Hustle (Book 1 in The Hunted Hearts) - SYTYCW Winner #action #comedy #romance

Hustle | Chapter 3

Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

Hustle By Claire Chilton

3

A Fresh Start

"Wake the fuck up, will ya?" Jimmy's voice jolted Ellie awake.

"Wha—what's wrong?" She sat up and looked wildly around her father's loft, one of his hideouts in the city. Unpainted brick walls and sparse furniture littered with random items like clothes and books surrounded her. Everything seemed to be just as it should be. She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on Jimmy, who was standing at the end of the couch that she'd passed out on last night.

He pushed his black-framed glasses up his nose and glared at her. "What the hell did you do?"

"What? Nothing. Did something happen?"

Jimmy waved the pile of papers in his hand. "Do you know what this is?"

"I'm guessing it started its life as a tree before it ended up in your printer."

"Oh, very funny. You should take that show on the road."

Ellie straightened up and tried to look alert. Jimmy was clearly upset. He thrust the sheaf of papers at her. "This is the call log for your burner phone from last night. I printed it to show you how insane the activity on it is. Along with someone testing out all your numbers, there's a trace on your phone, and Meyer's been calling me all night. I thought you said you got away scot free?"

She stared at Jimmy. His dirty blond hair was a mess, sticking out all over the place under his black trilby. His thin black tie hung loosely around the collar of a crumpled white shirt. There were dark shadows under his usually bright blue eyes.

"Did you stay up all night?"

"Yes, I did. I was trying to save your idiot arse again. What the hell happened?"

"Calm down. It's fine. I got away with it." She flopped back onto her pillow. "It's done, but there have been a few small changes to the plan."

"Oh, really?" He pulled a newspaper out of the pile of papers and dropped it on her chest.

Ellie sighed and picked up the paper, rolling her eyes. Jimmy worried about everything. If a tree fell in the Amazon, he'd start wheezing and complaining about a lack of oxygen in the room. She glanced at the front page, and her blood froze in her veins. There was a large passport photograph of her. Under the photo, a headline screamed off the page:

HIGH SOCIETY VANDALISM!

She frowned and read the story:

POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR THIS WOMAN IN CONNECTION WITH AN ACT OF VANDALISM COMMITTED DURING THE ARCHEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL BALL AND CHARITY AUCTION AT HAWKINS HALL LATE LAST NIGHT. THE WOMAN, IDENTIFIED AS JEMMA JENKINS, IS SUSPECTED OF DESTROYING A PRICELESS INCAN ARTIFACT.

"Oh, fuck."

"Vandalism? I thought you were supposed to steal it, not break it. And do I even want to know how they got your photograph and the name Jemma Jenkins?" He folded his arms and scowled at her. "It's not just your arse on the line. If they find you, they find me."

"Crap." She dropped the paper, rolled over and put her pillow over her head. "This is a nightmare."

"That's right. Hide under your pillow like a little girl. That'll fix it. God, how did I end up working with a child?"

Ellie narrowed her eyes. She rolled over, sat up and threw the pillow at Jimmy's head. "You're younger than I am!" she cried. "I need a moment to think." Then she groaned.