Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3)(60)

“Kat, you’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” Simon told her. “And I really like this lab.”

Silas was still at work on the prototype, but Simon’s office had morphed into a not-exactly-to-scale replica of the bank, and Kat totally didn’t like what she saw. Lasers and cameras and guards, a vault door that would require a nuclear bomb to blast through, and a maze of safety deposit boxes in a deep, dark room, any one of which could have been the box they needed.

“Don’t worry, Kat.” Simon must have read her mind, because he placed a hand awkwardly on her back and patted. “It’ll work out.”

But Kat didn’t feel so sure.

Something felt off about the job or the day or maybe both. She couldn’t quite name it, and the not-knowing was the worst feeling of all.

“How was the scouting trip?” Simon asked.

“Weird,” Kat said.

“Was it the motion detectors? Because I think I have a way around—”

“Natalie.” The word was a whisper, and yet it made Simon stop cold.

“What about her?”

“She was there.”

“Why?” Simon asked.

Kat bit her nails. “That’s what I really want to know. The Bagshaws are tailing her now. There’s just something about that girl I don’t trust. Gab would say I’m acting jealous, but—”

“Are you?” Simon asked.

Kat shrugged. “Maybe. But I still don’t like it. She’s always around and a little too accommodating. She reminds me of…me.”

“Then clearly she can’t be trusted.”

“Exactly!”

“Kat!” Angus’s voice boomed through the lab. “Simon, I’m home.”

“I thought you said they were tailing Natalie?” Simon asked.

“I thought they were.”

A moment later, Angus came pushing through the office door.

“Never to worry, love,” he said before Kat could scold him for abandoning his post. “She’s just popped into Daddy’s office. Hamish is waiting for her outside, but I thought I’d—”

“Simon, call up the feed to Garrett’s office.”

“He’s not doing anything interesting. He never does anything interesting. Except for that one meeting, the office bug hasn’t given us—”

“Just call it up. I want to see what the two of them are talking about.”

Simon didn’t have to be asked again. Soon, a familiar image filled the screen, but something about it was off.

“Where’s Natalie?” Kat asked.

“I dunno,” Angus said. “Maybe she’s already gone.”

Kat reached for a phone and dialed. “Hey, Hamish, what’s Natalie’s location?”

“She’s in the Hale Building,” Hamish’s scratchy voice answered through the speakerphone. “Probably talking to her dad.”

“No.” Kat kept her eyes glued to the screen, at where Nat’s father sat stoically at his desk, talking to no one. “She’s not.”

“Maybe she went to see someone else? It is a big building,” Simon guessed, but another thought had occurred to Kat. She saw the way Garrett sat at his desk—so still. No sudden movements.

“The bug Gabrielle put on his watch at the gala. Is that still active?”

“I don’t know,” Simon said. “Probably.”

“Turn it on. Now.”

As soon as Simon punched the keys, the image on the screen stayed the same, but the voices were new.

“Hello, Father. Nice of you to see me. It’s not so nice to keep me waiting.”

“What do you want, Natalie?”

“We have trouble.”

“I’m busy.”

“Well, I’ve been busy too. Trying to lose the doofus Kat Bishop had following me, for starters.”

“Clearly that girl is talking about Hamish,” Angus said, but Kat didn’t have time for bruised egos. She was too busy studying the picture that absolutely did not match the sound.

“And the highlight of my afternoon was a trip to the bank.” Natalie talked on, but she was still nowhere to be seen. It was almost like the video they were watching had been faked. Staged.

“They looped our feed.” Kat’s voice was full of disbelief. “We’ve been looped.”

It was exactly what Kat would have done—what she had done on a number of occasions—and she felt the sting that comes from knowing that turnabout is absolutely not fair play.

“They must have found the cameras.” Simon looked like someone had just killed his puppy, but Kat closed her eyes, absorbed by every word.

“What are you talking about?” Garrett asked his daughter.

“I just met Bobby Bishop. He’s more handsome than he looks in his mug shot. Charming, too.”

“Natalie, I don’t have time for this,” Garrett said, but there was a slamming sound, like a hand on the desk.

“They’re going to rob the bank.” Natalie enunciated each word so clearly there could be no mistaking what she’d said.

“Don’t be silly. We chose that bank because it has never been robbed,” her father said.