BEAST

Chapter 4

Crystal spun out their Toyota Camry from their driveway. Her sister didn't comment, but Crystal felt her stare burning into the side of her head.

Kade had asked her out. The hot guy with the Texas accent and baritone voice. And full of muscles and a firm ass. The tires squealed as she spun around a parking taxi.

She chided her thoughts that kept drifting to Kade.

At mini golf, yesterday, she forgot how to breathe. The sun caused his brown hair to shine like burnished bronze. His chocolate eyes held her. He made Paul appear smaller, paler.

Crystal loved her sister, but was envious of what she and Paul had. They were always kissing, hugging, or holding hands - it was sickening, but she wanted it.

Her sister raised an eyebrow when she glanced at her. Then Ruby brushed the powder from her compact off her grey sweatshirt and pants. Crystal wore a matching outfit.

"What's with you? You're off - I should do the job tonight."

"No, I'm fine." If she kept drifting off into dreamland, she wouldn't be able to keep her attraction to Kade secret from her fraternal twin for long. "I just wanted to get to the Uncles." And she still had to decide which red herring to use for the job so no one would suspect they stole data off the computer-- the main reason for the thefts. The painting might be too bulky to take, but she could use a knife and cut it out of the frame. There'd be a little damage but she couldn't walk out carrying it in the four foot frame.

Her sister frowned and slumped down in her seat, but seemed to buy her excuse for now.

The car lurched forward with the green light. She watched her speed. They didn't need a ticket in industrial downtown. Paul would ask too many questions.

***

Sixteen blocks later, Crystal eased their Camry into the parking lot of the Bayou Car Garage. Smoke blew from the refineries and few cars or people were on this stretch of the city.

No one wanted to be near the smell of burning pitch and garbage unless they had to be.

She smacked her palm on the horn twice. Her gut tightened every time she visited this place. What they were doing was illegal, but a necessity, and if busted, they'd be thrown into prison. Probably for life. One way or another, Westridge had messed up their lives. They either were in hiding and thieves, or would pay the price with future imprisonment just to catch Westridge and his corporation in their illegal activities.

The steel door whined as it opened.

Dragging in a shuddering breath to steady her nerves, Crystal clenched her hands on the steering wheel and drove the car through the opening. If Tommy or the Uncles knew how distracted she was, they'd yank her off tonight's job.

The metal door groaned into place, closing. Sunlight sealed off.

Inside, the Camry's headlights glowed. Crystal flipped the high beams on twice, and then switched the car off.

Darkness plunged around them. Spots danced before her vision for a moment until above them, florescent lights hummed in rows as they came to life.

Crystal snatched her purse and stepped out. Business only now. Remember what Westridge did to Dad. This is for him. And Mom and our foster parents who were murdered on orders from that bastard. Nothing else mattered. She squared her shoulders as she ambled through the warehouse, dodging rusty pipes and wellheads scattered across the dusty concrete slab. Ruby followed at her heels.

Tommy waited for them with a beer in his hand. He was thin as a post. On their first meeting, she doubted he could protect a cat, let alone her and Ruby. He'd proven her wrong during their first training session, and her bruises took close to a month to heal. One day, when he wasn't expecting it, she'd plant his butt on the floor, which wouldn't be easy since he taught them Jujitsu, Krav Maga, and just about every other martial art available. She suspected he hadn't given away all his moves. Where Crystal was a whiz on the computer, Tommy was a fighting guru.

His blond hair hung in eyes, making him appear younger instead of the five-year gap he held over them. Once she thought of him as a protector - or even a distant family member - now he was like a pesky older brother.

"What's the code today?" Ruby asked as if she were asking for the time. Her sister rarely worried, even when the cops almost busted them on their last assignment. Then again, her sister was dating one. Perhaps it gave Ruby a confidence that Crystal wasn't privy too.

If she were dating Kade, she'd feel invincible too. He was just a guy, but he looked like he'd win any bar fight, unless Tommy was the opponent. At golf, on Kade's arm she'd spotted the edge of a blue tattoo: an upside down pitchfork?

Crystal's hands shook thinking about him. He was looking for a job. That's all.

Tommy took a swig from his beer and sucked the liquid through his teeth, then said,

"Alpha Lima 495322."

After a wave of thanks, Crystal followed Ruby to the freight elevator. The hint of beer mingled in the air with dust and oxidization.

Inside the elevator, Crystal yanked down the wire gate. She thought of the Uncle's reaction when they found out about Kade. Her stomach fisted. In the place of their parents, since their mom and foster parents had died, the Uncles had reminded them a billion times: while they were on this mission, there was no time for boys or distractions. Ruby didn't listen, so then why did Crystal feel guilty?

Her sister punched in the code. AL223594. Tommy always provided the numbers backwards. He feared clones from all the conspiracy and sci-fi books he read.

The elevator lurched. As they came to a halt on the second floor, the rattling announced their presence.

Ruby pressed open the wire cage door and they exited.

The last to leave, Crystal wiped her hand down her sweat pants and retyped the code AL223594 so the alarms wouldn't go off.

As they strolled down the hallway sprinkled with expensive paintings, Crystal chewed on her lower lip. They passed the Rockwell painting of Rosie the Riveter; she'd stolen that from one of Westridge's mistresses on a test run. Their footsteps echoed across the concrete floor. With each step her nerves twisted further.

Ruby nudged her. "Are you all right? You getting sick?"

"I'm fine." She faked a smile hoping her sister wouldn't see through it. "It's nothing."

They knocked on the third door on their left twice, waited a few seconds and knocked again.

"Come in whiles you're here," a Cajun voice thrummed through the door.

Once inside the room, Crystal fell behind Ruby as warmth folded around her. Who turned on the heat in here? Or was she catching something like her sister said? It might explain her strange behavior. And it had nothing to do with Kade after all. Yeah, that must be it.

Uncle Gustin, his toffee eyes lighting, lounged on the leather sofa with a Cuban cigar in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. At his feet, an Oriental rug spread the length of the office. She loved both her adoptive Uncles, but Gustin was so calm and always thinking. Just his presence put her at ease.

Uncle George veered around his cherry wood desk. The legs carved into winged cherubs. "Great job earlier." He held out his dark arms.

Crystal's first reaction was always to run when the man who resembled a black bear with his enormous stature and width rushed toward her, but he never hurt them. Unlike Tommy.

Her uncle embraced them together, their bodies squished in his stronghold. His perspiration and spicy cologne engulfed her nostrils and she held back a cough. George had been able to chase the nightmares away with a hug and a kiss on her forehead she was younger. She had loved him the most growing up, but now felt her affection shifting more toward Gustin and his quiet intellectual side.

Both were brilliant, but George was more the muscle of the two. And Tommy was the one who goaded both her and her sister.

"Got a winner with that fiancée of yours," Uncle Gustin said from the couch. His tawny beige skin glowed from his grin and the fluorescent light above him. He was lithe where his partner was big and strong. Like comparing a male ice skater to a football player.

Ruby blushed and picked imaginary lint from her sweats. When her sister had wanted to date Paul, the Uncles had him trailed for months. Crystal learned his patterns better than she did her own. Finally, after Ruby pestered them, they'd given their approval. Said he had aspirations and wanted to join the FBI.

Provided he didn't get in their way, of course. Crystal knew the Uncles had many connections, some with other criminals, and some within the FBI sharing their knowledge or whatever else they did for them.

Uncle George gestured them to his desk. On the wall behind it stood a wooden bookcase crammed with books from philosophy, to Shakespeare, to mystery novels. But beyond it was their backup plan, an escape route if they were ever cornered. Floor plans and safe specifics littered the top of his desk and keyboard. "Here are the details for the job tonight."

Ruby cut a glance to Crystal. "I'll take tonight's theft, her timing's off. I think she's getting the flu or something."

"What! No way. I can do this. It's my job." She'd studied it for weeks. How dare her sister yank this from her.

Ruby huffed. "You almost killed us on the way here with your haphazard driving." She placed a hand on Uncle George's dark arm. "It's best if I'm on tonight."

Crystal gave Ruby a scowl. "You should learn to ask nicely, not snatch, you know."

"Girls," Uncle Gustin interrupted their argument. "Let Ruby do this one. You're looking a bit pale, Crystal."

"I'm just tired, but I can do it."

Uncle Gustin rounded the table and took Crystal in to his embrace; the kind that always reminded her of her younger years. The times he'd hug and talk her fear away using logic and reasoning. When she was younger she believed nothing scared him. Then she found out how cruel the real world was.

Gustin was more a people person than George. Whenever it was George's turn for comfort after a nightmare, he'd squeeze her until she thought she'd break, then turn on a comedy and make popcorn. Sometimes Ruby feigned a nightmare when he had the night to watch them just to stay up late.

Crystal figured it might not be such a bad idea for Ruby to take this one since her mind wasn't exactly on the ball.

"Sure," she can have it." Detangling from the hug, she faced her sister. "But next time, talk to me first."

"Okay then, it's settled," Uncle George said. "Take this down to Tommy." He handed her a copy of a floor plan and alarm details. "The layout's all ready for you." Ruby reached for the papers.

***

Inside the warehouse, across from the Uncles' office was the workroom. Props were installed, mimicking the safe and alarm system of the home they would hit tonight. Everything would be the same; dims, furniture placement, picture frames, and even plastic plants standing in for the real ones that would be inside the bedroom where the safe and laptop resided.

On the wooden bench, Crystal sat with Tommy. When she first trained with Tommy, she was furious every time he made her fall on her ass. Then she learned to defend herself. A few times she even knocked him down, and she planned to do so again.

Ruby crept through the shadows of the workroom. Then Ruby's sweatpants snagged a line and the room lit with flashing red lights.

Crystal cringed. She'd studied the layouts before, knew her way backward and in the dark. She understood Ruby was protective and only wanted to succeed, but the way she seized the job tonight took Crystal by surprise. She shifted in her seat, unable to get comfortable. She crossed her arms while Tommy reset everything.

Her thoughts fluttered to Kade. What if he tried kissing her on their date? Did he kiss on the first date? She had never before. But maybe it was time to be more impulsive and passionate like her sister. To take what she wanted. Then she wouldn't be the one left behind on the side bench.

She should kiss him.

"You forgot to disable the firewall!" Tommy yelled and Crystal flinched.

Damn. Even though she wasn't doing the job tonight - she needed to focus - this is exactly why she'd lost tonight.

Tommy was a perfectionist. It was his knack for details when checking up on the girls when he was a teen that kept them alive. They owed him their lives... and the bruises he gave them during his training sessions.

Tommy showed Ruby the second alarm wire. His words harsh, but his green gaze full of concern. Ruby clipped the sensor wire too early. Now she would have to wait for the camera to make another sweep. Seconds could mean failure.

Before the camera's eye flashed across Ruby's path, she hunched near a table. She rolled to the side, coming up beside the safe.

Ruby made a clicking noise to mark the count until the camera would swoop toward her again. She whirled to the side as the camera focused on the safe.

Five more seconds, and she was in front of the safe again. Crystal leaned forward, the heels of her sneakers tapping against the cement floor.

Her sister was running out of time. Ruby locked the camera in place with a screwdriver.

"That'll cost ya. Ten minutes or less left now," Tommy said. "Once security sees it's stuck."

"I know." She fiddled with the safe's combination.

Crystal should take the job back. Clearly, her sister wasn't ready. She opened her mouth to tell Tommy, but then the lock clicked open.

Ruby snatched the documents, jewelry, and cash inside shoving them into a pack tied around her waist. She closed the safe, then raced across the room.

She dodged the camera's view until she reached the computer on the table. Thankfully, the catering job gave them access into their victims' homes and computers. When that didn't work, they reverted to their IT expertise. Before Ruby powered on the computer, she put in the flash drive she and her sister had named Rogue into the SS USB port. The rootkit had over forty operating systems it could invade.

After the satisfying "snick" of the connection assured her it was ready, Ruby hit the power button. As the machine proceeded to boot, and the familiar post screen flickered on, she smiled at the outdated BIOS. "Crooks always think themselves so clever... but never keep their gear current."

Of the many Linux hacks she kept on her flash drive, this one required little interaction.

Within seconds, the innocuous application had been nestled into a tidy spot on the machine, awaiting connectivity to the Internet. Once connected it would mirror blocks of the infected machine to the awaiting server in the Uncles' office. Given enough time, the entire machine would be copied without so much as a twitch on the screen.

"Two minutes." Tommy set his empty beer bottle on the bench between him and Crystal.

Ruby powered off the computer.

Each member of the Westridge board had a piece of Intel, transactions, and evidence showing their true nature. Westridge himself had the last and final piece. The one that decoded all the others. He'd used it as a way to control his people so they would never do what Crystal and Ruby's dad had tried to do... tell the world the truth. Even though Westridge had Crystal and Ruby's mother killed, and then later murdered their foster parents, they would not fall to his sin so deeply. They would leave his family intact.

Their mom's death was a warning when Dad tried to expose Westridge's crimes to the FBI. Then, after he was framed, their dad fought from jail. So Westridge slaughtered their foster parents and tried to exterminate Crystal and her sister, too. The Uncles' intervention and Tommy saved them.

After a quick wink to her audience, Ruby slinked over to the camera. Snatched the screwdriver from the camera's arm then pried the lock on the window open.

Crystal chewed on her fingernails. Her sister wasn't ready. She'd fail and it was Crystal's fault for letting thoughts... no, not any thoughts, but ones of Kade, befuddle her. It was bad enough their dad, with Uncle Gustin's help, was provided a reprieve from Westridge and jail with his supposed death. But it also meant he couldn't be seen with either the Uncles or his daughters. Crystal wished he were here to confide in about Kade. Their contact with him was limited to a snatch of phone calls once a month from a payphone. Direct contact was out of the question unless an emergency arose.

Ruby tied off her grapple hook and flung it downward at what would be from the third floor tonight if she needed to escape that way. Otherwise, she'd use the catering bag, and stuff everything she needed into it. Change, and march out the door. Always have a backup plan. Like the Uncle's secret passage way out of their office warehouse behind Gustin's bookcase.

The Warren job had tested them on alternating their plans. Neither Crystal nor Ruby could sneak away with him guarding the kitchen. Then Warren's grandmother insisted the sisters meet Warren's cousins in a matchmaking attempt.

"Time." Tommy roared. "You're too slow. Shave off at least three minutes. And you forgot his painting."

Uncle Gustin leaned against the railing. His almond skin reflected the fluorescent light overhead. "I know you haven't prepared for this gig, but utilize the skills we taught you. Trust your instinct."

"I'll do it," Crystal called out across the room. Even though her sister was an IT geek like her, Crystal was the better of the two and could hack into nearly anything. She had created the rootkit. Even though they had years of training, it was only in the last few weeks they'd begun going after Westridge's Board of Directors. When they were little, Uncle George laughed when

Ruby asked him if they trained to be spies. "Of a sort."

The girls had martial arts training, weapons, picking locks, explosives, safe cracking, computer coding, and more. Crystal believed for a while it was a game. Doing the actual jobs now, she worried they would be caught before they could finish their mission. And they had to finish it.

"No. I got this." Ruby glided to the fake window and rolled up her black rope.

Ruby, stubborn as always. Crystal rose. "You can save some time by powering on the computer when the camera sweeps to the door, then lock the video with the screwdriver and upload the rootkit."

"Then they'll know the camera is stuck." Her sister flipped a piece of her auburn hair out of her face.

Uncle Gustin waved an arm out. "Turn off the monitor while it's doing its thing and set the camera on rotation again. Trust in your training. You know how long the system takes to work in the hard drive, so - "

Crystal was glad she'd given the job to Ruby tonight. As much as she loved Gustin, he made her nervous because she wanted to please him. Often she had to redo a setup three or more times when he watched her instead of her normal two. Her sister favored George. Though she had a once had a crush on Tommy, as unbelievable as Crystal thought that was, when they were teens.

"Gotcha." Ruby nodded to Tommy. "Set the clock again."