Hello everyone! This is another quasi-long chapter treat for you guys. I hope you like it! As always, Ally Carter's characters and scenes belong to her.


I have to give it to this crew. They are good. The way they use their resources efficiently and have many layers of back up plans shows me exactly how they have been able to stay out of jail for so long. Hale and Gabrielle could easily become top actors and actresses of Hollywood. Simon should be head of the CIA. Angus and Hamish should be NAVY SEALS specializing in bomb assembly and diffusion. Katarina was in a league of her own. Very few masterminds could resist temptation and not work for self-gain. She is almost like the leaders Plato talks about in The Republic.

So, when I asked, "Is he good?" I already knew the answer.

At the moment, Kat was watching Hale discreetly put a piece of tape on the latch of the door he was holding out for the museum director. He gave us a quick glance to tell us the job was done.

"Yeah. He's good." Kat confirmed.

No one even noticed that step two of a covert operation was now completed. Step one was getting into the museum in our roles without anyone detecting anything amiss.

Kat then turned to me. "You got it?" she asked me.

"Inside left pocket," I said automatically. I tried my hand at flirtation and gave her a sloppy grin. "Lucky I'm left handed."

Just then, Gabrielle walked by leading a group of people, keeping to her role as a docent. "Luck, my friend, has absolutely nothing to do with it." She said professionally. She was leading a group of school children who suddenly made me feel as if my ear was exploding. The noise was vociferous. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. Today we're starting all tours in the sculpture garden," Gabrielle yelled over the crowd.

When we were somewhat able to hear again, we could listen in to how Hale was speaking to the director about the weather and the search for the perfect fish and chips. When we were sure everything was going as planned, Kat whispered, "Angus, Simon, you're clear." Not a single security guard saw the two kids push open an unmarked door and they definitely did not hear Angus say, "We're in."

"The way I hear it, there was a Visily Romani once."

"Just watch the door, Hamish," Kat admonished.

"I'm on it, Kitty, don't you worry. But as I was saying, this Romani bloke was the best thief in the land, he was. Until he fell of a guard tower -"

"I heard he drowned." Angus chimed in.

"I'm telling the story."

"Simon? How much longer?"

"Fifteen minutes," Simon replied.

"But Romani didn't die, see?" Hamish kept going. "Well, strictly speaking, he did die, but -"

"Hamish, are you watching the door or aren't you?" Gabrielle barked. She was discreetly tailing Hale and the director.

"I am, love. It's clear as a bell. So anyway, as I was saying, he died, but he got reincarnated, see? Every generation there's a new Romani."

"That's not how it goes, Hamish," Katarina clarified.

"Yeah. The original Romani drowned. It's every other generation." Angus replied, ever the older brother.

During all this, I was thinking about the idea of Visily Romani. Visily Romani is one of the best thieves that had ever lived and his name gets inherited every five to six decades. Although there was a person using the name currently, aka the person who had just very recently caused a bit of trouble at the Henley, I was wondering how true the idea that Romani only appeared every other generation. From what I had seen, Katarina WAS the new Romani. There were no other thief prodigies in her generation as good as she was. Either the current Romani was as old as a grandfather, or he/she was middle aged and the every other generation rule was broken. However, the thought that an old man was so nimble, flexible, and athletic enough to be as good as to cause trouble at the Henley was highly doubtful.

Then, I thought about how much fun it would be to put away a Romani in jail after I gathered enough evidence to indict Katarina, her crew, and her entire family. I started daydreaming about how I would be praised by my mother for my help when I suddenly realized that it had been six months since my last poker face lessen. I decided that the best way to hide the real reason behind my face was to morph my face into looking like I was thinking about how Katarina might look in a little black dress. From experience, I knew that my daydream-about-a-mission-success face and my daydream-about-a-girl face were similar. Better to be thought of as a pervert than get caught.

"Guys," Katarina started to say, but when she looked over at me, she suddenly stopped. She seemed to have only caught my daydream-about-a-girl face and not my daydream-about-a-mission-success face because she walked quickly to the next exhibit. I was glad that I did not get caught but I seriously needed to set up another poker face lesson. Being thought of as a pervert was not exactly the best thing in the world. But then, I really did try to imagine Katarina dressed in a little black dress. And then, I wondered how Gabrielle might look like in the same dress. Both images made me smile inwardly.


How did you guys like this chapter? I am leaving Nick's romantic relations s secret for now. By popular demand, I WILL keep his kiss with Kat, so that is something to look forward to in the upcoming chapters. Also, here is a poll for you guys. How would you feel if you were forcefully kissed by a someone you liked? How about someone you didn't like? How would you feel? How would you react? What would your relationship moving forward? Tell me your ideas in the comments section below! And don't forget to read the newest chapter of my story on FictionPress called Hack Me Now. The link is on my profile page. Bye for now. =^_^=