The next morning the trio met at a sleek coffee shop near Central Park. Anthony, as always, was calm and collected, sipping his espresso as if they were just another group of friends meeting for brunch. Danny, on the other hand, couldn't shake the strange energy that had been brewing since his late night conversation with Kaylie. He kept stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye. She looked more focused than before, her guard up but her mind clearly on the job.
"So what'd you two talk about last night after I left?" Anthony smirks while scrolling on his iPhone 16.
"What are you talkin about? I left after we said goodbye." Danny lies and Anthony chuckles while shaking his head
"You walked her to her apartment, did you not?" He asks while purchasing football tickets on the NFL app "The Cowboys are coming here, do you wanna go?" He says while looking at his friend
"You followed me?" Danny says and Anthony shrugged
"Just wanted to keep you safe honey, that's all." He joked, causing Danny to snicker
"We been at this for how many years? And you're still doing that."
"Been doing it since 2014 my brotha." Anthony said "So do wanna go to the game or no? Cause I'll go by myself."
"Oh! You mean ..." Danny digs in his pocket and grabs his phone. As he pulls out his phone, he too goes on the NFL app and pulls up the tickets for the Cowboys-Giants game. "This game?"
"You dick, you bought the tickets already?!" Anthony exclaimed
"Consider it an early birthday gift for ya ass, you're welcome by the way." Danny says as Kaylie walked through the door of the coffee shop "12 o'clock." Danny nods his head forward to Kaylie.
"So, what's the plan for today?" She asks the two men. They share a glance at each other before Danny spoke.
"You and Ant here, are going to test your skills today. He's gonna take you into a crowd and we'll see how you do under those conditions." He explained
"Plus, the Dallas Cowboys are gonna be here. You know a thing about football?" Anthony narrows his eyes to her
"The fact that it's just a bunch of sweaty dudes running around a field?" Kaylie says with sarcasm.
Danny chuckles as he looks at Anthony, who's shaking his head in disbelief. If there's one thing he never messed around about? Football's one of them. After they pay their bill, the trio find themselves amongst a crowd of tailgating fans at MetLife Stadium.
"So," Anthony begins as he puts on his glasses. "If I scratch my nose with my left thumb? Move in. If I rub my shoulder, don't engage. Wait for my signal. If Danny whistles a mockingbird? Blend in with the group ahead, I'll be there with you? But I'm not holding your hand on this, you good?" He explains to a lost Kaylie in the backseat.
She looks dazed for a moment. "I'm sorry what?" And Anthony snickers
"He said just follow his lead." Danny tells her after unlocking the doors "Y'all be safe. I gotta park."
"Also, here. Take this, it's an earpiece. That way I'll be able to talk to you while we're on this little fiasco." Anthony says "Nothin' but net!" He opens the door and the two of them get out while Danny drives away.
The two of them split up and Anthony quickly blends in with the crowd, while Kaylie finds her place. As he walks, he "accidentally" bumps into a man.
"Whoa, hey! Watch it buddy!" The man says, causing a scene
"I'm so sorry sir, I'm just trying to find my wife." Anthony lies as he swiftly takes the man's watch. He walks away and Anthony checks out the watch.
"See that?" He says in his earpiece to Kaylie
"I did, I'll one up you." She says back as she finds another man "Hello handsome." She says to the man and puts her hand on his chest "You look good." And that quickly takes his attention.
"You're not bad yourself, what's your name?" He drunkenly asks Kaylie. The fresh smell of liquor on his breathe invading her nostrils.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She winks at him as she casually takes his tickets from his pocket
Then, a mockingbird like whistle is heard, and Anthony shakes his head as he spots Danny walking towards him.
"She's good." Danny says with a smile "Better than you, even." He pokes fun at Anthony
"Oh please, like I didn't train you." Anthony spits back "Alright Kaylie, that's it. Let's go enjoy the game." He says in his earpiece
"So she's in?" Danny asks his friend
"Yup, she's in." He says as they walk back to the car. The two wait as the young woman climbed back into the Audi.
"So what'd you get?" Danny asks with a smile
"Necklace, that's a nasty hair piece, tickets, a ring, and this nice Apple Watch." She revealed to them and they look at each other, then back at her.
"You're in." Anthony says
"Really?!" Kaylie asked excitedly
"Congratulations, you're a criminal. Now, let's go get a hotel." Danny says as he begins to drive off.
*3 Weeks Later*
That night, in a dimly lit hotel room, Kaylie enjoyed the view of New York City. The Cowboys-Giants game was on Thursday Night, so the 3 decided to take a hotel. While in his room, Anthony looked up casinos on his computer. He found one, in the heart of Barcelona and something was telling him that was the next big game. Meanwhile, Danny knocks on Kaylie's door and she answers it.
"Hey." She says to him smiling and Danny nods his head upward; She invites him into the room. They found themselves talking about their past and how they ended up in this lifestyle. They found out, how similar, yet different they were. The city lights casting a soft glow through the window, Kaylie sat across from Danny, her eyes catching his in a moment of quiet intensity.
"You're good at this, you know." Danny said, his voice softer than usual. "Better than I was when I started."
Kaylie smirked, leaning back in her chair. "I'm learning from the best, right? The Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan of this life." She references Ocean's 11.
"Nice reference." Danny jokes. Their eyes locked, and the air between them shifted. What started as a professional bond blurred into something more ...
"You ever think about what happens after all this?" Kaylie asked, her voice laced with a vulnerability that she rarely showed.
Danny hesitated, but his answer came out more honest than he intended. "Every day. But with people like us, there's no after, is there?"
Kaylie moved closer, her hand resting lightly on his. "Maybe there is. We just have to be smart about it."
The kiss that followed was inevitable, a release of the tension that had been building for weeks. But as they fell into each other, they both knew that mixing business and emotion was a deadly game. The two made love that night, but what was about to happen, was going to shake up Kaylie's world.
YOU ARE READING
Perception
AdventureTwo veteran con artists, take a novice under their wing and teach her the ways of their world and craft.
