“Go to sleep, Katarina. This thing we do tomorrow…it is not an easy thing.”
“Is it the right 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 slowly making its way toward tomorrow.
Anything that can go 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 weatherman when he says it isn’t going to rain.
So Kat was more than a little surprised to see the sun so bright 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 might have actually enjoyed it if her whole body hadn’t been trembling.
“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 machines that could let a person see right down onto the rocky shores. Kat counted ten cars and one school bus, but none of them belonged to the man who had completely ruined her May.
“Maybe he’s not coming,” she said, jamming her gloved 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?”
“It is the only call, Katarina.” He gave her a long look that she’d never seen before. He sounded different, not like he was talking to his niece, but like he was talking to a peer. “This is how it ends.”
“Thank you.” Kat reached out and took his hands. “Thank for doing this. Thank you for always being there for me.”
“That, Katarina, is my job.” He looked out over the horizon. “And my pleasure.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“Kat?” Simon’s voice was in her head.
“Blasted contraptions.” Eddie flinched and poked a finger in his ear, but Kat stopped him before he could pull the earbud out.
“What is it, Simon?” Kat said.
“Our guy is heading your way.”
She looked at Uncle Eddie. “It’s showtime.”
The two of them stepped away from the road and watched a black SUV pull into the overlook, its big tires crunching in the gravel. Kat stood waiting for her first sight of Garrett, but instead, the driver’s-side door opened, and the goon from the night before stepped out.
“Hands up,” the hired thug said, and Kat had to laugh a little. The thug, however, didn’t see what was funny.
“Old man. Teenage girl.” Kat pointed between her uncle and herself, but the goon didn’t seem to know that, for all their skills, neither Eddie nor Kat were really known for their physical prowess, so he patted them down just the same.
“They’re clean,” he yelled, and only then did the back door open.
“Yay,” Kat said when Garrett emerged. “You’re here.”
“You’ve got a smart mouth,” he told her.
Eddie shrugged. “It runs in the family.”
“Oh yes,” Garrett said, stepping slowly around them. “Uncle Reginald. Or is it Edward? It’s so good to see you again.”
“Can we get this over with?” Kat asked.
Garrett held his hands out wide. “You’re the boss.”
“Did you bring it?” Kat asked.
“You’ll get your money.”
“It’s not for me,” Kat said again. “It’s for—”
“The maid,” Garrett cut her off. “I know. I know. You’re…noble.”
“Yeah. You should try it sometime,” Kat said.
Garrett looked at the goon and commanded, “Give me the case.”
The man walked to the SUV and pulled out a silver briefcase. He handed it to Garrett, who held it like it was precious, gripping it too tightly for Kat’s liking.
“Are you going to hand that over nicely or do we need to have a talk about honor among thieves?” she asked, but before the man could answer, a car pulled into the overlook.
It was different from the minivans and tour buses. Black and sleek, and driven by a chauffer named Marcus.
“Oh, no,” Kat said, but Hale was already out of the car and moving toward her.
“Kat?” His voice was too soft somehow. It scared her. “Kat, what is going on? What are you doing here…with him?”
“It’s okay, Hale.” Kat moved gingerly toward him. “Why don’t you go wait in the car and I’ll explain in a little—”
“What are you doing here?” He looked between Kat and Eddie and then finally to the man with the silver case.
“Hale, wait. It’s not what it—”
“What? Looks like? Sounds like? What’s in the case, Kat?”
“He’s going to pay Marianne. We’re going to be able to take care of her.”
“So you’re here to make a deal with the man who killed my grandmother? I’m so glad I didn’t jump to any conclusions.”
“Hale…” Kat lunged to block his way. “Hale, calm down.”
“I’m not going to calm down!” he shouted, and it felt to Kat like the whole mountain trembled. She half feared an avalanche. Tourists stared. School groups snapped pictures. But she couldn’t do a thing to stop him.
“You killed Hazel,” Hale said. “You!”
Hale lunged toward Garrett. He might have reached him, too—might have killed him—had the goon not been there. He reached for Hale and held him back, squeezed his arms against his side. Garrett looked at the boy.
“You never learned your place, Scooter.” He pulled back a fist.
“No!” Kat shouted, but Eddie was rushing forward, far faster than Kat had ever imagined he could move. The goon let Hale go and raced for his boss, but he was too late. In a flash, Eddie was on the lawyer, and the lawyer was spinning, striking the old man across the head with the metal briefcase. Blood rushed from Eddie’s mouth and he stumbled, disoriented, too close to the edge.
“No!” Kat yelled again, but she didn’t hear the word. She heard nothing at all. Not the crunch of the rocks. Not the breaking of the barrier as it crumbled at her uncle’s back. And Kat didn’t hear the screaming that came with the fall—fading with the sound of the water and the cries of the people who stared over the edge.
She didn’t hear or feel or say a thing. Her own legs gave way and she was on the ground, damp grass bleeding through her jeans, freezing her, numbing her.
“No,” Garrett said. “It’s not true. It’s a trick. They’re con men,” he yelled, as if that could explain everything, make it all make perfect sense.
“That man’s dead,” a bystander said flatly, but Garrett just pushed him aside and stared for himself through one of the cameras trained on the falls below.
“He’s…He can’t be…” Garrett stumbled away from the sight, pale as ghost, but Kat kept crawling toward the ledge.
“I’ll go get him,” she said. “I’ll get him and then we can bring him to the hospital.…” She stumbled to her feet. “I have to get him.”
But she didn’t move—couldn’t move because Hale’s arms were around her so tightly her feet no longer touched the ground.
“Let me go, Hale. I have to go get him and help him up.”
“No, Kat. No.”
“Let me go!”
“No.” Fury faded, and Kat knew Hale wasn’t going to let her near the edge.
“I have to get him, Hale.”
“No,” he said, and held her tighter. “I have you.”
“Mr. Garrett,” the goon said. “We have to get you out of here.”
“He fell,” Garrett said.
“Your fingerprints are all over that case, sir, and now that case is lying by his body and covered with his blood. You have to leave. Now.”
They didn’t seem to care about the crying girl or the crumpled body. They just drove away, wheels spinning, the SUV disappearing into the mist.