The Heist (Duskford)

CHAPTER I - The Genesis of a Plan

It was a relatively warm autumn evening in the small, picturesque town of Sunset Haven, but we aren’t exactly there that night for once. No, our tale takes us somewhere else, about an hour away, to the bustling city of Sunrise Hills, where a high-profile event was about to rock one of the city’s fanciest hotels for the night. Most of the citizens had no idea about what was happening, but the host of security guards wandering around the front entrance and the bright lights coming from the windows let any bystander know that the night at the Windgrad Hotel would be far from quiet.

A sleek black limo rolled up to the sidewalk, where a black carpet with gold and silver trim had been laid out. The driver ran to the back door and opened it before a pair of expensive leather shoes hit the sidewalk as an elegantly-dressed young man exited the vehicle and looked around, his icy-blue eyes checking out the scene in front of the venue. His short black hair well-combed, wearing a dark-blue tux over a black shirt with a blue tie, the young man felt a tiny bit uncomfortable despite his wealthy upbringing. Draping a white scarf over his neck that started itching sooner than he expected, the black-haired boy grinned and reached inside the vehicle to help his dates for the night out.

A dainty female hand took his and a foot encased in a dark-green high-heeled sandal stepped out of the limo. A petite, stunning girl clad in a long, snug green dress that left about half of her medium-sized cleavage exposed. His gaze zeroed on her face, though. Sharp jade-green eyes met his blue ones, her dark-brown hair more on the shorter side, cut in its usual messy french bob style, framing her beautiful features.

“Thank you,” she said in a soft, yet playful, tone.

“My pleasure,” he nodded with his usual soft grin before turning to the limo to take the hand of the second girl.

An equally snug light-blue dress hugged the fit curves of a petite, adorable blonde, a twinkle dancing in her crystal-blue eyes. Her long, slightly wavy golden-blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders as she sweetly smiled at him. A pair of silver open-toed heels adorned her feet, but the feature that drew the most attention to that gorgeous young woman was the way that the neckline of her dress was bunched in an elaborate manner to push up her medium-sized pair of breasts, creating some alluring cleavage. She had never really dressed like that, and the quiet awe in her companion’s gaze showed that. Something that the blonde wasn’t really sure how to react to. They knew each other for all their lives, after all.

“Thanks, Mr. Gentleman,” she playfully curtsied, resorting to a joke to divert the conflicting thoughts in her mind.

“Milady,” he replied, smoothly helping her out of the limo.

Finally, he reached into the vehicle to take the hand of a third young woman, who stepped out of it with a provocative grin on her luscious lips. Lustrous black hair falling in waves around her face, the Latina’s olive skin and voluptuous form were an invitation to sin that almost made the young man drool. Chocolate-brown orbs locked into his blue ones before she leaned in to press a quick kiss on his lips.

“I gotta say it again, you look amazing,” he told her, unable to deny his gaze from roving over her fit curves, the dark-red strapless dress leaving her large breasts on display, creating some incredible cleavage for his viewing pleasure. A pair of black stiletto heels on her feet completed the femme fatale look.

“Thanks,” she beamed at him and then leaned toward his ear. “You look pretty handsome yourself. Reminding me of your dad here.”

He chuckled at the comparison, but felt secretly happy with it. “Tell me again at the end of the night,” he said. “If I can pull half the poise Dad does, things will definitely sail smoother than the skin on your butt,” he bantered, loving the way she blushed and grinned back at him.

“So, I think this is it, huh?” The first girl, the short-haired brunette one, whispered to her companions.

“Looks like it,” the blonde girl nodded, staring at the hotel in front of them.

“Well, we can’t back out now. Some of the others are already in,” the young man told his dates and then offered his arms to them. “Shall we?”

With the black-haired girl on his right arm, the brunette on his left, and the blonde one walking next to the former, the boy took a deep breath and confidently strode over to the entrance, where security guards checked everyone for their invitations. He pulled a beige envelope from an inner pocket in his suit and handed it over. “Connor Harper here, with Luisa Gomez, Beatrix Hale, and Hanna Adams.”

The guard checked their invitation and the guest list he had with him before looking up to stare inquisitively at the young quartet, the blonde girl flashing him a sweet smile. A few agonizing seconds later, he finally nodded. “It checks out. Please have fun, Mr. Harper. You too, Ms. Gomez, Ms. Hale, and Ms. Adams.”

“Thank you,” the four youngsters said in unison as they walked inside the lavish lobby, with one single thought permeating their young minds.

How the hell did they get pulled into this, and worse, how the fuck were a bunch of high school kids supposed to pull off a freaking heist in a hotel full of gangsters? Worse, to steal something exactly from those gangsters themselves?

---

A few days earlier…

“So that’s what I heard.”

Zachary Ravers and Alice Phillips exchanged a surprised, confused look as they stood in front of the chief-editor’s desk. The three of them being longtime members of The Outlook, the newspaper that operated at Sunset Haven High School, they could never have expected to start their senior year with such a nuclear bomb, even if they had no idea about what it exactly entailed.

His calm icy-blue orbs reflected in her sharp jade-green ones, observed by their friend and editor’s emerald-green pools. Victoria Walker nervously squeezed her golden ponytail, resting over her left shoulder as she expectantly watched her co-workers.

“But we don’t even know what ‘potential to burn Sunset Haven to the ground’ means,” Zack said what was in both his and Alice’s minds.

“Oh, Zack, I think those words explain themselves well enough,” Victoria replied, matter-of-factly. Her voice had its usual serious tone that she always used when dealing with matters of the paper.

Zachary admired that seriousness, and coupled with how freaking gorgeous the blonde was, he had harbored something like a crush on her for a long time, at least until he started dating Lisa Rivera, someone he was pretty happy with and had no intention of ruining it.

“Let me see if I’m getting this right,” Alice spoke, her slightly playful calmness obvious to the other two. “You want to sneak into a luxury hotel in Sunrise Hills to steal a tape that may or may not have some dangerous content in it?” She cocked her head to the side with an inquisitive expression, her short dark hair cut in a French bob shaking as she moved.

“Yes, that’s the gist of it,” Victoria nodded.

“Under the noses of a bunch of gangsters and mobsters?” Zack asked, worry creeping into his tone.

“Basically,” the blonde chief-editor nodded once more.

“Wow,” Alice whispered, taken aback by the plan. “And people say I’m the bold one.”

“What do you two say?” Victoria tentatively asked. She knew it wasn’t an easy sell, but the situation required drastic measures if the conversation she overheard from her parents was to be believed. “I already checked, there’s gonna be a poker tournament the same night, and I know Zack plays,” she turned to the boy. “I think it’s a good cover. You can go as his date, Alice, then you two try to check the other players for information while I snoop around and see if I can find the tape before they take it to be auctioned.”

“Wait a second, Vicky,” Zack told the blonde, a hand reaching to the back of his neck and nervously scratching the sudden itch at her suggestion, as Lisa would definitely hate the thought of him going somewhere with another girl as his date, even if it was essentially a fake one. “Depending on how much they’re selling it for, I can try to bid for it, buuut… that said, you’re forgetting about a very important detail. There’s a very high chance someone will recognize me there. Plus, I have a girlfriend.”

The Ravers were the wealthiest and most famous family in Sunset Haven, and while Sunrise Hills was a lot bigger, it was dangerously close to their small town. Enough for just about anyone to see him and recognize the son of Robert Ravers and the grandson of Herbert Ravers.

“That’s a risk we’ll have to run, Zack,” it was Alice, surprisingly, who said it. “We can’t ask someone who can’t play poker for this.”

“Well, Logan can play too,” he pointed out in an attempt to dissuade them from it. His cousin could at least defend himself better than he did if they were found out.

Alice gave him an exasperated look. “But you bluff better than him, and you know that’s the most important part about poker, Zack.”

“We’re high schoolers!” He blurted out, a last resort to try and get the girls to see reason. As much as he loved mysteries, investigations, and whatnot, Zachary was also realistic. It wasn’t a game, they would be potentially risking their lives if all details about that particular night turned out to be true.

Victoria let out a sigh. “Normally I’d say the same, Zack, but there’s nothing else we can do,” she reasoned. “Like you said, we don’t know what exactly is in the tape, and so, we can’t go to the police with just something I overheard my parents discussing.”

“Huh, I wonder what kind of secrets they’re hiding in this tape,” Alice said, tapping her chin with her right index finger. “Dirt on a politician, perhaps?”

Vicky shrugged her shoulders. “I have no clue, Zack’s the rich one,” she answered and then turned to him. “Any ideas?”

“You’re asking me?” Zachary dryly replied. “Can’t think of anything either, certainly not something so bad that can destroy Sunset Haven and warrant us to play secret spies.”

“Destroy the town?” A melodic, sensual voice said from the door before the girl smirked. “Shouldn’t talk about sensitive stuff and leave the door open, you all.”

“Heather,” Zack and Victoria whispered in unison, a similar level of impending doom rising within them. Being his twin sister and her best friend, the two of them knew very well how the cheer captain’s brain was wired.

“The one and only,” Heather responded, closing the door and strolling to the couch in the office. “Now, what’s this about playing spies?”

---

So they ended up **** to tell Heather everything, and in true Heather fashion, his twin sister ballooned it up. “If it has the potential to bring down Sunset Haven, don’t you think it can be something connected to our family, Zack?” She argued, as if she was talking to a child.

He begrudgingly had to admit it was at least in the realm of possibility, and Victoria agreed that it couldn’t hurt to go better prepared, so, with that in mind, they reconvened later that day at Ravers Manor. In attendance were Zachary, Heather, Victoria, and Alice, plus the twins’ cousins, Logan and Paris Ravers, Zack’s best friend, Ashley Woodsen, and the one currently perched on his lap, his girlfriend, Lisa Rivera. Once the expected conjectures about what could be in the so-called tape were over, planning began in earnest.

“I think the first thing we definitely need is a better cover for Vicky,” Heather said, crossing her arms under her ample breasts, her electric-blue eyes fixed on the girl who was one of her best friends. The female twin’s lustrous hair was down in soft black waves, framing her exquisitely beautiful pale face.

“I agree,” Logan nodded, running a hand through his messy, dark-brown hair out of habit. “You can’t just stroll around those supposedly dangerous guys and just hope things will go the right way without a hitch.”

“Any suggestions?” Ashley inquired. A petite, very cute blonde, her crystal-blue eyes were cloudy with worry over her friends. A cheerleader in Heather’s squad, she held the brunette in almost the same regard she did her twin brother.

A smirk crept up Heather’s features. “Well, we could always seduce them into giving us what we want.”

“Heather, this is serious!” Victoria shot back, indignation in her tone. Zack also frowned, not wanting to think about his sister that way. She already made that quite hard in their daily lives by flaunting that serious cleavage of hers without injecting some even more explicit images in his brain.

“Whatever it is in that tape, it’s not worth it going that far,” Paris piped in, her tone making it clear she was chastising her cousin, who merely smirked back at her. Her own electric-blue eyes stared back in defiance for a second before she shook her head in annoyance. One of the athletes of the family, she played soccer in the school’s female team and had quite the fit body thanks to that. Pushing a strand of her dyed blue hair behind an ear, she turned to Alice, one of her best friends. “Any ideas? You’ve always been the clever one.”

“None so far,” Alice replied, a pensive look on her face. She was sitting next to Zack and Lisa on a couch, a fact that pleased Paris, as she never got along too well with her teammate that ended up becoming her cousin’s girlfriend. “Didn’t think it’d be this hard to come up with something. Guess real life is always harder than fiction.”

“Wait a sec, what are the others doing?” Logan asked in an attempt to lift the suddenly somber mood. “Have you decided yet?”

“Zack’s playing poker with Lisa and Alice as his dates,” Vicky explained. “They’ll try to find out information from potential bidders at the table.”

“Smart choice, I’d probably get recognized right away, and so would Heather, for that matter,” the electric-blue-eyed boy grinned wolfishly. “Whatever you do, dear cousin, you can’t be around too many people either.”

“I’m working on that, don’t you worry,” Heather winked at her cousin. As the two most socially active of the Ravers kids, their chance of getting recognized at the hotel was higher than Zack’s or Paris’.

“No offense to Ali, but wouldn’t Zack showing up with two dates raise at least some suspicion?” Lisa inquired, wanting her boyfriend only to herself for that night. For now, though, she was content in rubbing her phenomenal jean-clad ass on his leg, dangerously close to his dick.

Other guys would say that it was a close competition for best butt in the room between her and Victoria.

“We want to create a confident playboy aura around Zack, so the other players take him seriously. Surrounding him with women is the easiest way to get that,” Ashley was the one who explained. “Oh, we should totally add a third one!”

Zack frowned at his best friend, his arms tightening around Lisa’s waist. “Well, I thi…”

“Great idea, Ash!” Logan said, grinning. “You should be that third one. If memory serves me right, you’re good at poker too.”

“Eh, just a little,” the petite blonde replied, grinning as she reached over to elbow Zack on the arm. “But I guess I can make that sacrifice,” she teased, getting her bestie to poke his tongue at her.

“Alright, so we have Zack, Ash, Lisa, and myself on the poker table, either playing or hanging around him,” Alice laid out. “Should we have someone else in the room, perhaps wandering as guests?”

“The Cole twins,” Zack answered. “Maddie is a superb actress, and Brandon will definitely protect her from everything and more.”

“That he will,” Logan chuckled. “I can see if any of the guys on the team want to lend a hand. We could use more ears.”

“We need to check if there’s supposed to be any musical event that night, so we can smuggle Scarlett in,” Alice piped in, getting affirmative nods from the others. “And we definitely need to get some form of electronic communication, maybe even surveillance.”

“That would be smart, that way we can always update each other on any progress,” Victoria agreed.

“Logan, you’re the tech van guy,” Heather snickered at her cousin. “You said it yourself, we can’t get recognized.”

“Oh, I can ask Grace to join him,” Paris squealed before her cousin could respond. “She’s the best with all this tech stuff.”

“Grace? Really?” Logan groaned in exasperation. “She hates me! The only thing we’ll accomplish is drive each other nuts!”

“Don’t be a drama king, she doesn’t hate you,” Paris shook her head. “She’s just a little too reserved and set in her ways.” Truth be told, Paris knew how difficult her childhood friend could be, and putting her with someone as flamboyant as Logan had some high potential to end in a disaster, but she hoped the two of them could put any differences aside for the cause. “I don’t have any desire to be at this auction, so I’ll be you guys’ cover here in Sunset Haven. I’ll head to the cabin for the weekend and say that everyone’s with me. That way, I can answer if any relative or something calls us.”

“Good thinking, Par,” Zack threw a smile toward his cousin, who smugly returned it. “Well, about other friends of ours, I think Cody is out. He mentioned going out of town with his family to visit relatives.”

“I can try and get some of the cheerleaders on board,” Heather smirked. “I’m 100% sure Sharon and Tanya would love to be a part of it. Maybe Donna, but Amber is out, no question about it.”

“Yeah, Ambs totally can’t be in this,” Ashley nodded, even if it pained her to not include a sweet friend in a fun activity. “She could end up blabbing it all to the wrong person without meaning it.”

“Hmm, I guess I can ask Chloe,” Paris muttered, thinking about her best friend and teammate on the soccer team.

“Oh, yeah, Chloe can definitely use a fun night out,” Lisa pointed out. “Convincing her is another story, but well…”

“Now we just need your cover, Heather,” Zack turned to his twin sister with a bit of a challenging look on his face. “You said you’re working on it, but are you helping Vicky or… what?”

“Truth be told, I asked Hannah for ideas,” Heather admitted with a mischievous smile as she turned to Ashley at the mention of the blonde’s older sister, who was away at college with the twins’ own big sister. “She said she’d get back to me tomorrow when she and Tay come home.”

“Oh, boy,” Ashley groaned as she shook her head, a sudden headache creeping into it. “Lady Luck helps us all.”

---

The next day, Zachary and Lisa were in his room at the Manor after school, all cozied up on the couch in front of his gaming TV, the Latina softly whimpering as he nibbled on her neck. Near the two amorous teens, Zack’s pet cat, Orion, dozed off on his cat bed, oblivious to what his human was getting up to.

“Mmm…,” Lisa hummed in satisfaction, her large bust pressed against his chest as one of his hands lazily explored her firm, round rump, softly squeezing the cheek over her tight jeans. The young man swore she wore those pants that looked painted on her on purpose just to drive him crazy.

Ever since the first time they fooled around, it was getting incredibly hard for them not to tackle each other down every time things began getting hot and heavy, such as right now. Lisa was still a bit **** to start having sex for real, due to the size of his cock, but Zack was patient, he had no desire to push his girlfriend before she was ready and ruin a great thing. Still, the girls were congregating in Heather’s room at the moment, and they could come knocking any second now, so it was with **** **** that Zack pulled back and gazed at his first and only girlfriend with a goofy smile, reaching to push a lock of her dark hair behind an ear.

“This is the first time I’m taking you out to a place like the Windgrad Hotel,” he said, a hint of nervousness and regret in his voice. Despite the fact that they had been dating for about six months now, he never had any experience with dates before her, so even with Logan’s advice, he still wasn’t too great at coming up with interesting places for dates.

Lisa smiled affectionately as she picked up his tone. “You don’t need to be nervous, Zack. Things will be fine, and we’ll have fun, you’ll see.”

“After this is over, I’m taking you somewhere nice for a real date,” he promised, squeezing her warm hand in his.

The black-haired girl returned his smile with a big, loving one. “I can’t wait,” she told him, her mind fantasizing about spending some quality time with her boyfriend, alone. Lisa still wasn’t too keen on Alice and Ashley pretending to be his dates alongside her for the Heist Night, as the teens started calling their little operation, but she was willing to be a teamplayer for it, just as she was in the soccer field.

Staring into each other’s eyes, the teens naturally leaned in for a kiss that started soft, just their lips brushing together, but that Zack soon deepened, parting his lips and sliding his tongue into Lisa’s warm mouth to duel with hers. Just a couple of seconds into it, though, their loving time was rudely interrupted.

“I SAID I’M NOT GOING TO WEAR THIS, HEATHER!!!”

“Was that Victoria?” Lisa asked with a frown once the kiss was broken. Even Orion was startled by the scream and meowed inquisitively.

“The hell? She never yells like that,” Zack commented as instinct made him stand up and hold out a hand for Lisa to accompany him to Heather’s room. They were definitely curious to see what the ruckus was all about.

Crossing the hallway, Heather’s room was immediately on the other side of Zack’s door, and hers was wide open, giving the couple a clear picture of the scene inside. Victoria was staring accusingly at Heather while Ashley stood between the two, as if to stop them from attacking each other. Even though the smirk on his sister’s face told Zack that Heather wasn’t worried in the slightest by her friend’s reaction. Next to them, Taylor Ravers and Hannah Woodsen stood ready to intervene, though the latter seemed to be stifling a laugh as the former rolled her eyes at everything. The two 21-year-old girls took advantage of the long holiday at Mistwood, the town where Dragon Lake College was located, to drive home and help with the operation.

“Vicky, it’s not so bad, c’mon,” Hannah snickered, causing her large tits to wobble in the tight top she was wearing. Zack had to fight an urge to catch a peek, the older girl being the first crush in his life. One that never fully went away if he had to be honest with himself.

“Oh, I dunno, I think I kinda agree with Vicky on this,” Ashley said, directing a mild glare toward her big sister. Hannah was more voluptuous and provocative-looking, but one could clearly see the similarities between the sisters beyond the same blonde hair and blue eyes.

“But it’s the only fucking way we’ll be able to walk around the hotel and schmooze with the bad guys,” Heather claimed, crossing her arms to emphasize her own chest once more. “Too many of us are already playing guests, bodyguards, and poker players, so we need this cover!”

“Besides, as Heather said, you need to get in the auctioneers’ good graces,” Hannah added. “This is the perfect way to get access to places even guests can’t go in.”

“I know, but…,” Victoria started saying, but fell silent. Anyone could see how distressed she looked, and that didn’t sit too well with Zack, or even Lisa and Taylor.

Zack sidled up to his older sister, a statuesque, tall girl with a slim, model-like body. Her long, slightly wavy dark-brown hair fell down her back as her icy-blue eyes surveyed the scene. “Hey, what’s going on?”

Taylor sighed before turning to her little brother. “Hannah got them this cover with our roommate at Mistwood, Sydney. Apparently, a company, and I say this in the loosest sense I can, is supposed to work on the auction that night, you know, to… entertain bidders and guests,” she started explaining, and at the grimace on Zack’s face, she nodded with the same expression. “Yeah, exactly the way you’re thinking.”

Lisa gasped as she caught sight of the costumes laid out on Heather’s bed. “Damn, is that what they’ll be wearing?”

“Yes,” Taylor somberly said as she nodded again. “As you could hear and see, Victoria wasn’t a fan.”

Zachary stared at the variety of colors for the same costume and only one thought crossed his mind at that moment, that all the girls who would be using that cover for the Heist Night would look extremely sexy in it. The fact that he couldn’t imagine some of them ever wearing something as scandalous as those costumes only added to the allure. Hmm, wonder if I can talk Lis into letting me take a few pics of her in one of those before Hannah returns it.

He felt Lisa gripping his arm harder. “Don’t get me wrong, it looks fun,” she said. “But I don’t think I could ever put on something like that in public.”

Taylor chuckled, resigned to her own fate, as she and Hannah had joined the team for the heist. “Normally, I’d never do it either, but we can’t just ignore this,” she said in a serious tone. “We gotta make sure that, whatever it is in this tape, it’s not about our family.”

Zack could only nod in agreement, a growing respect in him for his friends (and relatives) who would wear the scraps of fabric Hannah had gotten for their cover.

---

Later on that same day, Taylor was in her room with Paris, Hannah, and Ashley. Most of the others had already left or were with Heather in another part of the Manor. The older brunette frowned as she directed an unreadable gaze toward her best friend of an entire life.

“So, you’re egging everyone on, but you’re not gonna wear those aberrations yourself?” She inquired.

“You know I can play poker, Tay,” Hannah grinned mischievously and winked. “I’ll be much more useful on the table with our dear little siblings.”

“Debatable,” Taylor muttered, and even Ashley had to agree with it. If her big sister could contain her urge to show off, then she probably would be useful as she boasted, but everyone in that room was aware of how little chance there was of that.

“Okay, one more thing I wanted to discuss,” Paris said before turning to Ashley. “I couldn’t talk about it in front of the others, but I need you to work your powers on Zack and Alice while you’re there posing as his dates. They gotta see they’re perfect for each other, and I think it’s now or never.”

“Huh?” The petite blonde raised a confused eyebrow. “Why?”

Taylor moved to a sitting position, her interest piqued. “Is there something wrong with Lisa that I should know about?” She asked in a serious tone. Every time she met the girl over the months she and her little brother had been dating, Taylor always found her quite besotted with Zack.

“Chloe and I have played with her for years, she’s very competitive and annoying,” the blue-haired girl explained. “She’s always provoked me for no reason on the field even being on the same team, but no one here sees it ‘cause she also plays the devoted girlfriend card extremely well.”

“Oh, those types are the worst!” Hannah gushed, plopping down on the bed with the other three, her large tits bouncing. “Okay, Tay, we really gotta save Zacky!”

“Are you sure?” Ashley asked skeptically. She also thought that Alice was a better fit for her best friend, but unlike Paris, she hadn’t seen any fault in Lisa yet. “You’re not just projecting your personal beef with her on their relationship, are you?”

“I’m not!” Paris shot back with a mild glare. “I’ve been against this since Maddie decided to introduce them!” Madison had a crush on Zack herself and got very angry when Lisa ended up dating him, but Paris was the only one in their clique who was aware of that fact.

“I believe you, Par, but I want to see this for myself first,” Taylor said. “Don’t do anything yet, Ash. If I don’t like what I see, I’ll take her out of my brother’s life.”

“Damn, you really give me the tingles when you get all bossy like that,” Hannah jested, giggling as she dodged the incoming pillow from her best friend. Paris decided to avert her eyes from the curvy blonde’s agile body, her older cousin’s friend had always made her feel quite hot between the legs.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, and when Taylor said they could enter, Zack poked his head in.

“Hey, can I come in?” He inquired with a friendly smile.

“Sure, we’re all decent,” Ashley responded with her own sweet smile, enjoying the way a light flush appeared on his cheeks.

Taylor and Hannah exchanged a knowing glance at that. The two of them had always harbored a wish to see their younger siblings together, but so far, it looked like they were destined to be only best friends, despite all the sweet chemistry moments they had always shared.

Zachary stepped into the room and fought the urge to swallow hard at the way his sister, cousin, best friend, and old crush were dressed, all in snug tank tops and boyshorts. It was a warm evening, after all. Unfortunately, that left different levels of cleavage and legs on display, and it proved to be too much of a tempting sight, even if two of those girls were related to him.

“C’mere, I need to tell you something,” Taylor gave her brother a small smile and patted a spot on her bed between her and Ashley. Every room in the Manor had large beds, so it could accommodate all five of them without any issues.

“What’s up?” He asked, his hand almost touching Ashley’s as he tried to ignore the sight of his big sister’s long, fit legs.

“Look, I just wanted to check with you. It’s okay if you’re feeling nervous about all this heist thing,” Taylor patiently began. “No one’s gonna think less of you if you prefer to let Logan take your place in this.”

Zack let out a sigh. “Believe it or not, I… think… I can pose as a confident playboy for a night, especially if I’m having fun,” he explained himself, but then stared right into his sister’s eyes. “I’m more worried about you and the others who’ll be dealing with the bad guys more directly. Tay, there’s no telling what might happen.”

“Ah, rest assured, Zacky,” Hannah winked at him. “They’re prepared for all kinds of sordid outcomes.”

“Han, do me a favor and shut up,” Taylor said in a tone that was more like an afterthought, as if she did that all the time. “I won’t lie and tell you that I’m not at least a little bit worried myself, but it’s like we discussed, we need to make sure our family isn’t being threatened,” she explained. “And it’s not just us, Han and Ash’s family is pretty big here in Sunset Haven too.”

Ashley nodded. “And so are the Walkers, the Smiths, the Cole-Austens,” she listed. “Several of our friends might have stakes in this. Burning this town to the ground can have lots of different meanings.”

“You think it can be a sex tape?” Hannah asked out of nowhere, causing Zachary’s eyes to widen.

“Huh?” Ashley and Paris frowned in shock.

Taylor groaned at what she saw as a joke attempt. “Hannah, this is the real world, not the plot of a bad porno!”

The older blonde just shrugged. “I mean, you can ruin some reputations pretty effectively if you have a tape of the most important people in town swinging or having like…, I dunno, a hot, depraved orgy.”

“That’s it,” Ashley groaned. “I’m gonna tell Mom you’re so oversexed you need therapy!”

Hannah playfully winked at her younger sister. “Just wait until you start having it, little sis.”

Ashley and Zack coughed at that, the latter not just because he had an image of his best friend moaning in the throes of passion flashing through his mind for a quick second, but also because he wondered if there was even a tiny little chance that Hannah was right about the contents of the elusive tape.

---

Back to the present day…

“We really got in,” Zachary whispered, under his Connor Harper cover. Paris had gotten her good friend, Grace Smith, to hack into the event’s guest list and add all their names. He half expected it not to work, but guessed that now he would have to listen to his cousin when she claimed Grace was an awesome hacker.

“Thank Grace for that,” Alice commented as she and her friend and fellow paper worker exchanged a determined glance. It was time to slip into their cover and investigate. Their friends would be doing the same and were counting on them.

“Okay, time to mingle,” Zack said, looking around to see if he could spot any of their friends.