thinking heâs grasping, if he believes some fanaticâs blog.
But that look.
Is that the same expression Roger Dodger saw just before Ericâs dad and his buddies kicked the shit out of him?
Fuck it.
Maybe not , Eric tells Jordan. Whenâs your next Fix?
KIK -- CAPILANO HIGH PRIVATE MESSAGE GROUP â 07/10/16 â 02:56 PM
USERNAME: SuIcIdEpAcK
MESSAGE: Spikes are for Louboutins, not homeless people.
89.
âItâs a competition,â Paige tells them. âWe all go in at the same time. Whoever comes out with the most stuffâwithout getting arrestedâis the winner.â
âWhat do we win?â Jordan asks.
Paige shrugs. âPride, I guess.â Then she grins. âAnd a lot of free stuff.â
Theyâre sitting in the food court at Pacific Center, the high-end mall downtown, listening as Paige lays out her Fix.
Haley raises her hand. âIâm confused. When you say âthe most stuff,â do you mean by volume or value?â
âValue,â Paige says. âSticker price. So save your tags.â
She looks around.
âAny other questions?â
Eric kind of coughs. The others look at him. âI mean, it sounds fun and all. But whatâs the, you know, point ?â
âOh god.â Haley rolls her eyes. âIs he going to wuss out again?â
Jordan holds up his hand. âNo, itâs a good question. Paige, what exactly are we fixing by being here?â
âIâm glad you asked, E.â Paige finishes her soda. âMaybe you guys heard, but last week the store owners decided they were sick of seeing homeless people camped outside their doors. But instead of doing something about the problem, they had little spikes put down on every flat surface near the doors, so nobody could lie there.â
She shakes her head. âItâs total bullshit. They sell three-thousand-dollar coats and thatâs how they treat people.â
âSounds like a good enough reason for a Fix,â Jordan says. He claps his hands and stands. âYup. Letâs teach these dickheads a lesson.â
90.
The Fix:
Swarm The Roomâ
(the luxury department store at the north end of the mall)
                              â en masse . Steal as much as possible without getting caught.
                              (No points for dye packs or damaged merchandise.)
                              In and out. Lightning fast. Blitzkrieg. Rendezvous at the cruise ship pier, three blocks away. Lose security in the crowds.
Donât. Get. Caught.
91.
The Room is three floors of fun.
Womenâs wear on the top floor. Sunglasses, jewelry, and cosmetics in the middle. Menswear on the bottom. An open atrium in the center, two spindly escalators. Itâs a Sunday, so the store is jam-packed, mostly with rich kids spending their parentsâ money. The Suicide Pack will fit right in.
(Except theyâre not spending shit.)
Eric and Haley and Jordan and Paige stand at the third-floor entrance from the mall. Theyâre all wearing baseball hats to hide their faces from the security cameras. Paigeâs long blond hair is tied up, out of sight. Theyâre wearing shoes for a track meet. Theyâre ready to run.
(Theyâre wearing GoPros, too, to record the insanity.)
(Hey, gotta satisfy the fans.)
Eric can hear his heart beating, feel it pounding in his chest, like heâs standing at the top of a high cliff, and heâs about
to jump         Â
o           Â
f       Â
f    Â
(Splat.)
92.
Thereâs a security guard by The Roomâs entrance.