The Runner ➳ Narry (Book One)

Chapter Twenty-Six

(Niall's POV)

"How about a Camaro?"

Harry and I both stared at Louis in shock. The smirk he had on his face worried me. "Where the hell are we going to get a Camaro?" Harry asked.

Louis' eyes drew past Harry's confused glare to somewhere beyond, causing both him and I to turn around. Sitting there unattended, was a shiny red Camaro that must have costed thousands of dollars. I shook my head furiously, spinning back around to face Louis, who was staring at me suggestively. "Nuh uh," I said. "No way."

I turned my head to look at Harry, expecting him to be staring in utter shock. Instead, he held the same smirk on his face, moving to stand beside Louis. Both of them stared at me as I backed away, shaking my head. "You guys are crazy," I said.

"You're the master car stealer," Louis said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let's see what you got."

"No way!" I said, holding my hands up. "I'm not stealing a Camaro."

"Come on, Ni. You've done it before," Harry said.

"Yeah, taxi's! This is so different," I said. "That car is expensive!"

Louis tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully, scanning me up and down like he was about to pounce on me. "You cause a distraction and get the keys," he said to me.

"What?" I questioned. Had he not just heard me? There's no way I was stealing a Camaro!

"Go inside the store, distract the driver and get the keys. He has them on the chain, so just replace them with these," he handed me the taxi's keys. "All you have to do after that is get in the car," Louis said. "But hurry up before he comes back out."

"He's going to see us and call the cops," I protested. "I don't know about you but I'd rather not get a criminal record."

"We already have one," Louis said quietly. Harry nudged him hard with his elbow, his eyes wide in shock. "I mean.." Louis started, but quickly stepped forward and turned me around, shoving me towards the door. "Just go get the keys."

I opened my mouth to protest but Louis shoved me once more, causing me to stumble but not fall as I slowly made my way back into the convenience store. Pushing open the heavy glass door, my eyes scanned the shelves, looking for the owner, but then I realized.. I have no idea what he looks like.

I mentally slapped Louis for not telling me what the guy looks like. How the hell am I supposed to steal keys from someone? I decided to just go with my gut. There were a few people in the store, a couple teenagers in one corner and adults by the coffee machine. Typical.

I spotted one man that had on really nice shoes and a thick chain around his neck, and that was my give-away signal. The other men standing near all wore casual clothes, one with a really fancy business suit and slicked back hair. There's no way someone that professional would drive a red Camaro.

I quickly looked behind me at Louis and Harry standing in the parking lot, straying towards the Camaro but not looking obvious. Louis caught my eye and gave me an encouraging nod. Well, here goes nothing.

I walked over to the coffee machine, keeping the man in the corner of my eye, who was looking at the magazines. I grabbed a cup and starting filling it, trying to be quick. Once it was half full, I turned and saw the man a few meters behind me.

I took a deep breath and walked towards him, standing near so my plan would work. I watched as his arm raised to grab a magazine from the top shelf. "Excuse me sir," I said. And it worked.

The man spun around, startled. I was close enough to him for his arm to accidentally come crashing down, knocking my coffee all over the front his shirt and the side of his jeans, right where his keys were dangling out by a lanyard keychain. "Fuck, I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed with a fake surprised look on my face.