A Brilliant Deception (27 page)

M
uch later, Ethan and I awoke on the beach, in the darkness. We had gone for a swim in the ocean then fallen asleep on the sand, and now the moonlit sky was sprinkled with stars.

My stomach let me know, loudly, how excruciatingly hungry I was. I shook Ethan more fully awake and we both dressed. I checked my phone for the time but the battery was dead.

“It must be close to nine p.m.,” Ethan guessed.

“Do you have an undeclared skill for reading the stars, Jones?”

“I have all
kinds
of skills you have yet to learn about, babe,” he said.

I laughed.

“I think there’s food in the common room,” Ethan said. “I saw a sign last night.”

“Oh, thank God. I could eat a horse.”

“I’m not sure they serve horse in Bali. But we could check . . .”

I looped my arm around Ethan’s and we made our way back to the central part of the resort. Indeed, we followed the heavenly scent of cooking food straight to the main grass hut. I imagined everyone else was still in their rooms, sleeping off our escapades. We stumbled into the common room, me giggling and both of us looking rather tousled, our hair still wet.

I stiffened at the sight of the team in the common room: Felix, Gladys, and . . . what the hell was Brooke doing here? Atworthy was here, too, which was almost as bizarre. I hadn’t realized he’d come with us to Bali. Jack, I noticed, was not present. I exhaled quietly in silent thanks for that.

“Cat, Ethan, where
were
you?” demanded Felix. “We’ve been looking for you all day. And neither of you were answering your phones.”

I flushed. I wanted to crawl out of my skin with the awkwardness. Ethan looked cool and unperturbed, as per usual.

“My phone battery died,” I said quickly, knowing this fell well short of a sufficient explanation for our disappearance. “And . . . we had some business to discuss,” I offered. It was a pathetic lie. Normally I was better at thinking on my feet, but my recent activities on the beach must have muddled my head.

Then I noticed, with growing alarm, that everyone looked extremely concerned. Something was wrong.

“What’s going on?” I said quickly, a prickle of warning moving up my neck.

Gladys looked at me with worried eyes. “Templeton is missing.”

“What?” My heart raced, and I felt Ethan tense beside me.

“He never arrived. Nobody has seen him. And he never checked in to his room.”

I swallowed, thinking it through. “I’m sure he’s on his way. He’ll be here any second.”

“Yes, but his journey, by boat, was the most direct one. He should have been here before any of us,” Brooke said.

I frowned and turned on her. “Brooke, what the hell are you doing here, anyway? The last time I saw you, you were decidedly
not
on my side.”

“I came with Jack,” she said plainly, ignoring my tone. “I helped him escape, you might be aware.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And what does that mean—you’ve abandoned Caliga entirely?”

She shrugged. “I wasn’t really on board in the first place. It seemed a good idea at the time.” A whisper of something crossed her face—remorse, sadness, possibly a touch of repulsion. It was similar to the look I’d seen right after Caliga had killed Esmerelda.

I couldn’t spare any additional worry for her now. I’d deal with Brooke later. For now, I needed to focus my attention on locating Templeton. I chewed a fingernail and tried to ignore the twisting sensation in my stomach.

“How can nobody have seen him?” said Ethan.

“He was the only one who was supposed to journey here alone, remember?” Felix said.

Damn. That was right. “Where’s Jack?” I asked. I realized I’d been expecting him to burst through the door at any second, ready to save the day.

“He’s been missing for most of the day, too. Somebody thought he’d gone into the village for some reason, but we haven’t heard from him in a few hours. He left just before we realized Templeton was missing,” Atworthy said. I turned to him abruptly; I’d forgotten he was there.

“Atworthy, how did
you
get here? I didn’t realize you knew where we were headed,” Ethan said.

“I took a flight from Singapore. Once I knew you were all in the clear.”

“Professor Atworthy was the one who raised the alarm about Templeton,” Felix said. “He was the first to notice he was missing.”

I looked at my professor with gratitude. “It seems like I have a lot to thank you for these days, Atworthy.” He nodded graciously.

“There has to be an explanation,” Ethan said, reaching for Felix’s phone, starting to make a call. “Maybe Templeton got lost leaving Singapore. He’s not used to field duty, right?”

“Okay, well, you guys keep trying to contact him. I’m going to talk to the front desk,” I said. “Somebody must have seen him or talked to him.”

I walked briskly out of the grass hut, wanting to believe Ethan’s simple explanation but not being able to ignore the growing feeling of dread in my gut. I was also concerned about Jack. Where was he?

 

I followed the winding garden pathway to the main office, to see if they had any information on Templeton’s whereabouts. I was worried, and I didn’t like the anxiety swirling in my stomach, telling me this wasn’t simply Templeton getting lost. I glanced up at the stars pinpricking the dark sky. Only minutes before, I’d been on the beach with Ethan, gazing at this very same sky, not a care in my mind. How quickly things had changed.

I had to find Templeton. I felt a wave of nausea at the idea that I’d failed him.

Then, I heard someone behind me.

“You probably shouldn’t waste your time going to the front desk, Catherine.” I spun. Professor Atworthy was there in the pathway. There was something odd about his voice. “Templeton won’t be coming.”

I frowned. “What do you mean? He went straight home?”

“Not exactly,” he said. I didn’t know if it was a trick of the light, if I couldn’t see clearly in the dim glow offered by the garden lanterns, but there seemed to be something completely transformed about Atworthy. His eyes were different. His face.

My skin chilled.

“Templeton is in prison,” he said flatly.

“What?” I choked.

“He was caught. He didn’t make it out of there. And now, he’s going to be facing the death penalty. In Singapore, they do not look kindly upon armed robbery. Particularly conspiracy with a group. The police, well, they wish they had caught everyone, but they only have Templeton. And they will make an example of him.”

I grew still, watching Atworthy very closely. I was afraid to ask my next question. “How do you know all this?”

“I know, because we know everything. There are no secrets from Caliga.”

My mouth went dry. It felt like an eternity before I said anything. “You—you’re working for Caliga?”

“No,” he said. “I’m not working for Caliga. I am Caliga.” He smiled, a serpentine expression. “I’m the man in charge.”

My head spun. I could not believe what I was hearing.

“Pay attention here, Catherine. Because I am the only person who can get Templeton out of that Singapore prison. So I recommend you listen carefully to what I have to say.”

A
tworthy didn’t have to issue the warning. Although I was horrified, reeling from the shock and betrayal, I was not about to miss a single word he was saying.

“What do you want, Atworthy? I suppose you want the ring back?”

“Yes, that goes without saying. But there’s much more.”

I cringed at everything about this new, transformed Atworthy, and resisted the urge to take a step back. We stood in the darkened gardens of the resort, surrounded by bamboo and abundant rhododendrons—a beautiful setting for a very ugly conversation.

“We also want you. Joining our team is your only way of getting what you want now. Deep down, I think you know you’re a part of Caliga, Cat. You’ve always been one of us. I knew it right from the beginning, when I first met you.” His voice was warm, gently cajoling, yet it sent chills up my back.

It was fascinating, in a bizarre way, to watch him. There was so much about Atworthy’s manner that hadn’t changed. He wasn’t unrecognizable, not Jekyll and Hyde . . . he was just clearly, and quietly, on the side of darkness now.

I struggled to piece everything together. If I could stay on top, stay clear, I had a chance of saving Templeton.

“You were giving information to Hendrickx, weren’t you?” I said. “That’s how he knew where to go. You were helping us and hindering us, at the same time.” It wasn’t really a question. He merely smiled.

I dug my nails into my palm. “Atworthy, I’m not joining Caliga.”

“That would be a grave error. Besides Templeton, and what might happen to him, you have to know that AB&T is finished, anyway, Catherine. They have not kept up with the times. They cannot protect their assets. They cannot protect their people. Look at what happened to you last year, with Faulkner and the Hope Diamond. Look at what’s happening to Templeton right now. If you want to continue being a thief, if you want to save Templeton, you’ll need to join us. Really, it’s win-win.”

I struggled to not reach out and strangle him. “If I cooperate with you, you will arrange for Templeton to be released?”

“I will.”

“How do I even know that’s possible? You’re not the police or the justice system.”

“No, we’re not. But we
are
Caliga, and you should know, by now, that our reach is far and deep.”

Unfortunately, I did know that. “And if I don’t go along with whatever you’ve got in mind—what happens to Templeton?”

“He will be executed in a Singapore prison. If he doesn’t die before then.”

My stomach twisted in horror. Executed? “They don’t execute people for robbery,” I said. “You’re bluffing.”

“They do if it’s armed robbery, enacted by five or more people. Singapore is particularly displeased with that sort of crime, and they put it in a class of its own. The death penalty is expected.”

“But—it wasn’t armed robbery. None of us pulled a weapon. None of us even
had
a weapon.”

“No?”

At this point, he handed me his phone. On the screen played a recording of a CCTV feed. It was time-stamped—twenty minutes past midnight, last night. In the Marina Sands, outside the high-stakes poker room, a man with a full face mask was holding a gun to Chips Walker’s head.

I blinked at the condemning images. It must have happened after Gladys had left the poker room. After we had all begun our getaway. The video looped and I watched it again. The masked man—his height, weight, and frame were familiar. I could tell it was Atworthy. And this video was the reason they were calling our heist an armed robbery.

The realization slammed into me. He had screwed us.

Atworthy read my expression. “You could interpret this as me working against you,” he said. “Or you could see that I helped you. I stopped you from getting caught, Catherine. I allowed you to get the ring. I allowed you all to get away.”

“Except Templeton.”

“Every gambler keeps a chip or two for himself.”

A wave of nausea flooded through me. This was my fault.

“Here, you can read about it yourself,” he said, handing me a newspaper. “I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating.”

I scanned the page in the dim garden lantern light. It confirmed everything Atworthy had said. A “dangerous criminal” was behind bars, charged with armed robbery and facing the death penalty. I pictured Templeton in a grimy Singapore prison, demoralized in a convict’s jumpsuit. Would they torture him for information on his co-conspirators?

“Okay, Atworthy—what do you want? What will it take for you to arrange Templeton’s release? You must have something specific in mind.”

He smiled. “Indeed I do.”

“Tell me what you need. I will tell you if I can do it,” I said, trying to hold it all together. I wasn’t sure I’d ever hated anyone as much as I despised Atworthy at that moment, but I had to remain calm.

“It’s heartwarming to hear you being so reasonable, Catherine. First, I need you to fly back to the States. Here is your ticket; you leave tonight. When you get there, I will give you further details. I really think you’re going to like what we’re cooking up. It’s quite a good one—quite exciting.”

I heard a car pull onto the nearby service road, on the other side of the garden’s entrance. Atworthy lifted his head. “Ah, there’s my ride.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I’m flying back to the United States. You are to make your excuses to the group and find your way to the airport.” He handed me a flight itinerary. I glanced at the destination. JFK Airport, New York.

“And the ring?” I asked him. The Lionheart was still burning in my pocket.

“Keep it for now. But bring it with you to New York. We’ll need it there. I trust you’ll be able to transport it safely.”

I thought of a hundred ways I could make the Lionheart Ring disappear between now and my arrival in New York. But each and every scenario ended with Templeton hanging to death in Singapore.

Atworthy watched me carefully. “Catherine, it is no use telling your friends what I just told you. They can do nothing. Your charming little AB&T team does not have the sort of reach Caliga does. Your washed-up FBI agent and his sidekick brother who tends to get himself kidnapped, your charming but ultimately useless art thief, that bitch of a traitor, and . . . a sweet old grandmother. Face it, Catherine, your team is cute, and clearly devoted to you, but toothless. Your only hope of getting Templeton rescued is by cooperating with me.”

I seethed inside at his condescending criticism, but said nothing.

“If you were to tell Jack or Ethan,” he continued, “I have no doubt they would attempt to intervene. You do seem to have surrounded yourself with idealistic heroes. But let me assure you, this would be a bad idea. They would fail. And if I receive any sort of interference from those two, I will arrange for Templeton’s execution to happen right away. Caliga has deep connections in the Singapore justice system. It’s a very easy thing to reschedule an execution, move it up by a day or two, for example.”

I didn’t know if he had the authority to actually make good on this threat. But it was not worth testing. Not right now, not before I knew more.

It meant I couldn’t tell either Jack or Ethan. Atworthy was right—they would try to stop me. Or they would try to help, and that could end up costing Templeton his life. I couldn’t let that happen.

As Atworthy strode away and climbed into the waiting airport car, I replayed his words. In particular I thought about what Atworthy had said about Felix. Or, more to the point, what he hadn’t said.

There was zero mention made of Felix’s involvement with the Global Protection League. Was it possible Atworthy had no idea about that? I sifted carefully through our conversation. No, there was no way he knew about Felix and the League.

It was the only card I had. And I was going to have to play it.