THE TIME was 9:45pm— when blue met yellow in the West. Bailey and Robin had taken the two boys on the roof of the building that overlooked the back entrance to the Mall, where all the supplies and deliveries were imported.
They all sat on the roof, in the pouring rain, Bailey having no coat other than her denim jacket, which was becoming very heavy on her skin as it soaked with rain.
Robin said, "Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes."
"They're with that whistling guy." Dustin exclaimed as he looked through the binoculars, "Ten o'clock."
"What do you thinks in there?" Steve asked curiously, as he squinted through the rain at the boxes being imported inside.
Robin replied, "Guns, bombs, chemical weapons."
"Whatever it is, they're all armed." Bailey added, as she pointed to a muscular man holding a large gun as he blocked the entrance, "Look."
"What's in there?" Robin questioned, as a man importing the boxes opened an elevator.
"Just more boxes—" Dustin was interrupted when Steve attempted to take his binoculars. He argued, "Hey. I'm still looking—"
"Just let me look." Steve argued, as he pulled them away from the boy, "Stop being—"
Suddenly, the binoculars whacked the metal railing on the roof, causing an clang to echo around the area. The multiple men guarding the doors pointed their guns at their surroundings, as the group on the roof ducked down so they couldn't be seen.
Bailey panted, "I think we found the Russians."
She looked down, her hand interlocked with Robin's once again. They locked eyes, pulling away quickly to dodge the awkwardness that had been created.
✩
The group had figured that, if they wanted to break into the elevator, they would have to break in through the vent system. They had tried to fit Dustin through, but he didn't quite fit, so the only other option was...
"Erica." Steve sighed, "What's the problem? Can you not fit?"
Erica Sinclair shrugged, "Oh, I can fit in that vent. I just don't know if I want to."
"Are you claustrophobic?" Robin asked curiously.
"I don't have phobias." Erica retorted, "The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica."
"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" Bailey frowned, "Aren't you, like, eight?"
"I'm ten." Erica corrected sassily, "So..."
Steve slid a bowl of ice cream, to join the many other deserts offered, across the table to the young girl. Robin explained, "Alright, you see this?" She held up a blueprint of the vent pathways, "This is the route you're gonna take. Then we just wait until the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down, open the door."
Erica finished, "Then you find out what's in those boxes?"
"Exactly." Robin nodded.
"And you say this guard is armed?" Erica queried, "And booby traps? Lasers, spikes in the wall?"
"This is a Mall, not a movie." Bailey corrected, trying to not lose her patience. She added, "Plus, the guard won't be there, so you have nothing to worry about."
"I'm not worried." Erica retorted, "You know what this half-baked plan of yours sound like to me? Child endangerment."
Dustin replied, "We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Don't you love your country?"
