"You know what, cunt?" he hissed vilely into her ear. "I'm going to fuck you... along with a few other things, and right here in front of your boyfrie...d. Now, what do you think of that?"Madeleine stopped fighting, her eyes fixed on her Shannon's bleeding and swollen mouth, even as the horrible meaning of her tormentors filthy words registered. God, she didn't care about herself, but Shannon... Annette bit her lower-lip, forced a smile and slowly got to her feet. She said: "Go ahead, McShea.... From the plane?" John! I was afraid you weren't going to call!"She sounded so excited that my awkwardness and jitters vanished."You said you'd be gone a week," I replied."Right. Are you in Philly?" she asked, almost breathless."No, in Charlotte." But you're coming here, right?" An edge crept into her voice that was hard to read. Disappointment for sure, but a little of something more."Sure. Thursday and Friday," I said, now off balance."Then... um... can I see you on Thursday?" Jenny asked. I. They both laugh and speed off as the lights finally change.They spend the rest of the journey in silence each wondering what the night will bring; the wine has lifted Lynn’s spirits but not too high, not yet anyway.They finally arrive and park the car, Tom leads the way into the manner house hotel and they are directed by the doorman to the first floor dinning suit, they take the lift to the first floor and go into a small private bar filled with gentlemen dressed in their fine evening dinner. But I had done my due diligence and cased the joint for weeks. I knew where the cameras were, the patrol routes of the guards, and what kinds of locks were used on the doors. I got confident and I got caught, but not by the police. Jail time would have been so much easier. They let you out of jail, eventually, in most cases. I don't know if I'll ever be free again.But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning. My name is Kathryn Bell, and I'm a thief. Well, was a thief? I don't.