Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter Read Free Book Online Page A

scarier than the guards, more worrisome than the cameras. It was the one thing that, no matter what, Kat knew she could never plan a way around. What they were talking about doing was forbidden; it went against her family and its rules, and so Kat didn’t dare look at that job through Uncle Eddie’s eyes. Instead, she looked at it like Visily Romani.
    “The authentication room,” Kat said, almost to herself. “We can do an Alice in Wonderland in the authentication room.”
    They stayed perfectly still in the wet air, the plan taking shape around them like puzzle pieces formed out of the falling snow. The three of them stood shaking from the cold and with the knowledge that maybe—just maybe—it might work. And maybe, Kat knew, it wouldn’t.
    Gabrielle stared into her cousin’s eyes. “Whatever you do, Kat, just do not say we’re gonna need a forger.”
    “No, Gabrielle. We’re going to need someone who can fake the Cleopatra Emerald in seventy-two hours.” Kat started walking. Her short hair blew across her face as she turned her head and called against the wind, “We’re going to need the forger.”



CHAPTER 9
    “D o I know him?” Hale asked. Together, the cousins said, “No.” Kat and Gabrielle sat together in the backseat of the huge SUV that Hale had paid for and Marcus drove. They swayed as the big tires lunged in and out of the deep gouges in the rough road. No, Kat realized. On second thought, road was far from the appropriate word.
    Path.
    Trail.
    Death trap?
    The dense canopy of trees parted, and for a brief second, nothing but snow and sky stood between them and the sheer cliff with its steep drop. Gabrielle—one of the best high-wire workers to ever grace the family business—leaned close to the glass and peered into the white abyss.
    Hale, on the other hand, looked as if he might be sick all over the SUV’s soft leather interior. “So are we sure this guy will be there?”
    Kat looked at the pristine snow that lay before them, eighteen inches deep and completely untouched by man. “He’s home,” she said, certain that no one had been up—or down—that mountain in a very long time.
    Marcus drove steadily faster. The tires spun, and the SUV skidded; but still they kept their forward progress, climbing.
    “And how do we know he’ll be able to help us?” Hale asked, his voice an octave higher than Kat had ever heard it.
    “Oh, he can help us.” Maybe it was the change in Gabrielle’s voice—the sudden inflection—or maybe Hale was just desperate to look anywhere but over the sharp cliff that Marcus was currently navigating, because he spun around and stared into the backseat.
    “What does that mean?” Hale asked.
    “It means…well…” Kat started, then stumbled, searching. “You see, by some standards he might be a little…”
    “Weird.” Gabrielle shrugged against her cousin’s glare. “The man is ten pounds of kooky in a five-pound sack.”
    “He’s eccentric ,” Kat tried.
    “Bizarre.”
    “He’s got something of an artist’s temperament.”
    “I say a screw loose.”
    “He’s a little…unpredictable.”
    But this time, there was no teasing as Gabrielle corrected, “No, Kat. The word is banished .”
    Kat felt the truth wash over them, silent and chilly as the snow. Then she shook her head. “So he and Uncle Eddie don’t get along. That has nothing to do with his work. His work is good.”
    “I know, but if Uncle Eddie doesn’t want anyone to use him—”
    “Well, Uncle Eddie also says no one should steal the Cleopatra Emerald. Don’t worry, Gabrielle. Not even Uncle Eddie can kill us twice,” Kat said, turning back to the frosty glass.
    “Oh, if anyone can…” Hale twisted and stared down the steep cliff again.
    “Besides,” Kat said as the SUV slowed, “we’re here.”
    Marcus guided the car from the twisting road into a clearing where the dense pines gave way to an even smaller lane, a low stone fence, and a tiny cabin with smoke