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"I don’t knohat you mean," Kat said

"Oh, I think you do, because, you see, I knoho you are" His breath was acrid and hot on her cheek He brushed a finger down the side of her face until his hand rested on her throat He squeezed gently at first Then harder "And I knohat you are"

"Let o" Kat’s voice quivered The party was still in full swing at the end of the hall, and Kat grappled for options "I’ll yell I’ll tell security"

"No You won’t I don’t think your kind of criminal ever actually calls the authorities"

"I don’t knohat you’re talking about" Kat tried to pull his hand off of her throat, push herself past hi into the door and holding it solidly in place

"I said," he spoke slowly, "show , Kat watched the way the sweat gathered at his brow, his face red and flushed, as he fuht He’s desperate, Kat thought Then, just that quickly, she realized, No, he’s dangerous

"What?" he asked, then bit back an evil, bitter laugh "Did you honestly believe that no one in Scooter’s life knehere he was going--what he was doing? Didn’t you ever wonder why no olden boy was halfway around the world…with you?"

"I know hed

"I thought you’d be a much better liar Aren’t all thieves liars? Isn’t that how you stole the Cleopatra Emerald? Was that fun for you? It looked like fun froht about the empty file labeled Scooter and finally knehat had lain inside it They weren’t Hale’s secrets They were hers And this man seemed to know every one

"What do you ith o of her neck, but didn’t leave

"Don’t think you’ve won this ga that I haven’t seen you and your fa froinald’"--he held up his fingers and made ht even say inspired But I in, Miss Bishop In fact, I have already won You just can’t see it yet"

"No You can’t see," Kat told hier, crazier, but that didn’t ht then Because Kat finally had the hoth rushing through her All pretense was gone She didn’t have to lie, to pretend she was anything other than a seasoned thief talking to a newcoame

Garrett looked across the alley

"It can be done," Kat said, reading hisabout the bank that had never been robbed She whispered, "And I’ to do it"

"Oh, watch what you say, Kat It would be a sha I kneere to find its way to…say…the Henley"

He reached to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and Kat trembled She rester threatened everyone she’d ever loved; the s Kat inside a tiny room She’d seen a lot of very bad people up close in her short life, but there was so about Garrett in that moment that scared her Greed hadto take Kat doith him

"I have cleaned up my last Hale family mess, Miss Bishop You and your little boyfriend are on your own as far as I’ain "Let’s see how far you make it now"

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Kat blurted, but the man simply turned

"You’ll see, my dear You will see"

Chapter 32

Over the course of the next twelve hours, Kat made twenty-one phone calls to six different continents (Uncle Lester was doing a job off the coast of Antarctica and was very adamant that he not be disturbed for any reason)

There was Uncle Sal in Rio; the Johnson twins, ere out on parole near Sydney She personally coram for Uncle Marco (his preferred method of communication) and left a note in a dead letter drop for Uncle Felix, who had sworn off telephones after a particularly nasty MI5 experience in ’92

But there was one e would do, so that was how Kat found herself in Venice

Spring had already co War tourists from cruise ships and exotic ports of call But Kat couldn’t let herself be distracted, not by the high-end boutiques that lined the narrow alleys, not even by the smell of pasta or massive displays of fresh fruit that filled the stalls of the open-air markets She wasn’t there as a tourist, and yet she was far fro to find so--everybody knew it The tiles on the floor of St Mark’s Cathedral rose and fell like the waves in the bay, unwilling to give up without a fight Overhead, a beautiful mosaic of apostles and saints smiled down It was a house ofone of her own

A group of tourists passed by, snapping pictures, and Kat stood silently, taking it all in She saw abehind him as he walked, and she chased after him

He was already in the square when she sue and yelled, "Father!"

The priest stopped and turned, then smiled when Kat said, "Hi, Daddy"

"So it’s true" He draped an ar up her first Big Store You’re growing up"

"What can I say? It was this or a Sweet Sixteen I’ve always been sentiave his robes a once-over "Maybe I shouldn’t walk so close to you I don’t want to get hit by lightning"

"Hey, don’t blame me," her father told her "I’m not the one who built a jewelry store behind a cathedral"

She couldn’t deny he had a point

"So"--Bobby gave her shoulder a squeeze--"I assume you’ve spoken to Uncle Felix?"

"He’s in"

"What about Irina?"