A Brilliant Deception

by Kim Foster

  Then I pulled the door open and crept in after him.

  There was a concrete staircase leading down into the darkness. I tiptoed down it as quickly as I could, my breathing loud in my ears. At the base was a damp, low-ceilinged corridor. I crept along and peeked my head into the first doorway I reached.

  The room was lit up like Christmas. Electronic lights and displays blinked on computers and video screens. At least a dozen people bustled about, monitoring stations and moving between screens, pulling out files and consulting with one another. I stared, frozen a moment, trying to process what I was seeing.

  It was some kind of underground operation. And it was organized.

  The thing was, I didn’t recognize any of it—it wasn’t CIA, or FBI, or Interpol. It didn’t have the look of Caliga. I didn’t see any official uniforms or badges or seals, nothing to suggest this was local Asian police or Intelligence . . .

  I had no clue what I was seeing, but one thing I knew for sure: I had to get out of there. I turned to slip away, and walked straight into a massive, immovable object: the hard chest of a security guard.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “Well. What are you doing here?” the guard said with a toothy smile, speaking in perfect English.

  My mouth went dry. Not good.

  He stood me up from my crouched position and pushed me forward, into the room. “Look what I found,” he announced, and everyone’s heads turned our way.

  I briefly considered fighting my way out of there. But it was too late. Too many armed men. Still, I had to try—

  Felix stepped forward, staring at me with wide eyes. “Cat! How did you—” He noted my fighting posture, I’m sure, because he put his hands out in a calming gesture. “Relax,” he said. “It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re not the bad guys.”

  “Then who are you?” I hissed. I looked around me. “What is this?”

  Felix glanced at someone beside him, a balding man he’d been speaking to when I’d been pushed in by the security guard. The man shrugged. “Go ahead. You have to tell her.”

  Felix worked his jaw. “It wasn’t supposed to happen until after this job. If at all,” he said to the man in a commanding tone that was very un-Felix-like.

  The man shrugged. “Well, she’s here now. You can’t pretend she hasn’t seen this. They’ll understand.”

  “Who will understand?” I demanded.

  Felix looked back at me, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. “Okay. But what I’m about to tell you—it’s highly classified. You cannot discuss it with anyone. Breaching that promise will mean your immediate cancellation as a candidate.”

  “Candidate? What the hell are you talking about, Felix?”

  “Cat—just promise. The secrecy. Okay?”

  “Fine. I won’t tell anyone. Now, please, will you—”

  “Come with me.”

  He pulled me by the arm and led me into a small inner office, away from the workings of the control room. He indicated a swiveling leather chair and took a seat behind a desk.

  Once I was seated, he rubbed the side of his face and watched me carefully. “Why did you follow me?” he asked. “I didn’t think you’d suspected anything.”

  I crossed my arms. “The pink wig, Felix. I didn’t tell Templeton about that part of the job. I didn’t tell anyone about that. The only way you could have known about it was if you had been following me.”

  Various emotions flashed across his face as he registered this. He finally said, “Oh shit.” He was clearly annoyed at himself.

  “So that’s my story. What’s yours?” I said, folding my arms, ready to hear. I was still guarded, but not quite as on edge. There was nothing about him that betrayed danger—at least not for now. My hackles were down. The fear, however, had been replaced by an industrial-grade curiosity. What on earth was going on here?

  “I am actually a member of an organization called the Global Protection League. We call ourselves simply the League. I am their representative. And we have been watching you for a while.”

  I struggled to maintain a neutral expression. Felix went on to explain that the League was an independent international organization, with a mandate to protect world order and stop any threats to that.

  “Like a military black ops?” I asked, trying to make sense of it all.

  “Kind of, but not associated with a single nation.”

  “Like the UN?”

  “Yes, only a little more—covert.”

  “Or a lot more covert,” I said. I’d never heard of the League, and there was no way it was public knowledge. “What’s all this?” I waved my hand, indicating the room we occupied and the control room we’d just left.

  “It’s Station Q—one of our nerve centers. There are many such places, outposts and safe houses like this one, all over the globe.”

  “And everybody who works here works for the League?”

  “Well, yes. But there are various branches. Like—the Department of Antiquities. The DOA?”

  I almost choked. He was talking about the covert organization Esmerelda had been working for. “They’re part of the League?”

  He gave me a wry look. “Didn’t you wonder what they were a department of?”

  I scowled. “So when were you planning to tell me? And—what do you mean, you’ve been watching me for a while?” I suddenly had a spasm of panic. “Are you investigating me? Am I considered one of the threats?”

  “Not quite.” He laughed a little, then his face became serious again. “No, the reason why we’re monitoring you, Cat, why you are a person of interest to us, is because we want you to work for us.”

  This time I couldn’t maintain my composure. My mouth dropped open.

  “Well, I should say—we’re considering you,” Felix added quickly. “There’s a little bit of dissension on the board. They’re not sure if you’re trustworthy enough, if your motives are honorable enough.”

  I pressed my lips together. Felix continued, “We’ve been monitoring your skills through this job. I wasn’t supposed to reveal the truth to you quite this early. You’re not supposed to know yet.”

  “And the fact that you were kidnapped by Caliga in Yorkshire? Was that all part of your plan?” I raised an eyebrow.

  Here, he blushed through to his ears. “Er, no. That wasn’t exactly part of the plan. I’m a recruiter. Not a field agent, per se.”

  He then went on to describe the various missions the League was involved in. All the ways they were monitoring, and neutralizing, global threats. Their work was extensive. And it was good.

  “How do I know what you’re telling me is the truth?” I asked.

  “You need proof ?”

  “I’m afraid so.” I’d been burned in the past by trusting too quickly. After Brooke I had promised myself I’d be more careful. “How do I know this isn’t a mess of lies to cover something else up?”

  “Fair enough,” he said. He then showed me files. Documents of cases they’d been involved in. Videos of surveillance missions and past operations. There were corroborating documents, and files containing highly sensitive information. I spent a long time poring over everything he showed me. It all checked out. They were the real deal.

  I said nothing for a moment, churning it all through. I looked down at my hands.

  Felix kept speaking. “I’ve been in close communication with the board, with my supervisors. And they’ve said if you can pull off the Lionheart heist and secure the ring successfully—well, that’s when they wanted me to reveal the truth to you and invite you to join us.”

  I looked up at him. A final test.

  Felix leaned forward, closer to me. His voice lowered. “If you joined us, Cat, it would be an opportunity to use your skills for real good.”

  His words were unnecessary. I had already been having the exact same thought.

  If I wanted it, this would be my way to a more honorable life. I could still keep doing what I was good at—but for the other side. I thought
about my mother, the image of her lying in that hospital bed. Although I hadn’t pulled the trigger, I might as well have. I was on that side. I was contributing to that culture. But this way—with Felix and the League—I actually had a shot at making the world a better place. I could be a real modern-day Robin Hood, not just a pretender.

  And suddenly, I wanted it. I could taste it. I could see a way out. One I needed more than I cared to admit.

  “It all hinges on this job, Cat. If you can do it, if you can pull it off, my case to admit you is going to be rock-solid. They will definitely extend an invitation. You rescued me and retrieved the target. They will want you for sure.”

  “And if I can’t do it? If I fail?”

  “Well . . .” He looked down at his feet, and the Felix I knew—the awkward and earnest kid—was back. “You have to understand, the stuff we deal with is incredibly sensitive. They have to be assured of getting the best people. They want the most competent, with minimal chances of failure. They’ve got a short list of candidates right now. If you fail, they’ll go with someone else.”

  “Does Jack know?” I asked. “He’s your brother, after all.”

  “No. Jack doesn’t know. And he can’t know. We have to keep very tight limits on who knows.”

  I paged through the files again, and came upon a document about Caliga. I stopped.

  Felix glanced down to see the page I was frowning over. “Yes,” he said. “We need to talk about Caliga.”

  “They have all three Gifts now,” I said.

  “They do,” he said, voice grim. “The League is very concerned. The trouble isn’t that there actually is power contained in the Gifts, but because now Caliga will consider themselves unstoppable, and will put into play whatever evil plans they have.”

  I nodded. “Is this one of the reasons stealing the Lionheart is my test?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, but where is the Fabergé?” I asked.

  “We don’t know.”

  “So all I can do now is take the Lionheart Ring.”

  “Doing that will mess with their plans enough while we’re still searching for the Fabergé.”

  I tugged on my earlobe, thinking it through. Would I be able to do it? I had never dreamed of having an opportunity like this. It wasn’t going to be easy.

  But it could be my chance to change . . . everything.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Felix and I took the train back from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. During the three-hour journey, through the wee hours of the night, we did very little talking. The only time we spoke was to create our cover story. We needed something credible to explain both our disappearances. We wouldn’t be able to tell them the truth; we were both sworn to secrecy.

  The rest of the time I was lost in thought, staring out the window into the inky blackness of the Malaysian countryside at night.

  A band of chalky sky began to lighten the horizon as we grew closer to Singapore. Morning was on its way.

  When we returned to Raffles, the others were breakfasting on eggs and toast points and mimosas on the sunny veranda of the hotel, lush lawns spread out before them. The exotic calls of tropical birds filled the air.

  “There you are!” Templeton said, the minute I strolled onto the veranda. “Where did you disappear off to last night?” He then looked at me more intently and frowned. “Catherine, you look exhausted. Like you didn’t sleep a wink.”

  I picked up a croissant from a basket on the table. “Do I?” I nibbled innocently on the croissant. I didn’t want to resort to our cover story unless we had to.

  Jack looked at me. “You do, in fact.”

  Templeton dipped a spoon into a soft-boiled egg and watched me thoughtfully. Ethan looked up from his plate of eggs and narrowed his eyes a little. And then he took a quick sideways glance at Jack, sizing him up.

  Jack sipped his coffee and briefly peered at Ethan when he wasn’t looking. The tension was thicker than the marmalade resting on the breakfast table.

  It hit me, then, what they each must have thought. How this looked. Did Ethan suspect I’d been up all night with Jack? And Jack—did he think I had been up all night with Ethan?

  I cringed. Okay, fine. I had no choice.

  “All right, I’ll tell you. But I don’t want you to worry, okay?” I said. “When I went to the restroom last night I got another dizzy spell. I must have passed out as I left the restroom, because Felix found me when he came back through the hotel lobby to grab his wallet. He insisted on taking me to the hospital, and we went straight there. I didn’t want to worry any of you so I made Felix promise not to say anything.”

  Felix, standing at my side, chimed in at this point. “It was a long wait but I stayed with her while they checked her out thoroughly. The doctor said everything was fine.”

  “Felix brought me back to the hotel safely,” I said. “And here we are.”

  There was silence for a moment. “Well, I’m glad to hear nothing is wrong,” Templeton said, looking concerned. “But are you going to be quite all right to continue today, Petal?”

  “Of course,” I said, waving a dismissive hand.

  “It sounds like you need to rest,” Jack said. “I don’t think you’re up to anything strenuous today, Cat.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” I said. “I told you I’m fine.”

  I was beginning to regret the cover story we’d concocted.

  “You’re anything but fine,” Jack said.

  “The problem is,” Ethan began, “we really can’t afford a day off.”

  Jack whipped his head to face Ethan. “You would risk her health for this job?”

  “Montgomery is a pro,” Ethan said between his teeth. “If she says she’s fine, I say we trust her on that.”

  At that moment, I heard a familiar voice behind me. “Well, isn’t this lovely?”

  I turned. “Gladys!”

  “That was quite a journey,” she said, flopping into a chair and dropping her carry-on bag. A bellboy had followed her out, carrying her other luggage. “Shall I take the rest of your bags to your room, ma’am?” he asked.

  “That would be wonderful, thank you.”

  I smiled; the interruption was highly welcome. And having Gladys here gave me a warm and cozy feeling—she always had that effect. Plus, having my hacker on site made me feel better when we were heading into a complicated job. And everything about this job was going to be complicated.

  Jack eventually relented and stopped pushing for me to take a day off—he was outnumbered anyway. We got down to business.

  Today, we were casing the Marina Bay Sands. We needed to lay the groundwork for the heist. And it was not going to be easy. We knew the Lionheart Ring was secured somewhere within the complex. Today we needed to find out exactly where.

  Two hours later, I was walking through the lobby of the Marina Bay Sands. My first stop was in the shopping arcade, in a swimsuit store, to buy a bikini. I tried not to scowl as I paid for the tiny garment. I resented that this would be my uniform for this segment of the job.

  When we had been devising this plan, we knew Chips Walker liked to linger by the SkyPark pool in the late-morning hours before lunch.

  “So, Cat, you’re also going to hang out by the pool,” Ethan had said.

  “Sure. I can pretend to be working at the poolside bar,” I had suggested.

  “Nope, that’s not going to work,” Jack had said. It wasn’t a big enough staff, he explained. Other staff members would be suspicious, and as a new hire I’d have to actually show myself to be a good worker. I’d be too busy running drinks to watch Walker properly. I needed something with more freedom of movement.

  “Fine. I can be a security guard.”

  “Sorry, darling,” Templeton had said. “Singapore is rather old school. They don’t hire women for that role.”

  “Montgomery, you’re going to be the socialite in the bikini,” Ethan said. He went on to explain that while I kept Walker distracted, Ethan would steal
the man’s phone, smuggle it to Gladys so she could download all his data, then slip it back to him unnoticed.

  “The key is going to be keeping his interest,” Jack said. “If you know what I mean.”

  “What?” I said, eyes wide. “No. I’m no good at that role. I can’t do the femme fatale thing. I’ll mess it up. Brooke is good at that kind of thing—not me.”

  “Yes, well, Brooke isn’t here. And she isn’t on our side, even if she were. So you are it, my dear,” Templeton said.

  I dug my nails into my palms. “Fine. But when we do the actual job, I want to do the good stuff.” I scowled. “So can anyone tell me how I’m supposed to capture this guy’s attention?”

  “Montgomery, you won’t have to do anything in particular to keep his interest. If you turn up in a bikini, you’ll have him hooked,” Ethan said. “Trust me.”

  I looked at him sharply, then immediately blushed. The others swiveled toward him, too, and Templeton raised an eyebrow. Ethan shrugged, showing no shame. “It’s true,” he said. My chest felt warm and bubbly.

  After buying the bikini I headed to the elevator bank. The SkyPark pool and lounge area was only open to guests so I would need to finagle a key card somehow. I walked on to a crowded elevator, and sized up the most likely mark. He revealed himself almost immediately: a young man in his twenties, cocky, wearing a Hugo Boss suit, distracted and yammering on his cell phone. I assessed the level of fitness he possessed under that suit and frowned slightly; he was maybe a little too strong for my liking. He was possibly into martial arts, judging from the posture. But as he’d entered the elevator he’d bumped into someone, which showed his lack of physical awareness.

  Then he pushed the button for floor seventeen and neglected to ask anyone else which floor they needed. Perfect. Totally oblivious of other people.

  He would work. He was my best candidate.

  I let the elevator ride up a few floors, then, at the next stop, I readied myself. I uttered a breathless “Oh wait—this is my floor!” at the last second, and jostled forward. I bumped into him, fairly hard, and knocked him forward a bit. I spun and clutched on to him to prevent him from falling into me completely, and as I did so I slipped a hand into his breast pocket and pulled out his room key.