My head lolled from side to side. The cushioned seat beneath me bounced, jostling me back to consciousness. Where am I?

I opened my eyes to find myself back in the car. The electric pinks, greens, and yellows of city lights flashed past. Parrot and Cougar sat on either side of me, deadpan.

Pain pounded in my head. I reached up to touch my forehead, my fingers brushing a tender spot. A welt was forming right in the center.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

Cougar glanced at me through slitted eyes. "You fell."

"Why?"

"That's a question I would like to know."

Parrot shook his head. "Cool it, dude. I told you what happened. The bookcase collapsed, he fell forward, and fainted."

"It was really messy in there," Falcon commented from the front.

"Yeah, I had to clean up the mess," Parrot continued.

I almost felt bad...almost.

Actually, no. I didn't feel bad. Why? Because they were criminals. And stalling them was the only thing I had the power to do at this point.

"Did you get what you needed from the computer?" I asked.

Please say no. Please say no.

"Yes," Cougar stated.

Darn it.

"No thanks to you," he continued. "Look, I understand why you wouldn't want to get involved with us. But where's your humanity?"

My humanity? Where's MY humanity? You're the ones who are breaking the law!

"Guys, we're almost there," Falcon announced.

"What? Where are we going?"

"We've got one final job tonight. Then you can go home." Cougar leaned in close, his eyes like daggers. "Don't mess this up."

"I won't, I promise!"

Cougar wasn't convinced, but at least he got out of my personal space. Honestly, it was bad enough sitting in the middle seat of the car. But having people like that purposefully invade your personal space was too much.

Falcon turned into an empty parking lot. A single, dim street light illuminated an abandoned warehouse. Cracks forged their way in the cement, and bricks were falling out of place. The exterior was caked in dirt and bright swirls of graffiti.

Well if that doesn't scream 'gangs,' I don't know what does.

Tail lights dispersed the darkness behind me. I turned around to see a black pick-up truck.

"That's Raven now," Falcon said.

I sighed. Great, another person to chide me for what happened in the Capitol Building.

"Why is he here?" I asked.

"He is bringing the items from the other jobs we pulled tonight," Calico said.

"And we need all the manpower we can get to break into this warehouse and sort through what we find inside," Parrot added.

"And you haven't been very helpful," Cougar murmured.

I am normally a law-abiding citizen! Don't expect me to be all rainbows and sunshine while I am participating in criminal activity.

"Why didn't he come with us to D.C.?" I asked.

"Because we only have five seats in the car," Falcon answered. "And, more importantly, he had some business to tie up before driving over here."

Raven opened the left, backseat door. I cringed. I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!

"Parrot, you know what your job is, right?"

"Yessir!"

"Then go sit in my car. I need to talk to Jordan."

Every muscle in my body tensed. This is it. This is the moment when he tells me that I am 'no longer useful,' that I'm 'expendable.' Good-bye world, it's been a nice life. I just hope that whatever way he chooses to kill me is painless.

Raven slid into the seat next to me. "Jordan, here's your task for this mission."

Wait, what? You still need me? Even though you're frustrated with me?

I decided not to ask. It might plant an idea in his head that could shorten my lifespan.

"Inside the building, there is a final computer that we need you to hack. This is the most crucial one, containing a complete database of records that we must have access to. Around midnight, a black SUV is going to arrive. That computer needs to first be hacked into, second have all locks disabled so that we have free access to the information, and finally be detached from the outlets without harming any of the software inside of the computer by the time that car arrives. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. Stay quiet, and try not to get in the way of the others. They have jobs to do, too. You're going to be on your own, but if anything goes wrong, just radio us." He unclipped a small, black radio from his belt and handed it to me. "I also have your tool kit from before in the backseat. That's for detaching the computer from the wall." He nodded to the others. "Alright, let's try to break into this bad boy."

He headed towards the abandoned building. I paused for a moment. Is that all?

Don't jinx things, Claude. Just be happy they're letting you off the hook. I hopped out of the car before Cougar decided to death-grip my wrists again.

The wind whistled in the air, chilling my bones. I shivered. This was not a place I would willing come to, especially not on such a cold day.

Night, I reminded myself. My jaws stretched into a yawn at the thought. It was a miracle that I was still walking forward. My legs wobbled, threatening to give way at any moment.

The others stalked silently to the front entrance. What is it with these people and front entrances? Have they no shame? I supposed that people who get in such a habit of doing wrong lose their sensitivity to what is right. Is that going to happen to me? Has my moral compass been destroyed forever? Am I doomed to a life of crime? I've always been a law abiding citizen. I don't want that to change!

"Psst, Jordan! Hurry up!" I looked up to see Parrot waving his hand towards me. I forced my legs to carry me faster to where the others had clustered in the entranceway.

"Present," I said.

He cocked his head to one side. "Present? Are you kidding me?"

I shrugged, but my face burned.

Present. What are you doing with your life, Claude?

I leaned forward to see Calico pressing clay on the door's lock.

"The bobby pin doesn't work on this type of lock," Parrot whispered in my ear.

I jumped. I bit my tongue hard to suppress a yelp. Blood seeped into my mouth. Ugh! Disgusting.

"Can I have some personal space, please?" I exclaimed in a hoarse whisper.

Parrot lifted his hands in the air. "Sorry, dude. Just explaining why she has to make a key."

Oh wow. Now you decide to start explaining things to me. I looked back at Calico as she poured a solution into the key mold.

"It's going to take a minute to set," she whispered.

Raven nodded, though he looked down at his watch. His wrist twitched. "It's 9:53 right now. We don't have much time."

"That's not going to make the key set faster," Calico stated.

"I didn't say that it would. I'm just giving a time update."

A minute later, Calico popped the key out of the mold. She placed the now hardened mold into her pocket and slid the key in the hole. The lock clicked.

In the widening gap of the door, I caught a glimpse of a silhouette. A gunshot rang out. Something whizzed past my face.

"Get back!" Raven yelled.

Cougar pushed me to the side. I slammed against the brick building. The air in my lungs escaped at once. The bones in my back throbbed.

Ow!

I gasped for air. Gunfire reverberated off the pavement and empty walls. The gang crouched on the sides of the door, shooting at people in the building.

Of course I would be caught in the middle of gang violence. How did I end up in this situation?

I closed my eyes. I imagined myself crawling out of this place, this nightmarish world of guns and gangs, crawling from underneath my bed into my nice, safe home. I imagined myself wrapping a blanket around myself for protection. I imagined myself lying on my bed and falling fast asleep...

My eyes grew heavy. My knees wobbled, like I would keel over at any moment.

"Drop your weapons, or he gets it!"

I jumped. W-what? What's happening?

Every single member of the gang was frozen in place, jaws slack. They stared at whatever was behind the door for a moment. Slowly, their guns thudded to the ground. Then, they turned to me.

"What the—" Cougar began.

"How?" Parrot said.

My brow crinkled. Huh? What's going on?

"What are you trying to pull here, Boyd?"

"Nothing, my dear sir." That voice...that British accent...it sounded familiar.

The man from the airport! That was the same voice as the man who had handed me the piece of parchment with the phone number. The detective agency found us!

And Boyd...that was the name of the person I took the recorder from his car. Heat rose in my cheeks. I stole from the man who was supposed to save me.

"We have Jordan," Raven declared.

"Did he tell you that, or did you assume that?"

All eyes turned back to me.

"Come here and tell Boyd that you're Jordan," Raven told me.

A lump formed in my throat. What do I say? Am I going to get in trouble if I tell them my real identity?

I didn't care anymore; I was too tired to care. I just wanted to go home.

"My name is Claude Wintsor," I said. "I told you this already, but you wouldn't believe me. I didn't know what else to do so..."

Raven gaped at me. "You really aren't Jordan?"

"No!" I cried. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. "I keep telling you this, but no one will believe me!"

"Oh, don't worry. We believe you now," Parrot said.

"Claude, why don't you come here so we can see you," the man with the British accent said. I stepped towards the main entrance.

Every muscle in my body went still. There were four people standing in the doorway. A man and a woman were in black jumpsuits, aiming guns at the Raven and his gang. In the center stood Boyd, the man from the airport—the man who had handed me the piece of parchment. He held a fourth man in a choke hold, a gun pressed to his temple.

The fourth man looked exactly like me.