Chapter Six
"So, let me get this straight, J. You're pissed that I interrupted your meeting, but now you're thanking me for my help?" I said, straightening up from the piano bench where he had bent me over and gave me a severe caning. I could feel the blistered skin bubbling up across my backside and winced a little as I stood.
J gently caressed my skin, and the coolness of his fingers felt good on the angry lashes. Punishment and reward. That's how he operated.
"I never said thank you, pet." He mused, pulling me into his lap as he collapsed on the couch. I curled up, resting my head under his chin, and splayed my hand out across his bare chest, exposed to me from his always halfway buttoned dress shirt.
"Yeah, well, if it weren't for me, you and Tommy's men would end up in the slammer by tomorrow's end." I muttered indignantly. It was true, had it not been for my intel, he and his men would more than likely get busted. It was just like men to think they can blow everything up - never once considering that things might need a little bit more...finnese. J laughed, it was that slow, disturbing laugh that I'd grown so accustomed to in the last few weeks.
"You think so?" And with that he turned me around in his lap, forcing my legs apart to straddle him.
Jesus Christ. My eyes widened in shock. I had a tendency to forget how physically strong he was. He was tall and lean, not exactly the build of someone who could throw men twice his size around like rag dolls, so it was easy to dismiss him as a force to be reckoned with in hand-to-hand altercations. Ignoring the searing pain on my ass, I smiled at him, pushing my fingers through his slicked back green mane. I loved touching his hair, it was thick and soft and the contrast of the color against my skin was harsh and fascinating.
He purred in response. I had come to learn that, despite his sometimes cold and aloof demeanor, he loved when I played in his hair.
"I know so, baby." I said, bringing my face down to catch his lips with mine. He purred again, pushing his tongue out to trace the inside of my welcoming, open mouth. I had almost completely forgotten about my frustration with his unjust punishment, and the fact that he killed Simmons and Wallis, the second his mouth responded to mine. His kisses were like Kryptonite to me, creating a haze in my mind that clouded my thoughts, my judgment, even my sanity.
It was over before it even had a chance to begin as I felt him start to pull away from me, untangling my hands from his hair, and gently moving me off of his lap despite his growing erection.
"Not tonight, pumpkin, you need your beauty sleep and so do I. We've got a big heist to pull off in the morning!" He said, matter-of-factly, causing me to groan.
"But-" I started to protest until he shot me a look that made me button my lips shut and nod. He was right, I supposed. Tomorrow was my big debut, he was letting me spearhead my own team for the robberies, hitting the two banks with the tricky safes. I guess a good night's sleep was called for so I unfolded myself from the couch and stood, following him to our bedroom. It wasn't long after my nightly routine that I was asleep in bed next to him with my feet tucked under his and my arm slung across his chest.
I was woken up bright and early the next morning by J, nudging my shoulder gently and kissing my temple.
"Wake up, Madeline," He coaxed, "Time to get dressed and ready to go raise a little hell."
I grinned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and sitting up in bed. The sheets fell from my chest, exposing my naked breasts to him. I heard him growl his approval.
"If we weren't running late I'd take you right now, baby." He said before making his way into the bathroom with nothing on. I watched him go appreciatively. The lilt of his walk was so sexy and cat-like, and his back was corded with muscles that contracted deliciously as he went.
When I saw him step into the shower and close the door I hopped out of bed, grabbed my robe from my closet, and headed for the training room where all of my gear was. I began to suit up, slipping into my black leotard and the black leather pants J had picked out for me. Next, I found my thigh holster, which had all of my knives tucked neatly in their individual sleeves, and secured it tightly around my left leg. I put on a pair of black socks then pushed my feet into my black Giuseppe combat boots, lacing them up tightly. I grabbed the twin Colt .45's that J had bought for me last week and slid them into the two compartments of my purple leather shoulder holster that crisscrossed around my back. I had to adjust the length of the straps to make my guns easier to access. I wasn't expecting to use them but I also wasn't about to walk into this without some sort of contingency plan. Satisfied with the adjustments I grabbed my embellished Gucci biker jacket and turned to leave the room.
I stopped on my way out when something caught my eye. Laying on one of the weight benches was a black fetish style bunny mask that covered my face down to my nose, with ears that were at least a foot long. There was a note attached to it:
For my precious little pet, to hide that beautiful face from those who may try to take you from me. -J
I shook my head and smiled, grabbing the mask and heading for the kitchen where J was waiting for me, hair still dripping wet from the shower and towel slung low on his waist. I bit my lip when I looked at him, enjoying the view. He also seemed to be enjoying the look of me, turning to lean against the counter, coffee in hand, growling as his eyes raked over me from head to toe.
"I told you that the boots would be sexy," I said with a shrug before taking a swig of his coffee and almost spitting it right back out, the familiar burn of whiskey coating my throat. He smiled at me. The Smile.
"Little pre-heist ritual of mine, pet. You understand?" I nodded and grabbed another mug, pouring myself a cup of regular coffee, black. No cream or sugar for me, I felt like it diluted the taste. I smiled over the rim of my cup, amused by the normalcy of us drinking coffee together in the kitchen. Normalcy amidst the chaos. That was one way to describe our relationship. I watched J throw back the rest of his drink and leave the kitchen to change, I followed suit and went to brush my teeth and swipe on some purple lipstick.
"All ready to go, princess?" I heard J call as he stepped into the bathroom looking delicious in a burgundy suit with gold trim. His neck looked heavy, the mass of chains swinging from side to side as he came to a stop, and his watch and rings sparkled in the light.
"Yes, daddy." I said, slipping my mask on my face, and fluffing my hair over the strap to hide it. He purred as we watched me.
God, I love when he does that. I thought to myself.
"My little bunny," He cooed, "let's get outta here." And with that we made our way out to the garage where J and Tommy's men were waiting for us. When they saw us the men began to separate into their respective groups, putting in their ear pieces and turning on their mics. They were all dressed in tactical gear, some had masks, most didn't . Richard, the man I met at the club on the first night I met J, was there and handed me my mic and ear piece, helping me turn it on and get everything set up.
"Thanks, Rich." I smiled up at him, but he quickly averted his eyes.
"You're welcome, ma'am." I rolled my eyes. I'm sure word of what happened to Simmons and Wallis had spread through J's camp, making everyone beyond hesitant to talk to me.
"Alright, you guys are with me," I said, straightening my posture and pointing the group of men closest to me, including Richard. A chorus of grunts and mumbles swept through the parking garage. I wasn't about to tolerate this.
"Listen, fellas, you got a problem with taking orders from me? Our complaint department would be happy to hear you out." I said, pointing at J, who smiled The Smile at me, wide, toothy, and unsettling. "We're already behind schedule, load up. We leave in ten." I said, a new air of authority in my tone. I liked this side of me.
I walked up to J, standing up on my tip toes to wrap my arms around the back of his neck.
"You ready to go, sir?" I said as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Oh, no, doll face, I'm not going. Tommy and I are gonna sit back and watch the show. Besides, this is your gig now, you made the plans." He grinned at me, and it was laced with sarcasm - a final jab at me for interrupting his meeting. I let his neck go and flattened my feet against the concrete floor of the garage.
"Is that supposed to make me nervous?" It did. I was nervous as hell, especially now, knowing that my J wasn't going to be with me. He was sort of like my security blanket. One of those "if all else failed at least I had him and he would take care of me" type of things. He laughed knowingly and I instantly hated that, despite my best efforts, he could always see through my pretense. I rolled my eyes and walked away, not bothering to kiss him goodbye. I'm sure I would pay for that later.
"Let's go!" I spoke into my mic as I hopped into the passenger side of one of the white vans we were piled into and sped off, heading into the heart of Gotham. I closed my eyes, refusing to look back at J, and focused on calming my nerves. I was ready for this, my whole life I'd been preparing, my father taught me all I needed to know, it was just a matter of letting my instincts take over.
I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I repeated the mantra over and over again in my head and before I knew it we were parking on the block in between and behind the two banks we planned on hitting. When I opened my eyes I saw the other van speed past us, heading a few blocks around the corner to their designated spot.
"Okay, guys, this is not a drill." I said as we began pouring out of the van.
"Does everyone know what their job is?" I asked, looking into each of the faces of the men before me. A chorus of agreement rang out and I nodded, grabbing one of the liquid nitrogen pumps and spray nozzles from Richard. "Let's do this! Ten minutes tops in each bank, we're on a timer here."
The men scattered, six of them heading around the front. They would split into two equal groups and hit both banks simultaneously, meant to distract the bank tellers and customers, disarm the security, and make sure nobody triggers the silent alarms. Richard, myself, and the rest of us waited patiently behind until the men inside were able to set up the C4 explosives on the walls closest to the safes for us to walk in and get to work. I checked my watch, two minutes, it was time.
As if on cue, two explosions blew out the brick walls of both banks and we scrambled inside. A group of Tommy's men taking the bank a block up and Richard, myself, and the rest of us taking the other. Once inside I made sure everyone stayed on task.
"Richard, watch the clock and hang onto the bags, and you," I pointed at the short, stocky man to my right. I'm assuming he was Tommy's guy. "Cover my back. The rest of you go make sure the hostages and the tellers are tied up. The silent alarm could get the cops here twice as fast. Move!" They went without question as I began pouring liquid nitrogen onto the weak spot of the safe.
"Richard, time!" I called.
"It's been six minutes, Ma'am." Shit. I thought to myself as I waited to hear the definitive popping sound of the metal splintering under the cold. Thirty seconds later the door to the safe began to groan in protest and just as I was about to run out of nitrogen I heard it pop. I stood quickly, using all my strength to push the door open, which gave way without much protest, the frozen metal falling away in clumps as I went.
"Rich, get in here!" He was right behind me, throwing me a duffel bag. We began shoveling in all the loose cash, and there were mountains of it. We had five bags filled to the brim when Richard spoke again.
"Nine minutes, ma'am, we gotta go!" I scrambled to my feet, grabbing two bags and throwing them over my shoulder before rallying my troops through the mic.
We were back out on the street in no time, but I noticed right away that the other group of men still hadn't come out of the other bank.
"What the fuck," I snarled, finally glancing down at my own watch. 11 minutes and thirty seconds. "Alright, Tommy's guys, cover my six. Rich and the rest of you, start the van and meet us over there. Keep the engine running, we're gonna need to get away quick." I called to him as Tommy's men and I started running down the block and where the other men should be.
I saw the van, the gaping hole in the back of the bank, but nobody was outside. The incompetence was testing my patience, this should have been a fool-proof plan.
"Follow me," I called to Tommy's men as we stepped inside. The scene before me was bleak. One of Tommy's guys was shot, bleeding out on the floor by the safe, and instead of someone working the safe open, his guys were surrounding him trying to keep him alive.
"Jesus Christ!" I groaned, quickly grabbing the nitrogen pump and spraying the safe. I glanced at my watch. Thirteen minutes. I could hear the sirens even above the commotion of the swarm of men behind me. Even the ones who followed me inside had come to their goon's aide. No one was paying any attention to me which gave me an idea. I grinned as I heard the safe groan and pop.
I pushed it open, leaving the idiots behind me to deal with their dying friend, and began filling the five bags with cash as quickly as I could. Fifteen minutes. I had gathered up as much as I could and threw the bags over both of my shoulders, stumbling ever so slightly under the weight of them. They were heavier than I thought they'd be, but I righted my posture and stepped out of the safe, drawing one of my guns.
"Fucking idiots," I chided, turning the safety off and unloading bullets into the group of Tommy's men huddling before me over their fallen comrade. I fired so quickly and accurately that none of them had the time to counter.
"My guys, outside, NOW! Let's GO!" I yelled into the mic, running out of the blasted hole in the back of the bank. Richard had the van running and jumped out the moment he saw me, helping me throw the duffel bags in the trunk of the van. Shortly thereafter, the rest of J's men from my team poured outside, one had a bullet wound in his chest. We piled back into the van and I told Rich to punch it, we had to get to the cash drop spot before the cops realized that we weren't inside anymore.
He sped off, tires squealing. I glanced down the alleyway and saw cop cars coming to a screeching halt in front of both banks, officers stepping out of their vehicles with guns drawn, and hostages running out of the front doors. I pulled my mask off and directed Richard where to go even though I was sure he already knew. At least the cops wouldn't follow, I knew that much for certain. There were too many bodies inside for them not to investigate.
"Take off your gear," I instructed as we pulled into the parking garage that was the designated drop spot. It was a place Tommy and J agreed on since it was in neutral territory. As our van crawled up to the top we saw the other one already parked, the rest of the men waiting for us with the duffel bags strewn across the ground.
Richard parked the van while I slipped my mask back on and hopped out, signaling him and the rest of the guys to stay put. One of Tommy's goons spoke first as I approached.
"Where are the rest of ya?" He asked, nodding his head towards our mostly empty van.
"Seems like they had a problem taking direction from me," I shrugged. "I had to loose the dead weight." I purred, putting emphasis on the word dead, and smiling at the men before me. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, electrifying me. I was antsy, the fingers of my left hand idly stroking the tops of my knives that were secured at my thigh.
"You fucking cunt!" It was Chris, Tommy's go to guy, who spoke next, stalking forward to tower over me. I wasn't scared. I knew exactly what to do. Without any warning at all I pulled the first knife from my holster and slashed his throat, cutting it just deep enough to sever the carotid artery but not deep enough to kill him quickly. I wanted him to watch. Before he could drop to his knees I spun him around, using his body to hide me from the spray of bullets as Tommy's men began to fire in my direction. Thankful, the rest of J's crew had my back, and took out the majority of the men for me.
There were two to my left, however, who had used the van to shield themselves from the line of fire. My knees began to buckle under the dead weight of Chris' sagging body, and my fingers were slick with his blood, but still I was able to reach for two more knives before dropping him to the ground, side stepping him and spinning, releasing my weapons. Both men raised up from behind the van to fire at me and both men instantly dropped to the ground as my knives struck home. One in the throat and the other in the eye.
With a satisfied smirk I bent to loom over Chris who was clawing at his throat, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. He was able to choke out his final words.
"You...malicious...bitch..." He coughed and I began to laugh.
"Oh, Chris, I don't tolerate incompetence...and that's Miss Malice to you, bub." I flicked the end of his nose with my finger. "I'll be sure to send Tommy your regards." A sick satisfaction spread through me as I watched his eyes close for the last time, his body going stock still, blood trickling out of his throat and pooling beneath him on the concrete.
"Grab the bags," I said, motioning to the other van. Nobody questioned me, they did as they were told. I wondered idly if that meant I had gained their respect, or maybe their fear. I was pleased regardless of what the answer was.
I had the men pile the corpses into the now empty van after I had retrieved my knives, and told them to torch it. When I was satisfied with the blaze I made my way back to our van and hopped in, wiping the already drying blood on my hands off on my pants.
"Let's go home boys," I said, "Looks like Mister J is getting an even bigger pay out than he had hoped for." I grinned, pulling my mask off and cracking my neck. The ride back to our apartment was silent, and I didn't mind at all. I knew I had done well, this was exactly what J would have done. He was going to be so pleased and the prospect of his reward made my body tingle.
I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready.