Although the next phase of my scheme demanded a rendezvous at Narcissa’s hotel, I couldn’t go straight there. After all, I couldn’t have everybody know where I was headed. Thus, Crow returned me to the boat.

I had little to say to him after what he did. He, likewise, had nothing of note to say to me. We exchanged basic pleasantries once we arrived at the boat and then we went our separate ways. He took off into the night air, leaving me with one question: would I be The Grandmaster of Theft or Cassidy Cain when next we met?

Of course, this worked with the assumption we would meet again. We’ve yet to, but I’m certain our paths will cross.

Anyway, I changed back into my earlier disguise, steered the boat back towards Himitus, returned the rental, and cruised back to a safe house. I shifted disguises once more and selected a different vehicle for the trip to the hotel. It took a little time, but I managed it with ease. Finally, I rented a room, where I discarded the disguise, showered, and clothed myself with a simple black skirt and white collared shirt.

Becca and Wynn arrived around an hour later. Becca threw her arms around me – while still wearing my face, mind you – and squeezed. I commented on how surreal it felt, so she entered the bathroom to change into a pair of clothes I grabbed from the safehouse for her.

“I hope everything went better on your end than it did mine?” I said to Wynn, who seated himself on the edge of the bed.

“What happened this time?” he asked.

“There’s good news and bad news. On the bad news side, Wynn seemingly betrayed us—”

“Seemingly?” Wynn interrupted.

I brought him up to speed about my theory involving Lilah and how I had sent a warning to her. Wynn listened intently, his expression drawn and tense.

“I think you’re jumping to conclusions about Lilah,” Wynn said after I finished.

“Perhaps. That’s why I answered as I did. If Lilah is the mastermind, she gains nothing. If Crow did indeed go rogue, we’re a step ahead.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Yeah, I have a bad feeling about you framing yourself…”

“I think it was clever,” Becca said as she exited the bathroom, dressed in sneakers, jean shorts, and a cropped shirt.

“That’s why I’m worried,” Wynn said as Becca crossed the room. “Cass can sometimes be a tad too clever. It can create messes normal people can’t even dream of.”

“Luckily I have you watching my back,” I said to Wynn, “so I needn’t fear such predicaments.”

“You got me too!” Becca hastily added before she plopped down next to me. “I’ll do anything you ask if it keeps you safe.”

You wouldn’t kill an innocent person for me, I mused, invalidating the statement in my head. For the record, I would never ask her to do anything of the sort. It’s simply where my mind goes when someone says they’ll do “anything.”

I did realize the true reason she said as much though, given the context. She was jealous. Thus, I had to ease her concerns.

I pecked her cheek before softening my face into a light smile. “I know. You’re the rabbit in my hat.”

A gentle giggle tittered out of Becca and reassured me that all was well.

“You said you had good news too,” Wynn said. “What is it?”

I twisted my head to Becca and sharpened my lips into a smirk. “Becca, you now hold some power over Gale.”

“Wait,” Becca said, her voice alert, “what does Gale have to do with anything?” She twisted her head to Wynn. “He was at the gala, right?”

Wynn confirmed her statement with a single nod. “Edan should still be with him this sec.”

“He decided to pay Becca a visit before the gala…” I said before elaborating on what occurred between us while I was disguised.

When I finished, Becca’s face was marked with loathing.

“Gale isn’t as good a detective as everybody thinks,” she said.

“Gale is a good detective,” I said, not wanting to discount his abilities. “I’m simply a better thief.”

“Don’t forget lucky,” Wynn said. “That could’ve gone different if—”

“No,” Becca interrupted, “it couldn’t. That’s why I said he isn’t as good as everyone thinks. He should’ve known from the start I’d never betray Cassidy. He lost before it even began.”

I covered my mouth and snickered. Her logic was sound, but I couldn’t fixate on her point for too long. “Speaking of losses, can someone bring me up to speed on Narcissa?”

“Good news,” Wynn said, “Rebecca handled herself like a pro. I doubt anybody will suspect a thing.”

Becca’s brows sailed upwards while her mouth dropped open. Then she beamed while scratching the back of her head. “I mean, I doubt I’m a pro thief or anything yet, but I did what I could…”

The bud of a smile began to tug at the corner of my lips – seeing the two of them cooperate pleased me – but an observation scraped at the back of my mind. Wynn started with “good news”, which implied there was bad news as well.

“The stunt also seems to have worked on Vincent,” Wynn said. “I kept an eye on him during. He went from shocked to confused quickly. Then he cast some looks at Becca disguised as you, who played stunned perfectly.”

“Was it really perfect?!” Becca asked, her eyes sparkling.

“What’s the bad news?” I asked.

“Narcissa freaked out after you left. Started blaming Rebec—” Wynn sighed. “Explaining this is going to be annoying…”

“Simply say Rebecca’s name,” I said. “I know it’s Rebecca disguised as me.”

“Alright. Narcissa yelled at Rebecca and said that this was all her fault. Vincent jumped in and said how Rebecca did nothing wrong, how this is all Narcissa’s fault. Narcissa tried to turn things around on Vincent, started yelling about how they needed to follow the helicopter, but Vincent said that by the time they’d be ready, the trail would be lost. She flipped out on him, so he told two of his guards to take her back to the hotel. Said she needed to cool off.”

“I wanted to try and speak with her, but—”

“It’s fine,” I said as I sprung out of the seat.

“What are you—” Becca began as I sprinted towards the bathroom.

“I need my dress!” I called back.

I had to strike while Narcissa could still be emotionally compromised.