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"Okay The ets ten million And that’s it?" He looked at Kat as if she were so to try to save your boyfriend’s family business?"

"No, Mr Garrett" Kat slipped on her jacket and crossed the roo to the door, Kat knew she should have felt at ease It was over Al doubt she couldn’t silence, a steady whisper in her ear

"Just one " Kat suddenly stopped "Hale never sees you--or your daughter--again"

A condescending s else?"

"Do we have a deal, Mr Garrett?"

He nodded "Deal"

"Tomorrow at noon Grand Central Station I’ll expect you there in person"

"And have you shoith the authorities? I don’t think so"

"Fine," Kat conceded "We’ll do it in…Niagara Falls On the Canadian side Far out of New York jurisdiction How does that sound?"

"I didn’t peg you for a tourist"

"Let’s just say I’irl who appreciates a crowd There’s a scenic overlook aten million in untraceable bonds and don’t be late If you are, I will personally make sure every member of my family knows there’s a price on your head You’d be surprised howpeople"

Thebusiness with you"

"Forgive me if I can’t say the same"

Chapter 42

It didn’troo Garrett’s cold s if Hale would ever forgive her, knowing he was the one person who herpan…" she said to herself, unable to shake the feeling that it was just a ot burned

"You didn’t eat" Uncle Eddie’s voice was gruff and sleepy as he ca"

"I’ed

"That’s a pity" He dropped into a chair not far away "My hands" He looked down, held theht of the fire "I don’t knohat to do with them It would have been nice to have a task"

"Sorry I wish I could be rown used to disappointment, then propped a foot up on the coffee table, which was covered with photos and albums, the prep materials that nobody really needed anymore

"I wish I’d known her" Kat picked up the albu day, standing between Reginald and her new husband

"Have the boys found him?" Eddie asked, and Kat shook her head The old man drew a deep breath then leaned back in his chair "Your young man will be fine, Katarina"

"I know," Kat said

"All young men must find their way Yours is just a little off course at the moment"

"He misses Hazel"

Eddie nodded slowly "I’led to his feet Kat hated those moments--the seconds, really, where his hands would shake or his knees subtly refused to bear his weight There was nothing as painful to Katarina Bishop as the gentle reminders that she was not the onlyolder, that so but a book full of pictures and memories

"If I lost you…" Kat’s voice broke She couldn’t meet his eyes, so she stared down at the fla to lose ave her shoulder a squeeze "Would I lie?"

She wanted to believe his even the great Uncle Eddie couldn’t stop--and fate, as it turned out, was one of the we do toht thing?" she asked

He nodded "It is the best thing And that is all any grifter can hope for"

She heard him shuffle down the hall A moment later, a door opened and closed, and Kat was left alone with her thoughts and the fire and the spinning earth that was slowlyits way toward too wrong…will It was the law of the grift, the rule of the con If the mark is told to come alone, he won’t If you’re supposed to have three exit routes, you’ll be lucky to get one And never, ever believe a weather to rain

So Kat was ht and clear overhead as she stepped out onto the wide scenic area overlooking the falls Mist clung to the air, and a rainbow formed over the waters below, and it was beautiful, there at the top of the world She ht have actually enjoyed it if her whole body hadn’t been tre

"Deep breaths, Katarina," Uncle Eddie said "It steadies the nerves"

As was her habit, she took her uncle’s advice

At least two dozen tourists were already there, posing for pictures with the falls at their back, plugging quarters into the big old-fashioned ht down onto the rocky shores Kat counted ten cars and one school bus, but none of theed to the man who had co," she said, jaloved hands deeper into her pockets

"He’ll be here," Eddie said He sounded so certain, so sure, so at home there at the end of a job

"What if this is the wrong call?"