"Tell me about him," Riley said, leaning forward.
"His name is Taylor Hanks," Nate started. "He's in the military unofficially. One of his best friends is actually a soldier. And his other best friend is a pilot."
"I see," the woman said. "And what exactly are you planning?"
"Okay, here's what I was planning: 1) One of us pretends to be in need, 2) That'll draw Taylor Hanks' attention and He'll come over to try to help, 3) Whichever of us it is will pickpocket him and leave, 4) Get out of there as fast as possible. He's fast so whoever is swindling him will have to try and lose him. There's a display near the docks that'll be easy to camouflage into. Then–
"This says he's located in New York, Nate," Riley said. "We're in San Francisco in case you've forgotten."
"He's visiting a friend here. I found his plane ticket online. I also tried to find a bank account but he doesn't have one. He just does volunteer work and gets paid for that and keeps everything in cash so his wallet's gonna be kinda hefty."
"Oh. You've done your homework! I'm so proud of you."
"Who's gonna be the pedestrian and who's gonna be on the run?" Nate asked, setting the laptop aside and moved to sit behind her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her head.
"What does this display look like?" she asked. "I may have something that could work..."
***
Jameson entered the police station with Evie right behind him, Libby holding onto her mother's hand tightly.
"Evie, I'll need you to go into the interrogation room while I find someone to watch Elizabeth. She'll be fine," Jameson said, and took Libby's hand as she let go of Evie's. Jameson opened the door to the room for Evie and then led Libby toward his colleagues' desks.
She was left with one of the women and Jameson headed back to the interrogation room after taking up a paper and pen.
"Evie," he said as he entered. "I just need you to write down what you told me at home." He set the paper and pen down in front of her on the table.
She took up the pen and looked up at him. "What if we're wrong, though?" she asked. "And you won't be able to catch him. He's impossible to find."
"We're going to try our best," Jameson sat across from her. "Ev, he's a criminal."
The woman stopped writing and sighed, massaging her temple. "I know, I know. It's just... hard to believe. He wasn't like this when we knew each other."
"You don't know that, dear. He- You said he just disappeared before you found out you were pregnant."
"I know." She looked toward the door. "Elizabeth looks like him too. More like him than she looks like me."
"I'm sorry," Jameson whispered.
"Who's the woman they're saying he may be working with? And why are they called Fox and Lion?"
"We don't know her real name," Jameson explained. "But they leave behind messages after they con their victims. They sign them with a sticker of a lion or fox."
"Makes sense, I guess."
"I need you to finish writing this and sign it."
"Right, right, right," Evie said quickly and started writing again. "Sorry."
"It's fine. You're distracted," Jameson said.
***
Nate pulled his jacket's hood up over his head and glanced toward the black bauble display Riley was going to blend into.
He pretended to scroll through his new phone and "take a call."
Further up the docks, Riley stood in an empty cubbyhole in all-black attire and waited for Taylor Hanks to arrive. As the blond man passed her by, she slid out of the shadowy area and acted as though she were a jogger and passed him up, then she pretended to trip over herself and fell down.
"Oh god," Taylor said and hurried over to help her up. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
Riley nodded as he heaved her up, slipping her hand into his pocket and pulled his wallet out. "Yes, thank you," she said. "I um... I need to go," she said quickly, backed away a few steps, flashed him his wallet, and bolted.
"Wha–" Taylor felt his pockets. The wallet was gone. "Shit!" he shouted and took off after her.
Riley took the money out of the wallet and tossed the object to Nate who stuffed it in his jacket pocket as Riley put the money in her bra and hurried to the display and blended in.
Taylor showed up and spoke with Nate. The man nodded and snuck the wallet back into the blond's back pocket.
"Which way did she go?" Taylor asked.
Nate pointed in the opposite direction of the display. Taylor thanked him and took off. Nate called after him.
"You said she took your wallet?" he called.
Taylor stopped and turned around. "Yeah."
"Then what's that?" the hooded man asked, pointing to the blond's butt.
He took the wallet out of his pocket and frowned. He opened it and saw two stickers stuck to the photo slot: A lion and a fox. He looked up and the man was gone. "Sir?" he called out. "Hello?" He looked around and spotted the hooded figure running away with the woman in black. "Fuck me..." he grumbled.
***
Jameson read over what Evie has written, tapping the pen anxiously on the tabletop.
The door to the room burst open suddenly and one of his colleagues peeked in. "We've got a man here claiming he's been robbed."
"Okay," Jameson said, and waved the paper. "I'm kinda in the middle of getting a statement right now."
The other officer shook his head. "I think you should see what his robber left him."
Jameson sat up straight, quickly. "Fox?"
The other nodded. "And Lion."
Evie's eyes widened and she looked at Jameson. "Don't just sit there!" she said. "Go get 'em!"
***
"Okay, so what happened?" Jameson asked Taylor Hanks, getting ready to write down what the man said.
"I was out at the docks, just going for a walk," the blond started, "when this woman jogged passed me and tripped. I went to help her up and—I hadn't felt her do it. She stole my wallet! She showed me it before she ran off."
"What did this woman look like?" Jameson asked.
Taylor gave him her description: Around 5'6", dark hair, freckles, fair skin, dressed in all black.
"Was there a man with her?" Jameson asked.
Taylor shook his head. "Not until later."
"What do you mean?" Jameson leaned forward.
"Well, I ran after her after I registered what had just happened and she's disappeared. I asked this man that was standing in line at a food truck if he had seen her. He pointed in one direction and I started that way."
Jameson nodded along as he wrote.
"He asked me for clarification on what she had stolen from me and I told him and he pointed to my pocket and it was back. I don't know how!"
"I think I know what happened," Jameson said. "Can I see the stickers?"
Taylor nodded and handed over his empty wallet. The police officer opened it and nodded quickly.
"What? What's wrong? I don't understand what they mean," Taylor said quickly, frantic.
"Have you heard of the Fox and the Lion?" Jameson asked. The other man shook his head. "Okay, well, they're two of the most notorious and untraceable con artists in San Francisco. They'd initially tried to con someone in New Jersey, but their cover was blown and they fled here. You can watch some news segments online about their heists."
"Do you have any idea who they are?" the blond asked.
"We have suspicions on who the Fox is," the cop replied.
"Who?"
"I'm afraid I cannot share that information until my superior officer says it's okay," Jameson replied in an apologetic tone.
"Please. Please find them and put a stop to this!"
"We're trying our best."