Ivy and Jeremy rode with Manny. They followed close behind Jack and me.
Jack didn’t have his truck. He was driving a small Mazda two-door. “Where’d you get this car?” I asked, struggling with the seat belt.
“Borrowed it,” he murmured, eyes on the road. Headlights washed over our windshield like bright lightning streaks, one after another.
He had the gun beside him between the seats. His mask was in his lap. I turned and saw Manny’s headlights in the rear window. I knew they were as freaked about the gun as I was.
“Hey, Jack,” I started. I put my hand on his shoulder. “We really don’t want to do this. Not with a . . . a weapon.”
He brushed my hand away gently. “It’s loaded with blanks, Poppy.”
Traffic slowed as River Road curved down toward town. Jack eased his foot on the brake. He was a careful driver. You might expect him to be reckless, wild. It would have fit his personality better. But he didn’t drive that way.
“I told you my dad works at the track,” he said, wrapping his right hand around the gun handle. “This is the starter pistol he uses at his job.”
“No real bullets?” I asked, studying him, trying to make sure he was telling the truth.
“No worries,” he said.
He turned sharply into the parking lot at Harlow’s. I saw a few cars parked near the front door. The store inside was bright as day. I could see each aisle clearly through the wide front window. I couldn’t see the front counter, but I knew Mr. Harlow must be there.
Jack edged the car around the side of the building, and we parked in deep shadow at the far side of the parking lot in back. The back door to the store had a small window in it. But I couldn’t see anything in it.
Manny’s car slid beside us a few seconds later. He cut his headlights immediately. Jeremy climbed out from the passenger seat. He was breathing heavily, his chest riding up and down. I hoped he wasn’t going to have one of his asthma attacks.
Ivy stepped out from the back seat and took Jeremy’s arm. “It’s a warm night, but I’m shivering,” she whispered.
The five of us huddled together in the shadows behind our cars. Manny waved his phone in front of him. “Ready to go live?”
“Not yet.” Jack grabbed Manny’s hand and pushed it down. “We have to make sure no one else is in the store. Just Harlow.” He turned to Ivy. “You go.”
Ivy started toward the back door. Jack hurried after her. “No. Go in the front. Act like a customer. See what’s going on.”
Manny grinned. “It’s called casing the joint.”
Jack frowned at him. “Think you could be a little more serious?”
Manny shrugged. “Don’t any of you watch movies?”
I heard a car horn from the front of the store. Car doors slammed. I heard the car pull away.
Clouds covered the half-moon and the air grew cooler. A gust of wind made my hair fly up, and I struggled to smooth it down with both hands.
“What’s keeping Ivy?” Jeremy asked, his voice strained. He kept crossing and uncrossing his arms.
“She probably got a hero or something,” Manny said. “I don’t think she had dinner.”
“She’s waiting for the store to be empty,” Jack said. “Don’t worry. When it’s showtime, she’ll give us a signal.”
I could feel drops of sweat on my forehead. My legs felt jumpy. I wanted to get going. Get this stunt over with. I kept fiddling with the scarf around my neck, twisting it one way then the other.
Finally, Ivy reappeared, walking rapidly along the side of the store. She didn’t signal or anything. She waited until she was back in the safety of the shadows behind our cars.
“There were some kids from school buying slushies,” she said breathlessly. “But they left.”
“So who’s in there now?” Jack demanded. “Just Harlow?”
“Yeah. Harlow,” Ivy answered. “And that weird guy, Lucas, who sweeps up.”
“He won’t be a problem,” Jack said. “He’s like a zombie or something.” He turned to us. “Ready to rumble?”
We all muttered yes. Manny started punching his phone. “Ready for the live stream. This is going to be awesome!”
We started toward the back door but Jack jumped ahead and stopped us. “Aren’t you forgetting something? Like ski masks?”
We’d left them in the cars. It took a short while to find them and pull them on.
“Let’s go in the front,” Jack said. “Much better light.”
Manny had his mask on and his phone raised. “I won’t push record till we go in.”
“Remember—let’s go in loud!” Jack said. “We want to make it look like we’ve scared Harlow to death—right? So let’s go in screaming.”
We edged our way along the side of the building. I could feel my heart start to flutter in my chest as we stepped into the light from the front window.
Manny tugged open the door and went in first. I knew he wanted to get in a good position to capture the whole thing.
Jeremy and Ivy followed. As I started through the doorway, I felt something hard in my hand. It took a second or two to realize that Jack had slid the pistol into my hand.
I nearly dropped it. My fingers wrapped themselves tightly around the handle.
“Go!” Jack whispered.
And we burst toward the front counter, all of us screaming at the top of our lungs. “This is a robbery!”
