Chapter Eleven: Code-Cracking

(The Case Of The Missing Lifeguard, Pt. 3)

***

Three hours.

Valerie had three hours of peace where she and Robin worked on translation and code-cracking—Valerie joining her writing with Robin's, along with doodling some creatures among Robin's drawings in the margins—as Steve and Dustin left under the excuse of finding Russian spies while serving the public. She had three hours.

And then the twerp arrived.

The dinging alerted Valerie from where she was in the backroom, and she banged her head against the table, a string of curses that would have her mom wash her mouth out with soap falling from her mouth.

"A day. She could not be ice cream addicted for one day," Valerie grumbled as the dinging intensified and she now heard Erica saying, "Excuse me. Ahoy!"

Knowing she couldn't leave Robin to deal with the diablo, Valerie left the safety of the backroom and headed out to the front, a glare affixed on her face as she saw Erica with her friends, Erica ringing the bell as Robin gave a heavenwards look as she slid down her headphones and turned around, briefly looking to Valerie and knowing she had an ally.

Valerie returned it and crossed her arms as she growled, "What do you want, twerp?"

Erica glared at her before she turned to Robin and said with a sickly sweet smile, "I'd like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please."

"No. No more samples today," Robin denied and Valerie's eyebrows rose before she grinned and added, "Like, ever, you little twerp."

"Why not?" Erica demanded.

"Because you're abusing our company policy," Robin retorted.

"You've actually abused it a long time ago, you little twerp. You're lucky we didn't ban you for life," Valerie revealed.

Erica's eyes widened, and she hissed, "You wouldn't."

"Oh, we very much can. I've been itching for a reason to do it, and this seems to be a good reason," Valerie said, her grin stretching over her face. "Unless you're a good little customer and actually buy ice cream instead of your samples, twerp."

"You wouldn't do it," Erica insisted.

"And why wouldn't we?" Robin asked, eyebrow arched.

"Because I'm your best customer! And the customer's always right," Erica answered in her usual sassy tone.

"Wanna bet on that, twerp?" Valerie returned, eyebrow raised in challenge. "And Robin's right. You and your little amigos aren't receiving any more samples today."

Erica glared at her, before she looked around and demanded, "Where's the sailor man?"

"Sorry, he can't help you. He's busy," Robin told her as she turned around to focus on translation, Valerie waggling her fingers in a clear sign Erica and her pack of friends could scram if they weren't buying any ice cream.

"Busy with what?" Erica pressed.

Robin turned back around, a smirk on her face as she looked at Valerie and they revealed, "Spycraft."

Erica and her friends looked confused, but before Erica could say anything, Valerie leaned forward and said, "Look, give it up, twerp. We're not serving you any samples today, so unless you wanna actually buy something, then scram."

"Yeah, you heard her. No samples, no business," Robin concurred and Valerie flashed her a grateful smile as her stomach flipped at Robin's support.

Erica stared at them, before her eyes narrowed into a glare before she turned on her heel and stormed out of Scoops, her friends following behind her.

Valerie let her head fall in relief. "Thank God. I thought the twerp was never gonna leave."

Looking up, she smiled when she saw Rowan enter Scoops and walk up to them. "Hey, Rowan."

"Hey Val. Hey Robin," Rowan greeted back. She craned her head, obviously trying to find Steve and Dustin, and when she couldn't she asked, "Uh, where are the guys?"

"They left a couple hours ago," Valerie answered.

"To do what?"

Valerie looked at Robin, before Robin grinned and revealed, "Spycraft."

Rowan blinked, obviously stunned at hearing Steve and Dustin were doing their own spying on potential Russian spies—which Valerie couldn't believe was an actual possibility and not just some fanciful idea she could laugh about later—before she said, "Oh. I totally did not expect to hear that at all."

"I know. Imagine our faces when the strange child said they were," Robin concurred as Valerie nodded—she was pretty certain she had a stunned look on her face not too dissimilar from Rowan's face.

"Okay. Uh, hey, you mind if I go and find them? Make sure they don't do anything stupid if they actually do find a Russian spy?" Rowan asked.

"Go ahead. We can man the fort and get this code cracked. Right, Val?" Robin asked, nudging her.

"Yeah, totally. Especially when the twerp won't be coming back anytime soon," Valerie said, satisfaction in her voice at that.

She was totally ignoring she was more or less alone with Robin. Yep, she was totally shoving that fact plus how their dynamic had changed after last night down and totally not thinking about how dangerously close she'd be getting to a flustered mess. Absolutely not at all.

Rowan eyed them, before nodding and leaving Scoops Ahoy. Leaving Robin and Valerie alone, until customers arrived.

"Hi, how may I serve you?" Valerie said as Robin resumed translating. As she served the couple, she looked over and whispered, "Any luck?"

"I managed to translate some more sentences, but so far nothing on the code-cracking," Robin whispered back, pencil scratching on it.

Valerie frowned, before she whispered, "Let's switch after I serve this couple."

"Okay," Robin replied.

Valerie did, fake smile pasted and a "Have a nice day" spilling from her lips before she turned and accepted the notepad, translation book, recorder and headphones from Robin as she took over on serving and Valerie got to work, frowning as she definitely heard words repeating, scribbling in a free space to note that down before fully dedicating her time on translating.

That was how she and Robin worked—one of them would translate while the other attended to the customers, switching places and doing their fair share. Until, at last, the code was fully translated.

Valerie stared at it, and shared a grin with Robin. "We did it, Robs."

'Yeah. Yeah, we did, it Val," Robin replied, staring at the notepad like she couldn't exactly believe they had actually done it. "Now we just have to crack it."

Fortunately, their break was now, so Valerie made milkshakes for herself and Robin as the taller girl sat on the window ledge and Valerie leaned against the counter, sipping from her milkshake as Robin looked at the code.

"'The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly'," Robin read out, setting it down and picking up the translation book as she mumbled, "Tread lightly?"

Looking at Valerie, she asked, "What do you think it means, Val?"

Valerie tapped her finger against her milkshake, thinking. "I don't know. Maybe it means walking somewhere? And that you need to be careful in walking to it?"

"Hmm, maybe," Robin said as she flicked through it.

They probably would have kept trying to crack it if a knock didn't come from the backroom. From the delivery corridor.

Robin and Valerie shared an eye roll and sigh as Robin opened the window and she slid through, Valerie joining her via the backroom door as they headed over and Robin opened the door.

"Delivery for you," the delivery guy informed.

"Thank you," Robin said as she grabbed the box and set it down before she signed the forms. 

As Valerie waited, she looked over to Robin and saw her do a double-take as she stared at the delivery guy. Or, more specifically, his logo.

Valerie frowned. Why?

"Have a nice day," the guy said after Robin handed the clipboard back with the forms.

"Yeah, you too," Robin breathed, still looking at the delivery guy.

As he walked away, Valerie and Robin followed him, seeing the silver cat logo on his back and LYNX DELIVERIES under it.

"Silver cat," Robin whispered as she grinned. "Silver cat."

She looked at Valerie, as Valerie looked at her, before Robin was bolting out off there, Valerie a step behind her.

Out in the front, Valerie saw Rowan, Steve and Dustin were back, as Steve announced, "Yo, Robin, Val, you're not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian—"

"You did too!' Dustin exposed as Rowan just stared at Steve.

"No I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I did—"

"You both thought he was a Russian, you idiots!" Rowan snapped as Valerie stared, momentarily paused by what the trio said. But Robin wasn't as she pushed past Steve and Dustin and ran out of the store.

Rowan immediately noticed, and she asked, "Robin, where you're going?"

When she received no answer, she looked at Valerie and questioned, "Val, what's up with Robin?'

But Valerie didn't answer, as she was running after Robin. Because if Robin was running like that...

It could only mean she figured out the code.

Valerie didn't have to run long to find Robin, as she saw the blonde stand more or less in the centre of the mall as she looked around, murmuring, "'A trip to China sounds nice'. A trip to China sounds nice, a trip to China sounds nice..."

Valerie frowned as she followed Robin's movements, asking, "Robin, what's going on? Is it the code?"

"Yeah—I think I've cracked it," Robin revealed.

Valerie's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Silver cat feeds is Lynx Deliveries, and trip to China sounds nice is—" Robin started, before she found it and said, "A trip to China sounds nice."

Valerie looked, and her eyes widened again when she saw Imperial Panda.

"Holy shit," she whispered. "It's the mall. The code's the mall."

"Yeah. So... 'if you tread lightly'. If you tread... if you tread..." Robin mumbled as Valerie watched, trying to find it as Rowan appeared, after running after them, just before Robin said with an epiphany, "If you tread lightly."

Valerie and Rowan looked in that direction and saw the shoe store, before Rowan asked, "What's going on? Is it the code?"

But Valerie's eyes were wide as she realised that if the rest were involved with the mall, then the last sentence had to be too. Looking to Robin, she said, "Robin! Where's blue meets yellow in here?"

But Robin was already looking, mumbling the words as Valerie looked to Rowan and revealed, "Robin thinks she's cracked it!"

Rowan's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

"Yeah! Silver cat feeds is the Lynx Deliveries, trip to China is the Chinese food shop, and tread lightly is—" Valerie explained, but Rowan had already come to her realisation as she finished, "The shoe store! So blue meets yellow in the west is..."

Rowan's eyes widened as she whispered, "It's the clock. It's the fucking clock!"

Robin had realised it too, staring at the clock and grinning as she said, "In the west." Valerie looked at the clock, her eyes wide at how the code was about the mall, before she grinned because they cracked it. Well, Robin cracked it, like Valerie knew she could, but they still cracked it! She couldn't believe it!

They, a group of teenagers, had translated and cracked a secret Russian code!

"Robin."

Valerie whirled, seeing Steve and Dustin there and looking confused as Steve went on, "Rowan, Val. What are you doing?"

"I cracked it," Robin answered, as Valerie and Rowan nodded in agreement.

"Cracked what?" Steve pressed.

Robin hopped down from where she'd been standing and revealed, "I cracked the code."

The reaction was instantaneous as Dustin's and Steve's eyes widened and Dustin asked, "Wait, you did?"

"Rowan and Val helped." Robin said as she pointed to Rowan and Valerie, as they grinned.

"You did most of it," Rowan returned, giving her shoulder a squeeze as Robin beamed.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have realised it without you, Robin," Valerie admitted as she smiled at Robin, as Robin's eyes widened and her smile seemed to turn giddy as Valerie's own eyes widened, as she realised she hadn't acted like an idiot. Granted she hadn't acted like an idiot in front of Robin for a bit, but the fear was still there lurking underneath, even with last night. 

Maybe there was hope for her after all.

"What is it?" Dustin questioned, making Valerie remember that, oh yeah, they had a Russian code that they cracked.

"It's the mall," Robin revealed as she gestured around her to Starcourt. "The code's about the mall."

"Which means the Russians must be using it for something," Valerie pitched in as she grinned.

But as she looked at Rowan, it wasn't shared as the other girl's face had fallen at the idea. And when she looked at Steve, he wore the same expression as he asked, "To do what?"

Valerie didn't have the answer—she had no idea why the Russians would use Starcourt for whatever reasons they had.

But Dustin apparently did, looking determined.

"That's what we're gonna find out."

***

AHHH THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE!!!

Yeah, Valerie got a little revenge against Erica—can you tell how much I'm loving their dynamic?? It's so fun. And yeah, Robin and Valerie worked together on translating and serving customers (especially since Steve isn't there and is instead spying on Russians with Dustin and Rowan)

And the code-cracking scene! I love this scene so freaking much, it's one of my fave scenes of Robin ever, so I had to have her mostly crack it while Valerie and Rowan realise and help to crack it together

And now, stakeout time!

Next chapter, we're back with Cami!

Spanish translations:

Diablo: Demon

Amigos: Friends

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!