Disclaimer not mine

Explanations?

Danny shook his head as he stared at the departures board. He had been flirting with the young blonde for so long that he had missed his flight. He knew Stacie would be half way to London by now. Shaking his head he walked across to the flight attendant hoping he could blag his way on to another flight.

"I told you once Sir." The pretty brunette smiled. "You are booked as a stand by. You were actually in the airport when the flight you were orginally were booked on announced it was ready for boarding."

"Yeah, I know but." Danny really couldn't think of an excuse. He had always left things until the last minute.

"In that case." The American woman smiled. "You just have to wait. Have a nice day." She turned to talk to the next customer as Danny skulked off to wait.

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Emma smiled slightly as she watched Ash and Stacie greet each other. She couldn't help but like the older woman and could see Ash still had feelings for her. Albert shook his head slightly and headed off to the kitchen to make a drink while Mickey and Ash said their hellos. He couldn't help but notice the way Emma was appraising them all. He knew he was right, the girl was a natural at reading people. Even seasoned grifters.

"Hello Sean." He smiled as Sean grunted before throwing himself into the seat next to the breakfast bar. "What is it?"

"I think we have chosen the wrong mark."

"No." Albert sighed. "Why do you think that? The guy is scum. You know that."

"Yeah." Sean nodded as he stared into his mug. "He is a right scumbag. He is linked to all sorts of stuff. Drugs, cons, stuff that really hurts people and as Mickey always says you can never con an innocent man."

"And he also says never be the mark."

"Yeah." Sean closed his eyes as he leant back. "Why is it I get the feeling we are being set up? I mean we are going to end up as the mark. Stacie hasn't been heard of for a couple of years. Or if she has then she's never talked about in front of me and Em. This ex wife of Ash's has to have something against him and I bet she has told Dean that we were at the reception the other night. Ash might not have recognised her at the start but then she is bound to have recognised him."

"Sean, listen to me."

"No." He shook his head. "I am all for taking him out. You know that but the police haven't been able to do it so how can we?"

Albert shook his head as Ash appeared in the doorway.

"Right." He leant against the wooden door frame as he watched both men turn to him. "This life we lead means we often come into what the rest of the world may call unsavory characters. This lifestyle also puts us on the fringes of society, so we are more likely to be on the recieving end of this type of person but it does not mean we run away at the slightest bit of difficulty. Now Rachel is a grade A pain in the rear end. I know that I was married to her for long enough."

"How long were you married?" Sean raised an eyebrow.

"Six months. Six of the longest months of my life." He shook his head.

"Six months!"

"Hey, shut it. We all make mistakes. I was with June for nearly ten years before she died. God rest her, now she was a lady." He smiled "Bloody good grifter too."

"That she was." Albert smiled as he remembered the blonde that had died almost five years earlier. He had thought Ash would never fall for anyone again but seeing him with Stacie had changed his mind.

"So? How can we go after this mark?" Sean shrugged his shoulders. "He is bound to know who we are now."

"Get yourself in there." He pointed to the living room "While I call Eddie and you'll find out."

"Eddie?"

"Yeah, we may just need reinforcements on this one." Ash smiled as he saw Sean raise an eyebrow.

"Eddie and Carol. You didn't think we were just going to get Eddie involved did you?" He shook his head as the other grifters followed him into the living room.

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Stacie stared at the laptop as the image of Rachel Morgan and Dean Andrew Davies on the laptop. She felt her blood run cold as the image changed to that of the ballroom where the team had first noticed Rachel.

"And you had no idea she was involved?" Stacie folded her arms as Mickey stood alongside her.

"No. Not until Sean noticed her going in to the ballroom. Then we got out of there."

"And you think she spotted you?"

"It is a possibility." Mickey narrowed his eyes.

"You do know what this man was capable of? Is capable of?"

"Yes." Mickey stated calmly.

"And you still want to go after him?"

"Yes."

"You don't change Mickey Bricks." Stacie shook her head as Emma sat on the cream sofa.

"And it was going well until I gave the wrong name. I was supposed to be Vicky and I told him my name was Charlotte Stone." She groaned.

"Doesn't matter."

"I blew it." Emma berated herself.

"No." Stacie turned to her. "Trust me, he wont remember what name you gave. You are young, very pretty and blonde. That is what he will remember."

Emma wrinkled her nose as Mickey shoved his hands in his trouser pockets, trying to keep his temper. He hated men like Dean and couldn't wait to see him get his comeuppance. Stacie smiled sympathetically.

"How did you meet him then Stace?" Carole asked as she sat next to Eddie.

"In New York last year." Stacie knew one of them were going to ask. "He wasn't a mark, just someone Danny got talking to."

"And?" Eddie leant forward as Emma and Mickey exchanged glances.

"And he is a greedy, sexist, spiteful little man that cannot take no for an answer."

"Stacie?" Ash held her gaze.

"He likes his own way and doesn't care how he gets it. Danny could see he was a grifter but he was conning old people in to giving him their life savings while also conning young girls that he could make them the next big super model. As long as they gave him $4,000 dollars to promote them."

"People actually fall for that modelling scam?" Emma shook her head sadly.

"Yeah, believe it or not. There are still alot of people who will pay that kind of money to chase a dream. As far as the older people I could see he was scamming them for their pensions, savings and doing so by playing on their fears. As soon as Danny and I realised what he was doing we got away. Went to Washington D C for a while. Oh and I placed an anonymous call to the NYPD before we left." She smiled sadly as Ash laughed.

"You did what?"

"There's being a grifter and there is being a con artist. You know the difference. I wasn't having him give decent grifters like us a bad name."

"Stace, we are criminals too. Technically." Carole laughed.

"Maybe." She nodded as Ash and Mickey smiled at each other. "But not like him. We don't hurt innocent people. My Jake was like that so I got out. Seen it once, not keen to see it again."

"Then what happened?" Sean asked as Emma glanced at Mickey. She had seen the scar on Stacie's forarm and could imagine what was coming next.

"How was I to know that he had friends in the police?" She closed her eyes as she pulled her shirt sleeve up to her elbow. "Three days in the ICU for me and a set of broken ribs, concussion and a nasty cut on his eyebrow for Danny. That's what happened next. When I saw Jake in New York I knew I had to get home. Danny was supposed to come with me."

Ash lowered his eyes as he tried to keep his temper. The scar on Stacie's arm looked as painful as he imagined it would be.

"Well." Ash stated. "That settles it. We are taking him down." Mickey and Albert nodded as Emma got to her feet.

"Yeah." She agreed as Stacie shook her head.

"I was trying to warn you off."

"We don't get warned off, sorry Stace." She smiled as Emma turned to Mickey, her dark hair falling in her face.

"I can see why you like her."

Mickey smiled and was about to answer when the door burst open. Sean swore as the team turned to face the new arrival.

"Hiya." Danny beamed as he dropped his bags on the carpet. "What'd I miss?"

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A/N More soon.