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“I helped design every single item in that carton. Even sat on the test panel.”
Interesting. Isn’t the point of a test panel to prevent things like this from making it to market?
“Wow,” I say, holding up another… thing. This one has a crown. A scepter is glued to its hip-fin, presumably because it has no arms to hold a scepter.
“Can I tell you another secret?”
Can I say no?
“Sure.”
He leans close. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not actually a music tour person.”
No shit.
“Right. You’re the Talent Liaison for Sandeke Telecom.”
He snorts a laugh and shakes his head at my ignorance. “No, no, my friend. I’m not that either. Well, I am but in the same way Antarctica is a country. That’s just my cover.”
“Your cover?”
I’ll leave the Antarctica thing alone for now.
“I’m here undercover,” he whispers.
Oh right. The spy thing.
“Wow. So you’re spying for Team Jarvis?” I joke.
When his expression grows suspicious, so does mine.
“How did you know?” he hisses.
“Know what?”
“That I’m undercover for Jarvis.”
“You just told me.”
“No, I said… Wait! Who do you work for?!”
Pretty sure the entire planet knows the answer to that.
“Larinda,” I say.
He huffs as he straightens and returns to his pointless anti-sorting.
“Obviously, which is why I can’t tell you more.”
“You just told me, though.”
“No, I said… never mind. Put the merkins behind the collectible figurines.”
I choke a little. Did he just say merkins? He knows the primary audience for these concerts are preteen kids and their parents, right?
I scoop a pile of fabric squares from the box and stare at… yeah, still don’t know what I’m looking at. Whatever it is would make a terrible merkin, but I don’t really have a theory for anything else. Apparently, they think they can get ten bucks for it, though.
“These are… merkins?” I ask, glancing back at Chad who is now scowling while placing things in random piles. My own sleuthing abilities must have upset him. Not sure why since all I did was repeat back exactly what he told me but, admittedly, I don’t have a ton of tactical spy knowledge. Maybe the latest spy trend is to tell everyone you’re a spy and confuse the hell out of them.
