Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

wrong?”
    “It’s just that…if we were running this con”—Kat cut her eyes at Marianne—“which we aren’t . But if we were, the first thing I’d do is destroy any copies of the old will. I want you to know that, odds are, whoever is behind this has already done just that.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t be so certain.”
    “Why?” Kat prompted.
    The woman smiled. “Because the desk where Mrs. Hale stored her most important papers was made by Alexander Petrovich.”
    “It’s a Petrovich puzzle desk?” Kat asked.
    Marianne gave a wide, knowing grin. “Someone could empty every drawer in it and still miss the hidden compartments. If the will exists, there’s a good chance a copy of it is still there.”
    Neither girl spoke on the long drive back to Brooklyn. It was midday and the sun was bright. Spring flowers dotted green fields beneath a bright blue sky. It was almost like a painting. Kat was half tempted to steal it. But when they reached the brownstone’s stoop, their shadows fell across the door, and it was like a spell was broken. They could no longer pretend that nothing was wrong—that they didn’t have work to do. And when Kat opened the door, she wasn’t surprised to hear her uncle’s deep voice echoing through the house.
    “Katarina! Gabrielle! Come in here.”
    For a moment, Kat was certain she was in trouble. She glanced at Gabrielle, and together the two said, “Yes, Uncle Eddie?”
    “Sit down,” he said, pointing toward the old mismatched chairs. “We need to talk about Katarina’s young man.”
    “I’m sorry about the window, Uncle Eddie. I’ll get it—”
    “The window can be fixed, Katarina. I’m far more concerned about him.”
    “I know.” Kat nodded solemnly. “Me too.”
    “So…” There was a pile of potatoes on the counter, and Eddie took a knife and began to peel. “It seems there is a great deal of mystery surrounding why the late Mrs. Hale would leave a billion-dollar corporation to a teenager and nothing to her oldest, dearest friend.”
    “How did you know that?” Kat asked.
    “I hear things,” Eddie told her.
    But Kat knew better. Kat knew Eddie heard everything.
    “If the butler is correct, then this is a most impressive con.”
    “We know,” Gabrielle said, and Eddie talked on.
    “It would have to be an inside job. Simple, but not easy.”
    “We know,” Gab said again, but Eddie acted like he hadn’t even heard her. Kat couldn’t tell if he was frightened or impressed, and she felt a little bit of both as she sat silently watching her uncle peel potatoes, stripping away the skins.
    “What did the maid say?” Eddie asked.
    “There might be another will in London. Maybe.” Gabrielle gave a shrug.
    “You will try to retrieve it?” Eddie looked directly at Kat, but she felt anything but certain.
    A thousand doubts swarmed inside her mind. What if Hale found out? What if Marianne was wrong? And, worse, what if Marianne was right? And what if Hale never forgave her for proving it?
    So Kat twisted her hands and told her uncle, “It might be a wild-goose chase.”
    “I’ve chased more for less,” her uncle said.
    “Marcus could be wrong about everything.”
    “He is not the sort of man who makes mistakes.”
    “But—”
    Her uncle’s hand came down, cutting her off, as he asked, “You do a great many things for strangers, Katarina. What are you willing to do for your friends?”

T he best-kept secret in London had to be City Airport, Kat had always thought. Smaller than Heathrow and more central than Gatwick, it was like flying into a small town until you looked out the window and saw Big Ben and the Tower of London below. It was as good a place as any for a teenage thief to go through customs and descend into the very place where she’d pulled off the biggest job of her career only a few months before.
    But that didn’t mean Kat had to like it.
    Stepping through the airport’s sliding doors and out into the dreary London day, Kat sensed