Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:
Twilight Heist
By Katherine McIntyre
Outlaws, Book 2
Heist rule number two? Never fall for a lone wolf.
A blast from Tuck’s circus past draws Tuck and the charming lone-wolf hacker, Leo, into a dizzying web of passion, secrets, and betrayal.
When the circus comes calling, Tuck is helpless to the lure, and this time, his old troupe’s in trouble. Their attempt to leave Reynauld Industries ended with a hit on them, courtesy of the deadly mercenary group, the Stockyard. Tuck can’t sit idly by, and as the resident stealth operator for the Outlaws, he’s in a unique position to help.
Leo’s a lone wolf hacker, and no amount of his best friend’s pleading, Tuck’s flirty smiles, or interesting jobs will sway him into working with the Outlaws. At least, until they land this one. After growing up in the hellish Stockyard, he’s wanted to take them down for years, and this is the Holy Grail of opportunities. Only problem? The Outlaws can never know about his history with them.
When Leo and Tuck start working together, a chemistry emerges that neither of them can deny. Leo’s mantra of “one and done” falters the moment Tuck shows him a care and steadfastness he’s never experienced before, and the more time they spend with each other, the more he doesn’t want to give up the first man he’s started to fall for. However, if the Outlaws discover his past or the Stockyard finds him first, Leo will end up one of the bloated corpses they’ve left lining the Chicago River.
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Excerpt:
“When you’ve seen the elephant, son, there’s not much left to surprise you.”
Tuck crept along the pitch-black corridor, the scents of furniture cleaner, the crisp night air, and polished metal filling his nose.
One step, two step, one step, two.
His father’s words resurrected themselves at every job, as if the man himself were haunting him along the way. Dad had meant the mantra to carry the world-weariness of someone who’d seen too much. Except then he’d died of an embolism, which left the hollow tang of irony to his oft-repeated phrase.
Tuck liked to remember it for one reason alone. No matter how much you’d seen, no matter how perfect a plan you had—life was a fickle bitch, and she would always surprise you.
As he crept down the hallway, he didn’t make a sound. Instead, the hum of the air conditioning broke through the vacuum of noise, and he continued with an even tread. They’d spent a week casing this place that might as well be a history museum with how many rare and unusual artifacts littered the rooms. Because having gold diadems from the late Hellenistic period lying around on display was common. Royal Egyptian overseer statues? Pah, commoner fare.
Elijah Whittaker could go cry into his bags of money after they robbed him.
The asshole had been strong-arming people for years to get the collector’s items he wanted, and they were simply returning a rare Persian dagger to the rightful owner.
Scarlet’s voice sounded over the comms. “Who ate my beef and broccoli?”
Tuck bit down on his lip to keep from snorting out loud. He crept past a few bedrooms, heading toward the study. Alanna had snapped some pictures from the outside windows the other night, and they’d analyzed them to figure out the dagger’s location. But they only had a small gap of time on the internal alarm that coincided with Mr. Whittaker and most of the staff being off the premises. Once the personal chef had packed it in for the night and Elijah drove off, Tuck had slipped in.
The groundskeeper remained on-site, but last Tuck checked, he’d retired to his small cottage nearby.
The quiet ached with potential—for either opportunity or danger.
“Why don’t you just order more, Scar?” Alanna murmured into the comms. She was waiting outside the house for him, lingering near their getaway car.
“Spoken like the traitor who ate my leftovers,” Scarlet responded. Their resident hacker possessed a long fuse for most of their insane shenanigans, but he drew his line in the sand at food thievery. Alanna was the constant culprit, a black hole for anything in the fridge.
Tuck shook his head with a grin as he approached the open door of the study. Already, the rich scent of wood polish reached his nose. Tuck made sure to keep away from the walls or brushing against anything along the way. He wouldn't be leaving any physical evidence behind. He stepped up to the entrance and peered into the study.
Moonlight spilled through the arched windows, gleaming across display case after display case. While a large mahogany desk and leather chair sat on one side of the room, instead of bookcases, artifacts on shelves took up the wall space. Apparently, Elijah fancied himself a museum curator. How many of these crowns, fossils, and old weapons had been coerced from the original owners? Tuck shook off the flare of irritation.
That was why they’d jumped on this job in the first place.
He took note of the shut-down security system in the room, one Scar had disabled remotely. Without being given notice, he’d only be able to keep it offline for a half hour, so Tuck had been keeping active watch on the time. Shadows cloaked him as he slipped across the room without so much as a creak. Thankfully, this asshole kept his displays organized by type of artifact, so Tuck sidled over to the glass cases of daggers, bow heads, and ceremonial knives.
John’s voice came over the comms. “Did you seriously eat my pork fried rice too?”
Tuck was half tempted to turn the goddamn comms off.
“No, dickbag,” Alanna hissed.
“Don’t need to lie to me, baby,” John flirted. “If you’re hungry, I’ve got something else to feed you.”
“If you’re referring to what I think you are, I’d starve,” Alanna sniped back.
Grif jumped into the conversation. “Kids, stop squabbling on the comms,” he said, the leader of their outfit bringing order in as usual. Alanna and John’s argument ended, and Tuck enjoyed the return to quiet as he focused on the task ahead.
Enter the Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of Twilight Heist, Katherine is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky winner!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cc0f2a57635/?
About the Author:
Katherine McIntyre is a feisty chick with a big attitude despite her short stature. She writes stories featuring snarky women, ragtag crews, and men with bad attitudes—and there's an equally high chance for a passionate speech thrown into the mix. As an eternal geek and tomboy who’s always stepped to her own beat, she’s made it her mission to write stories that represent the broad spectrum of people out there, from different cultures and races to all varieties of men and women.
Connect with Katherine:
Website: http://www.katherine-mcintyre.com
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