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

Chapter Thirteen: The Escape

"You must be Miss Beatrice Rush," Agent Raney greeted, two days later, a blonde haired woman with icy blue eyes and dramatic cheekbones.

"Yes." She had a deeper voice and an English accent. "Where is my client?"

"Right this way," the agent gestured toward a hallway and led her away.

He opened the door and gestured for her to enter. "Mr. Anderson will be here momentarily. You arrived sooner than we expected."

"When I saw he had been detained, I came as soon as I could," she explained as she looked around the room.

"Oh, here he comes," Raney said and stepped to the side to allow a handcuffed Nate Cooper into the room.

He looked over the woman standing there. It took him a moment to recognise her. She sent him their subtle hand signal and he returned it as best as he could.

"Both of you, take a seat," Agent Raney said.

They complied, taking up the two seats across from the agent.

"I would just like to state that Mr. Anderson has done nothing wrong," the woman stated.

"He was caught fleeing the scene of an Fox and Lion robbery!" Agent Raney said.

"Have you spoken to his coworkers?" she asked. "Did you question them?"

"His coworkers had fled the scene as well." Raney ran his hand over his face. "They were nowhere to be found."

"Vidia wasn't there?" Nate asked. "She, Alexander, Oscar, and William were supposed to be setting up cameras."

"None of my agents could find them," Raney informed.

Nate cast a glance to the woman beside him.

"Maybe..." He looked at Raney, so he wouldn't think he was getting answers and ideas. "Maybe they saw the Lion and the Fox and ran away? I didn't have time to check my phone before I was caught. They might've texted me letting me know?"

"I'll have a specialist look through it," Raney said.

Nate tensed up. As did the woman beside him.

"I'm so sorry to ask this right now," the woman started, "but where's your restroom?"

"I'll show you on my way," Raney said and stood, heading for the door. Then he stopped and pointed at Nate. "You, don't go anywhere."

"Yes, sir," the prisoner snorted.

The woman touched his arm gently and then headed out.

***

She closed the stall door and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She dialed a number quickly and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Abraham! Quick, I need you to do something for me."

"What would that be, Miss Swanston?"

"I need you to hack into Nate's phone and change our texts to say things along the lines of 'Where are you?' 'We made it outside, the Fox and the Lion are in the building,' and 'Why are they putting you in a cop car?'" Then after a beat, she quickly added, "And change any mentions of his name to Curtis. And any mentions of any of the plans I need you to delete."

"On it," the Russian on the other end of the line said. There was the sound of rapidly clicking keys in the background and hushed conversation. A few short moments later, the man came back, "Done."

"Thank you so much, Abraham! You're a lifesaver, literally."

"No problem," the man replied. "Now please get Nate back. You are miserable without him."

"Shut up," she said, but smiled anyway. "We'll see you guys soon."

"See you soon."

The call ended and she took a deep breath and stepped out of the stall.

***

Nate sighed and drummed his fingers on the metal tabletop. He couldn't try to break out. He couldn't shut the camera down and he couldn't contact any of the rest of the team to do it for him.

Plus, he didn't have anything to unlock the cuffs. So, long story short, he's stuck.

The door opened and Riley re-entered the room.

"Look, I'm sorry–"

"I called Abraham," she whispered.

"You did?"

She nodded. "He's taking care of the texts, changing any mention of your name to Curtis as well as deleting any mentions of the plans."

"Oh my god, thank you so much. I love you."

"I kind of need my boyfriend," she whispered again. "Abraham's whining, saying I'm miserable without you."

"Awe," the man cooed. "You do miss me!"

"Shut up or I'll leave you here and write a fake-death story about you."

"Okay, okay," the man chuckled. "I love you too."

There was a knock on the door and Agent Raney re-entered the room. "They went through your phone," he announced. "Everything checks out."

"Oh thank god," Nate groaned.

"And that means?" Riley asked, taking on the accent once again.

"That means his alibi checks out," Raney groaned. "You're free to go, Curtis."

"Yes!" Nate cheered. "Thank God! She is looking out for me!"

"Who?"

"God. God is looking out for me and she's not let me down once yet."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Just uncuff him. I'll drive him back to his hotel."

***

The rental car had just been put into park in the hotel parking lot when Nate unbuckled and leaned over, kissing Riley deeply.

"Those were the longest two days in my life," he whined between kisses. "Thank you so much for getting me out of there."

"I would've missed you too much," the woman replied.

"I knew it," he sighed.

They made out for a moment longer before the woman pulled away and removed her wig. "Get in the backseat," she ordered.

The man did so, climbing between the front seats with little struggle and collapsed on the seat. Riley followed behind him a moment later once she'd gotten the makeup off her face. She got on her knees on the section of the seat beside him. She tugged his pants and underwear down...