The Jigsaw Project by Cameron Beach

Author:Cameron Beach
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798885041638
Publisher: Cameron Beach
Published: 2022-03-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

“Back again,” Booker joked, pulling off the 501 into a seedy strip mall.

He drove slowly, past the Liquor Barn and the Indian Bistro Express, past the grimy-windowed tobacco shop and a shuttered massage place, until he pulled into a parking spot behind an overflowing dumpster. A red neon sign marked the spot—Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant. A single employee in his black uniform squatted on the ground, squeezed into a thin strip of shade on the sidewalk, taking long drags from his cigarette.

Yesterday, the Golden Dragon had struck Theo like the type of place where someone would commit a crime. It still did.

They’d tried to steal the folder late last night, thinking they’d break into the restaurant when nobody was around, only to find impossibly thick padlocks barring all the doors. Even Booker with the bolt cutters he’d brought from home was stumped. Eventually, they’d had to admit it—getting into the Golden Dragon at night was hopeless. They had no choice. It would only be possible to take the folder when the restaurant was open.

So, they’d improvised with a new plan.

“Okay,” Booker began, turning to look at Madi and Theo. “Steal-the-folder, part two.”

“Yup,” Madi replied. “Theo and I are going inside the place to eat.”

“Mm-hmm,” Booker agreed.

“You’re going around to the back entrance.”

“Yup.”

“And when you’re ready, you text us and we’ll cause a diversion so you can take the papers.”

“Right.”

“Purple folder,” she reminded Booker, raising her eyebrows threateningly.

“I know.” He sighed. “You’ve told me a million times.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Madi apologized, turning to Theo in the back seat. “You ready?”

Theo glanced at the flickering neon lights of the restaurant, then back toward Madi.

“Ready,” he confirmed, though he didn’t feel it at all.

Theo and Madi got out of the car and made their way toward the front of the restaurant, Theo’s stomach doing little flips with each step. He was relieved that Booker was doing the breaking and entering, but something else made him sweat—it was spending time alone with Madi in a restaurant. It was too much like a date.

But it’s not, he quickly admonished himself.

They would never be here together if it weren’t for their failure the night before. This was not a date, Theo repeated. This was a last resort.

A little bell tinkled as Madi pushed the door open, announcing their presence to a nearly empty restaurant. Theo glanced around as they waited for a host to greet them.

The Golden Dragon looked almost exactly like he’d expected. Dim bulbs lit the space, suspended above sticky linoleum tables and chopsticks wrapped in black napkins. Theo heard vague chatter in another language floating in from the kitchen and inhaled the tantalizing smells of soy sauce, ginger, and fried food.

But Theo wasn’t hungry. The emptiness of the restaurant made his stomach turn.

In all their rush to get here, they’d forgotten that it was only five o’clock on a Tuesday night. Nobody was out to dinner. How would Booker sneak in unannounced? Madi and Theo were nearly the only people in the place, save for a young blond woman sitting across the table from a portly bald man.

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