The Golden Heist: Noir Fairy Tales, #3

By Linda Mooney

Looking for a quick buck to help feed her addiction, Cressa "Goldie" Locke helps herself to a nice looking house, hoping to score some jewelry to pawn. She's perfected the art of small-time crime to keep from getting busted, but this time she may have gotten a little more than she bargained for. She picked the wrong house...or maybe it was just right.

 

When she wakes up in a hospital bed, Cressa knows she's been caught red-handed and there's no getting out of it, so she has no other choice than to come clean. She wasn't expecting the owner of the house to also be a doctor, or for him to actually care for her. Why would he, when no one else ever had?

 

Dr. Myles Ursa has a soft spot for taking care of those in need. After all, he took an oath when he became a physician. So when he realizes the thief he found in his house is more than just a common criminal, but someone needing help, instead of pressing charges, he vows to save her, against Detective Horner's advice. But she could also be the golden opportunity the police need to bust the drug dealers for good.

 

Unfortunately, word on the street is Cressa's a snitch, and she's got some big baddies looking for her. Enemies come in all forms, and Myles may have bitten off more than he can chew. But he's determined to help Cressa turn her life around and clear her name, no matter how dangerous things could get.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Mooney
• Release date: Jul 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9780998532783

Linda Mooney

Linda loves to write sensuously erotic romance with a fantasy, paranormal, or science fiction flair. Her technique is often described as being as visual as a motion picture or graphic novel. A wife, mother, grandmother, and retired Kindergarten and music teacher, she lives in a small south Texas town near the Gulf coast where she delves into other worlds filled with daring exploits, adventure, and intense love. She has numerous best sellers, including 10 consecutive #1s. In 2009, she was named Whiskey Creek Press Torrid's Author of the Year, and her book My Strength, My Power, My Love was named the 2009 WCPT Book of the Year. In 2011, her book Lord of Thunder was named the Epic Ebook "Eppie" Award Winner for Best Erotic Sci-Fi Romance. In addition, she write naughty erotic romances under the name of Carolyn Gregg, and horror under the pseudonym of Gail Smith. For more information about Linda Mooney books and titles, and to sign up for her newsletter, please visit her website. http://www.LindaMooney.com

Book preview

Chapter One

Break-In

Cressa watched as the shiny black sedan pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. It turned to head into town, and through the passenger windows she saw all three members of the family were inside. Smiling, she remained where she was hiding until the car was completely out of sight before making her move.

She kept low and behind the hedges to approach the house. Climbing over the wall that surrounded the grounds, she casually made her way to the rear of the structure. She had no fear of being seen.

Seeing her target driving away, with the man of the house behind the wheel, confirmed her belief. If the guy didn’t have a chauffeur to drive him and his family around town, chances were good there wouldn’t be a live-in housekeeper inside the house, either. Neither would there be a gardener or handyman who might confront her and ask what she was doing there. If the driveway was empty, so was the house.

She followed the driveway to where it stopped in front of a closed garage. A covered pathway ran from there to the rear of the house. On a lark, she tried the back door. It was locked, which didn’t surprise her. She peered into one of the windows to find it led into the kitchen. At the sight of a bowl of apples sitting on a counter, she felt her stomach clench. Cressa clutched her abdomen. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything to eat. She thought it was yesterday, and even then she didn’t recall what it had been.

But food be damned. She had a more urgent need at the moment. A need that required money. Money she didn’t have at the moment, but she knew how to get some.

A tug on the windows didn’t give her access. Stepping back, she glanced up at the second story. She ran an appreciative eye over the cupola rooftops and the gingerbread trim. She loved the design and style of this house. It looked cozy, and that was one of the main reasons why she’d chosen this place.

Most people don’t lock their windows on the second floor, she told herself and grinned. I’ll probably have better luck up there.

Another plus was the number of trees surrounding the home. Nice-sized ones large enough to accommodate a lithe climber. Fortunately, Cressa was a lot more agile than most people.

Eyeing a nearby oak, she took a running jump, grabbed one of the upper limbs, and pulled herself up. It took her less than a minute to reach the nearest window. She reached for it, breathing a quick prayer.

It opened with ease.

Bingo!

She eased over the casement, shutting the pane just in case someone might notice it open and get suspicious. Dusting her hands off on her pants, she gazed around at her surroundings.

She was in a bedroom. A very frilly bedroom with a pink and white canopy over the bed and polka dot wallpaper. What kind of guy would sleep in something this girly? Much too frou-frou for my tastes, she remarked. But let’s see what kind of taste the missus has in jewelry.

A box sat on top of the dresser. Figuring that was her target, she lifted the lid to check inside.

Another bingo. Inside were several nice and not too gaudy rings she helped herself to, stuffing them into the little black pouch hanging from her belt. The rest of the stuff was worthless, in her opinion. Not worth her time and effort to hock.

She checked the room one last time, when she spied the framed photo on the bedstead. It showed the man, woman, and child in their bear personas. They were posing in front of the house, all smiles and happy times.

Cressa grunted and eyed the bed again. Curiosity made her walk over and run a hand over the bedspread. Yep. Real chenille. She pressed down on the mattress. But way too soft. Bet they sink in it.

A check of the hallway outside the bedroom door showed the coast was clear. Listening intently, the whole house sounded empty. Still, she kept her footsteps muffled, just in case.

Reaching the next door, she decided to peek inside. To her amazement, this room was decidedly masculine. A massive four-poster bed sat at one end, with a tall bureau on the other end. The walls were a deep green, the same shade as the bedspread.

Cressa blinked. "All right. So they sleep apart. After seeing her bedroom, I don’t blame him."

She cast an appreciative eye at the décor. Mighty fine cave you guys live in. Real comfy. She stuck her nose through the open door leading into the adjacent bathroom. Like that bedroom, it had a definite masculine feel to it.

There wasn’t a jewelry box on top of the bureau, or anywhere else in the room. But guys sometimes like to use the upper drawer, she reminded herself. Going over to the large piece of furniture, she pulled out the top drawer and smiled. Today’s definitely my lucky day. She filched two sets of diamond and gold cufflinks, noticing the inscribed U on both pairs before dropping them into the pouch. She closed the drawer without disturbing anything else.

That was her MO. Take a little, not a lot. Take too much, and the target might notice it immediately and call the cops. But by taking a little, it might be days or weeks before the items are discovered missing. Give another few days or weeks of believing they’d been misplaced, and the target would either go ahead and report them stolen or missing to the cops and insurance company, or give up looking for their property altogether.

Her stomach clenched again, this time nearly doubling her over in pain. The floor swayed sickeningly beneath her feet. Memory of the bowl of apples floated in her mind’s eye, and she felt her mouth watering.

An apple a day, right, Goldie? Do you think they’ll miss a couple of apples?

She passed one more closed door without checking it, but made a mental note to give it a quick check before heading back to the frilly bedroom and making her exit out the window. But first, she needed to put something into her belly before she keeled over from hunger.

I’ll grab a couple of apples, then finish checking out the upstairs. In, out, done.

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened again for any sounds. One could never be too careful when it came to traipsing around in a strange house. Not detecting anyone else about, she searched for the kitchen.

It wasn’t hard. All she had to do was follow her nose.

Something delicious was cooking on the stove, left to simmer slowly. Lifting the lid on the large pot, she took a deep whiff as the smells surrounded her face. Damn, what she wouldn’t give to be able to sit down and have a bowl of whatever that was.

The table at the end of the kitchen held three place settings. A platter of sliced bread and a jar of honey sat in the middle. Cressa sighed dejectedly. A slice of bread slathered with honey would have been a treat.

She grabbed an apple from the side of the bowl, then arranged the placement of the others to cover up the missing one. Unable to stop herself, she bit into the piece of fruit, and for a few seconds let herself delight in the sweet, juicy flavor.

She turned to go back upstairs, when her stomach revolted. She barely made it in time to the sink before she heaved up bits of apple. The strain threw her further into another bout of dizziness, and she stumbled as she tried to make her way out of the kitchen. Her shoulder caught the door jamb, sending streaks of pain up her arm and down her spine. She bounced backwards, hit one of the chairs, and fell on top of it.

Both she and the chair crashed to the floor. Cressa lay there, gasping for air as she tried not to hurl again. Somewhere she’d lost the apple, but that didn’t bother her. Her ears caught the familiar sound of a car engine, and she realized that the family had returned.

She had to get out of the house now.

She managed to get to her feet and stumbled toward the stairs. Putting one foot in front of the other was a major effort. Her head continued to swim, throwing her vision and balance out of whack. And her stomach still hadn’t forgiven her.

Just as she reached the top of the landing, she heard the sound of people entering through the back kitchen door. As soon as they saw the damaged chair, she knew they’d suspect the home had been broken into.

Her hand found the doorknob to the first room to her left. The room she hadn’t inspected earlier, but she had no choice. Footsteps were already pounding up the stairs. If she tried to reach the frou-frou bedroom, they’d overtake her before she made it to the window. The best she could hope for was to find either another window with another tree, or a safe place to hide until she could make a run for it.

But her body wasn’t going to let her have those options. She was vaguely aware of discovering herself inside another bedroom. A kid’s room, decorated in blues and whites. Her legs no longer obeyed her, and she fell forward.

Strangely enough, luck was still on her side. Instead of landing on the hardwood floor, she slammed onto something soft and firm.

The last thing she heard before she blacked out was a child’s voice declaring, Mommy, there’s somebody sleeping in my bed!

Chapter Two

Questioning

The pungent odor of alcohol told her she was in a hospital before she opened her eyes to confirm it. Her vision remained a little blurry, but at least she could make out the room she was in.

No one else was in here with her.

She was in a private room.

Cressa pressed her lips together. Uh-oh. That wasn’t good. There was no way she could afford a private room. Not unless she was being isolated.

Isolated, as in being in police custody.

A quick glance at the only window in the room showed nothing but the city skyline in the distance. That meant she had to be higher than the second floor. Unless there was another building, a fire escape, or a tree nearby, it would be a long drop to the hard ground.

In other words, there was no way out of there except via the door. And she’d bet her grandma’s teeth there was a cop stationed in the hallway in front of it.