It had taken a while to convince Roux, even after the big passport reveal. “I think you’re on the run from the law!” she had screamed.
“Where’s your safe?” I asked her. “Just tell me where it is!”
“What safe? We don’t have a safe, we—”
“Roux, your parents are gajillionaires, you live in a penthouse on the Upper East Side, and the artwork in your foyer would be worth $2.6 million if it weren’t fake. Tell me where the goddamn safe is.”
She paused. “How did you know it’s a fake?”
“Because the real artwork is in the Collective’s vault in London.”
“The safe’s upstairs in my parents’ closet.”
Ten minutes later, the safe was open and Roux’s jaw was on the floor. “Do you believe me now?” I said, blowing my hair out of my face. “Or do you need me to break into your neighbor’s apartment?”
“No, I think we’re good,” Roux said.
Half an hour later, we were eating Thai food in her kitchen. I was starving after not eating since breakfast, but Roux was too wound up to eat. “So, you and your parents basically travel the world and stop bad guys.”
“In a nutshell,” I said, shoveling pad thai into my mouth.
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“Oh my God, no. I’m a safecracker, not an assassin.”
Roux’s eyes went wide. “Angelo was lying, wasn’t he. He’s really an assassin.”
“What? No, he’s a forger. Believe me, I’ve met assassins. They’re not as friendly as Angelo.”
Roux wasn’t convinced. “You know an assassin! That means that I know an assassin!”
“Roux? Bring it back home. He’s a forger, I swear.”
“Okay, sorry.” She took a deep breath and smoothed her already-smooth hair down. “This is all just really new. Is this why you knew how to forge my mom’s signature?”
“Yes. We don’t have a lot of time here.”
Roux sat up and squared her shoulders, looking like the least dangerous warrior ever. “Well, I’m ready,” she said. “Whatever you need me to do, I can do it. Sidekick, assistant, resident ass-kicker, I got it.”
“We need to break into Armand Oliver’s computer, find out who’s been trying to sell this story to him, then go find that person, find out where they’re hiding these documents, get the documents, make sure they’re not forgeries, and then destroy them.”
Roux blinked a few times. “Well,” she finally said. “That sounds ambitious.”
“It is. So are you in?”
“Hey, remember that time when I gave you a really emotional and heartwarming speech about friendship, and then you told me you were a spy and brought a dozen false passports into my house and then broke into my parents’ safe?” Roux gestured at me with her chopsticks. “Yes, of course I’m in. This is the best thing that’s happened to me in years. When do we start?”
“As soon as I finish eating.”
“Roger that. So, what’s my code name?”
Half an hour later, “Redwing” (sometimes it’s just easier not to argue with Roux) and I were piling out of a cab in front of the Olivers’ building. “This is going to be so bad,” I muttered to Roux. “How am I supposed to tell him that this whole thing was an assignment?”
“Well, you still like him, right? Just tell him that. Workplace romances happen all the time.”
“He’ll kill me.”
“Tell him that you know an assassin. I’m pretty sure that’ll keep him in line.”
I started to feel panicky as we rode the elevator up to the Olivers’ private rooftop house. “He’s going to be so disappointed.”
“You’re not breaking up with him, you’re just telling him the truth. He’ll probably thank you.”
I looked at Roux.
“Okay, probaby not,” she admitted. “But it’s not like you have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice. I just don’t like what I have to choose from.”
“Hi!” Roux chirped when one of the maids answered the door. “We’re here to see Jesse.”
“Roux?” Jesse poked his head out of the kitchen. “Is that you? What are you … doing here?” He stepped into the hallway. “Maggie?”
I waved, not trusting myself to speak.
“We’re here for the group project,” Roux said, loud enough in case Armand was lurking around somewhere and could hear. “You know, for school.”
“The what?”
“Can we come in?” I said, finally finding my voice.
“Um, yeah, sure, okay.” Jesse looked wary, though, and the three of us stood in the foyer and looked at each other. “Is everything okay? You don’t look good.”
“Will people please stop saying that!” I cried. “I’ve got a lot on my mind, okay? Cut a girl some slack!”
“She’s having a rough day,” Roux whispered, patting my arm.
Jesse glanced back and forth between us. “What’s wrong? Are you breaking up with me? Is it because I took you ice skating?”
“Definitely not trying to break up with you,” I said. “I’m just here so we can work on the school project for English class.”
“Just go with it,” Roux whispered to him. “Trust me.”