Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society 3)

“Birds.” Kat thought of the note in the man’s apartment. “Garrett is going to see the birds.”

That was as far as Hale could go, Gabrielle said, and Kat couldn’t argue with the logic. There was a reason clients never went on jobs, so Gabrielle waited outside with Hale, and Kat followed Garrett into the aviary alone.

As Kat walked down the winding paths, the sound was overwhelming. Birds chirped and sang, filling the air. Kat couldn’t hear anything over their cries. Not the crunch of the gravel beneath her feet or even the sound of Hale arguing with Gabrielle in her ear.

She was utterly alone in that huge faux forest until the trees parted, and she saw Garrett. He gripped the wooden railing of a footbridge, staring up at the skyline that peeked through the canopy of trees.

“Okay, guys,” Kat said into her comms, “I found him. Looks like he’s waiting for something or…” She paused as another man stepped onto the bridge. “Someone.”

The man greeted Garrett with a bow. He wore a dark suit and dark glasses, but their words were lost to Kat beneath the cries of the birds around them.

A smaller path branched away from the main walkway, twisting through the trees and passing beneath the footbridge overhead, so Kat crept toward it. The birds squawked above. A brightly colored pair flew away when she approached their perch, but the men didn’t seem to notice, because they talked on, and eventually Kat could make out the words.

“You have the device?” the other man asked.

“I do.”

“May I see it, please?”

Garrett huffed. “I don’t have it on me, of course. But it’s someplace I can access very easily when the time comes.”

“And it’s secure there?” the man asked. “The Hales are powerful people. If they suspect what you’ve done, they will try to retrieve it, will they not?”

Garrett leaned against the railing and stared out through the net at the skyscrapers that loomed not far away and laughed. It was a cold, dry sound. “Oh, I assure you, the Hales have never bothered with the business before. I see no reason for them to start now. And, besides…I have placed the prototype in a place where nothing has been stolen. Ever. So, yes, it is safe.”

“And you can get it?”

“Sir, it is right under my nose. So close that it could be yours as soon as you pay my asking price.”

“And have the Hales reveal their prototype at the gala next week?” Now it was the buyer’s turn to laugh. “I don’t think so.”

“The Hales won’t be a problem,” Garrett told him.

“Perhaps. But a wise man is a cautious man. I will wait to see what becomes of the Hales and their prototype. As soon as the world knows they have not mastered the Genesis technology, then—and only then—you and I will have a deal.”

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.”

Chapter 26

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.”

“Wait. Far be it for me to say this”—Hamish looked around the compartment—“and if anyone tells Uncle Eddie I suggested being an upstanding citizen I’ll kill ’em, but aren’t there…laws and stuff? I mean, can’t you…you know…sue him or something?” asked the boy who had once stolen an entire circus, all three rings.

“You’d think so,” Kat explained. “But according to what we got off of Garrett’s computer, the patent office has a bogus design on file for the Genesis plans. That means that if and when the real Genesis turns up from some other company, Hale Industries won’t have a legal leg to stand on. Needless to say, it’s handy when the person responsible for protecting the design is the same person intent on stealing it.”

“We’re in the wrong business,” Angus said.

Simon nodded. “So true.”

“The bad news is time. We’ve got to get the prototype and design back now,” Kat said.

“Why?” Angus asked.

“Because Hale Industries is dangerously low on working capital,” Gabrielle said. “The return on investment of the last five products has been less than one percent, and without a major influx of cash from subcontracts and the buzz that a hot new product can bring, the share price is going to go through the basement.”

Everyone stared at her.

“What?” Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. “I’ve conned a lot of MBAs. So Garrett plans to sell the Genesis prototype and its blueprints to the competition, make a fortune, and destroy Hale’s family all in one blow?”

“Two birds,” Hamish started.

“One stone,” Angus finished.

“If I didn’t hate this guy so much, I might kind of idolize him,” Hamish said. “Is that wrong?”

No one answered.

“The good news is that we know what he’s doing now—what his endgame is.” Suddenly the car was too stuffy. Kat wanted to open a window. “Yesterday, Gab and Hale and I followed Garrett to his meeting with the buyer. Something he said led us to believe that he has stashed the prototype and plans in a safety deposit box.” She took a deep breath. “At the Superior Bank of Manhattan.”

Angus’s face broke into a wide grin. “I’m sorry, Kitty, but I thought you said it was in the Superior Bank of Manhattan.”

“I did,” Kat told him, but she didn’t exactly feel like smiling back.

“The Superior Bank of Manhattan?” Simon said. “The Superior Bank of Manhattan? The Superior Bank of—”

“Yeah, Simon,” Gabrielle said, cutting him off. “That’s the one.”

“It’s going to take resources,” Kat said.

Hale nodded. “Done. What else?”

“People. More than are in this car,” she said.