Author's note: As usual, I hope this chapter will not disappoint. In response to Marille's question: I don't know exactly when Danny married Tess, but I assume that they must have been married pretty long for Danny's gang to know her so well. I know it sounds very absurd, so you must forgive me for my ignorance. It was a very good question though, and I appreciate it very much. Thanks!

Chapter 4

Dinner took place in Danny's deluxe room four rooms away from Andie's. In the room there were two beds, and as a silent apology Danny offered the second bed to Rusty, who was only too glad to take it because it meant that he didn't need to fork out any money of his own. They took their places on the sofa in the sitting area, gathering around a coffee table.

Dinner was mediocre fare: Chinese food in small cardboard boxes.

"Boy, this is sad," Frank poked sadly at his box of chow mien. "We're about to get incredibly rich and we still have to put up with fast food."

Andie did not bother to listen to what everyone else had to say about their respective meals. Her laptop balanced on her lap and her box of Chinese fried rice in her hands, she went to her homepage and checked her inbox. She had three new e-mails: one from Gallagher-boy, one from Mummy dearest, and one from someone named Klaus Hagner.

The last e-mail caught her attention instantly. The box of rice in one hand and the plastic spoon stuffed in the box, she moved her pad mouse and clicked on the heading: WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

As her eyes scanned the e-mail, panic rose up her throat. All appetite was lost, and Andie placed her food on the coffee table and thought of a good reply.

Klaus Hagner was with the Europol, and he said that he knew that she was an impostor. Indeed, she was disguising, as a Europol agent posted abroad in Puerto Rico and lost her password to access the Europol databank. She had kept up the disguise for nearly two weeks, and her unwitting target was a female agent named Betty Kavnik.

The purpose was relatively simple: to clear out all criminal records of her and her gang with Gallagher-boy. Once she had the password, it was all too simple to hack into the database.

Andie managed to obtain Kavnik's e-mail address through a quick run-in with the Europol Witness Protection databank. After the run-in, Europol discovered the intrusion and quickly put up new firewalls, which to this very day Andie had not figured how to hack through.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a nudge from Saul Bloom, who sat beside her. "Hey lady," he whispered fiercely. She looked up and saw her father's intent eyes on hers. Rusty Ryan eyed her suspiciously, and Linus's gaze was just earnest. "Yes?" she ventured, and carefully shut her precious laptop.

"We were just talking about the Gabanski Diamond," Linus informed her helpfully. "Which, apparently, has no interest to you whatsoever," Rusty added quickly.

Danny cast a wild glance at Rusty and opened his mouth to retort but Andie raced him to it. It was aimed at her, so it was hers to fire back.

She looked directly at his eyes and said crisply, "Oh, and I'm pretty sure you guys can do without me. If you don't want me to be here, I'll be happy to leave."

"Hey, hey, cut it out, you two!" Danny was properly fed up by the bitter remarks tossed between the two of the most important people in his life, and it showed on the frowning planes of his face, further accentuated by his greying hair. "This is a discussion, not a boxing ring."

"I will never hurt a girl, believe me," Rusty said, widening his eyes in mock innocence.

Andie folded her arms, rolled her eyes and sank back onto the sofa.

Danny sighed and massaged his temple.

Basher cleared his throat and said, "Back to the subject?"

The men murmured among themselves and kept their eyes on either Danny, Rusty, Andie, or their food boxes.

"Back to the subject," Danny nodded at Basher. "The Gabanski Diamond was crafted by the man himself, Paulo Gabanski. It's not big, really. It's the size of a figurine. What makes it ultimately valuable is the materials used to make it. Paulo Gabanski was an excellent jeweller and craftsman. It's made completely out of pure, hard diamond, and encrusted with precious Swarovski crystals inlaid with gold." Danny's eyes shone at the very thought of it, and the men whistled in awe. It must have been a sight to behold.

Andie, however, had never heard of such an ambitious plan.

"You must be crazy to want to steal it," she said disbelievingly. "It's heavily guarded in the Gallere des Gabanski. We're talking about lasers, high-tech security, and guards!" She was appalled to see the calm, almost smiling look on her father's face. "It's over before it's even begun," she added slowly.

Danny shook his head. "You're wrong, I'm telling you. Remember the whole Benedict thingy?" He looked around at his men with a grin. "It was invulnerable! He said so himself. But we made it, didn't we?"

"Yeah!" The Malloy brothers shouted with Frank and Basher. Even Reuben Tishkoff was hyped. "That's the spirit!" he said loudly. Rusty only managed to grin.

Andie had to smile at Danny's optimism. But it wasn't going to work. Andie knew the odds stacked against them. She had as much experience as her father did.

"Okay, even if we're going to do it," she said, trying to be as matter-of-factly as possible, "How are you going to get in there?"

Danny grinned even wider, as if he was drunk, and said, pointing his finger playfully at her, "That's where you come in, pumpkin."

"What?" she almost shouted.

"Oh boy, don't you sound like Tess," Rusty remarked wryly, smiling slyly.

The men laughed. "You said so yourself, all high-tech security," Danny said, feeling ticklish. "That means there'll be plenty of computers for you to mess around with. That's your specialty, isn't it? That's your playground. You snoop into the database and clear all the laser, the techie stuff, we do the rest of the work."

"I'm sure it's easier than what we have to do," Linus said encouragingly. The men nodded along with him, except for Rusty. He sipped his cold beer and stared at the ceiling.

"You'll do it, won't you, pumpkin?"

Andie sighed and shrugged. "Do I look like I have another choice?"

Tomorrow morning was set for a drive to the Gallere des Gabanski just outside of Copenhagen. After some idle talk accompanied by cold beer, which Andie politely refused, Danny dismissed them back to their rooms.

Andie entered hers, feeling somewhat resigned and reluctant. She remembered her promise to her mother before she went to Massachusetts. She had promised that she would use her skills for a good cause. That time, anything was possible.

That promise should have been left unsaid.

Now look what was happening to her: she and her very own gang, headed by Gallagher-boy, had risen to be among the most prolific bandits that ever graced the FBI's Most Wanted list. Three narrow escapes and three effortless hacks into the FBI database had made Andie and the gang think three times before stealing something. Now that Europol had their records, Andie knew better than to ruffle the feathers of any European cop until she found a backdoor into the Europol database.

She hung her coat on the hangers in the wardrobe and unfastened the buttons of her jeans and let it drop onto the floor, revealing a pair of shorts that ended well above her knees. She stepped out of the jeans and threw it onto a chair. Andie plopped onto the bed and switched the television on.

Channel-surfing was not Andie's idea of having fun at all, but she had no choice since all the TV shows were in Danish, and she understood not a single syllable of it. God help her, she was bored to tears.

Then she stood and went to the desk for her laptop. Surfing the Internet was considerably more promising.

The desk, however, had no laptop on it. Andie frowned. "Where could it be?" she asked herself quietly. She was pretty sure she had brought it back – oh no. She slapped her forehead and ran to the wardrobe for her jeans. She left it at dear old dad's. On the coffee table in the sitting area.

Just great.

She would make a brief visit and ignore the jibes her father was likely to give, since she rarely forgot things, and make a quick exit. Yes, she would.

She was about to grab hold of her jeans when a knock came at her door. Was it dad with her laptop? She slammed the wardrobe shut and hurried to the door. It had better be him.

"Yeah?"

"Andie, it's Dad."

She opened the door without hesitation and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her trustworthy laptop in his hands. Danny smiled at her. "I knew it was yours, pumpkin."

Andie pecked him on the cheek and took the gadget from him. "Thanks."

"Actually, Rusty found it on the table and stopped me from digging into your private files," Danny said, grinning apologetically. Andie eyed him suspiciously and said, "Really."

"Really, really. May I come in?"

"Sure."

Andie stepped back and closed the door behind him. At the very mention of Rusty Ryan, she knew that her father was on a peacemaking mission. "Dad," she said, watching him take a seat on her bed and laugh at the television screen, "I know you're trying to patch things up."

"Patch up what? Oh, between you and Rusty?" Danny laughed again, patting the space beside him for her to sit. She narrowed her eyes. He stopped laughing as realization hit him. "Oh."

She sighed and sat beside her father, resting her head on his shoulder. "You know, we're old enough to work things out ourselves. I really appreciate what you're doing but it's really not necessary."

Danny placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and looked into her eyes tenderly. There was so much of Tess in her: the same indignant nature, the same tenderness. How he loved them both.

"Well, do you know what the main ingredient in our past successes was? Teamwork. Everyone co-operated, everyone got along fine. We looked out for each other and caught whomever that fell. You and Rusty, you guys are the ones I need the most. You're smart, efficient, and talented. I don't want you guys at each other's throats, even when we're not working. Can you be nice to him, Andie, for me?"

She sighed heavily and nodded reluctantly. "Okay, but only if he's nice to me in return."

Danny laughed and ruffled her hair. "Sure thing."

"What is she, a six-year-old?"

Danny sighed. "What's a few weeks?"

"She's pushy," Rusty's eyes did not leave the television set. Danny sat beside him on the couch, a glass of white wine in one hand. "It'll mean the world to me, Rust." He sipped it and looked at his best friend intently.

Rusty turned and met his gaze. "She's that important, huh?"

"She's my daughter!" Danny exploded. "If everyone else can get along with her, why can't you? You're the one who's so great with women. What's the matter? Now's the perfect time to win a lady's heart, and for once I want you to do so!"

Rusty let out a short, hysterical laugh which made the hairs on Danny's back stand. "It's not funny, Mr. Ryan," Danny said sarcastically.

"Yeah, right, whatever, Danny," Rusty grinned mischievously. "Whatever."

Danny had never hated that Chesire cat grin of his so much before.