The Heist

credit card. “We’ll take all these.”
    From there they went to a store that featured clothes by Hervé Léger, a label Nick chose for Kate because their fashions would perfectly accentuate her toned body. And because the store served their customers Dom Pérignon champagne in Baccarat crystal flutes.
    Kate liked the champagne, but she was skeptical about the clothes.
    “Try this on,” Nick said, selecting a royal blue bandage dress.
    “I don’t think so,” Kate said. “I can’t see myself in this.”
    “Just try it.”
    Kate belted back some champagne and marched off to the dressing room. She shimmied into the sleeveless, skintight dress, with its plunging halterneck and a zipper that followed the contours of her back. She tugged at the bottom of the dress but it instantly rolled back up to midthigh. Jeez Louise, she thought, how was she ever going to sit in this? For that matter, how was she going to breathe? She looked down at her cleavage and wondered where it had all come from. She’d always thought she had okay but not spectacularly large breasts. The bandage dress had everything squished up and looking like there wasn’t enough bandage to go around, as if her breasts had grown in the last fifteen minutes.
    “I can’t wear this,” she said from inside the dressing room. “It’s too small.”
    “Let’s see,” Nick said. “Come on out.”
    “Get me a bigger size. A
lot
bigger.”
    Nick opened the door and looked in at Kate. “Whoa,” he said on a gush of air. His pupils dilated to the point where his brown eyes were almost totally black, and Kate decided the dress must look better than she’d first thought.
    “Well?” she asked.
    “I think I’m in love,” Nick said. “But then my brain isn’t completely engaged right now. That’s not where the blood is flowing.”
    “Too much information,” Kate said. “It would have been enough to tell me I look okay.”
    “Honey, you look a lot better than okay.”
    “You don’t think it’s a little slutty?”
    “Not at these prices,” Nick said.
    By the time they reached the Louis Vuitton store and she paid more for a single Pégase suitcase than she’d spent on her first car, Kate was sweating and popping Rolaids like they were Life Savers. Their last stop was Neiman Marcus, where they picked up sunglasses and other accessories.
    “How many bikinis do you have?” Nick asked.
    “None.”
    He grinned. “You swim nude?”
    “I do my swimming in the ocean, in a wet suit,” she said. “So I don’t need a bikini.”
    “You’re going to need one in Bali,” he said.
    “I can’t spend any more money. I’m having an anxiety attack. I can’t feel my fingertips.”
    “Fine,” he said. “Leave it to me.”
    “You don’t know my measurements.”
    “Trust me,” he said.
    “That’s a tough one.”
    They drove back to the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and Nick walked Kate and her bags to her room.
    “I’m going to check us out,” he said. “I’ll see you and Willie at Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar, Bali, in three days. Your passport, prepared by the finest forger in the United States, will be waiting for you at the front desk in the morning, along with one for Willie. Be sure to travel first-class. You need to look the partfrom the moment you step on the plane. And I need you to wire two hundred thousand dollars to my account at DBS Bank in Singapore.”
    “Why Singapore?”
    “That’s where I’m heading. I’m on a flight out of LAX this evening so I can lay the groundwork for the con in advance of your arrival. I’ve written down the bank account information and the phone number where you can reach me once you’ve made your travel arrangements.”
    He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and was about to hand it to her when she slammed him back hard against the wall, pinning him there with the palm of her hand flat against his chest.
    “You expect me to give you two hundred grand and let you jet off alone to Southeast Asia?” Kate asked him, more accusation than question. “You aren’t thinking about going after Griffin and the half a billion dollars yourself, are you?”
    “Never crossed my mind.”
    They were so close that their lips were practically touching, and she could feel his heart beating under her hand. She’d sort of hoped his heart would be racing, but his heart was steady.
Her
heart was the only one racing.
Dammit
.
    She saw his eyes darken just as they had in the dressing room. He