Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3)(39)

Garrett didn’t argue. He just said his good-byes, and when he finally left the aviary, Kat didn’t bother to follow. She had seen and heard all she needed to know. So she stumbled out of the park alone. She closed her eyes and thought about the view out of Hale’s office window, the sprawling streets below. It must have been like working in a cloud. A celestial view.

Then she thought about her trip to Garrett’s apartment, the carefully organized shelves and perfectly straight pictures—not a thing out of place except for the pile of mail that lay discarded on the table. It had seemed strange, Kat had thought at the time. Something about the sight had stayed with her—the one little bit of disorder in his otherwise perfect world.

But that wasn’t it. She knew it then. So she closed her eyes and thought about the letters and bills and the bank statement addressed to the man who did all of his banking online.

“Hale,” Kat said cautiously through the comms, “there’s a bank next door to your building, right?”

“Yeah.” Hale sounded nervous. “Why?”

“Which one?”

“Superior Bank of Manhattan,” he told her, and Kat’s heart sank. She’d known that would be the answer. A part of her had feared it from the moment she saw the bank statement lying on Garrett’s coffee table, as soon as she’d heard his words on the bridge.

“Earth to Kitty,” Gabrielle said. “Are you going to tell us what’s wrong?”

“Kat?” Hale yelled.

And Kat took a deep breath. “This is bad. This is very, very bad.”





The train car wasn’t quite large enough, but no one seemed to mind. It was secluded and safe, and there was something about the lull of a locomotive, the gentle rock and sway and the blur of countryside, that had always been conducive to thinking, in Katarina Bishop’s humble opinion. So she sat with her legs curled up beneath her and let Hale take the lead, standing at the front of the car.

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” he told them.

“Of course we came,” Simon said.

“I want you all to know that this is not an ordinary job, and I know that. I’ll pay you for your time and—”

“You think I’m here for money?” Gabrielle said.

“Now, now, Gabs. Let the man speak.” Angus slipped an arm around her shoulders. Gabrielle elbowed him in the gut. He winced and corrected, “I mean, anything for a friend.”

Angus gave a smile, and Hale talked on.

“I know this isn’t a typical heist, but I’ve got to try something, and the people I trust most are in this car. So we can do it. I know we can.”

“Forgive me, Hale my boy”—Hamish inched a tiny bit closer—“but what exactly is it?”

This time Hale looked at Kat and shrugged, the universal signal for Do you want to take this one or should I? So Kat turned to the group. “As you know, Marcus came to me after Hazel died and told us that something was off with the will.”

Kat glanced at Marcus, who stood silently in the corner, like always. But it wasn’t like always. Not by a long shot. “Mrs. Hale had made a promise to my sister,” the butler said. “And Mrs. Hale was a woman who always kept her promises.”

The group gave a nod, and Marcus silently returned to attention. He’d said all he had to say.

“Yeah,” Kat said, taking up the story. “So the working theory is that Garrett changed the will so that Hale would inherit the company.” She spoke as plainly as she could. She wanted to be cool. Emotionless. She had to spit it out, get over the fact that one of her own had been the mark.

“As long as Hale is a minor, then Garrett can be the trustee and call the shots. It’s a long con,” she told them. Then she had to admit: “And a good one.”

An air of respect seemed to fill the car. They didn’t like Garrett. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t see the genius in such a simple plan.

“So,” Angus asked, “what do you need us to do?”

Kat nodded at Gabrielle, who placed a pile of papers and photographs on the table in the center of the car.

“This is Genesis,” Kat said. Immediately, Simon grabbed the pictures, and Kat talked on. “It’s the newest product out of Hale Industries. The prototype and all of the design schematics are missing. We think Garrett switched them out for fakes, which leaves him free to sell the real Genesis to this man.” A photo Gabrielle had taken in Hong Kong landed on the top of the pile.

“Who is he?” Simon asked.

“He is the head of Research and Development for one of the biggest tech companies in Asia,” Hale said. “And one of Hale Industries’ biggest competitors. Our sources tell us they’ve been trying to develop something like Genesis for years, but they can’t get theirs to work—What?” He cut a grin at Kat when he saw the impressed look on her face. “Corporate espionage is my second great passion.”

“With your first being…” Kat prompted.

“Gelato,” Hale said, and turned back to the group. “So Garrett stole the prototype and the designs. He plans to sell them, pocket the profits, and sink my company. We think.” He shrugged a little, as if the man’s exact motives didn’t matter. And they didn’t. None of it would change what they had to do, so Hale smiled and raised an eyebrow. “That’s why we’re going to steal them back.”