I was just opening my mouth to decline - a couple of cheap beers was just fine with me - when Trigg ambled up beside me. “Free drinks in the penthouse bar?” he asked. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
“Thanks,” I said. “But we’re just drinking beer in the bar down here with the other commoners.”
The old man chuckled. “Well, if you change your mind,” he said. He handed me a card. “You’ll need this key card to access the upper floors.”
Wordlessly, he turned and ambled away.
Trigg snatched the card from my hand. “Well, boys,” he said. “Tonight we get to drink like the rich folks do. Silas, that includes you."
***
TEMPEST
Iver handed me a glass of champagne. "To another job well done," he said, raising his glass. "Where is Oscar, anyway?"
As if on cue, the door to the suite opened, and Oscar ambled inside. "I'm here," he said. "I was just getting some fresh air."
Emir handed him a glass. "The money is set up in accounts that the family will be able to access under the radar of any government entity. Minus our shares, of course."
Iver nodded. "I'll deliver the news to Deborah."
I sighed. "What's next, boys?"
Iver shrugged. "The south of France is nice this time of year."
"Emir?" I asked.
"I have a flight out of town tomorrow," he said. "There's a comic convention, and a new video game I've been dying to hole up for a week with."
"And you, Oscar?" I asked. "Far flung travel plans?"
"Oh, you know," he said. "An old man like me, I'm not chasing models and yachting anymore."
Iver chuckled. "Don't let him tell you stories, Ariana," he said, calling me by my grifter alias. "Oscar's got more life left in his pinkie than the rest of us do in our entire bodies. What are you really up to, old man?"
Oscar laughed. "I think I'm going to spend a month in Rome," he said.
Iver sighed. "There was this Italian girl once..."
Emir held up his hand. "The rest of us mere mortals don't need to hear about your escapades with models and heiresses."
Iver's eyes twinkled. "Speaking of heiresses, there's a shipping magnate's daughter I really should check up on."
Emir grimaced. "Don't you ever get tired of being a man whore?" he asked.
Iver grinned. "I don't understand the question," he said, turning to me. "Does the question make any sense to you?"
I laughed. "Boys, stop your bickering."
"What are your plans for your time off, Ariana?" Oscar asked. "Are you leaving it up to fate?"
After a job, I usually headed to the airport with no luggage and no plans, to take whatever flight was available that suited my fancy. I guess I could throw a dart at a map or something, really leave it up to fate to decide. And maybe I would do that, sometime in the future. But this time, I was going back to Colorado. My grandmother was still there. It had been almost a year since I'd sneaked back to see her, and that was long enough.
I sipped from the glass. "I think so," I lied. “Should we meet in New York next time, boys?”
Another grifter’s rule - always keep moving. We rotated cities and discarded identities like people changed clothes.
“At the Four Seasons, I think,” Iver said. “Or the Ritz.”
“The Ritz,” Oscar said. “Now, shall we retire to the restaurant for dinner?"
Iver paused. "Oscar, you look like the cat that ate the canary," he said. "What deviousness do you have planned?"
Emir wrinkled his nose. "Please say you didn't tell the maitre'd it was one of our birthdays," he said. “If I have to listen to wait staff sing to me…”
"Oh God, Oscar," I said. "If you have something up your sleeve..."
Oscar put his hands in the air. "Can't an old man dine with friends without his motives being questioned at every turn?" he asked, exhaling heavily. "Grifters are some of the least trusting people in the world."
Iver laughed. "Spoken like a guilty man," he said.
***
CHAPTER NINE
SILAS
"Holy shit. This place is insane," Trigg said, his voice only semi-hushed, in the way that drunken people try to whisper.
"We can order food and everything, right?" Abel leaned in toward me. "I'm afraid they're going to come after us with an insanely huge bill."
I was wary myself, but I shook my head. "It seems to all be taken care of," I admitted. "I mean, they even let us in dressed the way we are."
We weren't exactly in gym clothes, but we weren't dressed like the few other people, mostly couples, here in the dimly lit restaurant. I'd seen two couples escorted through the bar area toward the restaurant, and they wore suits and dresses.
And here I'd thought I was getting really dressed up tonight by putting on jeans and a polo shirt. We had to stand out like sore thumbs here, even if the bar area was empty.
"Cigar, gentlemen?" A man appeared tableside, wearing a tuxedo and carrying a box.
"Hell fucking yeah," Trigg said, then cleared his throat. "I mean, yes. Please. That would be excellent. Sir."
Beside me, I heard Abel stifle a laugh. "Classy," he said under his breath.
We selected cigars, and laid them on the table.