Simon nodded. “So true.”
“The bad news is time. We’ve got to get the prototype and design back now,” Kat said.
“Why?” Angus asked.
“Because Hale Industries is dangerously low on working capital,” Gabrielle said. “The return on investment of the last five products has been less than one percent, and without a major influx of cash from subcontracts and the buzz that a hot new product can bring, the share price is going to go through the basement.”
Everyone stared at her.
“What?” Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. “I’ve conned a lot of MBAs. So Garrett plans to sell the Genesis prototype and its blueprints to the competition, make a fortune, and destroy Hale’s family all in one blow?”
“Two birds,” Hamish started.
“One stone,” Angus finished.
“If I didn’t hate this guy so much, I might kind of idolize him,” Hamish said. “Is that wrong?”
No one answered.
“The good news is that we know what he’s doing now—what his endgame is.” Suddenly the car was too stuffy. Kat wanted to open a window. “Yesterday, Gab and Hale and I followed Garrett to his meeting with the buyer. Something he said led us to believe that he has stashed the prototype and plans in a safety deposit box.” She took a deep breath. “At the Superior Bank of Manhattan.”
Angus’s face broke into a wide grin. “I’m sorry, Kitty, but I thought you said it was in the Superior Bank of Manhattan.”
“I did,” Kat told him, but she didn’t exactly feel like smiling back.
“The Superior Bank of Manhattan?” Simon said. “The Superior Bank of Manhattan? The Superior Bank of—”
“Yeah, Simon,” Gabrielle said, cutting him off. “That’s the one.”
“It’s going to take resources,” Kat said.
Hale nodded. “Done. What else?”
“People. More than are in this car,” she said.
“Please.” Gabrielle gave a dismissive wave, and crossed her long legs. “What else?”
But the final thing, Kat seemed almost afraid to say.
“Time.” She swallowed hard. “There is no way to steal the prototype before the launch—not if it’s at the Superior Bank of Manhattan. Their security is too good and…it’s the Superior Bank of Manhattan. No one has ever done it.”
“That’s what they said last time.…” Hamish said.
“And the time before,” Angus added.
“The Cleopatra Emerald was being moved, and that made it vulnerable. We had two weeks for the Henley,” Kat countered. “The launch is in three days. I don’t know…”
“So we steal time,” Hale said. His words had a force to them. And for a second, they scared her. Then Hale softened, retreated. “So what do you say, Kat?”
She nodded, but it took her a moment to mutter, “Okay. We just have to delay the launch, right? We can do that. We just have to…” But she let her voice trail off, absolutely unsure what to say.
“I don’t see what the problem is.” Gabrielle stretched out on a bench. “We can find Garrett, right? And he can’t sell the prototype if he is…shall we say…tied up?” She gave a self-satisfied smirk.
“Gabrielle!” Kat rolled her eyes.
“What?” Her cousin looked as innocent as she could possibly be. “We could keep him someplace nice. It will be like a vacation. Or rehab. He might even thank us.”
“Yeah,” Kat mocked. “Thank us…have us arrested for kidnapping…really, they’re practically the same thing.”
Gabrielle huffed. “You have obviously never conned anyone in rehab.”
On the other side of the car, Hamish slapped his thigh and proclaimed, “I like it!”
“Of course you do,” Kat said.
“Now, now, hear me out,” Hamish went on. “We don’t have to kidnap Garrett. Not if we kidnap the buyer.”
“Or distract him,” Angus added.
“Like the Bulgari job,” Hamish said.
“You mean the job that landed half the DiMarco family in a South African prison?” Kat said.
Angus shrugged. “Nobody said it was perfect.”
“You’re missing the point, guys,” Kat told them. “We have to get the prototype back before the launch. If the investors and stockholders see the faulty model…”
“Hale Industries is finished,” Hale said.
“The Princess and the Pea?” Gabrielle suggested.
“Not enough time,” Kat said.
“Where’s Waldo?” Gabrielle went on.
“No.” Hamish recoiled. “I am still not allowed back in Morocco.”
“Three Blind Mice?” Simon said.
Everyone looked at Kat, who shivered. “I don’t do rodents.”
The train kept going and the suggestions kept flying, but none found their mark, and finally silence descended on the crew.
“Maybe we’re making it too hard,” Simon said. “Simple is good, right?”
“As long as we’re not kidnapping anyone,” Kat said.
Gabrielle blushed. “It was only a suggestion.”
“What do we know about Garrett?” Kat asked. “Hale, does he gamble?”
“I don’t think so,” Hale said with a shake of his head.
“Drink?” Kat asked.
“No more than any of the other people from my childhood.”
“Chase the ladies?” Hamish asked.
“No. He’s just…a lawyer. He was always there. Briefcase. Suit. Hat. The guy is seriously boring. There is nothing scandalous or even interesting about him.”
“Well, that’s not exactly true.” Kat spoke softly, carefully. She forced herself to meet Hale’s gaze. “He does have an ex-wife. And a daughter.”
“Natalie isn’t a part of this. She isn’t,” Hale insisted even when Kat didn’t protest.
“Okay. I believe you,” Kat said. “But she might be useful.”
“We’re not going to use her.” Hale’s voice was like stone, unmoving. “And besides, it’s not like she and her dad are exactly close. Natalie went away to boarding school when her parents divorced. She hardly ever came home after that.”
“How long has Garrett worked for the company?” Gabrielle asked.
“That’s the thing.” Hale shrugged. “There’s always been a Garrett working for us. His dad had the job before him, and so he was always…around.”
“Okay, so we go farther back.” Kat felt herself swaying, rocking like the train. “Tell us about your grandfather.”
“What can I say, Kat? He’s dead. They’re all dead. My grandmother. My grandfather. My grandfather’s brother—”
“Wait,” Kat said. “Was this the brother who was supposed to run the company with your grandfather?”
“Yeah. He died way before I was born. He was supposed to be a real character, but then he died, and my grandfather got it all—all the money, but all the pressure and responsibility too. He was a workaholic. And—”
“When did your great-uncle die?” Kat asked.
“Maybe fifty years ago. Like I said, I never knew him. No one ever talked about him. It was like the whole family thought he was cursed or something.”
“No more curses.” Gabrielle’s whole body shivered. “Please no more curses.”
“It wasn’t that kind of curse, Gabs,” Hale told her. “He was just…I don’t know…super eccentric or something. He wanted to be famous, but famous in a way that had nothing to do with being a Hale. So he was always doing stuff like climbing K2 or flying solo to the North Pole. He disappeared floating down the Amazon or climbing the Andes or something. It was this big, tragic family secret no one ever talked about.”
“So he just disappeared? They never found a body?” Kat said.
“No. Why?”
The train kept racing, but to Kat, everything was growing slow and still. She felt it in the crew around her, all gazes, all thoughts settling on her as she breathed against the chilly glass and whispered, “Anastasia.”
For an odd sort of girl, Kat was used to odd sorts of meetings, but there was something especially strange about walking into Uncle Eddie’s parlor and looking out over the people who sat straight-backed on the dusty, faded chairs.