Take the Heat

“I don’t want to do this, Courtney,” he said. “But I have to. I need the money from the register, but I also need everything you keep in the safe.”

“I don’t have a safe,” she lied.

She did have a safe. The store was a million times more secure than her shitty apartment, and she always kept enough cash in the safe to pay all of her expenses for three months, in case the shit hit the fan. Ever since that time her PayPal account had been suspended for selling adult products online—and all the money in her account with them had been frozen—she’d kept cash on hand. Yes, she had a regular bank account, too—half-empty thanks to her shit-bag ex. But cash was king.

How the hell did he know about it, though?

“You have a fucking safe, Courtney. You’ve got your own store—you’ve got all this money.” He glared at her. “Yeah, I’ve seen your fancy website. You don’t need that money like I do. So stop lying.”

The robber made a move like he was going to grab her again, and Courtney jumped back with her bag, her back pressed against the wall. She was cornered.

“I don’t want to shoot you,” she said, and finally pulled the gun out of her purse. “But I will. I will fucking shoot you.”

His blue eyes widened in surprise. “You’re not supposed to have a gun.”

Courtney raised her eyebrows. “And yet, I do. Weird, huh. Now get the fuck out of here before I call the cops.”

“Look,” he said, “please don’t call the cops. I…my kid brother got himself into a mess, okay? They’re gonna hurt him if they don’t get their money. I need it, for him, okay? If I’m in jail I can’t help him.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you held me up, asshole.”

“Holy fuck.” The young man dropped his head into his hands and pushed his hoodie down. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I’m not rich, okay?” Courtney said, the gun still aimed at his chest. “I can’t give you money, even if it’s for your kid brother. Go get a loan. Pawn shit. Sell your car.”

“You don’t think I’ve done all that?” he asked. “I’ve done everything I could. Everything. This was my last hope.” He stared at her gun. “Can you please put that down? I won’t hurt you. I just don’t want it to go off by accident.”

Courtney slowly lowered the gun, keeping her finger outside the trigger guard like she’d been taught. But she wasn’t going to drop it or anything. Not until this guy was out of her store.

“What makes you think I have a safe?” she asked.

“I used to work at the place that sold it to you,” he mumbled. “Before they canned my ass.”

“Smart of them.” Un-fucking-believable. At least now she knew he was probably from the city. He’d probably chosen her because her store was out of the way of prying eyes.

“I’ll leave, okay?” he said finally. “I’m really sorry. I just thought…you’ve got such a hot fucking website, and the store, and a safe full of cash—”

“Why do you think that? That the safe has money in it?”

He rolled his eyes. “The only reason to keep a safe in a store is to keep money in it, or a gun. I could use either, honestly.”

“Well, I’ve got the gun, so good luck with that. Now get the fuck outta my sight before I shoot you for real.”

“Please don’t call the cops,” he begged. “I’ll do anything. Please, Courtney.”

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“Call me ‘ma’am,’ asshole. Courtney was my name before I had the gun on you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said immediately. “I’m sorry I tried to rob you—I really am. I’m sorry I scared you. I swear I’ll do anything to fix it.”

He looked so anguished she almost felt bad for him. Almost.

And then an idea came to her.

“Anything, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He looked at her eagerly. “Anything, except give you money, ’cause I’ve got none. Name it.”