Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar.

"I think I might hate clowns."

"That would be understandable."

"Can we leave?"

"No." I cast a look down at the little girl with brown curls. Lucy reminded me strongly of Suzie, in the looks department. However, she was timid and mousy in her personality.

I sighed and held out my hand. "Alright, Lu, let's head out then."

Lucy grabbed my hand immediately. We walked down towards the circus. I could hear the screams and shouts of little children, the laughing adults. The smell of roasted peanuts and cotton candy filled my nose.

"Woman in the red hat, to our left." I whispered down to Lucy. I wore a cheerful smile on my face as did Lucy.

I could see her eyes narrow and trace the target. I felt a shiver go up my spine and a slight guilty feeling came over me. I shook it off and 'accidently' let go of Lucy's hand.

She started to skip off, towards Ms. Red Hat. Once she was in the near vicinity of the target, I started to call out her name.

"Lu, Lu!" I sang out, a picture of a slight distressed older sibling, "Come back!"

'Lu' bounced over to the Red Hat and fell down right in front of her. I waited patiently until she began to help Lucy up before stopping close by. I snuck my hand into her jacket pocket. Before she could notice, I quickly grabbed her wallet and slipped it to Lucy, who held it behind her back as she hid behind my legs.

"Oh, thank you for helping her up!" I said, giving the woman a gentle smile.

"It was no problem." She told me back in a sweet voice. "It's fine! She's not hurt is she?"

"Oh no, its fine, what I'm worried about is your hands. They looked like they're pretty scratched up."

I shook my head, "You're alright, right Lucy?"

Lucy shot me an odd look, and I nearly cursed myself. I had said Lucy, when I wasn't planning on saying her name when we were around the target. It could lead to complications. Lucy smiled and answered anyway, "I'm all good, Kat." She wrapped her arms around my legs, the picture of adorable. She had already hidden the wallet in the back of her pants.

Ms. Red Hat smiled and then left, waving goodbye to us.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked, tilting her head to the side. Her little mouth was curved to a frown and her bright blue eyes held more questions.

I got hit by the sudden image of Elizabeth's blue eyes and warm smile.

"Let's just go, okay? Some more training, hm?"

Lucy pouted. Crossing her arms, she said, "I'm hungry. Can we get some dinner?"

"Would you like to have… dinner with us?"

"No!" I whispered harshly. Lucy looked taken back and then I quickly shook my head. "Uh, sorry, Lu. I'm, uh…" I ran my fingers through my hair. "It's…" For the first time, I realized that I didn't have a truthful answer.

I felt her lace her small fingers through my calloused ones. "How about we just head back, okay?" I didn't look down, for fear of being reminded of Elizabeth. A sudden ache started in my chest that surprised me greatly.

"Let's go."

"Antonio wants to see you."

Those words could never mean well.

"Tell Antonio he can just shove it in his a-"

"Ah, my darling Kate!"

I looked up. Antonio was a 6"0 dark skinned man with a British accent. His 'friend' otherwise known as the personal bodyguard 'Greg', stood beside him. He was the one that spoke first to me.

I leaned back on my park bench, a half-eaten sandwich in my hands. "Why are you here, Antonio?"

He grinned and sat next to me. "Always straight to the point. No finesse in you, Kate."

His bodyguard, 'Greg' walked aways a bit, no doubt to be a lookout.

"Could you get to the point?" I said wearily. I suddenly lost my appetite.

"I am in need of your expertise." I casted him a side look.

"My expertise? " I repeated. "Sorry, but didn't you hear? Apparently I've lost my 'stuff'." I clenched and unclenched my fists. "I don't know how much use I'll be to you." There was a rumor going around that since I've lost my partners (Kaiden and Suzie) I've been lacking in skill.

Antonio was a thief. A mastermind hidden by bodyguards and clever traps that always pointed to someone else. I was a rogue; my expertise wasn't as well-known as his.

"I'm not interested in being a scapegoat, Antonio."

"Kate, dear, I could never make you a scapegoat!" He showed me a cheerful smile that held lies between the cracks of his shining white teeth. "I just need you to do a little… extracting for me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Antonio, I know we go back a ways but…" It was true, I knew Antonio for a while, before he got really into thieving. "Why would you choose me? I'm-"

"Invisible." He supplied. "An orphan, foster kid. Not of importance." The smile he gave me drew shivers down my spine, despite the warm and sunny afternoon. "And that, Kate, is why I need you."

I stood up, ready to leave. "No thank you, Antonio."

"You're itching."

I paused, my back turned to him.

"I can see it in your hands, they keep twitching. And your eyes, shifting sideways constantly. You may not want to face it, but you need this job." He had stood up; I could hear him standing right behind me.

"So… Can I count on you?"

"You so owe me."

"That I do, Kate darling that I do."

I scowled, slipping on my gloves. "I mean, seriously, I want a bigger cut." I eyed Antonio distrustfully.

"Don't trust me, darling?"

"You should know that by now, Antonio." I laced up my boots. I glanced down at myself when I was finished.

"And what's that, Kate?"

I was wearing all black, light boots with good grip, and skin tight gloves. Barely an inch of skin was showing. Kaiden would joke and say that this was my 'cat suit'. I swallowed back tears and looked up at Antonio. "I don't really trust people."

The plan was solid. Antonio's men would drop off the package in a not-so secure location. I would wait there and we'd switch packages. While they went on ahead with the fake package, I would take the real one and drop it off to Antonio.

In reality, it was just a precaution. I didn't need to be there.

So why was I?

I glanced at Antonio. I needed answers. I glanced down. My hands were twitching every couple of minutes, my feet were bouncing. It was like a drug, the adrenaline. I needed it.

Breathing in deeply then exhaling it slowly, I turned around and stretched my limbs. I would need to be quick and silent. I looked down at the 'package'.

It was a black backpack, nondescript. When I lifted it up to test the weight, I was surprised to find it was filled with…

"A picnic?" I looked at Antonio for answers.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Finesse darling, all about the details."

It was all about the details.

I knew that this was a bad idea, I thought to myself as I watched a man get murdered.

Hi! Sorry no Neal in this story, I've been thinking about ti and he won't come in for a while. 3 or 4 more chapters. I've got to get Kate into the Burkes household first. :) Don't worry though, I'm currently in the process of figuring out all the things for this story.

Reviews:

chicca01: Aw, thank you! I'm trying to work very hard on this story. Yeah, El is my favorite character, and I loved the idea of her as a mother. THnak you for your review!

guest (1): Thank you! I will most certainly keep going. :) Thank you for your review!

Meire: Você é bem vindo! Obrigado rever novamente, isso significa o mundo para mim! Kaiden e Suzie vai voltar, mas eles não estão em apuros. As adoções são sólidos, mas eu não ter planejado tão longe, então eu estou pensando que talvez um deles fica em apuros. Talvez, o que você acha? Beijos. Além disso, uma pequena pergunta, você fala Português e Inglês? Ou apenas um, eu tenho notado que você está opiniões são em Português. Eu estou respondendo a sua opinião em Português, mas eu estou usando o Google Translate para obter ajuda.

guest (2): I've had this idea floating in my mind for a while. Thank you for reviewing!

reader82: I will continue, I've got ideas for this story!

With that out of the way, it's time to say!-

-GP2 OUT!