A Brilliant Deception Read online

  After failing to find her in the Polo Lounge, I went outside. The sun sparkled down like a spotlight on the Beverly Hills Hotel pool—the selfsame spot where Katharine Hepburn had once jumped in, fully clothed. Where Faye Dunaway had learned to swim freestyle for her role in Mommie Dearest. Green-and-white-striped lounge chairs fringed the water’s edge, and behind those, a border of pink-walled cabanas, where stars and directors took full advantage of the single best place in Hollywood to see and be seen.

  And there, tanning her leathery hide, was Gretchen. Lounging on a chaise, inside the second cabana from the bar, preening herself and ordering a waiter to fetch some ice.

  Perfect. I had her.

  But there was a problem: the large bodyguard standing near her. My mouth twisted with bitter annoyance. He would be armed, which meant this job was going to be a little trickier than I’d hoped.

  My skin baked in the sweltering sun. I pulled a giant floppy hat from my oversized Tory Burch bag and glided over to the poolside bar. Sliding onto a stool, I focused on a new plan. A white-jacketed bartender crushed endless daiquiris and poured fizzy flutes of Dom Pérignon as I watched Gretchen surreptitiously. To conceal my surveillance I pretended to gaze with admiration at the strapping young actor taking to the diving board. I felt my shoulders relax; there were perks to this assignment.

  My gaze slid back to Gretchen and I spotted the Briolette. It was a truly huge diamond—a ridiculous thing to wear in the middle of the day.

  Avert your eyes, Cat, I told myself. It would not be good to be seen paying too much attention to the stone.

  The young woman seated next to me at the bar rudely snapped her fingers at the bartender. I glanced sideways at her. She was knocking back her margarita at an impressive rate. Her laughter pealed out and threatened to shatter the barware. She boasted to the bartender of her recent movie offer, and all the opportunities that were imminently, and assuredly, coming her way. My skin bristled with annoyance.

  “But I wonder if I should change my hair. You know, something more dramatic, perhaps? People are always telling me I could pull it off . . .”

  I imagined people’s eyes were turning in our direction, and not in a positive way. I was in the perfect surveillance position at this point, but as for remaining subtle and under the radar, this loud starlet was impairing my ability to do so. I scoped out a different spot as she continued speaking to the bartender—who was also clearly wishing he, too, could be somewhere else.

  “People like us, you know, we feel things so much more deeply than regular people. That’s what draws us to this profession, you know.”

  I rolled my eyes, hidden behind my sunglasses. Then a couple dressed like tourists, wearing walking shorts and Eddie Bauer buttoned shirts and sandals, walked out to the pool. They looked starstruck, and also completely uncomfortable. The starlet glanced their way, and then snorted. “Oh my,” she said loudly, pausing to sip her margarita. “Somebody took a wrong turn.”

  There were plenty of perfectly pleasant people here—why was I a magnet for all the ridiculous types?

  At that moment Gretchen rose from her chaise, flapping her hand for her bodyguard to carry her things. She was on the move. But not quickly—she stumbled a little, tripping on her kitten-heeled deck sandals. I waited two beats, then slipped off the barstool and away from the pool. I made my way up to the promenade level, striding purposefully like I had somewhere to be.

  I knew I would get there faster than she would. She was not walking steadily, and would be stopping multiple times to fawn over someone or other.

  The spa reception area was an oasis of calm, with its bubbling fountain, soothing Spanish guitar music, and clouds of lavender essence. I strolled to the desk and asked the girl in a white lab coat to see a list of services. I kept my sunglasses on, as so many self-aware young starlets did. Just as I sat down in a plush chair in the waiting room to peruse the menu, Gretchen walked in.

  Right on cue.

  Unfortunately she arrived with her bodyguard in tow. He leaned down to pick up a magazine and I saw his firearm. A 9mm Glock.

  I frowned and watched Gretchen remove her Briolette. The desk girl took it to the back room to presumably put it in the safe.

  I was not going to get a better opportunity; I would have to take it. As an aesthetician led Gretchen to her treatment room, I slipped out of the reception area, back into the corridor. Around the corner, I ducked inside a linen closet where I had stashed a disguise—a spa uniform. I covered my wrap dress with a starched white lab coat, swapping my espadrilles for flats. I whipped off my blond wig and replaced it with a funkier look—a bright pink wig in a swingy bob.

  I checked my reflection in my compact mirror. I looked completely different.

  Back in the spa, I was annoyed to see the bodyguard still there—sitting on the sofa with a magazine on his lap. He was clearly not going anywhere. Even more unfortunate was the sight of a hotel security guard, chatting with the bodyguard.

  Damn, what was he doing here?

  This was a poor development, but the fact was I was there now, inside the spa, and dressed like I worked there. All three were looking at me. I had to continue.

  I walked up to the front desk and talked to the girl there. “Hi, Olivia,” I said, reading the name on her name tag. “I’m Macy. I started last week. Supervisor wants me to finish this shift—guess you’re off the hook early.”

  The girl’s eyes opened wide. “Really?” And then she hesitated. “Actually, I think I’ll stay for the next half hour—I want to be here when Reese Witherspoon comes out—she always gives the best tips,” she whispered.

  “Ah. Okay,” I said, brain churning to determine how I was going to get her out of there. I just needed a little alone time with the safe in the back room.

  At that second, the security guard strolled up to the desk. Handsome, young, and eyes only for Olivia. My gaze slid back to Olivia, who looked like she could power a small condo she was burning so bright.

  Okay, this could work to my advantage.

  I would have preferred to be completely alone, but with them distracting each other at the front desk, that could leave me with the safe in the back room. I hoped the fully armed bodyguard remained engrossed in his magazine.

  I cleared my throat. “So I’m just going to do some straightening up in the back room, okay? You’ve got the front desk, right, Olivia?” I asked.

  She nodded absently and continued her conversation with the cute security guard. I went into the quiet back room, located the safe, and immediately got to business.

  The safe was not particularly sophisticated, and it was the work of a few minutes to get into it. The door swung open. I spotted the Briolette, slid my hand toward it, and . . .

  “What are you doing?” Olivia asked.

  I froze and turned around. “Oh, I was putting something in here that belonged to a client . . .”

  I looked at her, wondering if she’d buy it. I held my breath and watched the suspicion and doubt cloud over her eyes as she processed the scene.

  Nope, she wasn’t buying it.

  Plan B. Without hesitation, I grabbed Olivia’s arm, pulled her into the room, and executed a Krav Maga maneuver to knock her out cold with one go. I left her in the room lying on the floor, slipped out, and locked the door behind me. I slowed down and walked casually back to the front reception area.

  Unfortunately, I walked straight into the questioning gaze of the security guard Olivia had been flirting with. He looked behind me, wondering where she was. I smiled. “She had to use the restroom for a sec. She’ll be right back.” He said nothing, watching me closely.

  “Actually, I have to go get some more towels from downstairs—you don’t mind watching the front desk for a minute, do you?” I said.

  “Sure.”

  I flashed him my warmest smile and glided out the door. “Thanks a mil. Back in a jiffy.”

  The armed bodyguard hadn’t moved, continuing to flip through his magazine. Out of
the corner of my eye I could see the security guard’s head turn back to the room behind the desk, where Olivia was unconscious. It would only be a matter of time before he went to check it out. I had to be fast.

  I raced to the linen closet, pulling out my cell phone as I went. Inside the closet, I put the phone on speaker while quickly changing back to my previous disguise, keeping the Briolette tucked in my bra.

  “Yes, hello, I need vehicle 356A right away,” I said when the valet answered the phone, reading the number off my ticket.

  I poked my head out of the closet and, seeing a clear path, flew down the corridor. Before turning the corner I glanced over my shoulder and saw both men come flying out of the spa, the security guard talking urgently into his walkie-talkie.

  Damn. They hadn’t spotted me yet, but they’d either discovered Olivia, or the breached safe, or both.

  There would be more armed guards in the lobby, guards with walkie-talkies who would now be alert to the crime in progress. So the lobby was out; I needed an alternate escape route.

  Attempting to reach the nearby stairwell would mean revealing myself to the guards. But I knew there was another stairwell, down the far end of this corridor. I set off for it at a sprint, and made it without being seen. The instant I lunged into the stairwell I heard thundering bootsteps coming up.

  Nope, not that way.

  I spun and reentered the corridor. There was nowhere to go.

  Just then, the elevator bonged, halfway down the corridor. I raced for it, dashing inside before the doors slid closed. “Whew! Just in time,” I said. I eyed the one other passenger inside—who had not made any effort to hold the door open for me, I noted. It was the bitchy starlet from the poolside bar, texting furiously on her cell phone.

  As the elevator went down, I caught my reflection in the mirrored interior and realized something unfortunate: I still wore the pink wig.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I had no way to hide a wig—no bag or purse or anything, as I’d abandoned everything in the linen closet. I searched the elevator for somewhere I could stash the wig, and in doing so took another look at my elevator companion.

  She smelled even more strongly of margaritas now. She flicked a glance at me without any sign of recognition in her face; I was not important to her in the least. Which gave me a glimmer of an idea.

  I cleared my throat and said, “You know—your coloring is perfect for pink hair. Have you ever considered it?”

  She shrugged, looking unimpressed and pouty. The elevator descended another floor and I kept talking. “My stylist sent me this wig and it looks terrible on me, washes me right out—but it would be perfect on you. You’ve got the right cheekbones and full lips to pull it off. Do you want to try?”

  Three minutes later, the elevator doors slid open at the lobby and I exited the car. I slowed myself down, crossing the marble floor. Behind me I heard a ruckus. I looked back and watched as two guards tackled a girl wearing bright pink hair.

  I suppressed a smile and kept walking, ever closer to the front door.

  “Did you find your agent?” asked one of the doormen kindly, as I walked through.

  “No, he never showed.” I sighed and shook my head. “Oh well, time for some retail therapy. Ta-ta!” I lifted my head high and walked straight out the front door.

  I scanned the driveway; the valet hadn’t arrived with my car yet. My stomach tightened.

  At that moment, an elderly woman called out, “Oh, someone please stop him!”

  I spotted a little white dog darting away. The dog was headed for the driveway, chasing a squirrel. A Ferrari was coming up the driveway, driven by a valet who was roaring up the slope fast. He wasn’t going to see the tiny dog in time.

  Reflexively, I sprinted. I lunged and grabbed the dog and rolled out of the way.

  When I stood up, a small cluster of stunned expressions greeted me. I smiled and brushed off my dress. “I, um, I’ve been training,” I offered, clearing my throat. “Action movie. They want me to do my own stunts . . .”

  I handed the fluffy little dog back to the woman. At that moment, a valet arrived in a convertible Mercedes—my car.

  As I pulled away from the curb I squinted at the rearview mirror. The armed bodyguard and two security officers strode out of the hotel. Before they even glanced in my direction they beelined to the valet stand, presumably to shut down the exits while they searched for suspicious characters.

  I reached the road and roared smoothly away, unheeded and unfollowed.

  The convertible top to the Mercedes retracted at the push of a button and I drove away, fast, down the winding hills of Sunset Boulevard. The wind whipped my hair as I continued along palm tree–lined boulevards under the sparkling LA sun. An exhilarated grin threatened to split my face as relief washed over me, and the warm tingle of a job successfully done spread throughout my limbs.

  Once again, it never ceased to amaze me how shockingly good it felt to behave so spectacularly bad.

  Several minutes later my phone rang. I glanced down, still driving, and saw a familiar number flash on the screen—Templeton, my handler at AB&T, the Agency of Burglary and Theft. I answered the encrypted call and put it on speaker. “Templeton, you must be clairvoyant!” I said, laughing. “I just finished the job, you’ll be happy to know. It’s in hand, in all its sparkling glory.”

  There was a moment’s hesitation. “I beg your pardon?” he said, then mumbled and answered his own question. “Oh, the Briolette. Yes, jolly good, my dear.” My eyebrows knotted slightly. He sounded distracted, and—something else I couldn’t place. “But that’s not why I’m calling,” he said.

  A bristle of warning traced up my scalp.

  “Petal, you need to come home right away. Your mother is in the hospital. She was hurt.”

  My chest collapsed inward as all the air left me. “What? How?”

  “I’m not sure how to tell you this—”

  “Templeton. Tell me. Now.”

  A moment’s pause. Then, “She was shot. Because . . . well, you see, Catherine—she tried to stop a burglar.”

  Chapter Two

  I got back to Seattle as fast as I possibly could. The flight was brief but agonizing, and I went to the hospital straight from the airport. I arrived just after 8 p.m.

  The antiseptic environment of the hospital—smelling of industrial cleaner and vomit—slammed into me as soon as I walked in. The fluorescent lights didn’t help my growing headache. But I ignored the pain. It didn’t matter; I only cared about getting up to the trauma ward.

  I arrived at the doorway to my mom’s room. She was as white as the starched sheets that covered her. She gazed out the window at the darkening sky, the tubes and wires running out of her to various IV poles and monitors clustered around the bedside. It was all so—invasive-looking. One of the machines was bleeping. Another was making a whirring sound. A white-coated doctor—a resident, maybe?—stood by the bedside, making notes on Mom’s chart. He looked impossibly young, as well as tired. The greens under his white coat were creased and rumpled, like he’d been sleeping in them. He looked up at me—through glasses with smudge marks on the lenses—forcing me to enter the room before I was ready.

  A panicky feeling crawled up my throat as I crept in and stood by the foot of her bed. The room smelled of bleach. Her gaze turned to me, an oxygen tube under her nose. My heart squeezed at the sight of my mother like that.

  As she saw me, her face softened into a weak smile. “Cat. Darling, I’m so glad you’re here.” Her voice was hoarse.

  I wanted to say something but didn’t know quite what. So I settled for smiling back at her and hoped I made it look convincing.

  “It looks like your mother is going to be fine,” the resident said, clicking his pen and sliding it back into the breast pocket of his white coat. “The surgery went well, there should be no permanent damage. Recovery will take some time, of course.”

  “How much time?” I asked. “Did you get the bullet out?” I pep
pered him with a million other questions, barely giving him time to answer, until my mom reached a cool hand out from under her sheets and gripped my hand.

  “Sweetheart, stop. Everything will be fine. Let the doctor go see his other patients. There will be time to talk later.”

  She was right. I glanced apologetically at the resident.

  “I’ll be here in the morning,” he said. “I can answer more of your questions then.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” he said and strode out, his sneakers squeaking faintly on the polished floor.

  “Do you need anything, Mom?” I asked, pulling up the blanket that was rumpled at the foot of her bed and tucking it around her. “Are you okay?” I wasn’t talking about physically, and we both knew it. “How do you feel?”

  She sighed and took a few deep breaths. “Well, I feel rather stupid, for one thing. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “Templeton told me what happened,” I said.

  “I thought I could reason with the thief,” she confessed.

  I looked down at the bandage covering her left shoulder. I cringed, thinking of a bullet ripping through my mother’s flesh. Templeton had filled me in on what had happened, exactly, as I’d raced to the airport in LA.

  My mom had been at a museum after hours, helping clean up after a benefit dinner, when someone detected a break-in. Instead of calling the police, like normal people would do, she went to investigate, and see if she could stop it.

  In the process, the perpetrator shot her.

  “Who was it?” I demanded of Templeton. My first thought was someone with Caliga Rapio, the ruthless organization of unscrupulous, violent thieves. The thought of it made my stomach curdle.

  But it was worse than that. Much worse.

  “He was one of ours,” Templeton said. “He works with AB&T.”

  “What?”

  “Apparently it was self-defense. He was startled. You might have done the same thing, Catherine.”

  Those words echoed in my ears now, looking down at my mom in the hospital bed. It was a punch in the stomach. A small part of me wondered—was it true?