Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3)(57)

Bobby removed his glasses, and when he spoke, he couldn’t hide the guilt in his voice. “I guess that’s because the checks…stopped.”

“If he is who he says he is, he’ll have to prove it,” Senior told them.

Bobby looked at Eddie. “I’m sure Reginald wouldn’t mind. Would you, Reg?”

“I climbed K2,” Eddie said in response.

“So he has no family?” Hale’s uncle asked.

Bobby looked confused. “I thought you were his family.”

“He means heirs,” Hale said. “What about it, Reg? When you die, who’s going to get your half?”

“Scooter!” Elizabeth said, feigning offense. “But I wonder, Uncle Reg, do you have any children?”

Eddie took her in. “Maybe I’ll adopt you.”

“If you’d like us to perform a DNA test, I can recommend a very good facility not too far—” Bobby said, but Hale’s father’s laugh cut him off.

“A billion-dollar corporation is on the line,” Senior said. “We’ll find our own lab, thank you very much.” Then he spoke to the lawyer. “You’ll take care of that, won’t you, Garrett?”

Until then, the trustee had stayed at the back of the group, glancing at his watch, staring at the walls. Mentally, the man was already far away, on an island with his stolen fortune. Reginald didn’t matter to his plan. This was nothing more than a delay. An annoyance. And whatever became of the Hales, both long-lost and not, would be none of his concern in a matter of days.

If Kat hadn’t hated him so much, she might have warned him he was making a classic newbie mistake.

“What’s that?” Garrett asked.

“The DNA test,” Senior said again. “You will handle that, won’t you?”

“Oh,” Garrett said. “Of course. Right away.”

Then he walked purposefully down the hall, past a very naked Felix running from a very frustrated Hamish, and into the cold.

The rest of the Hale family delegation wasn’t far behind, but at the doors, Hale stopped briefly. Simon had placed cameras at each entrance, standard for any facility of the kind. And Hale looked squarely into one, mouthed the words Bye, Kat to the girl he knew was watching.

And then he was out the door. And then he was gone.

“What do you think, Kat?” Simon asked, turning to her.

“I think we’re ready for phase two.”

“It would have been easier just to let the Bagshaws kidnap Garrett,” Simon said.

Kat sat there silently, not wanting to admit he was right.





When Kat walked into the lab, it was decidedly different from the first time she’d seen it. Before, there had been dust and grime, a smell of disuse and old chemicals, and it had felt a little like walking into a tomb. But now, everything was alive. Music boomed from the back room (classic jazz); spotlights cut through the dark. There were at least a dozen whiteboards lining the walls, each covered with the same kinds of formulas and checklists she’d seen in Silas’s original lab.

Kat felt fascinated and out of her depth, but that was nothing compared to the magnetic pull of the small device that sat on a tray in the center of the room, bright lights shining down upon it.

“Hello, Miss Bishop.”

Kat pulled away from the prototype as if Silas’s voice were a warning, and she’d been caught.

“You can touch it,” he told her. “It won’t bite.”

Kat smiled, embarrassed. “Sorry. I just…I don’t understand any of this.”

“That’s okay,” Silas told her. “I don’t understand what you do. From where I’m standing, that makes us even.”

“So how’s it going?” She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know.

“Fine.” Silas took a seat on a stool and eyed his design. “I think. Maybe.”

Kat totally knew the feeling.

“How was your Big Score?” Silas asked.

“Our what?” Kat asked, then had to laugh. “Oh, the Big Store? It went as well as could be expected. It bought us a little more time, at least.”

A wide smile spread across the old man’s face. If Kat didn’t know better, she would have sworn he was having the time of his life.

“I’m glad to have my assistant back.” Silas pointed to Simon, who was dragging computers and cables into the back room.

“I thought you had help?” Kat asked.

Just then, Simon’s father came into the lab and yelled, “Hey, Kat!”

“Hi, Uncle Henry. Thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” Henry said, then returned to work.

“The father is good,” Silas said. “But the son is… special.”

Kat stole a glance at Simon, who was sorting through the cables and the cords, lost in another world. “Yeah. He is. So, Silas, really…” Kat touched his hand. She searched his eyes. “How is it going?”

“We’re close,” he said, then took off his glasses and looked down at the device on the table. “Just not quite close enough.”

“How long do you need?”

He rubbed his eyes. “I wish I could say.”

“That’s okay, Silas. Just do your best. We’re working on Plan B.”