Reluctant thief Baz Barret is tasked with stealing from the formidable archaeologist Rei Collingwood--who happens to also be his college crush and rival--but when Rei goes missing after the burglary, Baz must find her before he's blamed for her disa...
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There was nothing good inside Diego's suite, but Baz had already resigned to that. The fact alone was not enough to deter him.
He dropped the towel-filled duffle bag outside the door and let himself in. The door knob turned in his hand, yet another sure sign all was not right in the world.
Letting himself in only confirmed.
Diego sat at the round kitchen table across from Jasper, a gun between them. Jasper's hand rested casually over it, if it was possible for someone to casually point a gun at someone. To his credit, Diego appeared to be handling it quite well, giving Jasper an extended version of his typical disapproving stare.
If it wasn't for that gun, Diego versus Jasper would have been a strikingly mismatched fight.
Cheng's movement at the counter caught Baz's attention next, shifting restlesslessly as if he would be pacing if the space allowed. Compared to Jasper, Cheng was not casual at all.
"You're a really terrible guest, Jasper," Baz said, leaning back against the door.
The gun eased over to point in Baz's direction. At least it wasn't settled on Diego. It was Baz's fault Diego was caught in the web, anyway. The guilt gnawed at him fiercely, corroding him from the inside out while Diego wouldn't even look at him.
"This is your thief?" Cheng asked. His incredulity shouldn't have stung the way it did, not when there were worse sensations to take into account. Still, did he really look that incapable?
"Was," Jasper said, then to Baz, "we won't be needing your services anymore, Mr. Barret"
"Oh no, I'm getting fired," Baz deadpanned.
Of all the people in the room, Cheng looked the most put off by the declaration. "Sébastien Barret? How did you find him?"
Jasper's aim dropped as his hand relaxed, his focus shifting from possibly shooting Baz to paying closer attention to what Cheng had to say. "He broke into a pawn shop in the south end. Our system. He got in through a roof vent."
Cheng blinked at him and Jasper's bravado shrank under scrutiny.
"You convince me to let you hire a thief and you hire a student from my sister's university. You idiot," Cheng said, "
Both Baz and Jasper blinked blankly, but Jasper's gaze fell to Baz instead of Cheng. Clearly student didn't factor into Jasper's image of Baz. He shouldn't have felt so smug, not considering the circumstances.
"It's a large university," Jasper replied defensively.
"Oh, it certainly is, but Ferrero only picks one student from the history faculty a year for scholarship funds and you managed to find one of them," Cheng seethed, "the one I helped him select. He traces right back to me."
Cheng remembered him. Not only did Cheng remember him, but he remembered him as a student worth investing in. It was flattering in a small way, but it would've been more flattering if Jasper wasn't poised to shoot Baz in the foot.
