked up at his brother. “You’ve gotten good.”

Mas didn’t acknowledge the praise. He simply turned back to us. Jerked his chin at Willow.

She darted forward. Grabbed up the two gun cases. No bigger than thin shoeboxes, they looked innocuous enough. Until you saw the flashing biometric hand plate on the top of them.

I wondered how the drifter had even figured out what was in them. Or maybe he just didn’t like high security boxes. I couldn’t imagine anything with that level of security boded well outside on the streets.

Willow handed one to me. One to Mas. In turn, she laid her right palm to each box. They both snicked open. She peeked in both boxes before she closed them both and took them back. “Yeah. These are mine.”

Rafe got to his feet. “It looks like quite a bit more of this is yours as well.” A smirk pulled at his lips. “I didn’t have you pegged for lace, Will.”

I growled at him. “Don’t think about her underwear at all, Rafe.”

He held up his hands, danced back out of my strike zone. “Just saying.”

“There was some jewelry as well,” Mas said. His broken vocal cords gave the words more importance than they really needed.

Willow waved his comment away. “It’s just some costume jewelry. He’s welcome