A Brilliant Deception (20 page)

F
elix and I took the train back from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. During the three-hour journey, through the wee hours of the night, we did very little talking. The only time we spoke was to create our cover story. We needed something credible to explain both our disappearances. We wouldn’t be able to tell them the truth; we were both sworn to secrecy.

The rest of the time I was lost in thought, staring out the window into the inky blackness of the Malaysian countryside at night.

A band of chalky sky began to lighten the horizon as we grew closer to Singapore. Morning was on its way.

When we returned to Raffles, the others were breakfasting on eggs and toast points and mimosas on the sunny veranda of the hotel, lush lawns spread out before them. The exotic calls of tropical birds filled the air.

“There you are!” Templeton said, the minute I strolled onto the veranda. “Where did you disappear off to last night?” He then looked at me more intently and frowned. “Catherine, you look exhausted. Like you didn’t sleep a wink.”

I picked up a croissant from a basket on the table. “Do I?” I nibbled innocently on the croissant. I didn’t want to resort to our cover story unless we had to.

Jack looked at me. “You do, in fact.”

Templeton dipped a spoon into a soft-boiled egg and watched me thoughtfully. Ethan looked up from his plate of eggs and narrowed his eyes a little. And then he took a quick sideways glance at Jack, sizing him up.

Jack sipped his coffee and briefly peered at Ethan when he wasn’t looking. The tension was thicker than the marmalade resting on the breakfast table.

It hit me, then, what they each must have thought. How this looked. Did Ethan suspect I’d been up all night with Jack? And Jack—did he think I had been up all night with Ethan?

I cringed. Okay, fine. I had no choice.

“All right, I’ll tell you. But I don’t want you to worry, okay?” I said. “When I went to the restroom last night I got another dizzy spell. I must have passed out as I left the restroom, because Felix found me when he came back through the hotel lobby to grab his wallet. He insisted on taking me to the hospital, and we went straight there. I didn’t want to worry any of you so I made Felix promise not to say anything.”

Felix, standing at my side, chimed in at this point. “It was a long wait but I stayed with her while they checked her out thoroughly. The doctor said everything was fine.”

“Felix brought me back to the hotel safely,” I said. “And here we are.”

There was silence for a moment. “Well, I’m glad to hear nothing is wrong,” Templeton said, looking concerned. “But are you going to be quite all right to continue today, Petal?”

“Of course,” I said, waving a dismissive hand.

“It sounds like you need to rest,” Jack said. “I don’t think you’re up to anything strenuous today, Cat.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “I told you I’m
fine
.”

I was beginning to regret the cover story we’d concocted.

“You’re anything but fine,” Jack said.

“The problem is,” Ethan began, “we really can’t afford a day off.”

Jack whipped his head to face Ethan. “You would risk her health for this job?”

“Montgomery is a pro,” Ethan said between his teeth. “If she says she’s fine, I say we trust her on that.”

At that moment, I heard a familiar voice behind me. “Well, isn’t
this
lovely?”

I turned. “Gladys!”

“That was quite a journey,” she said, flopping into a chair and dropping her carry-on bag. A bellboy had followed her out, carrying her other luggage. “Shall I take the rest of your bags to your room, ma’am?” he asked.

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

I smiled; the interruption was highly welcome. And having Gladys here gave me a warm and cozy feeling—she always had that effect. Plus, having my hacker on site made me feel better when we were heading into a complicated job. And everything about this job was going to be complicated.

Jack eventually relented and stopped pushing for me to take a day off—he was outnumbered anyway. We got down to business.

Today, we were casing the Marina Bay Sands. We needed to lay the groundwork for the heist. And it was not going to be easy. We knew the Lionheart Ring was secured somewhere within the complex. Today we needed to find out exactly where.

Two hours later, I was walking through the lobby of the Marina Bay Sands. My first stop was in the shopping arcade, in a swimsuit store, to buy a bikini. I tried not to scowl as I paid for the tiny garment. I resented that this would be my uniform for this segment of the job.

When we had been devising this plan, we knew Chips Walker liked to linger by the SkyPark pool in the late-morning hours before lunch.

“So, Cat, you’re also going to hang out by the pool,” Ethan had said.

“Sure. I can pretend to be working at the poolside bar,” I had suggested.

“Nope, that’s not going to work,” Jack had said. It wasn’t a big enough staff, he explained. Other staff members would be suspicious, and as a new hire I’d have to actually show myself to be a good worker. I’d be too busy running drinks to watch Walker properly. I needed something with more freedom of movement.

“Fine. I can be a security guard.”

“Sorry, darling,” Templeton had said. “Singapore is rather old school. They don’t hire women for that role.”

“Montgomery, you’re going to be the socialite in the bikini,” Ethan said. He went on to explain that while I kept Walker distracted, Ethan would steal the man’s phone, smuggle it to Gladys so she could download all his data, then slip it back to him unnoticed.

“The key is going to be keeping his interest,” Jack said. “If you know what I mean.”

“What?” I said, eyes wide. “No. I’m no good at that role. I can’t do the femme fatale thing. I’ll mess it up. Brooke is good at that kind of thing—not me.”

“Yes, well, Brooke isn’t here. And she isn’t on our side, even if she were. So you are it, my dear,” Templeton said.

I dug my nails into my palms. “Fine. But when we do the actual job, I want to do the good stuff.” I scowled. “So can anyone tell me how I’m supposed to capture this guy’s attention?”

“Montgomery, you won’t have to do anything in particular to keep his interest. If you turn up in a bikini, you’ll have him hooked,” Ethan said. “Trust me.”

I looked at him sharply, then immediately blushed. The others swiveled toward him, too, and Templeton raised an eyebrow. Ethan shrugged, showing no shame. “It’s true,” he said. My chest felt warm and bubbly.

After buying the bikini I headed to the elevator bank. The SkyPark pool and lounge area was only open to guests so I would need to finagle a key card somehow. I walked on to a crowded elevator, and sized up the most likely mark. He revealed himself almost immediately: a young man in his twenties, cocky, wearing a Hugo Boss suit, distracted and yammering on his cell phone. I assessed the level of fitness he possessed under that suit and frowned slightly; he was maybe a little too strong for my liking. He was possibly into martial arts, judging from the posture. But as he’d entered the elevator he’d bumped into someone, which showed his lack of physical awareness.

Then he pushed the button for floor seventeen and neglected to ask anyone else which floor they needed. Perfect. Totally oblivious of other people.

He would work. He was my best candidate.

I let the elevator ride up a few floors, then, at the next stop, I readied myself. I uttered a breathless “Oh wait—this is my floor!” at the last second, and jostled forward. I bumped into him, fairly hard, and knocked him forward a bit. I spun and clutched on to him to prevent him from falling into me completely, and as I did so I slipped a hand into his breast pocket and pulled out his room key.

“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled, wearing my sunglasses, not letting him get a look at my face. And then strode straight out the elevator doors. His face showed zero expression of alarm.

Grinning, I tucked the key card into my purse. I now had full access to Marina Bay Sands resort.

I changed into the bikini in the restroom and arrived at the SkyPark poolside a few minutes later, walking out onto the sun-baked deck. This was the pool on the very top of the entire complex, on the platform that sat two hundred meters up in the sky, straddling all three towers.

I spotted Chips Walker immediately. I recognized him from the photograph: middle-aged, deeply tanned, yellowish-blond hair. Right after that, my eye landed on Ethan, over by the bar. He was disguised as a waiter at the poolside bar, wearing a black shirt and a long white apron.

I set my sights on my objective. I needed to distract Walker long enough to give Ethan a chance to swipe his phone. Then we’d need to slip his phone back to him—all without him realizing what we had done.

I considered my possible tactics. I quickly realized the best way to separate Walker from his phone was to get him into the water. My heart thumped as I quickly approached the pool. I wanted to get this done.

“Montgomery, slow down,” Ethan said into my earpiece. “Be cool.”

I slowed my walk to a casual sashay. From the corner of my eye, I saw Walker’s head turn.

“You got him,” Ethan said. “Now keep walking, keep his attention. Nice and slow, over to the bar.”

I strolled to the bar to get a cocktail. Once I had a frosty Bellini in my hand, I strolled back to the lounge chairs by the poolside, right where Walker was sitting.

“Can I find you a lounge chair, miss?” Ethan said to me, holding a towel and a tray.

I flashed him a smile. “That would be lovely.”

He had kept the lounge chair next to Walker folded and unoccupied. He now unfolded it and helped me settle in.

I was aware that on the other side of the palm tree, Walker was watching me. Now I had to start talking to him. And—most importantly—I needed to get him in the pool.

The talking thing proved to be no problem. He started chatting me up the second I sat down.

“That looks refreshing,” he said.

I turned and looked at him through my overlarge sunglasses, over the rim of my drink. “It is. Bellinis are perfect for a sweltering day like this.” I flipped my hair away from my neck, feeling utterly ridiculous.

He didn’t seem to find anything I was doing ridiculous in any way. So I kept going, making a big deal over the heat, fanning myself with the magazine I’d brought. I felt self-conscious in the pitiful coverage offered by my black bikini.

Of course, in my next move, I knocked my glass over with the magazine. The drink went flying and Bellini spilled all over the place. “Oops!”

I could hear a snort of laughter from Ethan in my earpiece.
Damn.
Had I messed it up completely?

I flicked a glance in Walker’s direction as another pool attendant bustled over to clean up the mess.

“It’s okay, Montgomery,” Ethan said. “He’s not going to write you off completely because of that. He’ll probably think it’s cute. I would.”

“Looks like I might have had one Bellini too many,” I said, trying for a recovery. Walker laughed, clearly not put off. Ethan was right.

With that, I started to enjoy myself. I had Walker hooked. The power felt . . . exhilarating. And now, it was time to get into the pool. “Oh no, I’m all sticky now,” I said in mock dismay, glancing down at my bare stomach, where I’d spilled the Bellini. I watched as Walker’s eyes went to my skin. “I think I’ll go in for a dip.”

I slipped off the lounge chair and slid into the silken water.

I had to admit—it was an incredible experience. The infinity pool was two hundred meters aboveground, with the edge looking like it dropped off into midair, with the ultra-urban skyline of Singapore in the background.

I turned around to see Walker watching me closely. I felt my cheeks go warm and I tried not to squirm with discomfort.

“Nice blush, Montgomery. Perfectly timed,” Ethan said.

“Why don’t you come in?” I said to Walker. “The water is gorgeous.”

Fortunately, he took the invitation. As he plunged into the water and moved toward me, I now had the small matter of keeping him away from me—but still in the water—long enough to give Ethan a chance to swipe the phone.

I could see Ethan walking toward us with a tray, ready to “tidy up.” Partway there, he got called away by someone demanding more towels.

Walker approached me in the water, moving in very close. “So where are you from, gorgeous? And—are you enjoying your stay in my hotel?”

I opened my eyes wide and let out a small gasp. “This is
your
hotel?” This was getting easier and easier. Nothing I said or did seemed to be absurd to this guy.

He smiled and waded even closer. “Maybe later I can show you some of the more exclusive parts of my hotel?”

I steeled myself to do whatever it took to keep him distracted. If I had to, I would make out with this guy, right here. There was too much at stake. But . . . I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The quicker Ethan could get that phone and get out of here, the better. Nearby, a few kids jumped in the water and started splashing. The cool water drops from their splashing sizzled on my skin.

Through my peripheral vision I saw Ethan reach Walker’s lounge chair, clearing glassware. I turned away and focused on Walker, who was boasting about various buildings he’d built.

Ethan straightened and walked briskly away. “Got it,” he said, in my earpiece.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Walker had seen nothing. Ethan had been super-smooth about the lift.

Was it wrong of me to find that sexy?

I knew Ethan would now take the phone to Gladys, who was sequestered in one of the hotel rooms, and once she’d downloaded all his information, we’d have to find a way to return it.