NEMESIS

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Meanwhile on Onderon, Dalla Blackwell was in her office with her lieutenant. "So Sierra Bonteri's on Mandalore?"

The young woman codenamed Selkie nodded. "She practically begged me for an excuse to go. I didn't know someone could be so persuasive over text."

"She's full of surprises." Dalla replied. "Just in case you get a text, I told Lux Bonteri he wasn't allowed to borrow anything from our museum to use against Thrawn."

"Got it." Selkie gave her employer a thumbs-up and frowned when she saw the state of her thumbnail. "I'm shocked that didn't snag. Do you have a nail file?"

"It's somewhere around here." She rifled around in her desk junk drawer and her hands had just found the metal file when it dawned on her and she looked up at Selkie. "Is Steela Gerrera still in Iziz?"

Selkie's gaze went from the file to Dalla and both women locked eyes. Then they sprinted for the museum storage room.

"I'll start on one end, you go with the other and we'll meet in the middle." Selkie pried open the first crate. "This is going to take hours."

"Not exactly. If they're pulling this off under my nose they'll go for something I won't expect. Meaning -." She made a beeline for the crate that supposedly held the Amulet of Galia and opened it much too easily. She wasn't surprised at all to find it empty.

"I knew it!"

Selkie sucked in a breath. "It could be worse. This amulet's just a forgery."

"A forgery that's supposed to go on display tomorrow with not enough time for Bernard to make a new one." Dalla smacked the side of the crate in frustration. "If it doesn't show up there will be questions, especially without an obvious robbery. Someone needs to go get it back."

She watched as the color left Selkie's face.

"In front of Thrawn, who knows everything and can figure out the rest?" She squeaked. "No way! I'm not going back to Interrogation!"

That was why she was trying to avoid this situation in the first place. Dalla closed her eyes. Salt gods and brylks below, once she got ahold of Lux Bonteri heads were going to roll.

...

"I set up the announcement on the palace's HoloNet site," Hutch said, fingers still tapping away at the keyboard. "To celebrate this new chapter Mandalore's soon-to-be-former Duchess Soniee Kryze will be throwing one last royal ball and to make it an even more special occasion, she's brought in the Amulet of Galia from the Iziz Museum. Enticing enough Thrawn bait?"

"It'll do." Lux turned to Lagos. "Is Vanto coming?"

Lagos smirked at her comlink. "Oh he's coming alright. Want to know which room?"

"I'd just like to point out that the only reason I'm going along with this is because Mitt'raw'nuruodo is one of NRBI's Top Ten Most Wanted." Graf said dryly and shot daggers at Kallus.

"We're not doing anything too illegal this time," Rex said.

Graf transferred his glare to the clone. "That is a very stolen amulet."

Rex rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, that's not too bad considering our record."

Before Graf could blow an aneurysm Lux brought their attention back to him. "We all know our places and marks?" They nodded and he clapped his hands. "Alrighty then. Let's go steal a Thrawn."

…

Soniee made her rounds on the ballroom floor, moving from table to table and making sure the light caught the central emerald in the Amulet of Galia. Most of the guests didn't acknowledge her besides the usual nod or "Duchess" so she was left with the feed coming through the earbud.

Sierra was talking a parsec a minute. "-still would be safer if I was out there. When you're going against a top mark you need the most experienced grifter!"

"You know Soniee can hear you right?" Lux snarked.

The Cashier From Hell put in his two cents. "It's not really a grift because she's just being herself."

Sierra hmphed. "At least she's not wearing my shoes."

Soniee whispered. "Actually I find Satine's wedge boots much more comfortable than your stilettos."

"I can kill a man in my stilettos. Literally and figuratively."

"Well I can run in these and Lagos wasn't the only one who was trained to kick in a reinforced door."

"Look the plan is for you not to have to do that." Saw attempted to make peace. "If it gets too hot we'll pull you out."

"If I was working this job you wouldn't have to pull me out." Sierra grumbled.

"You could have been working this job if Alex ..." Soniee let the others fill in the blank.

There was a tense silence, and then they all burst out laughing.

"Really, all of you." Mina scolded them. "There are children on this comm."

"I didn't hear a thing," Molly said innocently.

Soniee allowed herself one small smile.

"Excuse me Duchess." She hadn't noticed the woman approach her but once she saw her she was taken aback. Her bright auburn hair almost made her look like an older Melaana.

"You don't know me, but I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss," she said gently. "Your husband's work with the foundling fund made a huge impact on my life and the lives of a lot of other orphans."

"Thank you." Thinking of Korkie almost brought tears to Soniee's eyes but she blinked them away. "He would have been so glad to hear his work made a difference."

The woman nodded. "I won't intrude on you any more. Enjoy the rest of your night."

She walked away and Soniee returned to scoping the room.

"Does anyone have eyes on our friend?" Lux asked.

Kallus answered first. "Negative. He's too smart to be out in the open. Do we even know that he's here?"

"No way he isn't."

"Wait!" Soniee had said the word softly but a few of the mingling guests turned to look at her and she turned the word into a cough smiling politely at them as they returned to their own conversations. Then she picked up a champagne glass off of one of the passing droid-carried trays and held it in front of her mouth as she whispered. "I saw a flash of blue on the balcony. Should I go and check it out?" She was already on the move in that direction.

"Keep it casual," Lux ordered. "If you make contact don't go beyond basic pleasantries, and I mean basic. Don't mention the investigation or ask about him. Sierra, any word on Vanto?"

Soniee was too busy making her way to the balcony to hear the grifter's response. She was sure the flash wasn't just a gown or one of their other guests. It was the man whose machinations had, however unintentionally, taken her husband's life. Soniee was more than ready for him to go down.

But when she rounded the corner, the flash was gone.

Soniee clapped a hand over her mouth to hold in a shout of frustration and when her arm brushed her chest, her stomach sunk even further.

"Lux, we have a problem."

Not only had she lost Thrawn, she'd just lost the amulet.

...

"Don't ever ask me to do that again!" Selkie stormed into the holofield on the shuttle, fast food bag in hand. "I'm surprised I didn't drop it, my hands were shaking so badly."

"Believe me, I'll make sure Lux Bonteri fully understands once I get ahold of him." Dalla replied. "Why don't you take some time off once you get back to Onderon?"

"I'll need it." Selkie crammed a fistful of fries into her mouth. "I'm not going to be face ready for at least a week after this."

"All I care about is that you're safe and you got the amulet."

She looked past the fries to the amulet clasped around her neck. "Looks better on me anyway."

…

Sierra was in the hallway toward the palace guest quarters when Soniee's gasp came over the comm. "Lux, we have a problem. The amulet's gone."

"You lost it?!" She hissed. "You've been out there for ten minutes."

"A woman came up to me; she must have stolen it."

Sierra resisted the urge to slap her forehead in frustration. This was why she should be out there - of course there were thieves among the guests when they were trying to draw one out! "If Thrawn's people swiped the amulet he'll retreat and regroup before he comes after us again."

"It's okay," Lux replied, maddeningly calm. "All this means is the timetable's moved up. Sierra, I need eyes on Vanto now."

"He's not in the room Lagos set up for him or anywhere nearby, and that's if he hasn't cleared out already. All I can do is look for -."

The unfortunately familiar sensation of a blaster pistol against her back brought her up silent.

"Turn off the comm, Tara,"

Found him. Sierra didn't touch the comm and instead turned around to the dark, wild-haired face she was expecting.

"Eli," she smiled. "It's been a while."

Eli Vanto nodded. "A while and a dye job. Weren't you a blonde last time?"

"Like you forgot."

"Almost didn't recognize you with this," He gestured to her belly with the pistol. "This is a new development."

"You were always so droll." Man was she regretting this decision from her era of youth and stupidity.

"Don't move!" Alex shouted in her ear. "I'm on my way!"

Good to know. "Since I'm apparently about to die, mind telling what this is all about?"

"I'm not killing you, Sierra or Tara or whatever your name is. Thrawn wants to talk with you."

"Really? I've always wanted to have lunch with him. Maybe he'd like to hear how we met in your Academy days."

Eli grimaced. "I don't think either of us want to think about that."

"Then let's save ourselves the embarrassment and pretend we don't know each other." She telegraphed a step away but Eli gestured with the pistol and she stopped. "You'd really knock down drag out a pregnant woman?"

"My mother taught me better." He raised the pistol. "Stun bolt in the chest won't hurt the baby as long as you hold still."

"Deal," she replied, and held out her arms.

In that moment three things happened. First Kallus kicked open the stairwell door and burst onto the scene. Second Eli turned around to see what the noise was about. And third Sierra lunged at the lieutenant commander and grappled for the pistol.

Kallus watched from the sidelines until a blue light flashed from the scuffle and Eli Vanto collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Grinning, Sierra stepped away and victoriously held up not the pistol but her own Taser. "You were right! He was so busy thinking about the gun he never saw it coming."

"Where were you even hiding that thing?" He gestured to his wife's outfit.

"Why don't I show you later?"

"Holy smokes," Hutch whispered, killing the romantic mood. "Am I hallucinating, or did Sierra just Taser Eli Vanto to the ground?"

Hero was similarly stunned. "Since when could she do that?"

"I am married to Alexsandr Kallus!" Sierra shouted and pointed to Kallus even though they couldn't see her. "Of course I can."

Kallus nodded, smiling for the first time since he'd told her about Hannah. "You've gotten better since we started."

"Thanks honey." She nodded to Vanto. "Should we put him in a closet?"

"The guards will find him eventually." He offered his arm and they walked out together.

…

At the coat check booth in the ballroom's lobby Molly St. James hurried to meet Soniee at the window, a fur stole in her hands. "We don't think anyone will miss this."

"I told you, some chick left it!" Her cousin Kiara snapped from the back. "Anyway it'll hide your neck and that's all we need."

Soniee nodded and gestured for Molly to hand her the wrap. "How are we going to move up the timetable? Is Steela -."

"I always work with time to spare," Steela said. "Lux, are we moving in on Sierra?"

Sierra? Why would they move in on … Soniee listened to the confrontation playing out on the comm and a wave of nausea rose up within her. What had they done? Had their efforts to protect Sierra and her baby put them in Thrawn's jaws?

It was too much. "Take my earbud," Soniee ordered and handed the device off to Molly along with the fur before bolting for the women's refresher.

Hutch noticed: "Guys I just lost the duchess!"

"It's okay Dad." Molly watched Soniee race into the 'fresher, dry heaving. "I've got my eye on her."

"What's she doing?" That was Saw, sounding way more concerned than when any of the rest of them were in danger.

Molly winced at the mental image of what must be happening with Soniee. "She's … in the 'fresher."

There was a brief silence, and then the sound of Saw double-timing it to the lobby.

"Figures," Kiara rolled her eyes. "Do we have time for this? We're already down an hour."

Molly glared. "Shut it, Kiara."

Just then Soniee emerged from the 'fresher looking much more composed. She returned to the coat check window, retrieved the earbud with a quick thanks, and put it back in. She fastened the wrap around her shoulders and pulled it tight against an imagined chill.

"Sierra's alright? Vanto's neutralized?" When she received the affirmative reply she squared her shoulders in the stole and made for the ballroom. "Good. Moving on."

"Soniee!" Saw skidded into the lobby. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she nodded. "I need to get back to the job. Dinner's already being served." But she didn't immediately leave him.

Neither of them said a word. They obviously didn't want anything they would like to say to each other to go out over the party comm. They gazed at each other as if no one else was watching or maybe they didn't care that Molly could still see them from the coat check booth.

"I… I should…" Soniee whispered.

Saw nodded. "After all this is over…" He bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek and Soniee closed her eyes enjoying the sensation and taking courage from the simple shared moment.

"Awww," Molly cooed after Soniee exited the lobby.

Saw gave his niece a wink.

He was already gone to return to his own position before Kiara made her way around the coat racks. "What did I miss?" She asked Molly.

"Nothing," her cousin answered with a sigh.

…

Soniee tuned out the comm chatter so that she could attempt to make polite dinner conversation with her guests but she worried that she didn't see hide nor hair of their intended mark.

She was hopeful for a moment but it turned out to just be a couple of her and Korkie's Pantoran friends. Baron Ion Papanoida who had inherited the position from his father some years back and his lovely wife the former senator Riyo. The couple offered her their condolences and they exchanged pleasantries but still Thrawn managed to escape detection.

"Did anyone even bother to check on Chiss diet?" Soniee mumbled into the stole that was still wrapped around her shoulders. "Maybe we offended him and he left before the dinner started."

It was the restaurateur who answered. Of course Hero would know about such things. "They're not much different from any other near human species. His digestive system is more similar to ours than Katooni's." That was the thing that had led them to find where Barriss was hiding Hutch and Hero's elder daughter all those years ago.

"Don't worry," Lux's voice spoke in a steady tone. "We haven't seen the mark exit the building but his accomplice has been missing long enough, thanks to Sierra, that he might have had time to make a get away."

"You're welcome!" his sister chimed in.

Kallus must have been near his wife because there was a bit of an echo in the comm when he spoke, "And he's still tucked up tight in the closet. Soniee, all you've got to do is root Thrawn out of his hidey hole and invite him to stay for the auction."

She whispered under her breath as she stood up and excused herself from the table, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"I've got eyes on him!" That was Saw's voice. "Looks like he slipped into the gallery while everyone else was at dinner to get a look at some of the auction items. You can catch him alone in the hallway if you hurry, Love."

"Did he just call her…" That was Kiara and she uttered a muffled, "ow!"

Her cousin answered her, "Shut up or they won't let us come on another job."

There was a smile in Saw's voice as he continued. "Of course you won't really be alone. I'm right here in the gallery."

"Okay, let's do this." Soniee breathed. She took a second to compose herself, and then went down the hallway.

She was the princess of Onderon just like in the play the cadets had performed once upon a time at the Academy. Or at least that's what she was telling herself. She may not have had a jet pack strapped to her back for the death scene but she did have the entire crew of Onderon con men a comm away and she thought she caught sight of her as yet secret fiance lurking in the shadow.

And then Soniee spied her target. "Oh," she acted suitably surprised but she didn't over do it. "Admiral, I didn't see you at dinner. I was afraid you might miss our main event. I just stepped out for a breath of air. Perhaps the room was becoming rather close for you as well?"

"Duchess," Thrawn bowed and she was sure she didn't imagine his red eyes flitting towards her neckline. "Yes, crowds can sometimes be… overwhelming."

She laid her hand over the stole as if still feeling where the amulet was hidden underneath. He at least had to believe it was still there for a while longer. "It's not something I've ever grown used to I'm afraid. Will you be joining us for the auction?"

"I would be remiss not to." He looked over his shoulder to the gallery and Soniee played along with his effort to change their direction. "You have some unparalleled pieces. Am I correct they were sourced from museums both on and offworld?"

"They were," Soniee confirmed. "It took some convincing but all their owners agreed to let them go. And of course all of the proceeds will be going to the charity that my late husband started for the foundlings of Mandalore."

Thrawn ignored the part about charity. "I imagine Lady Blackwell, especially, was cautious about allowing her artifacts to leave Iziz."

The name didn't ring a bell for Soniee but going off the chorus of kriffs and fraks that came over the comm, it did for the con men.

"I assured the Iziz museum staff that the amulet would be treated with utmost care."

Thrawn just nodded, looking again at her neckline hidden by the stole. "Thank you duchess. Now if you'll excuse me, I should ensure my credits are in order for the auction." And then he walked away.

Soniee waited until she was sure he was gone before speaking: "Who's Lady Blackwell?"

"Our fence." Ahsoka said heavily. "If Thrawn takes her out I don't want to think about what all will go down with her."

"Not to mention he knows who she is." Steela's voice shook with concern for her friend. "Hutch you've got to warn her."

Hutch scoffed. "I can't warn her without telling her we lost her amulet. You wanna run that by Dalla?"

"Everyone stay calm," Lux ordered. "Do we have cams on Thrawn?"

"Back in the ballroom. Looks like he's on his unit." A smile crept into Hutch's voice. "Oh you wanna call Vanto? Not today. You're swimming in my pool, guppy."

"Then let's end this. Everyone, get into position for the endgame."

The duchess took her place near the dias at the front of the room and smiled and nodded to her guests as they entered for the big event. When they had all been assembled she stepped up to the podium and gave her prepared speech about how thankful she was for all of their attendance and willingness to help support Korkie's foundling organization. Then she stepped back for the auctioneer to take her place.

The first few items found ready bidders. There was no need for the premise of the evening to be a complete farce. And then the next lot number was announced and the item description was read out for the bidders.

Thrawn stayed in the back of the room as the auction went on, watching the proceedings. His gaze didn't leave the table of artifacts events as the two men approached him.

"Lux Bonteri," he said smoothly. "It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

...

"I wish the pleasure was mutual," Lux said as he took his place at the Grand Admiral's side.

Thrawn ignored him. "And Agent Kallus, I hear congratulations are in order."

"Forgive me if I hold trying to kidnap my wife against you," Kallus said dryly. "This hasn't been your most elegant job."

"No it hasn't," the chessmaster agreed. "I did what I was able with the resources I had. Captain Lok's error was … unfortunate."

"Captain Lok's error wound up killing a father of two." Lux glared. "Tell me, why did you want us so badly you could justify Korkie Kryze's murder?"

"The loss of Duke Kryze is regrettable, but acceptable. As for you and your crew, it was nothing personal. You and your fence are merely a stumbling block which needed to be eliminated for the greater good."

"Did you consider that we might be interested in helping you bring that about?" Lux asked. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, that's what I say."

"There are forces at play you know nothing of. And I'm afraid your logic won't serve you with them."

"Tell me about them. Or don't. After all, we are just a band of …" He raised an eyebrow at Kallus. "How did Moff Tarkin say it?"

Kallus smirked. "'Uncivilized hoodlum outlaws.'"

"That was it." Lux savored every word. "Uncivilized hoodlum outlaws who don't care about big, mastermind-y things. But what we do care about is that you came after our family."

"So the duchess and her brood are part of the family now?" Thrawn asked.

Lux laughed. "They might, but that's not what I meant. I was talking about our crew. You come after us, you can bet we'll take you down."

"And that's what you planned to do now. You set up an auction to draw me into the open, then wait for me to enter my financial information into the bidding system for your Cashier to take. Unfortunately…" he tilted his comlink screen so they could see the blank screen. "All you've accomplished is bringing your crew within my grasp."

The auction went on and once again Soniee took the stage.

"That's quite a stole Duchess Kryze is wearing," he said, inexplicably, to Kallus. "Although I thought I saw it on someone else earlier. Tell me, is it sealskin?"

Kallus' scoffed."I'm afraid clothing isn't my specialty."

"Oh Agent Kallus." Thrawn was definitely smirking now. "As I said before, it's a pity you don't study art."

"You're wrong, Thrawn." Lux came to his brother-in-law's defense. "We didn't underestimate you. In fact, I think we estimated you perfectly."

"How so?"

"You'll see in three...two…"

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, our prize piece - the Amulet of Galia!"

A grin spread across Lux's face. "One."

Thrawn didn't hear him though: in that moment Soniee removed her stole and the dozens of people who suddenly noticed the amulet was missing let out a collective gasp.

It was right -

Someone must have…

And then a shout of "THRAWN!"

Ezra Bridger stood in the center of the chaos, pointing at Thrawn from across the room.

"I've been tracking him from Lothal!" He announced. "He's wanted as part of a murder inquiry, and if there's stolen art he's got a track record as long as my arm for that!"

"And his man is missing!" That was Hero, egging them on further. "That human guy with the wild hair! I haven't seen him anywhere."

"I'd step back before the crowd gets ugly," Lux whispered to Kallus as he took his own advice.

"Now just a moment." Graf Yularen got to his feet and flashed his badge to get the crowd to settle down. "Before we jump to conclusions we need to review the evidence we have. Mr. Thrawn, if you would be so kind as to show us your vault?"

Thrawn composed himself. "I would be happy to, Detective Inspector."

...

Soniee sat with her head in her hands while Sierra paced arms crossed over her belly. Once again the girls had been left behind while the boys escorted Thrawn to his vault.

"I'm so sorry," Soniee said for not the first time. "If I had been paying closer attention maybe i could have held onto the fake or gotten a better description of the woman who…"

"No, really it's alright." Sierra admitted, dejectedly. It was more not being where the action was with her husband than the duchess's performance that was ticking her off at the moment. "Your grifting wasn't so bad. I could've done it better but at least you kept the mark on the leash. The timing along with my rather nice dispatch of Vanto," she gave herself a pat on the back for that one, "supports our claim that Thrawn had the amulet taken off world. I do wish we had a better idea of who the thief was. Dalla is not going to be happy, that's for sure."

"I didn't get a good look at the thief," Molly piped up, still trying to be helpful. She had wanted to tag along with the boys as well. "But it was her wrap that we gave Soniee to cover up with after it happened. Isn't that right, Kiara?"

"Yeah," Kiara agreed. "There wasn't a name on the claim ticket, though. I already checked."

"The stole?" This intrigued Sierra. Her husband may have not counted clothing as a speciality but she sure did and Thrawn had said something about it that stuck out to her. "Was it sealskin?"

"It wasn't cheap." Soniee looked around trying to remember where she'd put the thing in the commotion following the reveal that the amulet was missing. "I hardly had time to wonder why someone would have left it…" She went up to the podium, picked up the discarded wrap and brought it back to Sierra. "Here it is."

Sierra studied the thing like a true master of the craft. "It's seal skin alright and I have an idea who must have shed it."

"Sounds a bit like the old myth or was that from one of the Bard's plays, about the selkie?" Soniee asked.

"Exactly." Sierra considered further. "It's where one of Dalla's most trusted agents got her name. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how Thrawn guessed she was involved and that would mean that Mollymauk probably already has the fake back in her possession."

Half of that didn't make any sense at all to Soniee. "Is that good or bad?"

"Yes," was the unhelpful answer, but before the duchess could inquire any further Saw skidded into the room.

"Do none of you have your earbuds in? We've been trying to get a hold of you for ten standard minutes. Hutch has a connection from Lux at Thrawn's vault."

"What?" Sierra fumbled her earbud out of her pocket and stuck it in. "What's going on? Do we have him?"

The other girls followed suit and they all rushed with Saw back to where the Piece of Crap II was parked with Hutch inside running the comms.

Soniee fell into the seat next to him.

"Nice of you lot to show up. Could have used your help patching this all in." The Cashier from Hell gave the Mando Girl a sidelong glance and Soniee immediately felt that she was once again in her behind the scenes element. Let Sierra have all the grifter glory, this was much more her speed, especially with Saw standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay," it only took the Mandalorian hacker a few seconds to find her place in the jungle madness of the console before her. "Did Steela give us a connection to any of the security cams in the vault?"

"Should be right…" Hutch reached past her to flip a switch, "there."

A holo image was projected before them all that was just being entered by the blue guy himself flanked by Graf on one side and Lux on the other. Thrawn was just performing the elaborate series of checks that should have been done for the owner of the vault to enter.

They could hear Steela laughing through the comm unit and was that Melaana as well. The two of them must have gotten through all the rigamarole with no problem earlier and left the system none the wiser.

Soniee pressed the earbud closer as if she had misheard. "Melaana Satine Kryze, you are supposed to be with Aunt Mina and Uncle Tandin!"

"Oops," there followed a giggle. "Sorry, Momma."

"And where is Alex?" Sierra asked no one in particular.

Kallus's voice answered with a grunt. "Just making sure that our supposed courier is found on the premises of his supposed drop off."

...

"This is a very thorough security system," Graf said. "I believe I'm justified in saying only you could get through?"

"I'm the only one with the codes," Thrawn replied and slid back the final lock. "Though I don't underestimate the skills of the galaxy's thieves. Even if I stole the amulet like Bridger suggests, how would I manage to bring it back to the vault? You know as well as I do I haven't had the chance."

"Let's just make sure the amulet isn't here and then we can move on with our lives." Graf gestured ahead. "Lead the way, if you please?"

"I'd appreciate if Mr. Bonteri and Mr. Bridger kept their hands in their pockets," Thrawn said dryly.

Graf gestured for his officers to enter the vault. "Look everywhere. The amulet's can fit in the smallest hiding place."

Ezra pointed. "Found it."

All of them followed Ezra's point to the amulet fastened around a statue's neck.

"What criminal devilry…" Thrawn's eyes glowed.

Lux leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Yeah, about that. See we knew we couldn't con you. So, we just robbed you instead."

"Steela Gerrera..." Thrawn ignored the con man and went straight to Graf. "I'm being framed. As I said, how did I manage to -?"

"I think I can answer that." Kallus wasn't able to fully rid himself of a smirk as he entered the vault. "We found Eli Vanto outside. Looks like he had a little too much to drink at the auction before running off with the amulet."

"And these." One of the officers held up a small bronze statue. "Sir, I think White Collar is looking for this."

Graf smiled. "Well that covers our bases." He gestured to his officers. "Mitt'raw'nuruodo, I am placing you under arrest for grand larceny and suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

Kallus primed himself for a fight when the police converged on Thrawn, but his old enemy didn't move a muscle.

"Of course." Thrawn held out his hands. "Who am I to argue with the justice system?"

That couldn't be right. He would never -

"What did you do?" Kallus stepped forward, a shot of adrenaline racing through his veins. "You never surrender. What sylop do you have up your sleeve this time?"

Thrawn's smile chilled him to the bone.

"Agent Kallus," he said, "Some things are far more frightening than me."

Kallus' mouth dried up but he knew better than to ask Thrawn what he meant. Neither did NRBI. The agents bustled him away before he could say another word.

All except Graf Yularen: "You know I should also arrest all of you."

"Probably."

"Or," He sighed. "You could conveniently slip away while my back was turned."

Kallus raised an eyebrow

"The old man would want us to stick together." A smile crept onto Graf's face. "You should leave before I change my mind. Be a good father."

…

"This wasn't my favorite of your plans." Eli worked a crick out of his neck as the NRBI agents put Thrawn in the speeder next to him. "Next time you're the one who gets Tasered."

Thrawn just smiled. "Of course, my friend."

"You're sure it'll work?"

"Without question," Thrawn replied smoothly. "Our litigator is waiting at the police station. As for the con men, she will tear them apart and when she does, our hands will be clean."