“Well, I called D.C. to see about pulling those plans and starting the patent process all over again, but this is what they sent me back.”
The papers he handed to Hale made very little sense to Kat. They were covered with formulas and graphs.
“What am I looking at, Silas?”
“Those are the plans for Genesis.” He leveled Hale with a stare. “The real plans.”
“So…Garrett didn’t file phony plans after all?” Kat asked, wondering if they’d gone to all that trouble for nothing, but then Silas laughed.
“No, I don’t think so. This was with them.” He handed a note to Hale.
It seemed there was a problem with the Genesis plans at the patent office. But don’t worry. It’s been taken care of. After all, there is always a way around.
Welcome to the family.
—BB
“Something wrong, Mr. Hale?” Silas asked.
“No, Silas.” Hale slipped the paper into his suit pocket like it was the most precious thing he’d seen since he first stared up at Hazel’s fake Monet. “Everything is just right.”
There was a knock at the door, and a young assistant popped her head in. “Excuse me, the board is meeting now.”
And with that, Silas extended an arm to Marianne, who took it, and together, the two of them walked toward the boardroom, prototype in hand. But Hale didn’t follow. For a second he just stood and stared out over his empire. It was like he was lost in a dream when he said, “So, your dad broke into the patent office.”
“Yep,” Kat told him.
“How many goats am I going to owe him for that?”
“More than you’ve got, big guy. Way more than you’ve got.”
“Scooter?” The voice stopped him. Marianne was at the door, looking back. “What will you do?” she asked, and Kat thought she sounded…like a grandmother.
“Don’t worry about me, Marianne.” He smiled at Kat, took her hand. “I’ll find some way to stay busy.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It would be impossible to write a Heist book without an amazing crew!
First and foremost, thank you to everyone at Disney-Hyperion: Catherine Onder, Stephanie Lurie, the amazing sales, marketing, and school and library teams. And I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a special thanks to Lisa Yoskowitz, who suggested the title for this book and gave it such loving guidance in its early days.
Thanks also to Kristin Nelson and everyone at the Nelson Literary Agency, Kassie Evashevski, Whitney Lee, and Jenny Meyer.
As always, I owe a lot to Rose Brock, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Holly Black, Shellie Rea, and Bob, who were so much help along the way.
And last but certainly not least, I thank my family, especially the Hale Girls, whom I will always love.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Also by Ally Carter
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Acknowledgements