The Depths of Deception Prologue
Ten Years Ago
We said we were just going to dinner and a movie like a normal couple tonight. I made reservations at a nice restaurant and bought tickets for a movie after. Not a romcom though, we’re action-packed kind of people.
When Dani walks into our room, her eyes roam over my body, taking in my black slacks and matching black button-up. The cufflinks she gave me after our last big job add a nice touch. She presses herself onto her tiptoes and bites my bottom lip before kissing the sting away.
“Damn, Donovan, I could eat you up in this.”
It’s not often we dress up, but tonight is supposed to be special. We’re matching in all black, a common occurrence for us. She’s dressed in a short black dress, hugging all the right places. I’ve never met anyone who mirrors myself as perfectly as she does.
I check the time. “We better get going, or we’ll lose our reservation.”
She does a little dance as she walks over to put on her shoes. I had to pull a few strings to get us into this place. I still have the scabbed knuckles from the convincing. I run my fingers across the scabs; they’re still a bit tender.
“Let’s see if these were worth it,” she says, eyeing my hand. Her sly grin alone makes it worth it to me.
We speed across town in my black sports car, not because we might actually be late, but because I love the roar of the engine and the smile on her face the faster I drive. I rest my hand on her bare thigh just below where her dress falls. She sings and dances along with a song on the radio; her hand resting on top of mine.
Dani and I found freedom with each other the likes of which neither of us has ever known.
I slow and make a quick right into my parking lot, which is full, but there’s a valet so I don’t need to waste time looking for a spot. I steer the car towards the red velvet ropes where a few young men are waiting, dressed in black slacks and burgundy suit jackets.
With the car in park, I lean in to steal a kiss before getting out. I hurry around to open her door before the valet, who isn’t much younger than myself, has a chance. I block his view as she turns in the seat to get out of the car. No way this guy is getting a look at my girl. I push the door closed and turn to toss the valet my keys.
“We’re fitting in with the high rollers tonight, baby.” She snickers as we walk through the doors of the swanky downtown restaurant.
“Yeah, let’s see if we get thrown out,” I whisper under my breath as we approach the host station.
“Donovan Blake,” my baritone voice startles the young man behind the desk.
He looks me over. “I apologize, Mr. Blake, but a jacket is required to dine.”
“I’m sure exceptions can be made,” I rub my hand across the stubble on my chin with the scabbed over hand. Hopefully, the little guy gets the message without me having to spell it out for him.
His eyes dart to my hand and then back to the reservation book in front of him. “Um, let-let me check with my manager,” he stammers.
I reach across and grip his arm tightly. “That won’t be necessary. Jim knows I’ll be here tonight. He’s aware of my disdain for suit coats. He’ll let it slide.” I keep my voice low so only the three of us can hear.
The poor guy swallows hard and nods. Then marks our names off the list. “Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Blake.”
I take her arm and loop it with mine as we follow him to our table.
“Mrs. Blake has a nice ring to it,” she says just loud enough for me to hear.
“One day, baby, one day.”
We get some pointed looks from other diners as they turn their noses up when we pass by their tables. This isn’t anything she and I aren’t used to. We hold our heads high as we take our seats. We’re newer in town. They don’t know us yet, but they will. We make a name for ourselves anywhere we go.
Our server comes over and immediately offers us menus and takes our drink orders.
“I’ll have a whiskey, neat, and a dirty martini for the lady, extra dirty,” I order for us, making eye contact with the petite woman standing before me.
The server walks away to get our drinks. Dani opens her menu, and I watch as her eyes roam the pages.
“Do you see anything you like?” I ask her with a grin.
“Hmmm,” she says, looking over the menu. She taps her chin with her index finger as if she’s pondering all the choices.
This feels nice, just the two of us out having dinner. We usually stay busy with work and mostly eat at our apartment so we can lay low.
“What are you going to have?” she asks, peeking at me over her menu.
I haven’t opened mine because I can’t take my eyes off her. “T-bone, rare, baked potato all the way, and steamed broccoli.”
She giggles. “You haven’t opened your menu. How do you know if they have that?”
I straighten in my seat, smooth my jet-black hair, and lean in so only she can hear. “If they don’t, they’ll get it.” I place my fisted hand on the table.
“You’re so bad, D. I love it.”
The server is back with our drinks, so I order both of our meals. I’m not at all surprised there wasn’t an issue with what I ordered for myself.
The service is prompt, and the food is as amazing as expected. We make mostly small talk over our meal, but I have a bomb I need to drop on her, and I’m not sure how she’ll take it.
Just as she finishes her last bite, I decide it’s time to tell her. “Sweetheart, I need to tell you something.”
She dabs her lips with her cloth napkin. “So serious,” she mocks.
I stretch my hand across the table and take hers in mine. “We aren’t going to stay here as long as you’d hoped.”
She pulls her hand back. “Donovan, you promised.” Her eyes plead with me, but I know this is the best decision for us.
“I met a guy just outside of Sacramento. He’s in a solid ring, and it could really take us to the next level. It wouldn’t just be us either. We’d have a family, a gang behind us.”
“And what if I don’t want to go big?” I know it’s a lie as soon as it leaves her lips. We both want to go big. We want to leave our shitty pasts in the past and live the best life we can together.
She sits back in her seat and studies me for several moments. The server brings the bill, I slap some cash in it, then hand it back to her before she’s able to walk away.
I stare into Dani’s eyes, willing her to agree; willing her to trust me.
“Okay, but this is it. I want somewhere to call home for more than a handful of months.”
I get up from my seat, walk over, and scoot her chair out. As she stands, I spin her toward me and pull her into a long, hot kiss.
“Let’s get out of here,” I tell her, tucking her against my side. I lead the way back out to the valet. We ignore the stares once again. The old fuckers would give anything to have an ounce of what we share, but they’ll never come close.
The valet is quick to get my car. I barely get the door open before Dani climbs inside; she’s almost giddy now. I press some cash in the valet kid’s hand and round the car before climbing in the driver’s seat.
I rev the engine and toss the car into drive. The tires chirp against the pavement as we take off.
“If we’re really leaving, D, we’re skipping the movie. I want to hit that jewelry store tonight. They have a few pieces that I want before we’re gone.” She turns to face me, leaning forward so her tits pop out of the top of her dress. I can never tell her no.
“We’re out of here first thing in the morning then. I’ll make the call tonight.”
She nods enthusiastically, this one last job has won her over. I know just the store she’s talking about. We’ve stopped in there a few times to look and case the place. They’ve been closed for a couple of hours now. Everyone should be cleared out. I have my gun just in case we run into any trouble.
As we get closer to the jewelry store, I slow to take in my surroundings. I need to ensure there are no police cars and not too many other people around. I see a couple of cars, but they’re unoccupied. Maybe they’ve been left overnight.
She reaches into the back seat and hands me the baseball cap we keep in here for things such as this. She puts hers on and pulls it down tight to hide her face.
My adrenaline is pumping; the excitement never gets old.
I pull into the parking lot and plan to park right in front of the jewelry store door. This will be a quick in and out. This place doesn’t have a back door and it’s dark enough now to give us some cover.
“Did you bring your lock picking tools?” I ask as the car slows.
She looks at me incredulously. “Never leave home without it.” She grins.
I put the car in park, and we both get out. There’s no time for chivalry now. She makes her way to the door and crouches. I stand behind her to block anyone from possibly seeing her.
She has the door unlocked and open within a minute. To my surprise, no alarm sounds, and I realize it’s most likely a silent alarm. We make our way around the store quickly. I pull out my gun to use the butt of it to break the cases open.
She looks like a kid in a candy store while reaching in to take what she wants. She puts a few pieces down the front of her dress for safe keeping. I grab a few things I think I can sell for a hefty profit. It’ll make for an easier start in Sacramento.
We hear sirens in the distance. “Time to go, baby.” I whisper to her.
She heads toward the door with both hands full of jewelry. Even with her cap pulled down and her much shorter stature, I glimpse her grin as she crosses the threshold.
The sirens get closer and closer with every second that ticks by.
We both scramble into the car. I left the car running so we could make a quick getaway. Once in drive, I floor it. We take off, squealing tires and fishtailing out of the parking lot. Some onlookers catch my eye by the cars I saw when we pulled in.
I maneuver the car and get it straight in the lane, flooring it again. Two police cars top the hill, gaining on us fast. I grin as I look in my rearview. They don’t stand a chance in those cars. Lights and sirens will never slow me down. The tires of this car screech on the pavement, and the sounds of her laughter spur me on.
She has one hand on the dash and one hanging out the car window. “They’ll never catch us, baby!” Her body sways with the movement of the car, her wavy chestnut hair blowing in the wind.
My alarm blares loudly waking me up; it’s still dark out. Dani and I have to get a move on if we are going to make it to Sacramento today. I roll over to wrap my arm around her small frame to wake her up but instead of Dani I find an empty space where she should be.
My head is pounding from far too much whiskey last night. Dani insisted on one last hoorah before we leave town. I told her we needed to call it a night over and over, but she talked me into another shot and then another. I wanted to get an early start, we are several hours from Sacramento.
“Dani,” I say into the darkness of our room. I sit up and turn towards the door, there’s no light from the hallway. There’s no light coming from beneath the bathroom door. I toss the covers off and walk over to flip the light switch on.
“Dani!” I say louder this time. My heart rate speeds up and I rush out of our bedroom into the kitchen first and then the living room, flipping the light switches on as I go. Our apartment is a small one bedroom, there’s only so many places she could be.
I walk quickly back into the bedroom; the whiskey bottle is lying on its side on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I rub my eyes, willing them to focus and ignore the pounding behind them.
The closet door catches my eye; I walk over and open it completely. Her suitcases are gone, only mine remain. Furious, I slam the closet door shut. I turn and hurry to her side of the bed, kneeling down I reach under the bed to retrieve the safe where we put the jewels from last night’s heist.
I’m relieved when my fingertips feel the cool metal of the safe, I grab the handle and pull it across the carpet towards me. I stand taking the safe with me. I plop it on the bed and quickly put in the code. I flip the lid up, there’s no jewels inside. Instead, I find a small folded piece paper.
Anger like I’ve never felt before surges through I body. I toss the note on the bed, grab the safe and throw it with all my strength through the closet door. She’s gone, she fucking left me while I was passed out drunk. How could she do this to me? To us! After all the years we’ve had together; all the years of only having each other. Gone.