The Cell Phone Swap

Chapter 30 iHave a True Best Friend

"Where are we going exactly?" Keeley asked as she took an exit off the freeway. Her fingers thumped against the steering wheel in beat to the James Bond theme music playing in the background. Nicky insisted the music would help them get into character. Personally, she thought they'd already done that.

When Nicky had initially shown up at her house with a black suitcase she'd been worried—especially because it had yellow tape with the word "explosives" printed on it—but after seeing the contents, her concern eased. There was nothing dangerous in the kit; only walkie-talkies, night vision goggles, laser pens, rear view glasses, audio enhancing gear and a whole slew of other things.

However, her anxiety quickly returned but for an entirely different reason. After arming themselves with the gear, Nicky filled a martini glass with water and the pair toasted to a successful mission in a horrible British accent. All that was good and well, but it was when her best friend pulled out a huge wad of cash to use as bail money that Keeley started to question the validity of the operation.

"We're meeting my contact. He should know where Tal—I mean the Black Peanut lives." They planned to stake out Talon's house and follow him when he went to meet with the mysterious texter.

After overhearing the boys' conversation at The Shack, Keeley subtly interrogated Talon. She slipped in questions throughout their visit, asking Finn and Mitch alike so as not to seem too suspicious. They happily answered, never growing wary or questioning her motivation. All in all, her hard work paid off. She found out he was having dinner at his house that night and then hanging out with his "family." Unfortunately, his address was unlisted online so they had to use other unsavory means to find the answer.

"Turn in there," Nicky said, pointing to a parking lot in front of a popular toy store.

As Keeley parked the car she kept her eyes peeled for any shady looking characters lurking in the darkness. She kept expecting someone with a black trench coat and an oversized hat to pop out and knock on the window, but so far all she saw were parked cars.

"What are you doing?" she asked as Nicky pulled out a bag with five batteries, an aspirin bottle and twenty dollars. Unceremoniously, she dumped out the pills and stuffed the money inside the empty bottle.

"Paying our contact." She tore off a piece of paper and wrote:

What is James Talon Harrington the Fourth's address? 

After grumbling about him having such a long name, Nicky rolled the paper and pushed it into the bottle with the money.

"Now what?" Keeley asked. The parking lot was empty except for a few shoppers getting into their cars.

Nicky stepped out with the bag hidden in her purse. "We go inside."

"Your contact is in the toy store? Please don't tell me we have to follow a yellow brick road to a windup doll named Oz."

"Don't be ridiculous." Nicky shut the door and started walking. "He's not a fictitious character. He's an employee."

Because that's so much better? Keeley thought to herself as she grabbed one of the aspirin pills. She hesitated then grabbed another one. "Just in case," she muttered as she trailed after her best friend.

"Our cover story is that we're looking for birthday present for my five year old cousin," Nicky said in a hush tone as they walked through the double doors. "Remember to act normal and when you meet him, no talk of money or contacts or anything personal. He's just an employee and we are just a couple of customers."

"An employee who works at a toy store. Can we really trust this guy?"

"He's the best in the business." When Keeley rolled her eyes, Nicky added, "Maybe it would be better if you let me do all the talking. Your charm is a little....lacking today."