AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ll be back,” the guy growls, then slams the door.
I don’t even bother checking to see if it’s locked.
“This is so friggin’ cool! I’ve always wanted to get arrested!” Chad cries.
I clench my fist and glare at him. “We’re not arrested, and this is not cool.”
“I can be in a documentary now!”
“That’s not how that works. Dammit! This wouldn’t even have happened if you hadn’t made me take off my security badge. Wait, why aren’t you wearing yours?”
He shrugs. “Same reason. It was getting in the way of the camera. All tangled up, you know?”
He fishes through his pocket.
And pulls out his badge.
“You had your pass this whole time?! Why didn’t you show it to them?!”
He gives me a patient look as he loops the lanyard around his neck. “Because you didn’t have yours. If you were going to prison, so was I. Leave no man behind.”
That’s… kind of sweet, actually. Also ludicrous.
Ah!
I lock my hands on my head as I start pacing. We have to figure this out before the real cops come. I pissed off security just enough to give them incentive to make my life difficult. The Mer-Nut king over there will be fine with his “cooperation” label (and badge he magically found), but I’m still screwed unless we come up with a solution.
I pull out my phone to call Larinda but there’s no service in this arena dungeon. Of course not. Why would something swing my way?
“Fuck,” I mumble, lowering to a squat while I think. Within seconds, I’m fully seated on the cold, concrete floor, leaning against the wall of our “cell.”
Chad looks like he’s rehearsing for his documentary interview.
“Do you think I should have an accent?” he asks. “I should, right? Possibly from Oregon? They have the best trees if you’re into that sorta thing.”
I don’t even understand the question enough to respond.
“What exactly is it you do for Jarvis?” I ask instead. “Why are you here?”
Maybe it’s all an act with this guy. Maybe he’s really some genius covert operative who does this crap to trick people into letting down their guard. Then when you least expect it?—
“Oh man! I think this ginormous pile of boxes is all paper towels. It can’t be, right? What would you even do with that many paper towels?!”
Or not.
When he approaches the mountain of janitorial supplies, I prepare to stop him from whatever bad idea is forming in his head. There’s no way I’m restacking those before going to prison for not having the proper badge.
“You said you’re a spy,” I continue, trying to distract him from getting us in more trouble. “What exactly is your… mission?”
Yep. I just said that, but it’s totally worth it when he forgets all about the towel windfall and drops to the floor in front of me.
He leans forward and scans the empty room as if there might be surveillance. If there is, I’m positive they’re way more concerned about Chad messing up their piles than whatever he’s about to say.
“I could get in a lot of trouble for telling you that. There’s a code, you know.”
“Yeah… I got that. But if I’m going to be your… asset, you’ll have to tell me what I’m supposed to do, right?”
“Hmm. Good point.” He wraps his arms around his legs and rests his chin on his knees. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you can’t freak out and blow our cover.”
