“All of them?” he asked. “For real?”
“For real,” I said
“Whoa,” he said, scratching his head. “Wasn't expecting that. But that's cool. We can do that, for sure.”
“But here's the deal,” I said
“Tonight? Serious?”
“Serious,” I said. “I want to see the merchandise before I purchase.”
Nate pursed his lips for a moment again, then said , “Yo, give me a minute.” He walked away from the car, pulled a phone from his pocket and made a call.
“You think I was too aggressive?” I whispered to Johnny.
“No, no,” he answered. “That was smooth. Those are definitely the computers you're looking for.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded quickly. “Yeah, the specs he gave are exactly what you'd find in bulk-bought systems for a school. I guess there's a chance it might not be from the school, but I'd be pretty surprised because I didn't hear about any other heists.”
“Heists?”
“I like that word,” he said, watching Nate through the windshield. “It's a good spy word.”
I wasn't sure what a good spy word was. I was too preoccupied with watching Nate on the phone. And with figuring out how I was going to tell Jake that our night might be a little busier than we'd originally planned.
“I wonder if I should grow a beard,” Johnny said, looking in the rearview mirror.
“Why?”
“To disguise my appearance,” he said, running a hand over his bare chin. “For when I have to go incognito.”
“Uhh...”
“Brenda hates beards, though,” he said. “She probably won't let me. I'll need to think of something else.”
“
“Here he comes,” Johnny whispered.
Nate tucked the phone back into his pocket and walked back to Johnny's open window. He peered inside
“Come on, bro,” Johnny said. “Do we look like cops?”
Nate shrugged.
“We aren't the police,” I said, worried that we weren't fooling him. “I promise.”
“Yeah,” Johnny said, nodding. “We aren't. I'm just an I.T. guy trying to help out my friend here.”
“Cool, cool,” Nate said. “My brother, though. He said I had to ask.”
“Your brother?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” he answered. “He's the one that's got the stuff you need.”
“Oh. Alright. So can we see it tonight?”
“Yeah,” Nate said. “Long as you don't mind driving.”
“Driving?”
“It's kind of a ways out,” he said. “But that's the best I can do.”
Johnny looked at me. “It's no problem.”
I could think of about thirty problems, but we'd come this far. I didn't want to lose out now.
“Okay,” I said. “Where do we need to go?”
Nate smiled. “You like gambling?”
THIRTY SIX
“We're going where?” Jake asked, looking at me like I'd finally lost my mind once and for all.
“River Star,” Johnny Witt said from behind the wheel of the Witt family minivan. “The casino.”
“I think it was rhetorical, honey,” Brenda said from the passenger seat, patting him on the arm.
Johnny shrugged and focused on the road.
When Nate told us that the computers were at River Star, I immediately thought we were in trouble because I didn't see any way we could get up there that night. But Johnny quickly talked me down from the ledge, telling me it was no problem. If Emily could babysit all the kids, we could make a double date out of it. And check out the computer situation at the same time.
“I know Brenda will be in,” he said. “She loves the casino.”
“She does? I didn't know that.”
“She never tells anyone. But put her around slot machines and I have to take away her ATM card.”
“That doesn't sound like Brenda at all .”
“Trust me,” he said. “She's a gambler.”
So then I just had to figure out how to enlist Jake. I called him and told him that the Witts needed a night out and they wanted us to come along. He was surprisingly enthusiastic, probably ready to blow off a little steam after a week of not having me at home
And we were just getting around to our destination.
“River Star,” I told him. “Like Johnny said.”
“You hate gambling,” Jake said, eyeing me. “Why are we going to a casino?”
“Well, Brenda likes to gamble.”
Brenda twisted in her seat. “What? Who told you that?”
“You're like one step away from Gamblers Anonymous,” Johnny said.
“That is an exaggeration,” she said, frowning at him. “I just like to play the slots once in awhile.”
“Remember that time in Vegas when you learned there was a slots tournament and you had to play and you ended up screaming at that old woman for taking your lucky machine?” Johnny asked.
Brenda's mouth twitched and she turned back around in her seat. “I'd staked it out. She knew it was a lucky machine. There's etiquette, alright? People without etiquette are terrible.”
Jake ignored them. “Daisy. You don't like casinos. Why are we going?”
“Because they needed a night out,” I said, smiling at him. “Like I told you.”
“And the computers,” Brenda said over her shoulder. “We're going because of the computers.”
“The computers?” Jake asked. “What computers?”
“The ones from Emily's high school,” Brenda said. “She and Johnny think she found them.”
“You would be a terrible spy,” Johnny muttered, shaking his head.
Jake stared at me. “Spill it. Now.”
I sighed and told him what Johnny and I had learned.
When I was done, Jake rubbed at his temples like his head hurt. “So we're going to buy stolen computers?”
“Well, no. Duh. Of course not. We aren't going to buy them.”
“So
“I have no idea,” I said. “But we'll figure something out.”
“We'll figure something out,” Jake repeated. “That will look great on your tombstone.”
“So dramatic,” I said. “Come on. This will be fun. Maybe. ”
“And exciting,” Johnny
Jake shook his head and turned to look out his window.
I
We rode in an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way until the giant neon lights of the casino lit up the darkened sky.
The River Star hotel and casino was built to Las Vegas specifications. Big bright lights, tall sprawling buildings and a massive billboard that you could see for a mile in either direction so you'd know where to pull off the highway and lose your money. The