The Art of Being a Con: A Guide by the Lion and the Fox | COMPLETE

Chapter Five: The Hyenas

Riley was packing up the suitcase of disguises while Nate was sitting on the motel bed, typing away at the laptop.

"Hey, Riley?" he said.

The woman looked up. "Yeah?"

"What if we got partners?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if we expanded our team?"

"Why would we do that?" the woman asked, furrowing her eyebrows and dropping the shirt she had been holding.

"For one, it would make things easier for us," the man replied. "We could have a distractor, someone to go on food runs, a hacker, and a getaway driver. That way we won't have to run around like at the bank."

"I... I dunno, Nate." The woman wrung her hands nervously. "What if we don't... It's been just us for almost two years. We've managed!"

"But we'll need help if we go any bigger. Eyes in the sky, wheels on the ground, distraction in position."

"You've really thought about this, haven't you?"

"Yeah." The man looked down. "We don't have to if you don't want to."

Riley frowned and moved over to the bed and sat beside him. "You realise they'll expect us to pay them, right? And what if no one wants to work for two con artists?"

"We could play it off as something else," he suggested.

"Like what?" She snuggled into his side.

"Travelling investors," the man suggested with a shrug. "We can ask them by using the con artist thing as a cover trick question and if they actually agree with that, we can forget about the other thing."

"You're so smart," Riley commented.

"Please compliment me more," Nate begged.

"Tell me who you've found first, then I might."

"Okay!" Nate sat up quickly and showed her the laptop. "I've found three roommates: Vinícius, Abraham, and Mason. A diverse group of guys. They all have a record and are trying to find jobs."

"I see," Riley nodded and rested her chin on the man's shoulder. "And how did you find them?"

"Craigslist..."

"Uh huh... And what else do you know?"

"Abraham has a masters degree in computer sciences," the man started and pointed to a photo of a tattooed man with dark hair. "He moved to San Francisco from Russia back in his junior year of high school. He was arrested at the age of twenty-one for hacking into an electric road sign on a dare and making it read the lyrics to a very provocative song."

"Is that so?" she pointed to a photo of a black man wearing a beanie. "What about him?"

"That's Mason. He was the first in his family to go to college but he dropped out after the first term because he didn't like his major and couldn't find a college that had the major he wanted that would take him," Nate explained. "He was arrested at the ages of twelve, nineteen, and twenty-four for stealing cars and ensuing high-speed car chases with the cops."

"Oh!" The woman seemed intrigued. "And I'm guessing that this is Vinícius?" She pointed to the final photo: A Latino man with a snapback cap.

"Right you are, my love!" Nate beamed at her.

"It says here," Riley said, taking the laptop and scrolling down a little on the page and highlighting a phrase, "that he was arrested for stealing a battery-operated popcorn maker."

"Two battery-operated popcorn makers, actually."

She gave him a look.

"Sorry," the man said. "But he wants to be a chef! He's perfect!"

"You really want this?"

"Yeah. It'll make things easier and we can pay them two hundred each per heist."

"Mmm... This is coming from a con artist but that sounds a little stingy."

"You're right. A grand each," Nate corrected.

"Now you're being generous."

"Eight hundred?"

"There we go."

Nate took the laptop back. "Let's message 'em and offer the job!"

***

Vinícius was in the middle of making a batch of waffles when his roommate Mason ran in with his phone. Vinícius dropped with fork in worry.

"What's wrong? Where's the fire?" he asked frantically.

Mason shook his head quickly. "No. No fire. None that I know of, anyway."

"Then what's wrong, hombre?"

"I got an email," the other man explained. "Apparently Abraham got one from the same folks."

"About...?"

"They want to hire us. Check your messages! They said they emailed you, too!"

"Seem sketchy." The Russian man had entered the room.

"I dunno man," Mason shrugged. "They actually seem legit."

"Who are they?" Vinícius asked, taking out his phone and opening the Mail app.

"You watch the news, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Look at the signature."

"Sincerely, the Lion and the Fox"

"Oh Dios mío," Vinícius muttered. "The Fox and the Lion wanna hire us?"

"It seems so," Abraham admitted. "They attach a document with our records and Craigslist profile."

"They certainly did their research," Vinícius said.

"Should we email them back?" Mason asked.

Vinícius held up a hand. "We should," he said. "But don't accept the offer. Ask how much cash they have and what they'll pay us."

***

Evie sat in her and Jameson's bedroom, staring at her phone. There was a number on the screen she hadn't called in years. Her thumb hovered over the "Call" icon; she was unsure if she could press it or not.

She had been debating calling the man the number belonged to for a few days now. She decided he deserved to know about his daughter... But something about the fact he was a con artist and criminal kept bugging her. He hadn't always been like this, she knew.

She sighed and cancelled the call and tossed the phone aside. She wasn't going to call him just yet.

***

"Eight hundred dollars each?" Mason exclaimed.

"We have to accept offer!" Abraham said.

"They didn't answer the first question," Vinícius pointed out.

"They must be loaded if they're able to pay us each eight hundred," Mason noted.

"Maldicíon," Vinícius swore. "You're right. We have to accept."

"We can ask to set up meeting to see if legit," Abraham suggested. The other two men muttered their agreement and started typing.

***

"They want to meet up," Nate said. "What do I say?"

"They'll be seeing us face-to-face anyway," Riley pointed out. "So set it up."

Nate typed and a few minutes later he looked at her. "They wanna know where. I don't know anywhere where we won't be overheard."

Riley thought for a moment, then looked up. "I have an idea."