But sadly, Elle wasn’t there at the moment. She’d gotten distracted, texting with her friends, and she missed her opportunity. By the time she was ready, the mark had left the building, tired of our squabbling. And Uncle Carl wasn’t actually going to meet with the man—we were supposed to have the money by that point. In the end, we had to let the mark walk away with his money and ours. We were screwed.

This was a serious offense. Bea had expected to get her money back along with the mark’s contribution. But now it was all gone. Elle would be in for a beating like we’d never seen. We got walloped when little things went wrong, so the loss of this much money was sure to elicit harsh punishment. Bea once locked Jay in the basement for a week because he lost a thousand dollars, which was nothing compared to the hundred grand Elle had just blown. I needed to help her.

Jay had died two years before, and I was already planning my escape. I’d been skimming from jobs by that point, which was easy because I was often the “inside man” for our cons. That meant I was the one who negotiated prices with the mark. When we agreed on an amount, I would tell Bea it was for less and keep the difference. The trick was to stash the extra money somewhere before I got home, so Bea wouldn’t find it. My secret nook in the library was perfect for that.

After two years, I’d squirreled away a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I didn’t want to have to start all over again, but my money could well save Elle’s life. I had to give it to her.

I stuffed my hundred and fifty grand into a paper bag, then padded some of the bundles with blank paper so it would appear that there was a full two hundred in there. When we brought it to Bea, she found the padding but convinced herself that the mark had done it behind her back. Then, since she still made fifty grand from the deal, she was content, and we all got our candy bars. Without a doubt, the most expensive chocolate I’d ever eaten.

After that incident, Elle shaped up and started to pay more attention to each con. She knew how much that money meant to me, and she promised it would never happen again. In fact, from that point on, she became an active participant in every con and even started to help Bea with the planning. She had blossomed into a full-fledged grifter.




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