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Robin: yeah

Augs: we just got to norms

Augs: she white or black or hispanic or what

Robin: pretty sure she’s asian

Augs: and u sure its just her

Robin: yes sir

Alex scanned the restaurant one more time until his eyes set onto the target. On the far corner to the right, a girl sat alone at the half-circle booth, dressed almost entirely in black. A striped hoodie shadowed her face, her head down, phone cradled in her hands.

Augs: found her

Robin: great let me know how it went

Alex tapped Hal’s shoulder. “Three o’clock. Frankenstein balloon.” Taking the lead, they passed the full bar, filled with older people chatting over their breakfast plates and sipping their coffee.

Hal dipped his head towards to Alex’s ear and whispered, “Dude, don’t she look familiar?”

“The hell you talking about?” Alex tried not to look conspicuous as they got closer. “She looks like Asian Avril Lavigne. There’s tons of chicks like her.”

“Not that foo,” Hal whispered. “Like I swear to God, I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

Alex elbowed Hal’s hard abs when they got closer. He towered over her as she continued to scroll through her phone. The girl’s long lashes fluttered up towards them. “Can I help you?” she asked carefully.

Alex nodded at her, hands in his favorite gray sweats. “You Kana?”

She lowered the phone, letting it hang in her small fingers. “And what if I am?” She glowered.

Alex pulled up Robin’s texts and shoved the screen at her. She read the texts quickly, then looked up. “Augs?”

“It’s what my friends call me. You can call me Alex.”

Kana raised her eyebrows, widening her heavy-eyeliner eyes. “So we aren’t friends?”

“For now,” Alex responded. He nodded back at Hal, who was still staring at Kana. “This here’s Hal. He’s only here to make sure things go smoothly.”

Hal shook off his daze when his name was mentioned. “Hey. How’s it going?” He held out his hand, but Kana stared at it until Hal awkwardly pulled back to adjust his white beanie.

It was odd to see Hal this anxious, especially around hot girls. He usually had more chill, but for some reason, Kana gave him the jitters.

Kana gestured to the seats next to her. Alex slid in first. Hal posted on the other end, twirling his thumbs. Kana ignored Hal’s glances and directed her attention at Alex. “Sounds like Robin’s description of you is spot on.”

Alex rested his hands behind his head. “Oh really? What they say about me?”

“Short-ish, freckled, white guy with pink hair. Sometimes wears a beanie”—she nodded at Alex’s favorite wool beanie—“and comes off as a hard-ass.”

Alex blinked as his soul left his body. Hal snickered until he yelped when Alex kicked his shin under the table. “So what’s the job?” he grumbled.

Kana put her phone face down and clasped her fingers together, each with an intricate silver ring. She fixed her stern brown eyes at them. “I want you to help me find a friend.”

Out of all the jobs he received, that was something Alex wasn’t expecting. “What’s going on with your friend?”

“She’s been missing for a couple of weeks and has been involved with some people.” She lowered her voice. “Your people.”

Alex scoffed. “Listen, princess, if you’re going to start us off by throwing darts, you have some explaining to do.”