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expression—“right now . You wanted to take on some leadership roles, young man.” I grinned. “Here’s your chance to show your boys how it’s done.” Turning to face the others, I gave the order to move. “All right, let’s do this.”
    Supersize grudgingly led his crew into the night, while the three kids I’d pegged for car duty slipped off in different directions. In seconds we’d fanned out over the entire sleepy neighborhood like a pack of hungry coyotes.
    Around the corner, a cul-de-sac beckoned. I’d sidled up to a purple PT Cruiser when a flash of movement caught my eye. Which one of my crew was being that obvious? I crept closer to get a better look. The kid hovered under a floodlight beaming down from a garage door.
    Deer in the headlights.
    Wait a minute. That wasn’t anyone from the warehouse. It was the kid I’d almost flattened on the sidewalk earlier in the day. The one who looked like trouble was his only friend. I shook my head. This wasn’t going to end well. He strode right up the sidewalk to the front door and pulled out…was that some kind of lockpick? Using my well-earned stealth, I moved across the lawn and was at his back in a heartbeat.
    “Are you totally stupid?” I asked.
    The guy whirled around. I squinted down at him—hard. No way. He wasn’t a he; he was a she . Long hair had come loose from under the girl’s baseball cap. I was surprised I’d fallen for such an obvious ploy, but then, simple was sometimes most effective.
    “What the—how did you get here?”
    “With my feet, newb.”
    “An urban climber walking? Shouldn’t you be swinging from a web?”
    “That’s Spider-Man.”
    “This can’t be a coincidence.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Are you following me? What do you want?”
    “Watching grass grow would be more interesting than following you. Anyway, don’t be stupid. It’s a prime neighborhood. Why wouldn’t we both end up here? It’s got choice pickings.”
    “Fine. Go away.”
    “What are you doing?”
    “Setting up for a game of checkers. What does it look like?”
    “Looks like you’re getting ready to get arrested for attempted B and E .” I paused. “That’s breaking and entering.”
    “Yeah, I managed to puzzle that one out.”
    “So? What’s going on?”
    “None of your business.”
    “It is if you get us caught.” I came up the steps.
    “Us?” The girl looked around. “You have a team looting the houses here?”
    Well, she had a brain that worked part of the time at least. “Did you even check to see if the house is alarmed?”
    “I’m not an idiot.”
    “You are if you’re breaking in through the front door.”
    “Thanks for the tip, but you notice the trees cover me. Go away.” She pushed past me, stepped down the stairs and headed to the back door.
    “You don’t have any bags. No car.”
    “No wonder you’re a climber. Talk about eagle eyes.”
    “Spotted your sorry attempt to play cat burglar from a hundred feet, didn’t I?”
    She didn’t say anything.
    I sighed. “I’ll keep watch.”
    “Why?”
    “’Cause if I don’t, you’ll ruin the neighborhood for the rest of us. I’ll give you a signal if anyone comes your way.”
    “What’s the signal?”
    “Me screaming, ‘Run!’”
    That made her laugh. “Fair enough.”
    We got to the back, and it took her ten seconds to open the door. “See?”
    I shrugged. Yeah, she’d gotten in, but her technique was sloppy. “I’m beside myself, I’m so impressed.”
    We stepped into the quiet house. The girl totally ignored the flat-screen, the surround sound. She just kept scanning. This wasn’t a random job. She knew what she was after.
    “You’re lucky they don’t have an alarm system,” I said. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. Members of my team were moving out. “Hey!” I prompted. “You sightseeing or shopping?”
    “Stay here. Watch the door.” The girl pulled out a flashlight and strode into the kitchen. She waved the