“Nice.” I chose a baseball bat from Jordan’s assortment of weapons. “I’m old school, I think,” I said, and looked at theunderside of the bat handle. “I would probably use this end if I had to defend myself, so I don’t break any bones in their face.”
“Mm-mm,” Jordan said. Her arms were crossed as she shook her head. “You gotta get more comfortable breaking bones, Nick. That cop didn’t give one snot about you when he had you pinned on the ground.”
“You know about that?” I asked.
“Of course I do,” Jordan said. “It’s called keeping your ear to the streets.”
“Not my best moment,” I said, holding the bat out to Daisy.
She took it from me and immediately placed it down again, stepping up to pick a little knife with a black handle. “Tom Buchanan has a lovely kitchen, but in between mealtimes, it gets boring around the house. What else is a girl to do but learn to throw knives?” She threw a knife, and it hit the target, causing me to flinch. “But you should never throw a knife unless you have another weapon to go with it.” Daisy fished a tiny revolver out of the suitcase and aimed it at Jay.
“Whoa!” Jay said, putting his hands up. “Daisy, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but—”
“Relax,” Daisy said, opening the chamber to show him it was empty. She smiled at Jay, who was next up. “Your turn.”
Jay stepped forward and took the gun from Daisy. “Never learned to use one of these,” he said, setting it down gently in the suitcase. Then he took a coin out of his pocket. “Have you all heard of the disappearing coin trick?” He held a coin between two fingers, and then with a wave of his hand, it disappeared.
I was quite impressed, but Jordan wasn’t.
“Really, Gatsby?” she said, raising a disapproving eyebrow. “A magic trick?”
Jay sheepishly pulled the coin out of thin air again and stuffed it in his pocket. “It’s the best I’ve got.”
“How fast are you?” Jordan asked.
“I once broke the record for the 100 meters,” Jay said, pulling down the waist of his pants slightly to reveal the track shorts underneath. “But that was long before West Egg was even dreamed of!”
“Good grief.” Jordan rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say take your pants off. Definitely keep those on...” She went back to the storage closet, this time bringing out a bag full of black masks. She took out the masks one by one and tossed them to us.
I caught one and examined the thin black fabric with small silver rhinestones.
“Once you put on this mask, you become a ruffian,” she said. “A trouble-starter. An outlaw. You are no longer you, but someone else entirely. You might have been working a boring office job, or as an undercover cop, or a student from an elite school. But all anyone knows when you’re wearing these is that no one knows who you are.”
“This isn’t going to give me hives is it?” Jay said, laughing as he tried his mask on.
“What?” Jordan said with a straight face. “Don’t try to be funny, Gatsby—I don’t know you like that yet and I find it alarming.” She gestured for us to follow her into the storage room.
Once inside, she pulled a map from one of the cases on the shelves. She laid it on a wooden table in the middle of the cramped space and motioned for us to gather around it. “You’re going onto foreign turf. Can’t guarantee there won’t be some problems. Act like you’re selling liquor—it’s your easiest way inside. On entry, the password isLepanto.Thislets them know you’re rolling with the hard stuff. Keep your masks handy. If things go wrong, find the nearest exit. But do not be seen.”
She pointed to three corners of the map. “There are three exits to escape from. One on the east side of the building, one on the front floor north side, and one in the basement. The basement leads to where the car will be waiting to take you out of there. This is on loan, so I’ll hold your feet to fire if it’s not returned.”
Jordan clapped her hands, drawing our attention back to her. “All right, enough talk. Everybody out of my spot before I change my mind. And don’t forget the masks—ruffians, remember?”
Jay said, “Jordan, whatever we do out there, we’ll return what’s yours. I know it’s hard to trust new people with your assets, but I’ll make it worth your while.”
Jordan’s eyes narrowed at him, her suspicion still sharp as a blade, but she finally relented. “Don’t slip now,” she hissed. “Or I’ll hold it against you forever.”
We left the warehouse for streets that were mostly deserted.
Jay slid his hands into his pockets. “Nick?” he said, his voice carrying a high-pitched lilt. “Next time you’ve got a wild plan, do me a favor and run it by me first? I might be able to keep you from getting yourself killed by the scary mob boss.”
I chuckled a bit. “Jordan is more misunderstood than scary. Daisy, what do you think?”
Daisy, who had been walking just behind us with Zihan and asking him questions, widened her eyes some. “Misunderstood as in...ruthless? Sure! But she certainly gets things done.”
Zihan chimed in with a laugh. “For a moment, I thought she might kick me out.”
Daisy put a reassuring grip on his arm. “We’re friendly to our neighbors who mean no harm.”
