A Brilliant Deception (21 page)

One step at a time. What I needed to do now was hold Walker’s attention just a little longer, while Gladys got the data we badly needed.

E
than had Walker’s phone tucked in his jacket pocket. He moved quickly through the back hallways of the resort and down the service elevator, to the suite where Gladys and Templeton were eagerly awaiting him.

Cat had been amazing, he thought as he strode down a long corridor. Impressive. Professional. And . . . she had looked just as good in that bikini as he’d imagined.

“Here it is,” he said, handing the phone to Gladys once Templeton had granted him entrance. The hotel suite was luxurious: sleek and modern furnishings, thick pile carpet, incredible view over the Singapore waterfront.

Templeton strode back to the other room where he was assisting Felix with his disguise—putting the finishing touches on his security guard uniform. In spite of Templeton’s fussing, it was an easy disguise to pull off. There were hundreds of guards, nobody knew them all.

Felix’s task was to go to the area where the Lionheart Ring was being held—once Gladys had figured out which one it was—and take photographs of the security features that protected it. They were keeping themselves busy with the uniform, but really, they were in a holding pattern, too.

Ethan waited, pacing, while Gladys hacked in and downloaded all the information she could get. “This should take me less than fifteen minutes,” she said. Ethan checked his watch. It was everything he could do not to jump right out of his skin. He tried not to think about Cat, left alone in that pool with the ultra-sleazy Chips Walker. The sooner he could get back to her, the sooner she could make her getaway. But he knew they had to do the job properly.

Ethan paced over to the window. He squinted out, gazing over the skyline, and took a few deep breaths.

He thought back to the morning, when Cat had suddenly appeared at breakfast. That moment when he’d thought she’d spent the night with Jack . . . that had not been a good moment. He’d felt relieved about the hospital, and then immediately guilty about that. The fact she’d spent the night in an emergency department should not have made him feel better.

A tight feeling centered in Ethan’s chest. This was exactly why he’d been reluctant to work with Cat again, to join her team. The idea of competing with Jack Barlow for her affections made him want to snarl. The easier thing to do would be to stop caring, stop even trying to compete.

But how could he stop himself from wanting to be near her? Ever since their ride on the Orient Express, he had been having difficulty thinking of anything else. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Just as toxic, just as destructive.

He’d been trying to keep her at arm’s length since then, attempting to maintain professional boundaries, but he wasn’t sure how successful he’d been. Ethan needed to find a way to walk away. He hated wondering where Cat’s heart belonged. Ever since he’d turned his life around, years ago, his impulse had always been to bail before his heart could be broken again. Always be the one to do the leaving and the rejecting. Impossible to get hurt that way.

He glanced at his watch again. Gladys should be finishing any second.

“Oh dear,” Gladys said, staring at her screen.

“What?”

“A small hitch, dear. Nothing dreadful. There’s an extra security layer. It’ll take me a few minutes to get through . . .”

Ethan squeezed his fists. More time for Cat to be in a highly vulnerable position. He took a deep breath. She would be fine; Cat could handle herself. And there was no real danger.

Right?

J
ack stood in the heart of the security control room. He was disguised as an insurance underwriter, which meant the brownest, most ordinary suit on the planet, steel-rimmed glasses, and a plain briefcase full of files.

Jack was connected to the rest of the team through their earpieces. He knew Cat and Ethan had succeeded in grabbing Walker’s cell phone, and that Gladys was, at that moment, downloading the billionaire’s passwords and data. Everyone else was doing his or her part; now he needed to do his.

He stood before the chief of security and channeled his driest, most monotone voice. “We received a report that you’ve upgraded the system,” Jack said to the security man. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. “In order to measure the risk exposure and recalculate the premiums, we need to know about the increased measures. I need to know about the security upgrades.”

Jack waited, holding his breath, keeping his features smooth. He desperately needed this man to comply. The team needed this information—without it, they wouldn’t know exactly where the Lionheart was being held, and they wouldn’t have nearly enough detail on the security features that protected it. Gladys had attempted to obtain the information online, but the details about the upgrades hadn’t been recorded in the system yet. Jack would need to get that intel in person.

The chief of security narrowed his eyes at Jack. “I haven’t heard anything about this. I’m going to call your head office for verification.”

“By all means,” Jack said, keeping a level gaze and handing the man his business card with a phone number printed on it.

The security man dialed and put the phone to his ear. Once the call connected, Jack overheard a British voice coming through the receiver. “Eastern Shield Insurance, Albert Max speaking, how can I help you?”

Jack kept his breathing steady. He knew Gladys had intercepted and redirected the call; this was Templeton speaking.

The security chief exchanged a few short sentences of inquiry with Templeton and glanced over at Jack. The man listened, nodded, and finally hung up. “You check out. Okay, what do you need to know?”

A few minutes later, Jack was poring over paper files that contained details on the security systems. And though he wanted the details, he was also looking to confirm the exact location of the Lionheart. As he took photographs with the spy camera located in his tie clip, he experienced a thrill along the back of his neck. See, he could do the James Bond thing.

He immediately chastised himself for being so ridiculous.
Head in the game, Barlow.

It quickly became obvious where the Lionheart was likely being held. There was one vault with much more security than the others. That had to be it.

“I have to make a quick phone call to the head office,” Jack said to the security man, and stood. “And I’m going to get more coffee.”

He moved to the corner of the room, by the coffee machine, and put his phone to his ear, pretending to make a call. “Okay, it’s in the vault in the Singapura Wing, top floor of the middle tower. I think,” he whispered, knowing the earpiece would pick up his words. He looked back at the chief of security, who was engrossed in a conversation with one of his managers.

“Right, Jack, got it. Singapura Wing,” Gladys said.

“Felix, you got that?” Jack said. “Go there, get your photos, and get out.” Jack knew Felix needed to go in person to the vault for on-the-ground assessment of the security measures.

Then Ethan’s voice came on the line. “Barlow, are you sure that’s the one?”

Jack exhaled through his nose. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Because you said ‘I think’ . . .”

He closed his eyes. Fine. He would try to get further confirmation. “Felix, just go. I’ll try to confirm.”

He poured a cup of stale coffee, then returned to the security chief. “Right, they’re wondering, in particular, about the upgrades to this”—he looked down at the files and ran his finger down the page, pretending to look for the name—“this vault. In the Singapura Wing. Can you tell me what you’ve got there right now?”

The security chief gave him an immovable stare. “Valuables.”

Jack tried for a smile. “Obviously. But, for insurance purposes, we need to know the nature of those valuables. The replacement cost, for starters.”

The security chief, at that moment, looked up toward the door. Someone new had entered the office. Jack’s eyes flicked in the same direction, and his chest collapsed inward.

It was someone Jack recognized, and it was about the last person he wanted to see.

Hendrickx.
Interpol.

Jack quickly pretended to drop his file, letting the pages fall so he could crouch down to the ground and stay hidden, collecting his papers. The security chief walked away, in Hendrickx’s direction.

Jack kept his head down, but swiveled his eyes up, to see if Hendrickx had spotted him. He was speaking with one of the managers at a work station; there was no sign he’d seen Jack.

Jack’s stomach flipped over. He had to get out of there. But he also needed to warn everybody else. He pretended to make another phone call, but really he was speaking into his earpiece, communicating with everyone. “Big problem,” he said in a low voice. “Hendrickx is here. He just walked in.”

“
What?
” Templeton said with alarm.

“Oh dear,” said Gladys. “I’m finishing up. I have everything off Walker’s phone now.”

“I’ll run the phone back up to the pool right now,” Ethan said.

There was quiet on the line after that.

“Cat?” Jack said. There was nothing, only some faint crackling. “Cat, answer! You need to get out of there.” They all knew Cat was still up at the pool, keeping Walker distracted.

Jack dared another glance over to Hendrickx, who was in heated conversation with the security chief. They were standing close enough that Jack could hear a few words. And what he heard was Hendrickx asking the chief of security for the current location of Chips Walker.

The security man shrugged. He called out to the room, in general, “Anyone know where Walker is?”

Shit
. Hendrickx was looking for Walker? If he found him, he’d find Cat, too. And that would be bad.

A woman seated in front of a bank of security cameras said, “Yeah, I think I saw him up at the pool a little while ago.” She squinted at the screens. “There he is—I can see him there now.”

Hendrickx abruptly turned and stalked out, clearly on a mission. Jack’s stomach dropped.

“Cat,” he whispered into his earpiece. “Pick
up
. Do you copy? You have to get out of there. Hendrickx is on his way to you.”

There was nothing but static.

B
rilliant sunlight glanced off the pool’s surface and into my eyes as I laughed at yet another of Walker’s horrible jokes. I subtly waded two steps away from him—and his wandering hands. For the past fifteen minutes I’d been putting on an excellent show, flirting and keeping him very interested. It was a fine line I walked, between holding his attention . . . and encouraging him to sweep me straight up to his penthouse suite. At the same time, I was also trying to keep from being drowned by the kids who were playing right next to us.

Only a few minutes ago, one kid had taken a flying leap into the pool, cannonball-style. He’d splashed water all over me, including directly into my left ear, where my earpiece was inserted. I couldn’t hear a thing through it. I hoped it would come back to life soon.

In the meantime, I needed to focus on keeping Walker from returning to his deck chair and retrieving his things. And subsequently discovering his cell phone was missing.

Last I’d heard Ethan and Gladys had almost finished downloading everything. It wouldn’t be long now. At least that was what I was praying for. The way Walker was eyeing me hungrily, it was going to be difficult enough, even now, to discreetly slip away.

And then, things got a whole lot worse, because Hendrickx appeared.

I watched in horror as the tall, red-haired Interpol agent entered the pool area, scanning the crowd, looking for someone. Panic spasmed through my chest. I knew exactly who he was looking for. Me.

I lunged for my sunglasses, sitting on the edge of the pool, and pushed them on my face. It was a scanty disguise, but it was a start. I turned my face partially away.

I moved in the water so a palm tree was in the middle of the sight line between us. And then, I saw him lock on to a target and start moving. He was beelining for Walker. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

Hendrickx reached the edge of the pool where Walker floated. He looked directly at the man. “Sir, we need to talk.”

I let my eyes flick around, searching. Where was Ethan? I needed to get away. But I needed to get that cell phone back in position even more. If Walker detected its absence, he’d be suspicious and change all his passwords and stored information. Everything we’d done today would have been wasted effort.

No, we had to get it back to him without either Walker or Hendrickx seeing it happen. But I was trapped in the pool, and Ethan was nowhere to be seen.

My earpiece crackled to life. “Cat—come in! . . . urgent!” I could make out Jack’s voice. “Hendrickx . . . on his way . . . pool . . . looking for Walker . . .”

I bent my head down and spoke quietly. “I know. He’s already here.”

At that moment Ethan burst out of a service stairwell, looking out of breath and flushed—which, for him, meant he’d run hell for leather to get here. But he was too far away.

His eyes went immediately to Hendrickx. Concerned, but not surprised. He’d known. Which made sense.
His
earpiece hadn’t been compromised by water.

Nothing had changed. We still needed to get Walker’s phone smuggled back to him. This was going to take some fancy footwork.

While Walker was distracted, speaking with Hendrickx, I slipped out of the water. Hendrickx’s gaze didn’t turn in my direction; he was too focused on his urgent conversation with Walker. A curious urge overtook me. What were they discussing anyway?

I climbed nimbly from the pool and pulled on my large sunhat and a wrap. I withdrew a magazine from my bag and opened it, covering the rest of my face.

“Cat! . . . have to get out of there!” came the crackly directive from Jack.

“No. I need to hear what he’s going to say,” I said quietly. “I need to know how much of this op is compromised.” I glanced at Ethan, who was hovering by the bar, watching me uncertainly. He was ready to bolt. He was ready to take me with him.

Walker climbed out of the pool, still deep in conversation with Hendrickx, and grabbed a towel. Mercifully, he seemed to have forgotten about me. In fact, both men were paying me absolutely zero attention. Walker sat back on his lounge chair and Hendrickx hovered nearby, still speaking.

Ethan grabbed a tray of drinks from the bar and walked toward me with it. I knew he must have had the cell phone. “I can’t get close enough now,” Ethan said in a low voice when he reached me, holding out the tray. I took two of the frosty cocktails.

My eyes, behind the sunglasses, flicked to Hendrickx and Walker. “It’s okay—I can. Give it to me.”

“We should just go.”

“I can do it.”

He stared into my eyes another moment, and I stared back at him over the rims of my sunglasses. He must have seen the look of determination in my gaze. Quick as silver, he slipped me the phone. I tucked it into the folds of my wrap. Ethan straightened and strode away.

A loud group of tourists moved away then, which allowed me to hear some of the conversation between Hendrickx and Walker.

“Fine. I will have some people look into it,” Walker was saying.

Hendrickx scowled at this. “That’s not a particularly satisfactory answer,” he said. “We should really discuss this in private.”

“No, I’m perfectly happy here.”

Hendrickx’s jaw flexed. “Very well. I am concerned about the contents of your vault.”

“Concerned? In what way?”

“Concerned that they may include a stolen item.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Hendrickx paused, then spoke calmly but with authority. “I’m asking you to kindly allow me to inspect the vault.”

“Do you have a warrant?”

Hendrickx hesitated, then produced a piece of paper. Walker inspected it. “This is an application for a warrant. Not an actual warrant.”

Hendrickx’s face flushed and my eyebrows raised momentarily. It was unlike Hendrickx to be so sloppy. He must have been truly desperate. I was also surprised at Walker’s acumen, his resistance to being cowed by an aggressive Interpol agent. Perhaps Walker wasn’t quite as boorish as he appeared. He wasn’t an idiot. You didn’t get to the position he did by being stupid. Cocky, maybe, but not stupid.

“Come back with a proper warrant and I will be happy to show you the contents of the vault,” Walker said with an easy smile. Hendrickx had to know there would be no more discussion on the topic. He stalked away, casting not a glance in my direction.

Once he was gone, and well out of sight, I stood from my lounge chair and strolled back over to Walker, carrying the two cocktail glasses. “That didn’t look like a fun chat,” I said. “Here.” I held out a chilled drink for him, flashing a warm smile. “You look like you could use this.”

I held my breath. Was this going to be too much, too soon? He didn’t really know me, after all. Was I being too pushy?

Walker looked deep in thought, considering Hendrickx’s words, perhaps.

He turned to me, and my stomach flipped. But then, a small smile curled his lips. “That is exactly what I need.” He took the glass.

“Everything all right?” I asked as he drank.

He nodded and crunched ice cubes. “Fine. I have something new to deal with. But I’ll tackle it tomorrow. For now, I have much more interesting things to attend to . . .” He winked and clamped that predatory look on me again. I smiled and felt the phone under the fold of my wrap. I prayed I would have a window of opportunity soon.

There was a loud crash behind us. A tray of drinks had been dropped to the pool deck. Walker’s head turned and in that instant I leaned down and slid the phone on the ground under his lounge chair.

“Oh, is this your phone?” I said, with a surprised, helpful tone.
Channel your inner Girl Scout, Cat.
“It was under the chair.” I plucked the phone from the ground and held it up for him.

This was the moment of truth.

He looked at it, and looked at me. “Indeed, that
is
my phone,” he said. And then he smiled. His tone told me everything as he said, “Why, thank you, gorgeous.”

Not even a little bit suspicious.

I flashed him a coy expression and let him take the phone out of my hand, his fingers brushing mine as he did so.

Now I needed an exit strategy. I wasn’t quite in the clear; it was all in the finish. I needed to get out of there without raising even a hair of suspicion. If he decided to get cautious and change his data, we’d be back to square one.

“Listen, I have an appointment at the spa,” I said. “A girl has to take care of business, you know?” I pulled out a card and wrote a number on it. “But if you like, you could call me later.”

It was a fake number, naturally.

My excuse seemed acceptable to him, and my bold offer seemed to appease his ego. “I’m playing in a poker tournament tonight,” he said, “and I plan to celebrate my winnings afterward. I need to see you there.” There was no question what he meant by his plan to “celebrate.” He handed me an invitation and I promised to be there. I gathered my things and strolled away from the pool, commanding myself to walk slowly. Inside, I was jumping out of my skin with the feeling of triumph—
we had done it.

Once I was out and safely within the elevator, I slumped against the wall and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

It didn’t last long, of course, because I now knew we had a very big problem. We were going to have to do the job much sooner than we’d planned.

We were going to have to do it tonight.