Chapter 1

Silver Lake, New York

It was a lovely spring day. Swans dominated the picturesque pond on the west lawns, wild flowers were just beginning to crop in the meadows to the south, and Kat Bishop sat inside the library eavesdropping on her best friend's phone conversation. Some people might be affronted at such a decay of morality and then, ultimately, what the world was coming to in general, but W.W. Hale the Fifth didn't mind and, in fact, openly encouraged this breach of privacy. He was the one who had passed the headphones over after all.

They sat at one end of a massive oak table, intricately carved with baroque patterns and curling leaves, which was covered in unrolled blueprints, opened books, letters, notes and the occasional scribble. On the other end of the table, Simon was set up with three computers, a locational imaging and drafting device, a printer, and several beeping machines that Kat couldn't place as he tapped at his keyboard mercilessly.

Simply put, it had become central command of their operations.

Hale had draped himself over his chair, his heels perched on the edge of the table, affecting his nonchalant, easily-bored rich boy act, which was hardly an act at all. When he caught Kat staring, he broke out his best knee-weakening smile and winked at her. She scowled in response, but there was no heat in it. She tapped her headphones and raised an eyebrow. Get on with it. His smile just widened, Spoil sport.

At the other end of the table, oblivious to this silent conversation, was Simon. Simon was the Smartest Guy In The Room, and it didn't even matter if that room was the Mensa International Committee or even the Nobel Foundation Chair Room. This might lead an outsider to wonder why he had given his life to crime, instead of saving the world, or curing cancer, or even being the next Steve Jobs. But that outsider clearly didn't understand family. He quickly scrawled on a yellow legal pad and held it aloft for Kat and Hale to read. "Five more minutes. Ask about the futures tradings." Futures tradings was underlined twice and, as if that wasn't good enough, he pointed to it with his pen and his pale face pinched to emphasize his point.

Hale simply waved him off, saying into the phone, "Yes, yes. A million is fine for small time investors, I suppose. But if the yields are as high as you say, I'd be interested in a more substantial investment."

Through her headphones, Kat was able to listen to the other side of the conversation with crystal clarity as the agent from Peruzzia & Sons Securities breathed in sharply and chuckled nervously, before saying that he wasn't sure if they'd be able to do an investment on a larger scale for a first time client.

Hale frowned at this and shot Kat another glance, but he was surprised to see that she was grinning from ear to ear. Simon gave a silent go ahead, and Kat motioned him to wrap it up. Despite his apparent confusion, he told the agent that he'd liquidate some assets and move some investments around, before he hung up.

Once the call was disconnected, Kat took off her headphones and walked around the table to look over Simon's shoulder. "You got what we needed?"

"Boys and girls, we're in."

She patted her computer genius on the back. "Good job, Simon."

Hale had moved around the table as well to look down at the computer screen, but the numbers and codes that scrolled rapidly across it were meaningless to anyone but Simon. He settled for wrapping his arm around Kat's waist and pulling her back against him. "I don't see what you're both so excited about. This isn't a Ponzi."

Kat lifted an eyebrow at him, "Were you in the same room as us?"

"He topped out the investment," Hale said with a shrug. "If Peruzzia was running a scam, why wouldn't they take all the money they could get?"

"Normally, you'd be right," Simon said in his lecturing voice. "But this isn't a short con. In a Ponzi scheme, they need to give you returns so that you reinvest."

Kat nodded, "It cancels the mark's doubt. After they receive the first giant return, they're willing to invest even more in it because now they think it's a sure thing. It even worked on you, didn't it?"

Hale shook his head, grinning, "See? This is why I leave investments to other people and stick to crime. Anything else is too dangerous."

"Assuming the Bagshaws haven't mucked up their responsibility, when you hand over the money tomorrow, we'll be able to track the cash back to the mother lode. And—"

"One more win for us," Angus interrupted as he walked into the library.

"And one more lose for the bad guys," Hamish finished, walking in after him.

"Well," Angus hedged. "The badder guys." The brothers beamed identical smiles. "And what's this about 'mucking up'?"

"Yeah, one would think you could have a bit more faith in us, Kat," Hamish scolded.

"Nothing but faith, boys," Kat said as she disentangled herself from Hale's arms. "But don't think I've forgotten Johannesburg."

"Bad luck is all."

"Wasn't exactly our fault."

Kat rolled her eyes and attempted to scowl, but honestly her heart wasn't in it. Ever since the Henley, even someone with a pessimistic (she would argue realistic) nature like Kat Bishop had to admit that life was going pretty well. Oh, it was true that she didn't go back to Colgan and start up her finer education again and it was also true that Arturo Taccone was still out there—although wallowing in an English prison—no doubt still bent on revenge, but these were just minor details when compared with the fact that she was a part of the family again.

After celebrating the success of the Henley, everyone seemed to find their own way to celebrate. Gabrielle had gone off to Switzerland, just as she'd promised Sven, Artur, Viktor and Ulf she would and spent the rest of the winter luxuriating in ski resorts and plucking the occasional pocket. Simon went to Florida and was an unofficial consultant for his father. The Bagshaw brothers pulled a particularly inspired version of Rooster in the Hen House, but-after a talk with Uncle Eddie behind closed doors-ended up giving all the cash to a secluded convent in northern France.

And Hale took Kat and her father to Algiers, not for a job, but a much needed vacation and some family time. Kat could tell that Hale was trying to make up for his own parents' continual absence with her own family, not that she minded, and by the end of the vacation Bobby Bishop had all but forgotten that the monkey had not been properly trained at the time.

But once snow began to melt in earnest, Spring found all six members of the Henley crew back at Hale's mansion estate in rural New York. They never discussed it, no phone calls were made, but none were needed. It was as though all of them simply knew that it was going to happen. For better or worse, they truly were a team now. And their current target, a crooked securities firm, wouldn't know what hit it.

It had been a hard sale for a group that was mainly used to short cons, art heists, and jewelry thefts, but Simon had promised them the money was there, and as he kept adding zeroes to the end of their possible take, it became something that no one wanted to pass up. And since what Peruzzia was doing was illegal, Kat's crew could rob them blind, leak the story to the press, and the fraudulent firm would be brought down before you could even say "United States Securities and Trades Commission."

Hale nudged her with his elbow and Kat blinked, brought suddenly out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Way to make a man feel unimportant, Kitty Kat."

"Show me a man and I'll make sure he knows how important he is, Angus."

"Ouch," Hale said, under his breath.

Angus just rolled his eyes, "I asked, fearless leader, if Gabrielle was in contact."

Simon frowned at his watch, "She was supposed to check in an hour ago." He looked worried.

Hamish said, "Don't think she's met Pete Tong, do ya?"

Kat waved off his concern. "No, I'm sure she's fine. But go ahead and start a track on her phone, Simon. Better safe than sorry."

"No need, Cousin," she heard behind her, as the door slammed shut. Gabrielle stood in the doorway, leggy and beautiful as always, but her eyes flashed with regret and standing on either side of her were two people that Kat felt she could go the rest of her life without ever seeing again. "And I think we're all about to be a lot sorrier."

It was then that Kat noticed the handcuffs.

End of chapter notes:
* The Ponzi scheme is a real con that has been perpetrated countless times for at least the last two hundred years. In 2009, Bernard Madoff was convicted for pulling a Ponzi scheme to the tune of $68 billion.
* Hamish was using Cockney Rhyming Slang. Pete Tong = Gone wrong. So "Don't think she's met Pete Tong, do ya?" means "Do you think something's gone wrong?" The Bagshaw brothers will probably use a lot of rhyming slang throughout this story.