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He chuckled and watched her go She was already out of the car when he said, "Good-bye, Katarina Until weof a shop and watched hio with hih the aparth she was not there to see it, she knew exactly what he found Five priceless pieces of art

Four paintings: one of Degas’s dancers and Raphael’s prodigal son; Renoir’s two boys; The Philosopher by Ver: a statue that had recently been stolen froallery next door

Kat often wondered what he h the dusty, abandoned aparts that he loved and then at a small statue that he had never seen before

She wondered if he turned and watched the door Perhaps he heard the Interpol officers as they rushed down the wet street and stood poised outside the apartoing to happen? Kat would never know It was enough for her to stand in the damp air and watch the uniformed officials swars, and her father had stashed his stolen sculpture

It was very h to stand there and watch as Arturo Taccone’s driver sped ahich was just as well Interpol was ive his boss a ride

"Are they in there?"

Kat shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the voice, and yet she couldn’t fight the shock in seeing the boy

"What do you think?" she asked

Nick smiled "I’m not in prison, by the way," he told her "Just in case you ondering"

"I wasn’t" For a moment he looked al in a roo was stolen at the Henley They stood there for a long ti, until Nick finally said, "He used usor, I guessyou This Rouy used you for a diversion, didn’t he?" Kat didn’t answer She didn’t have to Nick stepped closer "A con within a con" He looked at her "Are you el of the Henley, as, at that htful home, and she couldn’t help herself She shook her head "No"

And still nothing could have surprised her more than when Nick s with ht it a valid, scientific question until Nick inched closer and said, "Yes"

She stepped away fro "Why’d you do it, Nick? And why don’t you tell ht you’d help me catch your dad at first"

"And then" Kat proed and kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk It skidded into a puddle, but she didn’t hear the splash "I wanted to impress my mom And then"

"Yes?"

"And then I thought I could catch you--stop a robbery of the Henley, be a hero But"

Kat stared into the rainy street She shivered "I don’t take things that don’t belong to estured across the street to the pair of officers ere leading Arturo Taccone from the apartht of Mr Stein "They don’t belong to him either"

A h the crowd that was quickly growing across the street A beautiful black-haired woman stepped fro, she did not wave or snored her instructions not to leave their hotel without perood, Kat," he told her

"Do you ood?"

He smiled "You knohat I mean"

Kat watched Nick walk away, until the police car carrying Arturo Taccone pulled out into the street, blocking her view As far as she knew, Nick never looked back Which wasn’t fair, Kat thought Because, fro over her shoulder for the rest of her life

Kat sensed more than saw the black limo that pulled slowly to the curb beside her She heard a slass of the backdisappeared and a young man leaned out

"So that fella there is the one who robbed that nice gallery?" Hale asked, his eyes wide as he pointed to the disappearing police car

"It appears so," Kat said "I heard he actually slid the statue through a hole in the wall and into that vacant apartment"

"Genius," Hale said with a tad too hed as Hale opened the door, and she slid inside "Yes," she said slowly "In theory Except robbing a gallery tends to allery"

"And then how does a guy get his statue?"

Kat kneas her turn--her line But she was tired of playing galanced down the street where Nick had disappeared "You’re not leaving with your boyfriend?"

Kat eased her head back onto the soft leather "Maybe" She closed her eyes and thought that perhaps this flirting thing wasn’t so difficult after all "Maybe notWyndhah softly then call, "Marcus, take us home"

As they eased into traffic, she let the warmth of the car wash over her She didn’t protest as Hale slid his arainst his chest It was somehow softer there than she remembered

"Welcome back, Kat," he told her as she drifted off to sleep "Welcome back"

25 Days After Deadline

Chapter 37

They did not go to Cannes for Christmas Uncle Eddie claimed he was too old to travel--too set in his ways to be persuaded to change So Kat and her father joined the throng that descended upon the old brownstone

Inside it was stuffy, as it alas in winter, with a fire blazing in every roo in the kitchen So when Kat stepped out onto the stoop, she didn’t ht find you here, Katarina"