And then Macey McHenry flashed Kat a million-dollar smile. She looked like royalty as she asked, “What are you doing next?”
Kat shrugged. “I might go to Rome. There’s a Raphael there I kind of need to…acquire.”
“That’s funny.” Macey laughed. “There’s an ambassador’s son there I kind of need to kidnap. Maybe we’ll see each other around.”
“Yeah,” Kat said. “Maybe we will.”
But as Macey and Hale walked across the lobby, Kat was certain that no one was going to see Macey—the real Macey—on first glance. And Kat smiled at the fact. She totally knew the feeling.
“So, Kat,” Abby said slowly. She looked Kat squarely in the eyes and it was like the lobby went still. Abby had that effect on people and places, Kat had realized. Of her many secrets, one of them had to be that she had the power to make time stand still. “It was a pleasure working with you tonight.”
“You too,” Kat said. “Without you…”
“You would have been fine,” Abby said; then she seemed to realize the weight of the words. “I mean it.”
“Thanks. But we might not have gotten this.” Then Kat reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a diamond necklace so bright and pure and brilliant that it seemed like the entire city of New York had to stop and watch it shimmer.
“Is that…” Abby started slowly. She seemed almost afraid to reach out for the stone.
“Oh,” Kat said. “This is the real thing, all right. Here.” She held the necklace out for Abby to take, dangling ten million dollars away from her like she was worried the temptation might be too much. “See that it gets back where it belongs, okay?”
“So you did swap it out for the fake?” Abby said as if part of her had been wondering.
“Of course,” Kat said. “Hale and Macey slipped me the fake and then I left that for Reagan and his crew just in case. Plan D,” Kat said by way of explanation.
“Tell you what, Kat, I’ll trade you,” Abby said, taking the necklace and slipping a piece of paper into Kat’s small hand. “It’s my card.”
“‘The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women…’” Kat read. “It’s a school?”
“Part school.” Abby cocked her head, considering. “Part sisterhood.”
“And you’re a teacher?” Kat didn’t try to hide the skepticism in her voice, but Abby didn’t seem offended.
She just let her gaze drift across the room, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Something like that.”
Kat tried to read Abby’s expression, but like so many things about her, it was shrouded in secrets. Still, Kat was certain there was far more to the story. She glanced from Macey to Abby and back again. “Exactly what kind of school is the Gallagher Academy?” Kat asked.
“The kind that would welcome you in a heartbeat.”
Abby folded Kat’s fingers over the card and turned to leave. Neither of them spoke again. Neither of them had to. There was a subtle understanding already coursing between them.
Maybe Macey was right and they would meet again. Then Kat thought about her new friends on the right side of the law and wondered whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing. But in the end she merely shrugged, knowing at the very least it would be interesting.
Knowing, in her gut, it might just be the beginning.