The Frame-Up

Informationen zum Autor Gwenda Bond Klappentext "Dani Poissant is the daughter and former accomplice of the world's most famous art thief. There was no job too big for Maria and her loyal crew. The secret to their success? A little thing called magic, kept rigorously secret from the non-magical world. They seemed unstoppable... until a teenage Dani turned her mother over to the FBI. Ten years later, with Maria still in prison, Dani finds herself approached for a job that only Maria and her crew could pull off... if any of them were still speaking to her. But it's the job of a lifetime and it might just be the lure Dani needs to reconcile with her mother and be reunited with her old gang - including both the love of her life and her former best friend. The problem is, it's an impossible task - even with the magial talents of the people she once considered family baking her up. It's a heist that needs a year to plan, and Dani has just over a week. Worse, the more Dani learns, the more she understands there's far more at stake in this job than she ever realized." -- Back cover. Leseprobe Chapter One Dani was settled at a sticky back table in the empty dive bar, waiting, when the mark arrived. Tad Russell, attorney-at-law and cheating shitheel, had someone who looked like a bodyguard with him, and Dani wondered if this meet was going to be more complicated than expected. She hadn't decided where to go after St. Louis yet, because of her more immediate cash-flow problem. She was broke, so this job needed to work out. Him bringing a gym rat along wasn't a good sign. Dani's dog, Sunflower, growled without taking her head off Dani's foot, throat vibrating against her leather boot. Sunflower's radar for the rotten rivaled Dani's own. Most people looked at the dog and saw a lean, smiling border collie. They missed how smart she was, how sharp her teeth were. They had that in common too. I hear you, Dani murmured and Sunflower subsided. The mark spotted Dani and his chin ticked up. Bravado was an interesting choice, given the way he'd visibly sweated through his dress shirt. He could've hidden that by wearing his suit jacket, but he chose comfort instead. Just as he could have one less witness without his plus-one. You can tell a lot about people by the stupid decisions they make. He'd made plenty to end up here. But then, so had Dani. Dani nodded to indicate the chairs on the other side of the scarred table. The legs scraped the floor as the two men took them. The bodyguard type had a salt-and-pepper beard and didn't quite hide the wince as he sat. Bad knees. He also had a weak chin and a certain kind of meanness around the eyes. Dani sized him up immediately: former law enforcement. The bartender was the only other person here with them. The Meet and Greet was a shoebox-sized establishment that probably hadn't been the site of an actual meet-cute in decades, if ever. Her brief encounter with the bartender told her that he'd never been a hero. Dani was on her own. Which . . . fine. Safer that way. She believed that, most of the time. Tad, you rented yourself an ex-cop . . . Given why you're here, I'm surprised. She focused on the friend with the muscles. Has he told you what he did? He told me some little blond girl from out of town is trying to shake him down. Dani was average-sized, not little. And, at twenty-seven, not a girl, but a womanalthough she was fine with the term girl when it wasn't being used by a guy like this. She had no quibbles with the blond or the shaking-down or the out-of-town parts. Those were facts. But she wasn't trying anything. So, Dani said, I'll take that as a no, then. She leaned in conspiratorially. How do you two know each other? Tad's smile was vintage sleazy lawyer. I helped him put some crooks away. That was really how he was playing th...

Autorentext

Gwenda Bond

Klappentext

*A magically gifted con artist must gather her estranged mother’s old crew for a once-in-a-lifetime heist, from the New York Times bestselling author of Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds*.

“Makes grand larceny more fun than ever.”—Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night**

Dani Poissant is the daughter and former accomplice of the world’s most famous art thief. There was no job too big for Maria and her loyal crew. The secret to their success? A little thing called magic, kept rigorously secret from the non-magical world. They seemed unstoppable . . . until a teenage Dani turned her mother over to the FBI.
 
Ten years later, with Maria still in prison, Dani finds herself approached for a job that only Maria and her crew could pull off . . . if any of them were still speaking to her. But it’s the job of a lifetime and might just be the lure Dani needs to reconcile with her mother and be reunited with her mother’s old gang—including both the love of her life and her former best friend.
 
The problem is, it’s an impossible task—even with the magical talents of the people she once considered family backing her up. It’s a heist that needs a year to plan, and Dani has just over a week. Worse, the more Dani learns, the more she understands that there’s far more at stake in this job than she ever realized.

Leseprobe
Chapter One

Dani was settled at a sticky back table in the empty dive bar, waiting, when the mark arrived.

Tad Russell, attorney-at-law and cheating shitheel, had someone who looked like a bodyguard with him, and Dani wondered if this meet was going to be more complicated than expected. She hadn t decided where to go after St. Louis yet, because of her more immediate cash-flow problem. She was broke, so this job needed to work out. Him bringing a gym rat along wasn t a good sign.

Dani s dog, Sunflower, growled without taking her head off Dani s foot, throat vibrating against her leather boot.

Sunflower s radar for the rotten rivaled Dani s own. Most people looked at the dog and saw a lean, smiling border collie. They missed how smart she was, how sharp her teeth were. They had that in common too.

I hear you, Dani murmured and Sunflower subsided.

The mark spotted Dani and his chin ticked up. Bravado was an interesting choice, given the way he d visibly sweated through his dress shirt. He could ve hidden that by wearing his suit jacket, but he chose comfort instead. Just as he could have one less witness without his plus-one. You can tell a lot about people by the stupid decisions they make.

He d made plenty to end up here. But then, so had Dani.

Dani nodded to indicate the chairs on the other side of the scarred table. The legs scraped the floor as the two men took them. The bodyguard type had a salt-and-pepper beard and didn t quite hide the wince as he sat. Bad knees. He also had a weak chin and a certain kind of meanness around the eyes. Dani sized him up immediately: former law enforcement.

The bartender was the only other person here with them. The Meet and Greet was a shoebox-sized establishment that probably hadn t been the site of an actual meet-cute in decades, if ever. Her brief encounter with the bartender told her that he d never been a hero. Dani was on her own. Which . . . fine. Safer that way.

She believed that, most of the time.

Tad, you rented yourself an ex-cop . . . Given why you re here, I m surprised. She focused on the friend with the muscles. Has he told you what he did?

He told me some little blond girl from out of town is trying to shake him down.

Dani was average-sized, not little. And, at twenty-seven, not a girl, but a woman although she was fine with the term girl when it wasn t being used by a guy like this. She had no quibbles with the blond or the shaking-down or the out-of-town parts. Those were facts. But she wasn t trying anything.

So, Dani said, I ll take that as a no, …