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"I know"

"You were at Colgan"

"I was only there threeti ti time before the rest of you followed"

"Well, I’m back now" She started for the plane "And there’s a really s, and an even smaller list you can trust to do it, so--"

"Your dad and Uncle Eddie weren’t the only people you left when you went away, you know" Kat heard the words fly toward her across the tar the stale air of Hale’sat the one person in her life as

He looked away, then back again "Either we’re a team or we aren’t Either you trust oing to be, Kat?"

It is an occupational hazard that anyone who has spent her life learning how to lie eventually beco the truth; in that moment, Kat didn’t have a clue what to say I can’t do this without you sounded trite What they were doing was too big for a simple Please

"Hale, I--"

"You knohat? Never mind Ether way, I’m in, Kat" He seelasses "I’m all in"

She watched him climb the stairs to the plane, heard him call over his shoulder, "Besides, I do ree She tried to say thank you But all sheon the ground in Italy

11 Days Until Deadline

Chapter 8

No way Kat heard the words in her head before she thought to say them aloud No, Hale No Justno Kat shook the sleep out of her head and tried to think clearly about the situation After all, she was in Italy With a s on a private jet The world lay quite literally at her feet, and yet, all Katarina Bishop could do atch the door ease open, revealing a private airstrip, one of thewo hair and a cocked hip

All she could say was, "No way"

It is fairly safe to assume that all thieves (or anyone who has spent much of their life in the dark) will have a sixth sense that allows them to hear ht of that particular girl made the little hairs on her neck stand on end

"Hello, Kitty Kat"

Oh yeah That was it

"Can I talk to you?" Kat grabbed at Hale, but even though she was very catlike on her feet, Hale was much sturdier on his He irl leveled her gaze at hiirl, her long legs left the ground, and Kat wanted to point out that it was far too cold for such a short skirt She longed to note that high heels were a very bad idea in a city full of cobblestone But Kat just stood frozen at the top of the stairs, not irl said, "Oh, co for your cousin?"

Fas--in more ways than one And family businesseswell, there was no lih the narrow streets of the small town Arturo Taccone called home, Kat had to wonder for the millionth time if it was that way in all family businesses Was there a shoe store in Seattle that had been handed down through generations only to spao teenage girls who couldn’t be left alone together? Was there--at this verytheir ar to work the sas were reserved for the family businesses where people are occasionally shot Or imprisoned But Kat would never know She only had one fa whatsoever to compare it to

"Hale," Gabrielle whined as she draped her ar very nice to rown-up, "hug your cousin"

But Kat never forced affection And unlike Gabrielle, she adamantly refused to whine Maybe she’d lost those abilities when she lost her mother; or maybe, like bad reflexes and a steadfast relationship with the truth, those skills were slowly being bred out of her faood to see you, Gabrielle I thought you were in Monte Carlo The Eurotrash circuit"

"And I thought you were in study hall Guess ere both mistaken"

Kat studied her cousin and wondered hoas possible that she was only a year older--not even that Nine months And yet she looked nine years eneral htly, leaving Kat to walk beside theh for two

"So, where’s Alfred?" Gabrielle asked

"You irl disht it was too bad that her head hadn’t filled out quite as completely as her bra But then her cousin said, "Happy birthday," and a package of photos suddenly vanished from her hand and appeared in Hale’s jacket pocket

The pass was smooth Effortless The practiced move of a seasoned pro, a member of the family

"How’s your ave an exasperated sigh "Again"

"Oh," Hale said "Congratulations"