Young and Scambitious (Scambitious #1)

Jane

"Superhero names? Like in the movies? If we had powers and stuff?"

"Yeah. If we could do anything."

"Fine. What would yours be?"

"Wendy first."

Wendy sighed just a little. "Agent Ginger. No supernatural stuff, just really really good at like a dozen martial arts."

"Fast Finger Man. Really fast—"

"I get it," Jane raised an eyebrow at the two other people sharing the backseat of the car with her. "You've talked about this before."

"Agent Ginger" smirked, and gave the guy between them a friendly swat on the arm. "Alexander likes to recycle this conversation topic, yes."

"It's always fun," Fast Finger Man himself said.

"Give me a sec then."

A large part of what Wendy, Alexander, and Jane did was this—give themselves names. Jane took it seriously. Also, giving yourself a superhero name meant admitting to a power, or at least an awareness of what made you special, what you lorded over the common man. This was a revelation not to be made lightly.

"Princess Midas," Jane said, coughing lightly into her hand. She suddenly hoped that she wasn't getting the flu or something.

Alexander whistled. "Fancy."

"Classic reference," Wendy added.

"Thanks."

A silence fell over the car, parked discreetly behind an SUV at the far end of the makeshift lot behind the Asylum Rose, what used to be the trendiest club in the city. They had been there, in the car, in the backseat specifically, for an hour. They needed to do this sometimes, just sit and wait.

It didn't need to be this cramped. Alexander had driven them over, and Wendy rode shotgun, but they eventually moved to the back. Less conspicuous that way, they said. Alexander apologized for the smell of the vehicle, just a little too lemony, but didn't apologize for the claustrophobia.

"So, we're clear, yes?" asked Wendy. "You have the rings?"

Jane nodded.

"You know what to say?"

Sure she did.

"You know how much the copy should be?"

"Yes, I do," said Jane.

"Margaux says the buyer could be ready tomorrow, if we close this tonight. Are we closing this tonight, Jane?"

"I sure hope so."

"Go, team," Alexander piped in. "Home stretch, people. Let's sell this bling so I can take my ten percent and go home."

She almost smiled at this. "Next topic," Jane said instead. "Worst meal you've ever had?"