Heartbeats

Chapter 6

The next week, I found myself in a weird mood.

      I spent my free time holed out in the hotel, either watching a movie or sleeping. The few jobs we did take were easy and boring – I didn´t even go on a few. That earned me some protests from both Cam and Reach. I’d always gone on the jobs, even if all I did was watch from the van.

      By the second week, I was contemplating renting an apartment. Cam and Reach were incredulous. We were meant to stay here a week, no more. But I found that I wanted some peace and quiet.

      One morning, I was flipping through the newspaper looking for any advertised apartments. Most of them were either too small and dingy or too big and unaffordable, though a few had caught my eye. Reach was sitting on Cam´s bed, typing in his computer.

      The door made a small clicking noise, and Cam threw it open, excitement evident on her face.

      “Guys! You won´t believe what I just saw.” She didn´t wait for us to comment. “I went to the museum, and you know what just arrived? A Dalí. That museum´s security is crap. Taking that painting would be easier than taking candy from a baby.”

      I didn´t even look up from the newspaper. “No. Absolutely no.”

      There was a sudden pause, the tension felt unnatural. It had been a long time since we had a disagreement within our group.

      “Why not?” she asked.

      “Too risky.” I circled one of the apartments with the pen.

      The silence stretched on.

      Reach finally looked up. “I have some jobs we could look over.”

      Cam plopped beside him, taking the laptop and scanning the screen.

      “There´s a diamond in a jewelry shop the next town over.”

      I shook my head, crossing out an apartment. “No.”

      “There´s a small golden basilisk sculpture-“

      “No.”

      Cam thrust the laptop in Reach´s direction and climbed up to her feet. “What the hell, Gin? Do you seriously want to keep taking those idiotic jobs that pay crap? Making sure old men don´t screw up? Carrying stupid letters like stupid messengers? Supervising packages?” She counted the recent jobs with her hands. “Well Gin? Do you really want to keep this up?”

      I circled an apartment that looked promising. Two bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Not that expensive. I could hear the clicking of heels on the floor before a hand took the newspaper from me and threw it on the ground.

      “Are you even listening to me?” Cam snarled.

      I fixed my stare on my best friend. “We´re not taking those jobs.”

      I watched as her hands fisted and her face twisted into anger. “Why not? Because of what happened with James? Is that it?”

      My own hands curled into fists and I stood in one fluid movement, every bone on my body tense. “Shut up Cameron.” She had to stop. James was a taboo topic. She knew that.

      There was a small hesitation as she heard me call her by her full name. I never used her full name. But her small pause was almost unnoticeable, and she barreled on. “No, I won´t shut up. Its about time we talk about it!”