“Efor Elle,” I say. “You know, my dad gave that to me before he died.”
I let my eyes get a little wet. It took me a while to learn to cry on command, but it’s effective enough that it was worth the effort. I know we’ve established that it’s very likely my parents aren’t dead, but the Dead Parent card is the easiest one to play with the fastest results, especially if you’re under the age of majority.
“Shit,” he says, tugging on his earlobe.
That’s his tell. I picked up on it within five minutes of talking to him.
Before he can unclasp the necklace, my seat jerks again.
“Hey,” I whisper to Ezra. “Teach me how to pickpocket this guy behind me.”
His eyes widen. “Absolutely not,” he whispers back.
“Believe me,” I say. “He deserves it. He hit on the flight attendant while his girlfriend was in the bathroom.”
Ezra sinks down in his seat and tilts his head toward me. “I don’t care if he’s having an affair with the pilot. We’re in a confined space. What if he wants to buy a drink? He’ll notice his wallet is missing, and we’ll be found with it on us.”
I shrug. “Drinks cart already came through.”
“Sure, like that’s ever stopped an entitled asshole from demanding an extra vodka Red Bull.”
“You’re no fun.” I cross my arms and pout. “You’re not going to chicken out on this job, are you?”
“Depends. Are you going to be this reckless on a job?”
I shrug. “Every job is a little reckless.”
“Not if you have all your bases covered and exit plans for every contingency.”
“Please,” I scoff. “You’re telling me that your running through Times Square the other day was all planned out?”
He rubs his eyes. “I have multiple exit strategies for multiple scenarios. That was my plan for being watched by four people, at least one of whom I’d seen before, who want to offer me a job. I have several modified versions, based on weather, crowd density, and time of day.”
I snort. “You sound like my brother. Backup plans for backup plans. He had a list of rules he would recite from that we had to follow on every job.”
“Resentful, are we?”
I scowl. “No, I just…” I check my phone. Still hours to go. “It doesn’t make sense to me. You can’t anticipate every contingency. I mean, like, what if an asteroid hits or somebody spontaneously combusts?”
“Fair point,” he says flatly.
“You have to learn to think on your feet. Besides, part ofyourjob, Mr.Second-Story Man, is to get us an exit in case of a contingency we don’t account for.”
He sighs, finally unclasping my necklace. “Well, I can’t do that if I don’t know all the details of the job.”
My only reply is to put my hand out.
He hesitates for a moment, then dangles the necklace on his pointer finger. “How about this? I’ll give it to you if you tell me more about this book.”
I snatch the necklace from him, but I know I’m going to need to give him something to keep him invested. “How about this? I’ll answer your question if you answer one of mine.”
“Alright.” He shrugs, opening a packet of cookies and shoving one in his mouth. While the flight attendant’s back was turned, he’d grabbed three packets of cookies, two cans of Coke, and one of those tiny bottles of Jack Daniel’s, then shoved it all in his backpack.
“What do you do with the money you make pickpocketing?” I ask.
He doesn’t look at me. “What do you mean?”
This guy cannot school his face. He’s almost as bad as Tolliver.
