Charlie Calls, Steve Falls Into the Trap
Steve slowly wiped the spray of defiance from his cheek, his movements perfectly measured.
Looking down at the tightly bound Stella Bridger, his chiseled face showed absolutely no sign of sudden anger.
Instead, a cold, calculating smile crept across his features. His profound indifference was tinged with a sickening layer of arrogant composure.
"How could I ever bear to kill you?" Steve murmured, his voice a low, mocking drawl.
He reached out with a manicured hand, his fingers gently, almost thoughtfully, stroking Stella's delicate jawline.
Stella violently jerked her head away in absolute disgust, her blue eyes flashing with pure hatred as she desperately tried to break free from his loathsome touch.
Unfortunately, she was currently nothing more than a helpless prisoner in his heavily fortified estate.
Aggressively bound to the heavy mahogany dining chair with thick, unforgiving ropes biting into her wrists and ankles, Stella possessed absolutely no physical way to resist him right now.
She could only glare fiercely at Steve, her chest heaving with suppressed rage, forced to endure as his cold fingers traced the edge of her cheekbone.
Fortunately for her immediate safety, Steve had never been a man driven by raw lust.
No, his fundamental desires were vastly darker and far more calculated.
To put it with absolute, brutal accuracy, cold hard cash was infinitely more important to Steve than any beautiful woman could ever be.
"Truly beautiful," Steve whispered, his dark eyes analyzing her face exactly as if evaluating an expensive piece of stolen art.
"It is absolutely no wonder Charlie Croker has been hopelessly pining for you all these long years."
After deliberately teasing the captive Stella for a tense, agonizing moment, Steve finally withdrew his invading hand.
He calmly picked up a pristine white linen napkin from the lavish dining table and meticulously wiped the faint trace of makeup foundation from his fingertips.
Deep inside his paranoid mind, Steve absolutely no longer felt the blinding, suffocating panic that had consumed him since the previous night.
Because he knew perfectly well with absolute certainty that the master thief Charlie Croker had always harbored deep, undeniable romantic feelings for Old John Bridger's stunning daughter.
Before Steve had violently betrayed his loyal companions in the freezing Alps, he had been a core, trusted member of Charlie's elite crew.
He had worked closely alongside Charlie, the legendary John Bridger, and the others for several highly lucrative years.
In the past, although he hadn't actually met Stella in person, he had constantly heard the whispered street rumors that Charlie was completely captivated by Old John's fiercely independent daughter.
Exactly because of this crucial, hidden leverage, now that Steve had flawlessly captured Stella right off the morning streets,
His frantically racing heart, which had been pounding violently in his chest because his two massive Worthington safes containing his entire stolen fortune were missing, finally recovered its steady, cold rhythm.
Currently, Steve was still completely filled with a blinding, murderous rage toward Charlie Croker for daring to aggressively steal his massive property from right under his nose.
But he was also supremely confident that exactly as long as Stella was securely held hostage in his hands,
Based entirely on Steve's intimate understanding of Charlie's stubborn loyalty, that sentimental fool would undeniably come out of hiding and desperately find a way to save her life.
When that violent confrontation finally happened, he could not only flawlessly take back his two stolen, multi-ton safes containing the absolute vast majority of his wealth,
But Steve could also, once and for all, permanently eliminate Charlie and the remaining, annoying members of his old crew.
Once those persistent ghosts were finally dealt with, Steve would absolutely no longer have to live in paranoid hiding, completely free to fully enjoy the lavish, pleasant life brought by his staggering wealth.
Across the opulent table, Stella glared fiercely at Steve, her sharp mind completely filled with a suffocating blend of terror, blinding anger, and profound confusion.
She genuinely didn't know exactly how this ruthless man had managed to perfectly find her and ambush her in the sprawling city.
Stella was absolutely, undeniably certain that before her father tragically passed away,
And even before Charlie had desperately come to see her a few days ago, she hadn't met the treacherous Steve a single time in her entire life.
The absolute only reason she could instantly, terrifyingly recognize Steve's arrogant face was that Charlie had painfully told Stella the grim truth.
Charlie had confessed that her beloved father had died violently at the cold hands of the traitor Steve during their final heist, and he had shown her a surveillance photo of the man's face.
And after over a grueling year of searching, when Charlie finally found Stella again in Los Angeles,
He had desperately hoped to legally and organically use her unparalleled [Lockpicking] skills to flawlessly seek righteous revenge on Steve together.
If it were at all physically possible, Stella actually wanted to grab a loaded weapon and violently kill Steve with her own two hands.
Her mother had tragically died very early in her childhood, and although her father had been imprisoned multiple times for grand theft, painfully missing the most important, formative decade of Stella's growth,
The emotional bond between Stella and her absolute only living blood relative had still been incredibly deep and profound.
But exactly because of her father's protective concern, Stella had been sent away to distant relatives and strict foster homes to be safely raised since she was a little girl.
When she finally grew up, she became deeply, intimately aware of the massive, destructive harm caused by the criminal underworld.
Under Old John Bridger's brilliant guidance, she had flawlessly mastered various, highly complex mechanical theories and advanced [Lockpicking] techniques.
But Stella absolutely didn't use her supernatural talents for illegal evil; instead, she opened a highly successful, legitimate locksmith company and actively helped federal agencies, local police departments, and massive banks secure their vaults.
Because of this strict moral compass, although Stella hated the smirking Steve to the absolute core of her being,
The rigid education and profound sense of justice she had received made her psychologically unable to strike a lethal, cold-blooded blow against another human being.
This was the exact, undeniable reason why Stella eventually accepted Charlie's tactical invitation and firmly decided to help Charlie and the crew violently steal Steve's mountain of gold to get their non-lethal revenge.
She just genuinely didn't expect that before their meticulous operation had even officially started,
It seemed their entire, highly classified plan had already been completely, disastrously exposed!
Damn it, exactly where did things go so terribly wrong? Stella thought desperately, her heart pounding against her ribs.
She could only use a fierce, unyielding glare to actively express her deep, suffocating unease.
She completely didn't know if Steve's arrogant claim that Charlie harbored a secret crush on her was actually true or just a twisted psychological game.
And her current, highly lethal situation obviously left Stella with absolutely no mental room to care about such romantic trivialities.
Steve confidently turned away from her fierce glare, quickly walking back to his plush leather seat and picking up the heavy tactical walkie-talkie resting on the table.
He pressed the transmission button, his voice dropping into a cold, authoritative bark: "Report on the exact security situation around the perimeter. Have any suspicious persons been spotted?"
A sharp burst of static crackled, and a reply quickly came from the heavily armed guard on the other side of the radio.
"Boss, there are absolutely no abnormalities near the main entrance for now. The perimeter is secure."
"Over by the cliff edge, the thermal surveillance cameras haven't detected anything unusual either. It is completely quiet."
Steve frowned slightly, his dark eyes casually glancing over at the bound Stella.
He then spoke firmly into the heavy radio, "Understood. Continue to rigorously observe the tree line and stay on absolute high alert."
After clicking the walkie-talkie off and tossing it onto the mahogany table, Steve looked at Stella again, flashing a highly contemptuous, mocking smile.
"Miss Bridger, it absolutely seems your feminine charm isn't nearly as great as I initially imagined."
"Until right now, it appears Charlie and his supposedly elite crew haven't even noticed you're completely missing."
Stella's pale expression shifted slightly, her jaw tightening. She was just about to aggressively spit a harsh retort back at his arrogant face,
When suddenly, a sharp, electronic melody pierced the heavy silence of the dining room.
Her personal cell phone, which had already been violently confiscated by Steve's men and placed casually on the far end of the dining table, suddenly rang out.
The intense attention of both people in the large room was immediately, violently drawn to the vibrating device.
Steve walked quickly over, picked the sleek phone up to take a look at the glowing caller ID, and a massive, predatory smile immediately broke out on his chiseled face.
He casually waved the ringing phone directly at Stella, his tone dripping with mock apology. "Sorry, I completely take back exactly what I just said."
"Miss Bridger, it seems your dedicated admirer has finally noticed you've vanished from the streets."
"The desperate call is coming through right now."
After saying that, Steve absolutely didn't even try to step away or avoid her intense gaze.
He arrogantly pressed the green button and answered the secure call right in front of Stella's furious eyes.
"Hello, Stella. Where exactly are you right now?"
The absolute moment the line connected, a man's deeply urgent, highly anxious voice came clearly from the other side.
Steve recognized it instantly; it was undeniably Charlie Croker's familiar voice.
He had worked side-by-side with Charlie for several grueling years and was all too intimately familiar with his former companion's exact cadence and tone.
The arrogant smile on Steve's face grew vastly wider, reaching his cold eyes, as he spoke directly into the receiver. "Hi, Charlie."
"Are you completely surprised to hear my voice on this line?"
On the other end of the secure connection, Charlie's rapid breathing stopped abruptly.
A heavy, suffocating silence descended over the line. At the exact same time, a ragged, tight breath could be clearly heard from the other side of the phone.
After a long, agonizing moment, Charlie's voice, completely full of violently gritted teeth and raw hatred, finally came through the speaker.
"Steve, it is you?!"
"Heh heh!"
Steve laughed a dark, genuinely triumphant laugh. "That's exactly right, it is me."
"Didn't expect that at all, did you, Charlie!"
"Although you and your little crew successfully stole my massive safes the night before last, "
" I've also aggressively caught your absolute biggest weakness!"
"Isn't it incredibly good to just be alive and breathing?"
"I was originally going to generously let you all go and simply enjoy my retirement."
"It was just one old, preachy man who died on that mountain. Was it really absolutely necessary to obsessively chase me for over a grueling year, just to steal that gold back from me again?"
Steve paced slowly around the heavy dining table, his dark eyes locked onto the struggling Stella.
"You succeeded, Charlie. I will absolutely give you that."
"Even right now, I still haven't completely figured out exactly how you miraculously managed to flawlessly bypass my villa's military-grade security system and physically transport the heavy gold away in such an incredibly short amount of time."
"However, I may have lost a tactical battle to you, Charlie."
"But you haven't exactly won the absolute war either!"
Steve stepped incredibly close to the phone, his voice dropping into a lethal, unforgiving threat.
"The beautiful woman you've been hopelessly pining for, Old John Bridger's precious daughter, is currently sitting right here in my hands."
"I will generously give you exactly twenty-four hours."
"Wait securely for my call tomorrow, and aggressively bring the massive things you stole to exchange for her life."
"Otherwise, you better get completely ready to collect her bloody corpse from an alleyway."
After delivering his cold ultimatum, Steve absolutely didn't wait a single second for Charlie to speak again.
He aggressively pressed the end call button and immediately powered the cell phone completely off, plunging the line into absolute silence.
Having flawlessly executed his extortion, Steve slowly turned and looked at Stella again. The smile on his handsome face was now completely hideous and overwhelmingly triumphant.
"Didn't you stubbornly refuse to talk to me earlier?"
"It absolutely doesn't matter now!"
"Tomorrow, " Steve whispered, leaning his hands heavily on the polished mahogany table. "The massive fortune you all stole will be completely returned to me."
"Do not worry, Miss Bridger. Strictly for the sake of safely retrieving that mountain of gold, "
"I absolutely will not physically torture you tonight!"
"But exactly after tomorrow, when the exchange is complete, I genuinely cannot say for sure exactly what will happen to you."
After saying that dark promise, Steve tilted his head back and laughed wildly, the cold, sociopathic sound echoing violently through the opulent, empty halls of the fortified villa.