To Catch A Cupid: Thomas (MacKenzie Family) by Liliana Hart

 
     
    The soft click of the grappling hook hitting the roof was like music to her ears.
    Cat MacKenzie grinned as she tested her weight against the rope and then hooked it to her belt. She flexed her gloved hands and took a deep breath, glancing around once more to make sure no one had seen her. An occasional car passed on Main Street, but the risk of being caught wasn’t a deterrent. Just the opposite, in fact. It made her blood sing.
    Traffic was minimal on a Saturday afternoon in Surrender, Montana. Most people stayed home or drove into the city on the weekends since all the businesses except Lucy’s Diner and Duffey’s Bar and Grill were closed. Small town living didn’t lend itself to much excitement.
    S he hoisted herself up so her feet rested against the building and began to climb. She wore black jeans, a black sweatshirt, and her Vibram-soled boots. A black ski cap was pulled over her flame red hair and thin black gloves covered her hands. Her muscles burned and beads of sweat dotted her temples despite the freezing temperatures. Since her retirement, she’d kept her body in rigorous shape. A girl never knew when she might need to scale a building.
    February was still considered the middle of winter in Montana , and deep snow banks lined the buildings. At least she’d have a soft place to land if she plummeted to the ground. The sound of a car door slamming some distance away had her scurrying the rest of the way to the top of the two-story building and heaving herself over the edge. She stayed low and listened to make sure she was in the clear before she finally allowed herself to take a breath.
    Cat curled up the rope and looped it to her utility belt. Leaving the same way she’d entered and announcing to the world that someone had broken into the building wasn’t the plan. And she always had a plan.
    She stayed low and made her way to one of the skylights that had been newly installed with the renovation. Skylights were one of the easiest ways to break into a place. They were rarely attached to secondary alarms and the locks were flimsy at best.
    The mini drill was Velcroed to the back of her belt and it took her little time at all to remove the screws at two corners of the skylight. It was a brand new skylight too, so she didn’t even have to jimmy it open.
    “Piece of cake.”
    She lifted one side of the skylight and looked into the office below. The desk was positioned just below her. Perfect.
    “Out of practice, my ass.”
    She slid through the opening and hung onto the edge for a few seconds before dropping softly onto the desk. A computer was the only thing on its surface. It was too big and bulky for her to want anything to do with, but a common thief would probably try to make off with it. She’d never been common. Any time she did a job, she had one item on her list and she never strayed from her plan. That was what separated the amateurs from the professionals.
    The skylight dropped back into place as soon as she let go of the edge and it made more noise than she would’ve liked. A minute was all she had to get downstairs and disarm the security system, so she moved to the door and opened it softly.
    The building creaked and settled around her. She held her breath, her hear t thumping in her chest and blood rushing in her ears, and she slipped out of the empty office and into the hallway. The surge of adrenaline was almost as good as sex.
    Smells of fresh paint and the carpet glue made her eyes burn, though it dissipated as she made her way down the wrought iron stairway. The renovations had most recently been done to the second level.
    A few pieces of crystal and mid-priced sculptures sat out on pedestals and in niches, and there were a couple of decent paintings, but the overall haul for the entire contents was only a few thousand at best. No, it wasn’t any of those things that interested her. It was the nice big safe in the plush corner office.
    The seconds ticked down in her mind as