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

Chapter Twenty-Four: Stephanie, David, and Kim

Jameson turned and froze. "Elizabeth? Where'd you get that phone?"

Libby gasped and looked up. "Umm..."

He stepped toward her. "Give it to me. Let me see it."

She shook her head and held it close. Her brain was trying to figure out what the message meant that her dad had sent her. '911.' What had it meant?

"Liz, sweetheart, come on."

She shook her head again.

"What's going on?" her mom asked from the bathroom doorway.

"Did you get Elizabeth a phone?" Jameson asked.

"No... Why?"

"She has one. She won't tell me where she got it."

"Elizabeth, give Jameson the phone," her mom said to her sternly.

"But–" Her mom cut her off.

"Elizabeth Monica. Now."

She hesitated and then held it out. It had timed out and the screen shut off.

"Unlock it, Elizabeth," Jameson said.

"You just said to give it to you," Libby sassed.

"Elizabeth!" her mom scolded harshly.

The girl pouted and unlocked the phone.

Jameson looked at it for one moment, then sighed and looked at her mom. "She's been contacting Nathaniel."

Then it clicked: 911... They've been caught.

***

Stephanie Roland entered the interrogation room, file in hand. She sighed when she saw the man handcuffed to the table.

"Hello, Mr. Cooper," she said.

"Ms. Roland," the man smirked.

Stephanie Roland. One of the best lawyers anyone could ask for. She never loses a case. Never. Even if she's sick she doesn't lose.

"What can I do for you today?" Nate asked as Stephanie took the seat across from him.

"Is this a joke to you?" the lawyer asked.

Nate snorted and shrugged. "No. But it's how I cope."

The woman sighed and ran her hands through her black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She muttered to herself, "This is going to be hard."

"Look, just keep me and my friends out of jail," Nate said. "I'll pay you whatever you want."

"You're just going to pay the lawyer fees," the woman said. "There's talk they won't offer bail."

The man slouched in his chair. "Shit," he muttered.

"Help me help you," the woman said. "Just tell me everything I need to know."

She noticed him cast a glance to the door. He sighed.

"Fine."

***

Riley sat uncomfortably in the cell. She tried to keep a strong demeanour, but she was sure her eyes were giving away her nervous.

"Riley Swanston," an officer came up to the cell door.

She glanced up from the stone floor.

"You have visitors."

She screwed up her face. "Who?"

"Your parents."

"My parents?"

The officer opened the door and walked in, cuffing the woman's hands in front of her. The uniformed man led her out of the cell and down the long hallway.

They entered the bullpen and there by the officer's desk stood an older couple. The woman of the couple gasped when she saw who was cuffed, being led by the officer.

"Riley?" the woman said softly. "Is that really you?"

"Mom?" Riley choked out. It was really her!

The woman threw her arms around her daughter, pulling her close. Riley tried to hug back, but couldn't due to the handcuffs, so all she really could do was bring her arms up against her mother's chest.

"What did you do, Riley?" the man with her mother asked—her father.

"Dad, I'm so sorry," Riley said, pulling away from her mom. "I'm so so sorry."

"Where have you been?" the man went on.

"Um..." She glanced down. "With my boyfriend..."

"You've been missing for seven years, Riley!" the man yelled.

Riley rolled her eyes and shifted her weight onto her other foot. "I haven't been missing, David," she said, annoyance and boredom in her tone. "No one ever found me is all."

David looked like he was about to explode. Riley merely smirked.

"We've been travelling for two years now," she said. "Before that, it was just me." She turned to her mom. "Thanks for not selling your Miami house."

"You're the reason why the police called me?" the older woman asked.

"I'm sorry about that, but we needed a place to stay."

"Who is 'we?'" David shouted.

Everyone looked at the family.

Riley took a few steps back. She looked at her parents dead in the eye.

"The Lion, the Fox, and the Hyenas," she said.