Every decent con man knows that the simplest truth is more powerful than even the most elaborate lie.

Hey, Macey, sorry to drop in but Cammie just had to be alone with me. You know how she gets.

He looked as though I'd just run over his pet puppy (though no actual puppies were harmed in the formation of that metaphor).

When the woman took the earbud, he didn't ask another question. She was a woman on a mission as she placed the tiny device in her ear and said, "This is Special Agent Abby Cameron. Let me talk to Macey McHenry.

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.

You know you're smarter than all of them, right?" Hale said flatly. "In fact, if you wanted to PROVE it..." He glanced at the blackjack tables. Simon shook his head. "I don't count cards, Hale." "Don't?" Hale smiled. "Or won't? You know, technically, it's not illegal." "But it's frowned upon." Sweat beaded at Simon's brow. He sounded like someone had just suggested he swim after eating... run with scissors... "It is SERIOUSLY frowned upon.

Not knowing you can't do something, is sometimes all it takes to do it.