The Great Greene Heist: List 4

Jackson stared back without blinking. Her smile faltered.

She wasn’t fond of Mr. Jonas and all his newfangled “group learning” activities.

When he returned with the ream of paper tucked underneath his arm, the phones in the office had stopped ringing.

After Dr. Kelsey finally calmed down—he had hung up midsentence on the superintendent in order to talk to the boys—he spent the next hour grilling them, trying to coerce, trick, and manipulate them into confessing to at least some minor infraction.

After Dr. Kelsey finally calmed down—he had hung up midsentence on the superintendent in order to talk to the boys—he spent the next hour grilling them, trying to coerce, trick, and manipulate them into confessing to at least some minor infraction.

They headed directly to the shed, where Hashemi was already at work transposing high-resolution photographs of a certain silver key into three-dimensional schematics.

They headed directly to the shed, where Hashemi was already at work transposing high-resolution photographs of a certain silver key into three-dimensional schematics.

“According to our tech guy, the dimensions of the grooves are within 1/64 of an inch tolerance.”

“According to our tech guy, the dimensions of the grooves are within 1/64 of an inch tolerance.”

Eyeing the money, Ray said, “While I enjoy General Grant’s company, there’s no way I can get this done by Wednesday. Guttenbabels have both mechanical and electrical components. It’s got to be the right blend of copper, silver, and aluminum alloy, or the key won’t carry the current necessary to trigger the lock. And because of the strength of the metal, the key can’t be cut like a regular key—it has to be punched.”

Although Keith Sinclair kept his gaze glued to his tuna sandwich, his abundant interest in his lunch had nothing to do with the quality of the meal. Rather, it was his futile attempt to ignore all the posters plastered around the cafeteria, half of which featured his face crossed out with a big, red X.

“And when I finish, it will be the most advanced, most technologically astute—”
“It’s an overdesigned paperweight,” Charlie said.

Jackson grabbed a handful of napkins and began sopping up the milk. “Didn’t you steal Mom from that guy she was dating in college by orchestrating a fight between her boyfriend and the swim team?”

“What can I say? Some rules are made to be broken.” He rose from the table. “And it was the equestrian team.”

“A caravan of crabs? He’s not that slow.”

“You ordered a tux?” Gaby reeled backward. “You know this isn’t prom, right? It’s just a dance.”

But as Keith saw it, with all the money, strength, and soon-to-be power he possessed, he didn’t need to be overly crafty.

Even Victor, usually a wellspring of complaints and gripes, had offered to pay for a celebratory dinner for the group after the election.

Even Victor, usually a wellspring of complaints and gripes, had offered to pay for a celebratory dinner for the group after the election.

Jackson rose from the table. “If you just wanted to gloat, you’re wasting my time.”

“You don’t. But I respect you, Jackson. You’re smarter than you look. And quite frankly, I’m tired of dealing with you.”

At the end of the day, just before she reached her locker, she saw AJ and Brandy walking down the hall, hand in hand, blatantly ignoring Dr. Kelsey’s PDA rules.

“Be sure to tell Omar to buy you a corsage,” he said.

Charlie sighed. He knew he should trust Jackson. He hadn’t led him astray. Yet.

“Why are you always downplaying that kiss?” he asked.