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

Chapter Six: New Recruits

"You swear you're okay with this?" the male con asked.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's my childhood home and both of my parents moved to Florida," Riley replied with a shrug as the man picked the lock.

"Why didn't you mention this place sooner?" he asked. The woman sighed.

"We agreed not to settle down anywhere, remember?"

The man shrugged and opened the door and stepped inside. "Yeah, but with our new recruits we may have to," he said, looking around. "Your room's upstairs?"

"Yeah." Riley crosses her arms over her chest and kicked the door closed behind her. "Please don't–"

"I'm gonna go look!" the man interrupted and took off up the staircase. Riley sighed and stepped further into the house, heading in the direction of the living room. She ran her fingers along the arm of the couch before sitting down and moving her hair out of her eyes. She glanced around and stood again, going around to the windows and pulling the curtains shut.

Nate came back down the stairs and stood in the doorway. "Hey," he said softly.

She turned and smiled at him. "Hey," she said back.

"This must be weird for you, huh?" the man said, crossing the room and coming to stand in front of her. "Being in your childhood home."

"What makes it weird is the fact that my parents aren't here."

"We'll just stay here for a few hours, get to know the guys, then we can go to a hotel."

"I love you," she smiled, whispering.

"I love you too." He leaned in and kissed her, only for them to spring apart when the doorbell rang. "I um..."

"I'll get it," the woman said, and made her way to the door. She checked out the peephole and saw who it was and opened the door. "Gentlemen," she greeted. She stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. "Come on in."

The three men entered the house, making their way into the living room.

"Spooky-ass house," one muttered.

"Ah, you must be Mason," Nate suddenly spoke from behind the trio. They whipped around and stared at the man. He pointed, like a game show host, to the other two. "Vinícius and Abraham! I'm assuming?"

"Holy shitballs," Vinícius muttered. "This is actually happening..."

Riley came over and stood beside Nate, arms crossed again. "You're the ones who wanted to meet up, to make sure we're legit. Well here you go."

"Why'd you agree to it?" Mason asked. "We could've called the cops on you for all you know."

"That's where you're mistaken, my friend," the Fox said. He walked over to the coffee table and opened the laptop sitting atop it. He typed a few things and then turned it around. "We would've shut this meeting down if even one of you called the police. We've hacked into your phones and computers and can see everything you do."

    "Oh damn!" Mason's heart dropped into his stomach.

"You guys have gotta lay off on the porn," the con man said, turning the computer back around. "Malware is gonna destroy your phones."

"How do we know you are Fox and Lion?" Abraham asked suspiciously.

"What did you bring with you today?" Nate asked.

"What does that–"

"Just answer the question." The smaller man crossed his arms and leaned back, propping his feet up on the coffee table, only for Riley to come over and nudge him to not do that. He obeyed.

"Cellphone, money, pens, loose change."

"Keys?"

"Uh... Yes."

Nate started emptying his own pockets as well as pulling things from the couch cushions.

"Mason, I believe these are yours," Riley said, and handed over a set of keys and a wallet.

Vinícius excitedly checked his pockets. "Holy shit, my stuff's gone!" he exclaimed. The couple on the couch handed over a wallet, iPhone, and a bundle of receipts as well as a stray rubber band.

"Still does not answer question," Abraham said a little warily.

"Look at your stuff," Nate smirked.

The animal stickers were stuck to the wallets, keys, and other loose objects.

"Now turn on your phones," said Riley, leaning forward.

"How did you–" Mason started, looking at Abraham's phone, which displayed the words "Lion" and "Fox" on a static backdrop, only to be cut off by the man on the couch.

"While I had you distracted by talking about all the porn you guys watch, Riley plugged this"—he held up what looked like a charger attached to a block—"into the ports. Doing so has temporarily disabled any access to them except through this laptop." He pointed to the computer on the table.

"Now do you believe us?" the lone woman asked.

"Yeah... yeah," the three said at the same time.

"We travel around a lot," Nate informed. "You have to be willing to put up with that."

"What are you saying?" Vinícius asked.

"I'm saying if you take this offer, you'll have to travel with us."

"We mostly stay the night in hotels or motels," Riley explained. "So, are you in?"

"Give us one moment," Vinícius said quickly and pulled his roommates back into the entryway.

While they waited for the trio to return, Nate pulled a pack of gum from his pocket and offered a stick to Riley. She raised an eyebrow curiously and he shrugged.

"Mason," he said simply. The woman nodded and accepted one.

The group seemed to be taking a while, but they hadn't left since they could still hear them muttering to each other.

"Should we–" Riley was cut off by Nate kissing her again. She sighed through her nose and kissed back deeply.

Nate pulled away when there was a shout from the doorway, and peeked around Riley and bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Mason was standing there, covering his eyes.

"We agree with everything you've said and will take up your offer, but please get your own room wherever we stay!" he said.

"You've got yourself a deal," Riley said, face bright red from getting caught.

***

"Found anything yet?" Jameson asked a colleague by the name of Greer.

The woman shook her head. "It's been three days. Either they're taking a break, gone into hiding, or on the move."

"Dammit," Jameson mumbled. "Have you heard back from Porter about investigating Nathaniel Cooper as a possible suspect?"

Greer shook her head. "Nothing yet."

"I need to hear back soon," Jameson sighed. "I need to investigate Cooper!"

"It'll just take some time," Greer pointed out. "It took Johnny almost five days to get a warrant for the Dorian case because of the pileup of paperwork."

"I know," the man said. "I'm just anxious. This is a big case with many hits and I don't want anyone else to get burgled."

"You'll get the okay soon," the woman said. "I can feel it."