Ally Carter

“Life's best adventures are as close as your nearest bookshelf. Tour Europe with the Count of Monte Cristo. Dance a ball with Mr Darcy. Hunt down bad guys with Stephanie Plum. Amazing things can happen when you read.”

“I'll be here when you get back.”

“Wait. Far be it for me to say this" — Hamish looked around the compartment — "and if anyone tells Uncle Eddie I suggested being an upstanding citizen I'll kill 'em, but aren't there...laws and stuff? I mean, can't you...you know...sue him or something?" asked the boy who had once stolen an entire circus, all three rings.”

“The Bagshaws aren't boys. They're bombs with very colorful fuses.”

“But in the end she merely shrugged, knowing at the very least it would be interesting. Knowing, in her gut, it might just be the beginning.”

“The older generation sat looking at the younger, and Kat wondered exactly when and how the baton had been passed. She wanted to know if it was too late to give it back.”

“If you don't want to be a victim, don't act like one.”

“He's better-looking then the last vagabond I had to take in," Eddie said, standing and carrying empty bowls to the sink. "I'll give him that."The insult slid off of Bobby like water. "So, you know, kid, according to thief culture, if you're going to court Kat, you now owe me two dozen goats.""It's a dozen," Eddie corrected."Yeah, but Kat's worth two," Hamish said with a wink.Through it all, Hale said nothing. Then, finally, he smiled. "I'm afraid I'm all out of goats at the moment, but I've got some ruby cuff links you can have.""No." Bobby shook his head. "It's goats or nothing.""Sorry, Kat." Hale shrugged, disappointed. "It was fun while it lasted.""Don't look at me." Kat threw up her hands. "I'm officially ignoring all of you.”

“Kat looked at Hale. "I've never heard Marcus talk this much.""Yeah," Hale whispered. "I'm trying to decide if I like it." Just then, Marcus took the ruler and struck Eddie in the stomach. "Hale men speak from the diaphragm!" Hale nodded. "I definitely like it.”

“That's why we're going to disrupt the lunch," she (Kat) said."You know," Angus said, "I've got a little C-four that I've been saving for a rainy--""We're not blowing up my company, Angus," Hale said."Righto. Carry on, Kitty.”

“The Princess and the Pea?" Gabrielle suggested. "Not enough time," Kat said"Where's Waldo?" Gabrielle went on."No." Hamish recoiled. "I am still not allowed back in Morocco.”

“Now, now, hear me out," Hamish went on. "We don't have to kidnap Garrett. Not if we kidnap the buyer." "Or distract him," Angus added."Like the Bulgari job," Hamish said."You mean the job that landed half the DiMarco family in a South African prison?" Kat said.Angus shrugged. "Nobody said it was perfect.”

“What?" He cut a grin at Kat when he saw the impressed look on her face. "Corporate espionage is my second greatest passion.'"With your first being..." Kat prompted."Gelato," Hale said, and turned back to the group.”

“Sleep every chance you get. Eat every chance you get. Those were two of the many lessons that Kat learned at her father’s knee and her uncle’s table.”

“So, your dad's hot.""Thanks. He was that way when I met him, so I can't really take credit.”

“Should alcoholics go to liquor stores?”

“Kat turned back to Hale. "The Mary Poppins?""Seemed like a good idea at the time.""Oh. Yeah. Obviously. Just so we're clear, this master plan of yours...""Might have a couple kinks to work through," Hale admitted, then reached for her hand. As soon as he touched her, Kat knew there was no such thing as curses. People make and break their own fortunes-they are the masters of their own fate. And right then Kat wouldn't have changed a thing.She kissed him, quick and feather soft."What was that for?" he asked.Kat placed her fingers on his face and brought his forehead close to hers, touching as she whispered, "For luck.”

“It's every little girl's dream," she said. "Interpol surveillance. And kittens.”

“So instead she settled on, "Did my father put you up to this?"Hale exhaled a quick laugh and shook his head. "He hasn't returned my calls since Barcelona." He leaned closer and whispered, "I think he might still be mad at me.""Yeah, well, that makes two of us.""Hey," Hale snapped. "We all agreed that that monkey seemed perfectly well trained at the time.”

“My name is Cammie!” I didn’t think about all the people I could have woken, all the alarms that might have gone off. I just snapped, “How did you know about Boston? Why are you working with Mr. Solomon now? Are you my friend or are you my enemy, Zach? Or, wait, let me guess, you can’t tell me.”

“But on the upside, I guess we're getting ready to find out if you really only love me for my jet.""I might love you for your jet," Gabrielle said, straight-faced.He smiled a Kat. "What about you?""Yeah," Kat said, nodding. "I guess that is the question.”

“You switched the days," I said, dismayed. "You blew the tire. You..." I trailed off, probably because the next words out of my mouth were either going to be "You are enough to do this?" or "You're destined for a life of crime." It was a toss-up either way.”

“Crouched on the roof between BEx and Liz, I wasn't a girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend; I looked at my watch and check my gear instead of crying. I had a mission objective and not a broken heart.”

“Two days after my dad's funeral, my mom went on a mission. I never understood it until then--that sometimes a spy doesn't need a cover so much as she needs a shield.”

“Tell me Zach.” I don’t know if it was the wind or the adrenaline, but I shivered. “And don’t lie to me.”

“The kids kept walking, moving through the Henley's halls like a tide, but when Kat turned to leave, she walked in the opposite directions. She wasn't an ordinary kid, after all.Katarina Bishop followed no one.”

“Mariano the Second had been the son of a fisherman, but he'd suffered from an unfortunate tendency toward seasickness and was forced to find a respectable career that could be safely conducted on dry land. So he built boats.Mariano the Third built bigger boats.And by the time a girl from a very different type of family business arrived at their shopfront on the Mediterranean coast, Mariano the Fourth had built and patented at least half a dozen of the most advanced (and justifiably expensive) watercrafts in the world.”

“That's a lovely piece," Kat said, pointing at a Louise XV armoire near the fireplace. The man raised his eyebrows. "Did you come to steal it?""Darn it," Kat said with a snap of her fingers."I knew I should have brought my big purse.”

“That wasn't your mom in you—that was yourdad.”

“You know, Ms. Morgan, that was your mother you just hammered," Mr. Solomon said.”

“Someday you will know that the heart is not always as wise as it is strong. - Uncle Eddie”

“What kind of plan B?" Hale asked. He was almost holding his breath when a voice answered, "My kind." Macey tried to read the look on his face then, but it was gone in a flash. It had been a simple moment of peace and joy and pure happiness. That voice made Hale happy. It kept him calm. It was his backup and his conscience. Macey couldn't help herself, she envied him.”

“The things that are most precious to us are sometimes the most secret.”

“She thought she kept seeing him because she wanted to see him," Macey explained."Ooooh," Bex and Liz sighed together."It's a by-product of very dramatic kissing," Macey went on like a doctor identifying a common side effect.”

“It was the first time in years I didn’t wonder if my father was out there, looking at it too.”

“She'd absolutely adored the library-an entire building where anyone could take things they didn't own and feel no remorse about it.”

“And that's how the Peacock saved the Chameleon”

“Kat picked up a folder labeled Senior. "What are these? Bank records?" She did a double take, looking at Hale. "Did your dad really pay two million dollars to the campaign to elect Ross Perot?" "I..." Hale said, stumbling for words and thumbing through another file. "Wow. I guess my cousin Charlotte isn't really my cousin.""Don't worry," Kat said. "It looks like there might be a kid in Queens who is.”

“And so that means...""We have to rob the Henley," Simon said.Kat sank onto a truly uncomfortable sofa. "Again.”

“hey gallagher girl”

“So the quesiton is," Bex said slowly,"How far are you willing to go?"I looked at my three best friends in the world. "How far is there?”

“I suppose you should her it from me that I met your mother" he smiled a litte sadly. "well. . . When I say met I mean one time I tried to kill her." "Do me a favor" Zach's voice was low and dark and dangerous. "Next time don't just try”

“I'm sure Uncle Eddie won't kill him. He'll probably just maim him a little.""No," Uncle Eddie said. "I won't.""Okay," Gabrielle said. "So he'll maim him a lot. But Hale can take it.”

“The window can be fixed, Katerina. I'm far more concerned about him.”

“Even though Kate had only known Hale for a little more than two years, she had seen him in a lot of situations.”

“What are you looking at? Hale asked. Why are you smiling? I worry when you smile.”

“I think the canary left some feathers in there after you ate it.”

“If anything happens, Marcus will save you. Won't you, Marcus? Hale asked, looking up at the man, who nodded.It would be an honor, Miss.”

“We don't have to do this. Just say the word and I can have a jet here in an hour. We can go anywhere”

“Macey was just starting to argue when Abby asked, "What can you tell me about the gunmen?""They're amateurs," Hale said at the exact same time Macey told her teacher, "They're pros.”