The Heist by Janet Evanovich

said.
    “Even if he’s apprehended by the FBI,” Bolton said.
    “Okay, now I am really confused,” Kate said. “
We’re
going to be chasing him?”
    “Of course,” Bolton said. “He’s a federal fugitive.”
    “But we’re the ones who set him free,” Kate said. “He’ll be out there doing missions for us.”
    “We don’t know that,” Jessup said.
    “Yes, we do,” Kate said. “That’s the deputy director of the FBI sitting next to you.”
    “It was worth getting arrested just for this moment,” Nick said.
    “Fox is still going to be on our Most Wanted list,” Bolton said to Kate, “and every agent except you will be on the lookout for him.”
    “What will I be doing?” she asked.
    “Keeping him from getting caught,” Bolton said. “While pretending to be pursuing him, of course.”
    “Of course,” Kate said, and she finally knocked back her glass of tsipouro. “What happens if I get caught covering for him or helping him in one of his schemes?”
    “You will be arrested and prosecuted,” Bolton said.
    “That’s nice,” Kate said. “That makes me feel all warm inside.”
    “Probably that’s the tsipouro,” Nick said.
    Kate turned to Bolton. “What’s to stop him from stealing that secret slush fund from us or using it to pull off scams and heists of his own?”
    “You,” Bolton said.
    “What’s to stop him from ditching us and
really
going on the run?”
    “You,” Bolton said.
    She nodded. “I see a fatal flaw in your plan.”
    “What’s that?” Bolton said.
    She pointed at Nick. “Him.”

Bolton wanted Kate’s decision in the morning, though she had no idea what he would do, or what she would do, or what would happen to Nick Fox, if she refused to participate in their operation.
    Bolton and Jessup chose to sleep on the cots behind the curtain. Kate opted to sleep on a bench in the main room. She liked the hard wood under her back and head. It kept her aware of her location and her bizarre situation. In fact her situation was so bizarre, she wasn’t sure it was real. Maybe she only
thought
she’d had a perfect landing when she parachuted in. Maybe she’d hit her head and she was hallucinating.
    “Out of curiosity,” Kate asked, staring at the aged beams holding up the pitched ceiling, “how long have Jessup and Bolton been here?”
    “They came in yesterday when it was clear you were making your move.”
    “And who came up with this insane plan?”
    “I did,” Nick said. “I thought it was a win-win for everybody.”
    “Except for me,” Kate said.
    “Especially for you.”
    “How do you figure that?” she asked.
    “You like chasing after me, traveling all over the place, kicking down doors, jumping out of airplanes, smashing into cars with buses,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of cases that are going to have the same excitement, danger, and fun. Not to mention you’re living in a box and this gives you a chance to get out.”
    “I like the box.”
    “It’s still a box.”
    “And what’s in it for you, Nick, besides staying out of a cell for the time being?”
    “Time being?”
    She propped herself up on an elbow and looked at him. “You’re a crook. Your fate is inevitable. Even if you honor this deal, which I doubt, in five years you’ll walk away a free man and immediately pull off another big swindle and it will start all over again. I will come after you, and when I catch you there will be no deals. You’ll do hard time.”
    “I might emerge from this a changed man. Or you might become an entirely different woman. You might not want to catch me anymore.”
    “Yeah, right, that’s all not gonna happen.”
    He shrugged. “We’ll see.”
    Kate wanted to punch him, wanted to wipe the smug smile off his face. Then she wanted to punch Bolton and Jessup.
    “Honestly,” she said, “this just isn’t fair. I’m a team player, but this is too much. This is wrong.”
    “It’s the chance of a lifetime,” Nick said.
    “For