Page 99 of Johnny

“Well, shift change is at midnight—”

“Nah,” he says. “I don’t want to wait until midnight.”

“Why not? It’s dark, at least.” And I don’t know why I’m saying this because I need him to be there

at noon, not midnight. But that was the earlier plan, right? So what’s changed? Why did he so quickly

dismiss it?

“Yeah, dark is overrated as far as secret plans go. Sometimes you need to be seen.”

“Do you want to be seen?”

Again, he stares at me for a little too long. Then he grins unexpectedly and says, “Doesn’t

everyone?” Like he’s flirting. Or in the middle of some kind of fantastic game.

“I’m… just going to take a wild guess here and say… nooo. Most criminal masterminds don’t want

to be seen. That’s why we’ve all been conscripted into this secret organization.”

He chuckles. And he’s damn handsome when he does that.

Focus Megan. You’re in the middle of something here.

“Well, I’m just too anxious to get this show on the road to wait until midnight.”

“There’s another shift change at noon,” I offer. “We could do it then.”

“Why do we need to wait until shift change?”

“I told you earlier. There will be activity and people. We could get there early, round up all the

people coming in, then we’ll have everyone all in one place at the same time. Better to question

everyone than just half of them, right? That’s not a bad idea.”

God. Why does he keep staring at me like that?

He sighs. Eyes still locked on mine. “Yeah. I mean, it’s as good a plan as any. So, sure. We’ll go in

like that.”

I hesitate. Because something about this conversation feels off. Aside from the fact that I’m setting

him up, there’s more to it than that.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing, it’s just… I dunno. Maybe this is all a bad idea?”

“Why? It’s a pretty simple plan. Far less dangerous than storming the place with guns, don’t you

think?”

“Was that your original plan?”

He smiles. And once again, it’s disarming. “That’s why we’re in Freeport, Megan.”