Round Robin by Joseph Flynn Page B

really the only way to go when diagnosing a soft-tissue injury.” He slapped his forehead. “What am I thinking? Do you even have health insurance? Most foodservice places don’t provide it for their workers.”
    For the very first time, Mimi gave David a dirty look.
    Robin noticed. David didn’t.
    He plowed right on. “Look, my family has connections with the U of C hospitals. Let me call a cab and we’ll get right over...”
    Robin shushed him before Mimi decided to ban the kid.
    “David, it’s just a sprain. But if it makes you happy, I’ll go see my family doctor.”
    He started to insist that what she needed was an orthopedic specialist. Which was when Robin finally stopped him cold. “I’d like to ask you a favor,” she said.
    The implied intimacy of her words made David grin like an idiot not a genius.
    “Sure. What? Anything.”
    Robin made sure that no one was about to approach the register and then motioned David forward. The moment was so delicious for the boy that he shivered. What a femme fatale she was, Robin thought sarcastically.
    “David,” Robin said softly, “forgive me if I’m indulging in an unpardonable stereotype, but is it true most of you smart young guys are computer whizzes?”
    “Us nerds, you mean?” He said it with a grin, not offended, just getting in his shot.
    “Yeah, you nerds,” Robin said, playing along.
    David nodded. “It’s true. We like to go around bragging, ‘My hard disk’s bigger than yours.’ ”
    Robin laughed, which made David glow.
    “So,” Robin asked, dropping her voice even lower, “do you ever do any of that illegal hacking stuff?”
    David almost took a step backward, until Robin put a hand on his arm.
    “That’s the favor,” David whispered, incredulous, “you want me to commit a crime?”
    “Just listen to what I have to tell you, then decide if you can help me.”
    Robin took her hand off his arm. David put it back on.
    “I’m listening,” he said.
    “A man is moving into my building. His name is Manfred Welk. He told me he was a political prisoner until last year in East Germany. He said he was a spy. He said he worked for the CIA.”
    David took Robin’s hand off his arm, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. But he kept his voice low. “This is a trick, right? You’re setting me up for something.”
    Robin just shook her head.
    “It’s true. At least, that’s what the man told me. And he is moving into my basement apartment today. He might be there already. I’d like you to verify what he told me.”
    David goggled.
    “You want me to break into the CIA’s computer system?”
    Robin said, “If you and your hard disk are up to it.”
    Shameless, Robin thought, just shameless. Using a precocious child this way. Not that she was about to stop. But it made her admit, to herself anyway, that women could be just as rotten as men.
    David, of course, rose to the bait.
    “Sure, I could do it.”
    “Will you?”
    “Yes ... if you’ll give me something.”
    Robin felt her stomach turn over. She knew David wasn’t going to ask for a free cookie, and as much as she wanted to find out if Manfred’s story was legit, she wasn’t about to commit statutory rape to do it.
    “What?” she asked, trying not to wince.
    David leaned in close. “A kiss, a real kiss.”
    Bad enough, but at least it wasn’t criminal. What continued to boggle Robin’s mind — and frighten her — was that she couldn’t understand why David would want to kiss her. She looked at him, trying to fathom the incredible mind behind those wire-rim glasses. Was he a twisted genius, or what?
    “Okay,” she said, finally, “but no tongue.”
    A bit of disappointment registered in his eyes, but the boy still nodded.
    “Deal,” he said, and shook Robin’s hand.
    She paid for David’s sandwich out of her own pocket, but that didn’t make Robin feel much better. She’d sent a boy out to commit a crime that would land him in some sort of serious trouble if he got