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Billy wasn’t the least dismayed by the bad news. “Guys, aren’t we forgetting something here? We’re sitting next to the one and only Danny Blue,” he announced. “He can come up with a plan in five minutes.*”
Danny shifted uncomfortably in his chair when the others looked at him. Ash gave one of his usual ghost of a smiles. Albert bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Stacie smirked at him. “What about it, fearless leader?” she asked.
Danny cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Well…”
“Five minutes. Tick. Tick,” Albert said deadpan.
Danny’s chair scraped across the floor and he jumped up. He held his hands up. “No worries. I’ll come up with something.” He hurried to the coat rack and grabbed his jacket. “Just need to have a bit of a think on the roof.”
Ash watched Danny take the stairs two at a time. He leaned closer to Billy. “You won’t be disappointed if it takes him a bit more than five minutes, will you?” he asked in an exaggerated whisper.
Stacie and Albert laughed but Billy’s hero worshipping grin didn’t falter. “Nah. I know that genius takes time. I just wanted him to know that I’ve got faith in him.”
Albert’s trusty deck of cards appeared in his hand. “How about some Indian poker while we wait.”
Ash pointed at him. “No cheating.”
Albert crossed his heart, trying to look innocent, but not really succeeding. “I promise.”
Stacie stood up and stretched. “You can count me out.”
Albert shot her a mock wounded expression. “Don’t you trust me, my dear?”
Stacie leaned down and kissed the side of his head. “Only about as far as I can throw you.”
“Smart girl,” Albert replied easily. He looked to Billy. “What about you?”
Billy bit his lip and laughed nervously. “I’m up for it.”
Stacie stretched out on the couch. She hugged the throw pillow and started her mental stop watch. She chuckled quietly. “Five minutes. More like five days.”
Albert snickered. “Have faith.”
Meanwhile, Danny paced back and forth on the roof. “What do we got?” he muttered. “We got wine and Veronica Howell.” He swung his arms back and forth. “Wine testing. How do we slip the fake bottle past the lab test.?”
He got to one end, looked out at the bustling street below, turned on his heel, and started back the other way. “Wine. We got wine. That’s still our best in. That’s where her heart lies.” He stopped, grabbed the railing, and started jumping up and down. “Come on, Danny. Think. Think. You can come up with something.” He grunted. “You’re Danny Blue. This is what you live for.” He started pacing again. “Can’t let the kid down.”
A couple hours later, the card game was over because Albert cleaned Billy out and Ash knew discretion was the better part of valor. Albert got something to drink. Billy found a book to read and Ash settled in at his laptop.
Stacie sighed heavily and sat up. She threw her magazine on the coffee table and glanced at the others. Suddenly, she smiled and hopped up. “Ash, I think you should go up and check on Danny.”
Ash sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know, Stacie. You know how he gets when he thinks we’re checking up on him.”
Stacie strolled to the coat rack. “That’s not quite what I mean.”
Albert covered his mouth to hide his smirk. “You’re got that gleam in your eye again.”
Stacie grinned and stood behind Ash. “Why, Albie, I don’t know what you mean,” she said sweetly. She winked at the giggling Billy and thumped Ash on the shoulder. “Stand up.”
Ash did so. He nodded to himself when Stacie helped him into his black leather jacket. “I see,” he said dryly.
Stacie smoothed it over his shoulders and leaned in close to his ear. “All I want you to do is go up there and give our Danny an bit of incentive.” She turned him around. “Very nice. I can see what Danny likes so much.”
Ash cleared his throat. He felt the flush creeping up the back of his neck and looked away. “Geez, Stacie.”
“You know,” Albert began. “It may turn out to be more of a distraction than a help.”
“No, Ash knows just which of Danny’s buttons to push.” Stacie kissed Ash’s cheek and led him to the steps. “Just a bit of incentive.”
Ash rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah. Yeah.” He turned and trotted up the steps.
Stacie turned back to Albert and Billy. She stood proudly with her hands on her hips, like Superman. “We should be getting a plan shortly.”
Billy bowed before her. “You’re the master of using a mate’s urges against him.”
Stacie’s eyes sparked. “Learn from the best, Billy boy. Learn from the best.”
Ash went up into the cool air. He buttoned his jacket and took a deep breath. He found Danny leaning against the railing. He noted Danny’s tense shoulders. “How’s it going?*”
Danny half turned to face Ash and rested with the small of his back against the rail. His eyes darted to and from Ash’s face. He deliberately didn’t look at the jacket, yet his fingers itched to touch it. “Yeah, good, just putting the finishin’ touches to the whole plan thing, working the angles, covering all moves, tickin’ all the boxes.*”
Ash’s lips barely twitched. “Not good then.*”
“No,” Danny admitted. He frowned. Ash came to stand next to him and he continued, “It’s hard, ya know? The kid looks up to me, like I did with you lot when I first started.*”
Ash clasped his hands in front of him. He glanced away because he knew how much Danny hated asking for help. “You want us to chip in?*”
“No.” Danny put his hands in his pockets. He looked away, not liking how much he was tempted. “I’m not much of a leader if I can’t come up with my own plan, am I?*”
Ash faced Danny and sighed. “Look, if it helps, Mickey used to say keep it simple.” He paused. “He’d just work out what the mark would do, then plan one step ahead.*”
“Yeah,” Danny said flatly. “The old one step ahead trick.*”
“Well, if you can work out the person’s next move, you can plan for it.*”
Danny nodded. “All right. Say, we’re talkin’ about selling someone a fake bottle of wine. No one in particular, just someone and you knew this someone, whoever it is, you knew they’d run a lab test on the bottle and spot it was fake.*”
Ash folded his arms across his chest. “Rig the test or you give her a good enough reason not to test it in the first place.*”
Danny shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, well, that’s as far as I got.*”
Ash noticed Danny staring at him intently. He looked away. “Then the next bit is what makes the difference between someone who can lead their own crew…” He returned his gaze to Danny and one end of his mouth quirked up. “…and the rest of us.*”
“You’re right.” ’Danny gave in and ran his hands along Ash’s shoulders down to his chest. He lowered his voice to a husky whisper. “Ash.”
Ash smiled but made no move. “No, Danny.”
Danny fingered the smooth leather. He slipped his hands inside to rest on Ash’s hips. He leaned in so that his breath ghosted over Ash’s lips. “A quick one.”
Ash shut his eyes and clenched his fists at his sides. “No.”
Danny playfully licked Ash’s bottom lip. His fingers curled in Ash’s shirt. “Please.”
Ash barely touched Danny’s jaw and kissed him lightly. It was soft and slow. He drew it out until Danny moaned deep in his throat. Then he took a step back. “Afraid not.”
Danny almost stumbled trying to follow Ash. There was a dazed looked on his face. He blinked. “Ash,” he whined.
Ash took a deep breath and stared out at the view. He bit his tongue to keep from licking his lips. “We agreed. Never during a con. We don’t need the added distraction,” he said neutrally.
Danny slid behind Ash. He wrapped his arms around Ash’s waist. “We’re not actually into the con yet.”
Ash had a white knuckle grip on the rail. “You’re up here trying to come up with a plan, remember?”
Danny kissed the side of Ash’s neck. “Sod the agreement,” he growled.
Ash swallowed and took a couple steps away. He turned to face Danny and arched an eyebrow. “We’ll just have to wait. Sorry, Danny.”
“No, you’re not,” Danny pouted and folded his arms across his chest.
Ash lightly hit Danny’s stomach with the back of his hand. “Oh, yes, I am.” He started back to the door and added barely loud enough for Danny to hear. “After the con, you can paw me all you want.”
Danny’s face lit up again. “And you’ll paw me all I want.”
Ash was through the door. His amused voice floated back. “Plan first, Danny.”
Danny rubbed his hands together and bounced on the balls of his feet. “All right. Plan. Here we go….”
Stacie met Ash when he came back down. She saw his flush and smirked triumphantly. “Well?”
Ash chuckled. “Twenty. Thirty minutes tops.”
As predicted, Danny ran downstairs twenty minutes later. “I got it! I got it!” He handed a slip of paper to Billy. “Shopping list.*”
Stacie, Albert, and Ash sat around the table, watching. “See,” she muttered to Albert. “I told you it would work.”
Albert whistled at the brief predatory look Danny shot in Ash’s direction before Danny was all business once again. “You’re evil, Stacie.”
She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Only when the need arises.” She squeezed Ash’s arm. “And you don’t mind, do you Ash?”
Ash’s only response was a grin.