interest in helping.
âSo you know the neighborhood?â She waved a guidebook under his nose, which he ignored.
âA little, yeah.â
âWell, how long is the wait here usually? The book says it can be up to an hour, but that doesnât seem right.â She laughed nervously, willing him to agree with her about the impossibility of it all. Her husbandâor a guy Jake assumed to be her husband, judging by the matching his-and-hers Rob Me, Iâm a Tourist visors perched on their headsâclapped a beefy arm across her substantial upper torso.
âYeah, well, itâs probably not right,â Jake agreed, squinting over her shoulder. He thought he could make out familiar Village School figures in the distanceâthis was prime shopping territory, and the chicks from the Village School were champion shoppersâand he was utterly disinterested in running into anyone from school right now. He had more important things to think about.
âRight, thatâs what we thought,â breathed the husband with a sigh of relief. âAn hour. Thatâs crazy.â
Jake was already striding south and east, done with the couple. They had their guidebook, after all. âYeah, itâll definitely be longer than an hour,â he called as the light at the crosswalk changed abruptly. âMore like an hour and a half.â
He decided to chance it and darted across the street. Cars tended to travel down these side roads more slowly, anyway. If he hadnât been so single-mindedlyfocused on his mission, Jake would have seen the touristsâ jaws drop in dismay. As it was, he pushed down the street briskly, completely unaware.
Spy Game Interludes
JAKE CUPPED HIS RIGHT HAND OVER his eyes to deflect the sunlight and glanced again at the female figure across the street. In her hands she clutched a large, glossy shopping bag embossed with the BCBG label in addition to a few smaller bags from Fresh, Mavi, and a couple of other downtown boutiques. âGuys,â she called, waving her bounty in Jakeâs direction. âGuys, is that Jake?â It was Megan, and right behind her was Laura, sucking down the final dregs of her overpriced frozen gourmet premium blend greedily and absentmindedly tossing the plastic cup into the closest garbage can with aplomb. âUh-huh, I think so.â Even over the New York traffic, he could hear their screeches loud and clear.
Normally Jake would have tried to elude them, possibly pretend he didnât see them, but it was way too late for those kinds of shenanigans. So instead heturned to face them. He knew whatever expression he was making must have betrayed the fact that he was less than thrilled to be running into them, but they didnât seem at all deterred. In fact, it was with great determination that Megan led the pack across the street to where he stood. And he waited, as if without choice, tapping his foot impatiently and peering intermittently at his watch.
âI
thought
that was you!â Megan exclaimed triumphantly once they were all gathered on the same corner. âHow random to run into you!â
Jake had been thinking the same thing but was much less pleased about it than Megan seemed to be. âDoing some shopping?â he asked, simply because he couldnât think of anything more interesting to say.
âTotally. I saw this really cool dress the other day and knew I had to have it for prom.â
âActuallyâ Melanie cut in, âthey had a ton of cool stuff there. At the store. Some dresses that would look amazing on Gaia. Do you know if sheâs picked out anything yet?â She gazed at him pointedly.
Jake blinked. Melanie obviously thought she was being discreet, but he couldnât be bothered either way. He had no idea whether or not Gaia had started looking for a dress yet. If he had to guess, heâd say no, given that she practically had to ransack her closet anytime he took her
âSo you know the neighborhood?â She waved a guidebook under his nose, which he ignored.
âA little, yeah.â
âWell, how long is the wait here usually? The book says it can be up to an hour, but that doesnât seem right.â She laughed nervously, willing him to agree with her about the impossibility of it all. Her husbandâor a guy Jake assumed to be her husband, judging by the matching his-and-hers Rob Me, Iâm a Tourist visors perched on their headsâclapped a beefy arm across her substantial upper torso.
âYeah, well, itâs probably not right,â Jake agreed, squinting over her shoulder. He thought he could make out familiar Village School figures in the distanceâthis was prime shopping territory, and the chicks from the Village School were champion shoppersâand he was utterly disinterested in running into anyone from school right now. He had more important things to think about.
âRight, thatâs what we thought,â breathed the husband with a sigh of relief. âAn hour. Thatâs crazy.â
Jake was already striding south and east, done with the couple. They had their guidebook, after all. âYeah, itâll definitely be longer than an hour,â he called as the light at the crosswalk changed abruptly. âMore like an hour and a half.â
He decided to chance it and darted across the street. Cars tended to travel down these side roads more slowly, anyway. If he hadnât been so single-mindedlyfocused on his mission, Jake would have seen the touristsâ jaws drop in dismay. As it was, he pushed down the street briskly, completely unaware.
Spy Game Interludes
JAKE CUPPED HIS RIGHT HAND OVER his eyes to deflect the sunlight and glanced again at the female figure across the street. In her hands she clutched a large, glossy shopping bag embossed with the BCBG label in addition to a few smaller bags from Fresh, Mavi, and a couple of other downtown boutiques. âGuys,â she called, waving her bounty in Jakeâs direction. âGuys, is that Jake?â It was Megan, and right behind her was Laura, sucking down the final dregs of her overpriced frozen gourmet premium blend greedily and absentmindedly tossing the plastic cup into the closest garbage can with aplomb. âUh-huh, I think so.â Even over the New York traffic, he could hear their screeches loud and clear.
Normally Jake would have tried to elude them, possibly pretend he didnât see them, but it was way too late for those kinds of shenanigans. So instead heturned to face them. He knew whatever expression he was making must have betrayed the fact that he was less than thrilled to be running into them, but they didnât seem at all deterred. In fact, it was with great determination that Megan led the pack across the street to where he stood. And he waited, as if without choice, tapping his foot impatiently and peering intermittently at his watch.
âI
thought
that was you!â Megan exclaimed triumphantly once they were all gathered on the same corner. âHow random to run into you!â
Jake had been thinking the same thing but was much less pleased about it than Megan seemed to be. âDoing some shopping?â he asked, simply because he couldnât think of anything more interesting to say.
âTotally. I saw this really cool dress the other day and knew I had to have it for prom.â
âActuallyâ Melanie cut in, âthey had a ton of cool stuff there. At the store. Some dresses that would look amazing on Gaia. Do you know if sheâs picked out anything yet?â She gazed at him pointedly.
Jake blinked. Melanie obviously thought she was being discreet, but he couldnât be bothered either way. He had no idea whether or not Gaia had started looking for a dress yet. If he had to guess, heâd say no, given that she practically had to ransack her closet anytime he took her