Free In a Flash by Eric Walters

chapter one
    â€œWhat do you think?” I asked Oswald.
    â€œShe’s wearing a baseball cap. She could be part of it.”
    â€œLots of people wear baseball caps,” Julia said. “That doesn’t mean she’s part of anything—she might just have
terrible
fashion sense.”
    â€œWhich reminds me,” I said, “where is
your
cap?”
    She smirked. “I forgot it...I guess that means that I won’t be able to partici—”
    I whipped out a cap I had tucked away inside my jacket. The smirk on
her
face was replaced by the smirk on
my
face as I handed it to her.
    â€œI don’t know why I have to do this, Ian. How about if I just do the taping instead?”
    â€œNope. You’ve been making fun of us for doing this, so you need to take part instead of just watching. Put on the cap.”
    She took it from me and settled it on her head, trying not to disturb her hair. When had she become so concerned about her hair...and her clothes...and her makeup?
    â€œWrong way,” I said.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œYour birthday is in September,” I said.
    â€œWhich is an odd month, not an even,” Oswald said. “You have to put your cap on backward like mine.”
    Before she could think or react or speak, I reached over and spun her cap around, deliberately smushing her hair in the process.
    â€œLook, there’s three people over there with baseball caps,” Oswald said.
    â€œThree is good. Thirty would be better.”
    The last thing I wanted was to fail. I wanted a crowd, not just to show Julia what it was like when it worked really well, but because I was more than just a participant this time—I was the organizer.
    â€œWhat time is it?” Julia asked.
    I looked at my watch. “It’s ten forty-one.”
    â€œSo it’s supposed to start in ten minutes.”
    â€œTwelve minutes,” I said.
    â€œ
Exactly
twelve minutes,” Oswald said. “It all starts at the stroke of ten fifty-three.”
    â€œYeah right. You two make it sound like you’re planning an armed robbery.”
    I looked at Oswald. “An armed robbery might take less coordination than this,” I said. “We better get into position. Are you going to tape from up here?”
    â€œPerfect spot. Great view of the whole area and far enough away that nobody will even notice me.” He looked around. “And some nice escape routes.”
    Julia suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Escape routes? Why would he need an escape route?”
    â€œWe
all
need an escape route,” Oswald said.
    â€œYou just stay close to me,” I said. “Wherever I go, you go. Understand?”
    â€œI understand that I’m not letting you out of my sight, but that doesn’t answer my question. Why do we need an escape route?”
    â€œIt’s just planning. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
    â€œGreat, you’re quoting fortune cookie slogans. Why do we need an escape route?” she repeated.
    Persistence was one of her strengths.
    â€œWell, sometimes, somebody might object to what we’re going to be doing.”
    â€œAnd who might that somebody be?” she pressed.
    â€œThe usual suspects,” Oswald said. “You know, security guards, police.”
    â€œPolice! You didn’t mention that we could get arrested?” she snapped, stabbing a finger at me.
    â€œWe’re not going to get arrested,” I said, trying to reassure her. “Nobody ever gets arrested...well, hardly anybody.”
    â€œAnd what exactly does
hardly anybody
mean?”
    â€œIt means that we don’t know anybody who’s been arrested, but I heard about one that went wrong in London last year, and a couple of people were arrested. And I think maybe a few people in Madrid this year.”
    â€œAnd there were, like, twenty arrested last month in Los Angeles,” Oswald said.
    I wished he hadn’t