No Way Out

A Dinner, A Businessman, and A Sixth Sense

As much as Simone wanted to let Lila squirm for a while, she needed to get rid of the earrings. So she returned to the prison that morning.

It seemed much longer to Lila Rossi, who sat down on her seat with a scowl on her face. Then she picked up her phone.

"How was dinner?" Simone asked.

"Just as delicious as always," she replied with thinly veiled sarcasm.

"I bet. Chicken with a side of green beans?"

"Of course. It was Monday, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was." Simone leaned forward a little and lowered her voice. "Did you have enough time to think it over?"

"Yes."

"And?"

Lila leaned forward too. "Use your imagination, Simone."

She didn't know if she should feel relieved or not, but either way, it was over. "Okay."

"So, what now?"

"I brought you something. It's to thank you for helping me when I was on the inside. I stopped at a store downtown and brought you some muffins. You like pistachio, right?"

"I hate pistachio."

Simone shrugged. "I think you'll still enjoy them. Especially the filling."

Rolling her eyes, Lila scoffed. "I might not even get the chance to try them. You know that any food brought in gets x-rayed."

"Yes, but the x-ray is just looking for any hidden metal objects. That's not what we're dealing with here, so you don't have to worry."

Finally, a smile appeared on her face. "I'm really glad we ended up being neighbors, Simone."

"I wish I could say the same," Simone deadpanned in reply. Then she took in a deep breath and exhaled. "I'll send the muffins in as soon as we're done here, but I need you to wait a few hours until you try them. They're refrigerated, and they taste better when you let them warm up to room temperature. By the time they're ready to be eaten, I'll be far away from here at work, surrounded by my coworkers."

"Fair enough."

"And then after that," Simone continued, "we'll never see each other again. Understood?"

"Completely."

There was silence. Then Simone gave a nod as her goodbye, and Lila did the same. Then Simone hung up the phone, stood up, and left.

************************************

After receiving the text, Adrien and Marinette left the house and went to a phone store. The place that Gabriel mentioned wasn't open yet, so they had time to stop and get Marinette a new phone. Then they met up with Gabriel at the address he gave them; a building in a sketchy part of the city.

"So, this is it?" Adrien asked, eyeing the storefront from the sidewalk.

Gabriel nodded. "The person who owns this place was trying to get in touch with me last night. I finally got the message this morning."

"Definitely could be promising," Marinette murmured, looking through the windows.

"All right, let's go find out," Adrien said, moving toward the entrance. He pulled open the door to let the others walk in first.

The man behind the counter erupted into a smile when he saw them. "You must be Gabriel Agreste."

"Yes, I am."

"A pleasure to meet you," the man said, clasping his outstretched hand in a handshake. "My name is François Gagneux, but everyone calls me Franco. I own this pawn shop."