Hustlers (2 page)

“And if you fail dismally?” her father asked.

She narrowed her eyed. “If I fail—without you interfering in
any
way—I’ll go to college and give up the life.”

“Deal.” Her father held out his hand to shake on it.

She shook his hand, but couldn’t shake off the feeling that she’d just walked into his trap. “I’m calling the shots on the job though. Any interference from you and the deal’s off.”

“Sure thing.” He nodded.

She narrowed her eyes. “And no getting Jimmy to do your dirty work.”

“Hey! What am I, some little bitch?” Jimmy cried down the phone. “Since when do I do dirty work for anyone?”

“You just hacked into an employment agency to forge me a job. Now, be a good little minion and keep quiet.” She grinned when she heard Jimmy’s expletives in response. Even for a fifteen year old kid, he had a mouth on him that would make a sailor blush.

Her father rolled his eyes. “Time to behave kids.”

“
We
need to behave? Do I need to point out that you just gave me a lecture about responsibility while we were breaking and entering?” She shot her father a dirty look as she opened the passenger door his S-Type Jag. She climbed in and folded her arms as she sank into the leather interior.

Her father just winked at her as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

E
llie tied up her dark hair into a ponytail and then checked herself in the mirror. The chambermaid’s uniform looked awful. The black dress had a frilly white apron attached to the front of it. She peered down at her black sensible shoes, which were also part of the uniform.
Great, I look like someone’s grandmother.

With a sigh, she plucked the hat out of her locker, which was more like a white frilly napkin that had been shaped into a tiara. After battling to get it to stay on her head, she scowled at the uniform.
Gosford Park, here I come.

She slipped an ear bud into her ear. “Jimmy, can you hear me?” she muttered in low voice while glancing around the locker room to ensure she wouldn’t be overheard.

“Yeah, I gotcha. How’s it going?”

She felt a moment of relief to hear Jimmy’s voice. Even though he was her younger, adopted brother, she always felt safe when he was around. “I look like Queen Victoria’s fucking maid.”

Jimmy chuckled down the ear bud. “Take a selfie. I need a good laugh.”

She grinned. “Bite me.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” She heard her father’s voice. He sounded worried.

“I can handle it,” she muttered as she closed her locker. Her pulse was racing, but that was to be expected. She was running her first con on her own. In the past, she’d always been an extra with her father leading the con. This time she was going in on her own. Luckily, adrenaline was pumping through her veins, which seemed to be overpowering any nervousness.

“If you get in trouble, just let us know. You’re not on your own.” He sounded concerned.

“It’ll be fine,” she said as she hurried out of the staff room and headed toward the elevator.

She hurried into the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse. There was only one resident in the penthouse, the owner of the Starling hotel chain, Jerry Starling. Starling owned hotels around the world, but he resided in this one, which was in his home town of Manchester. He’d built his empire off the back of organized crime, and it was time he paid his dues.

Starling was dirty enough to fall for a con, but he was also rich enough to avoid the simple ones. To get him to bite, they needed leverage.

After breaking into the employment agency that controlled his payroll, Ellie was now an employee of the Starling Hotel and perfectly placed to dig up some dirt.

She watched the numbers on the elevator panel go up as she pulled her ID card out of her pocket and gripped it in her sweaty palm. She tried to shake off her nerves, but her stomach felt as if it was in a vice.
You’ve seen dad con his way into a bank vault before. Chill out. You can do this.

“This ID card better work,” she muttered to Jimmy.

“When have I ever forged something that didn’t work?” Jimmy said. He sounded offended.

“Okay, fair point.” Jimmy sucked at face-to-face cons, but when it came to hacking and forging, he never got it wrong.

The elevator doors opened, and she strolled out into the hall. She glanced down the corridor to check it was empty before hurrying toward the housekeeping closet. She swiped her card through the lock, and it flashed a green light. She opened the door and pulled out one of the trolleys, which was loaded up with clean sheets, towels and cleaning products.

Her heart hammered as she strolled down the corridor, pushing the cart in front of her. She forced herself not to glance up at the security cameras, which she knew were monitoring her every move. Ignoring her racing pulse, she tried to exude a calm demeanor.

She walked to the door of the penthouse. Then she knocked on it. “Housekeeping,” she called out.

After a moment of no response, she swiped her card through the lock. This is where Jimmy’s skills would be tested. There weren’t many things that would unlock this door. She held her breath, watching the red light flicker. She slowly exhaled as the light turned green, and the door unlocked. “Score,” she muttered.

“Who’s the man?” Jimmy said.

“You don’t want me to answer that,” she muttered as she grabbed a couple of towels and hurried into the penthouse.

After scanning the room to ensure she was alone, she hurried inside and closed the door. This was the only room in the hotel that wasn’t monitored. She stared at the opulent hotel suite. It was a massive open plan suite with a living area, a kitchen, a library and a bar inside it. There were four doors leading off to other rooms, which she suspected were bedrooms.

“You know I’m the man. Go on, admit it,” Jimmy said.

She shook her head with a smile. “Fine, you’re the man, a fifteen year old, foul-mouthed man. Your first mission is to tell me what I’m looking for.”

“I don’t fucking know. That’s what surveillance is all about. You research the mark, find the skeletons in his closet, and then play on his weaknesses. Go forth and research.”

“Great,” she muttered as she hurried over to the large mahogany desk. She pulled open the drawers and checked inside them. She found some folders but nothing that looked confidential enough to be a hidden skeleton.

“You wanted to be in charge,” Jimmy said.

She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t really want to be in charge. She just didn’t want to go to college. She loved her life as a hustler. She had the coolest family in the world. Her father was
the
Stewart Phillips. His reputation was legendary. And her brother, Jimmy, was the best hacker in existence. She just wanted to stay in the family business, doing what she loved.
Why does it have to change just because I grew up?

Shaking her head, she forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. She realized that she needed to treat this just like any other job. Just because the stakes were higher, it didn’t mean the rules had changed.

She flipped open the laptop on the desk, about to turn it on when she heard a cough coming from one of the bedrooms.
Shit!

She ducked down under the desk, closing her eyes as she heard a door open, followed by footsteps echoing on the marble floor.

“No, I told her I’d call her, but you know how that goes.” She heard a man laugh.

Oh great, Starling was in his bedroom.

“She wanted more than that.” The man laughed again.

She glanced up, rolling her eyes.
Please don’t make me listen to an old man talking about sex.
She paused and frowned at the underside of the desk, tilting her head to the side. There was a portable hard drive taped under the desk.

If I was going to hide my dirt, where would I put it?
Using her thumbnail to remove the tape, she peeled it off as quietly as possible while listening to the man at the same time.

“Nah man, I’m gonna chill out here. I need a day off from that shit.”

She frowned. He was either talking on the phone or talking to himself. She peeled off the last bit of tape, and the hard drive dropped into her hand.
Gotcha!

The man laughed. “Unless the hotel burns down, I won’t be getting off this couch for the next twenty-four hours. I need some R and R after last night.”

Shit.

Ellie slipped the hard drive down the front of her dress, wedging it under the side of her bra. Even if they patted her down, they’d probably miss it there.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she listened to the man talking on the phone. For a Manchester gangster he had a sexy voice and no discernible accent. He just sounded English with a slightly southern lilt.
It’s probably part of his front. Let’s see how nice he sounds when he’s talking to the staff.

She ignored her thumping heart and gripped the bag inside the wastepaper basket while quickly standing up holding it.

Her plan had been to appear surprised, which worked out wonderfully when she widened her eyes at the man on the couch with actual surprise. It wasn’t Jerry Starling. It was a half-naked young man with blond hair and bright green eyes.
Is Starling gay? That guy’s too hot to be straight.

“Oh! Sorry sir, I thought the room was empty,” she mumbled when he jumped up from the couch in surprise. She headed for the door, trying not to stare at his bare chest, which was lightly tanned and had muscles in all the right places.

He frowned, standing up from the couch. “I’ll call you back, Jake,” he muttered into the cell phone before dropping it on the couch and striding toward her.

She stopped when he came to halt between her and the door. She glanced up at him. There was an expensive fragrance of aftershave emanating from him.

“I er, can clean the room later,” she said, feeling a blush heat her skin. He was standing awfully close to her. Since he was half-naked, she was finding it difficult to concentrate on anything other than his bare skin.

“You’re not the usual maid,” he said, frowning at her.

“I er, just got told to start on this floor.” She stepped back, trying to control her racing pulse.
Who is he? He’s a bit bold for a rent boy.

“By who?” He tilted his head to the side as he studied her.

“My team leader, I’m sorry, I’m new. I can go and ask her…” She tried to ignore the bubble of panic that seemed to be expanding in the back of her throat.

His eyes trailed down her body from head to toe, and his mouth turned up at one corner in a wicked smile that caused a shiver to tremble down her spine.

Okay, he’s definitely not gay.

“Nah, carry on. It’s okay.” He folded his arms and continued watching her.

“What?” She widened her eyes.

“You can finish cleaning the room. I’ll just be on the couch.” He turned and headed back to the couch. He sat down, lounging on it before stretching and running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

She gulped as she stared at his long legs, which were encased in denim jeans. She tried to avoid staring at his bare chest, but when her eye’s inevitably traveled up his body to his face, she noticed a sparkle of mischief in his eyes as he watched her.

“Oh, okay.” She nodded, breaking the stare and heading for the other trashcans in the room. She glanced back over her shoulder as she emptied the kitchen bin. He was still watching her.

Unsure of what to say, she decided to remain silent as she worked. The suite was clean, so luckily there wasn’t much that needed doing, which was fortunate since she had no idea how to clean a hotel room.

“So, you’re new then?” His voice caused her to jump.

She turned to face him, nodding. “I just started today.”

“How do you like it so far?”

“It’s good.” She nodded again, trying to find the right words. It should have been easy for her. This was her job after all, but for some reason, she was tripping over her sentences instead.

“Seriously, cleaning rooms is good? I’d hate it. You know you can do better, right?”

“I er, huh?” She frowned at him.

“You wanna go to the concert with me tonight?” he asked, pointing to the flyer on the coffee table.

She glanced at the leaflet. It was advertising a rock concert in the hotel. “Um, are staff allowed to go to that?”

“Don’t worry about it. My dad owns this place. You’ll be fine if you come with me.” He winked, and her skin heated up.

He’s Starling’s son!
He was undeniably attractive, but she had a job to do. On the other hand, this was Starling’s son. Finding dirt on Starling would be so much easier if she knew him, plus his son was hot.
Why not have little bit of fun?

“Ellie, do not do it. That’s Matt Starling. He has a bad reputation.” Her father’s voice echoed through the ear bud.

Ellie studied Matt for a moment. He looked bad with that wicked smile on his face, but something about it excited her.
I’ve got a bad reputation. It doesn’t mean I’m not a great date.
“Sure, why not?” she said, ignoring her father’s warning and listening to her libido instead.