“No, but this guy loves to do a set of linedances whenever he comes here. It’s kinda fun,” he said, completelyserious.
“No way.” I stared at him, sure my eyes werethe size of pancakes. I took note of the three boys lining up todance.
“We can’t just focus on our studies becausewe need a well-rounded experience here at Bell Academy.” He changedhis voice to sound like the principal of the school, Mrs.Chatworth.
“We better hurry,” he said, grabbing my handand looking pointedly at a group of kids hurrying onto the floor.“We want to be in the second row so that you can learn thesteps.”
Before I could protest, he pulled me to theclosest end of the line, making it just in time. I realized thatwhile he was helping me a great deal with my cover, ditching himwouldn’t be easy. Country twang blared out of the speakers, and Ifollowed along, watching the group in front of us to know what todo. Only one of the target boys remained. In the commotion oflearning the dance, two had left. How long had they been gone?
I kept going the wrong way, bumping intoCarson. He laughed every time. At least he was a good sport. It washard to concentrate because all I could think about was themission. I needed to get away for a minute to make sure the teamknew exactly who had left. By the end of the second song, I foundmyself at the end of the line. Carson was turned, talking to thegirl on his other side. I slipped off into the bathroom, countingeveryone before I entered. Six of the seven kids were missing.Could the other two I’d seen and not been able to identify not behere tonight, or would they leave with the last of the threeboys?
I was very much alone in the bathroom andwent straight for the window, away from the booming music. Ichecked my watch monitor for Gina and turned up my earpiece tolisten for Karina. The purple dot indicated that Gina wasn’t veryfar away, probably less than a few blocks. I pulled up thelocation. A parking garage. I gave the team a quick rundown on whatI knew via text message, just to make sure they were up tospeed.
Halluis was probably already following them.Hopefully, he’d have enough time to get the trackers on the carsbefore the girls were able to get them started. He’d have to besuper fast once they climbed into the cars to hotwire them. Ithought he had the hardest job on this operation.
“I can’t get it to start,” Karina’s voicewhined in my ear. “It’s not like the one in the shop.”
“It has to be, Karina,” Gina whispered. “Tryagain.”
“You try, Gina. I can’t do it.”
I wanted to go help them. I could reach themin less than five minutes, and I had clothes to change into justoutside the bathroom door in my go bag. I took a deep breath,fighting the urge to forget about watching for new thieves andtracking the ones we knew about. I mentally sent out good vibes tothe girls in hopes it would help them be successful. I glanced upat the window. No. I would stay here. Stay on target. A couple ofwhispering girls came into the bathroom. I guessed the last countryline dance was over. I stepped up to the sink and washed my handsat a snail’s pace.
All the while, I listened as Gina tried toget the car to start. No car sounds filled the air, only Gina’sgrunting and Karina’s whining.
“Let’s forget this Camry. They must’ve donesomething to it. Let’s try the next one on the list,” Karinasaid.
I imagined them at a Camry, working to getit started. I knew Halluis was there, somewhere, watching them workand waiting for the right moment to place the tracker. I wonderedif he also wanted to jump in and help them. I could imagine thestale oil and gas smells that most assuredly filled the air aroundthem.
The two girls who’d entered the bathroomstepped up to the sinks and washed their hands, still whisperingand not paying me any attention. I dried my hands as they driedtheirs. Four more girls came in and made their way to the mirrors,primping and preening. I moved to a stall, acting as if I’d justentered the room before them. The two girls from earlier left outthe door.
I wiped down the toilet and after putting ashield of TP on the toilet, I sat. The four girls’ squeals made ithard to hear. I looked up in the direction of the window. Maybe Ishould climb out for a little bit so that I could hear better.Finally, the girls left, and I had quiet again. I stayed where Iwas, not willing to chance getting caught climbing out thewindow.
“Seriously,” Karina said. “Let’s try theAccord. Maybe we’ll have better luck.” Moments later, there was theclick of a lock giving way and the sound of a car door opening.Whew! They were in. But no sounds of the car starting came throughthe com. Not again. Come on girls.
“We never should’ve said we’d do this,Gina.” Karina started to cry. “S-Dub is going to kill us orsomething.” Sobs filled my earpiece, and my chest suddenlyached.
“No, he won’t,” Gina said. I could imagineher putting her arms around Karina. “We’ll just explain to him thatwe couldn’t do it. He’ll understand. It’s our first time, and we’veonly trained for a few days.”
“Amber?” A female voice called. I furrowedmy brow. “Amber, are you in here?”
I bit the side of my lip. I’d been gone toolong and someone had noticed. That someone had to be Carson. Goodgrief.
I stood up and pretended to fix my skirt.Without meaning to it was easy to catch glimpses of people in thestalls, and me sitting still on the toilet without my skirt hikedwould definitely be suspect. “Yeah?” I called out, before flushingthe toilet, making sure the TP wasn’t stuck to me anywhere. I saw ashadow fall over the gap as I listened to the girls in the garage.I stepped out of the stall.
“It’s been two weeks, but no!”
