the night long after the lights had been turned out.
***
“So what do you want to do today?” They were seated in a small café Mr. B. had taken them to. Lily sipped her hot chocolate and shivered as the cold wintery wind invaded them as someone opened the door next to their table. It was November, and the weather was freezing. She hadn’t realized it would be so cold. Lily had packed her warmest clothes and heavy coat, but it still didn’t seem warm enough. She was a Texas girl through and through, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to adjust to the freezing winter weather. Lily didn’t know if the weather should have an impact on her choice about joining Mr. Turner’s team, but at that moment she thought it might.
“I want to do the Empire State Building,” Landon said speaking for what seemed like the first time since they landed in the Big Apple.
“He speaks,” Malaya said playfully stealing a doughnut hole from his plate and popping it into her mouth. Landon’s expression was almost as icy as the weather. He stole one of Malaya’s strips of bacon and went back to his moody silence. It didn’t seem like his mood was going to change anytime soon. Lily decided she wasn’t going to let his attitude get in the way of her New York experience. She had dreamed of this moment for years, and she wasn’t going to let anyone take that from her.
“We can do that first, and then how about the Metropolitan so we can have somewhere warm to spend the day,” Lily suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Malaya said happily. Landon nodded, but said nothing.
***
“Here, this is for the three of you to cover your activities for the remainder of your stay,” Mr. B. said handing Lily an envelope filled with cash. Lily glanced at the bills guessing the amount contained in the envelope.
“Are you sure? This seems like a lot,” she asked the smiling driver, but he was already in the driver’s seat of the limo, and pulling out into heavy traffic. Lily divided the money between the three of them evenly mostly for security reasons, and then they began their climb to the top of the tallest building in New York.
***
“This view is amazing,” Lily spoke in awe. The three friends stood at the top of the Empire State Building on the observation deck gazing out around the city. It was like they were birds perched on a cloud in the sky. They looked down on the urban jungle filled with skyscraper trees and people ants so tiny they were hardly visible. They stayed as long as they could bear the cold wind slapping their faces before retreating back inside the building. Lily thought it was odd that Landon seemed to be more on guard than normal. He kept glancing around himself using his peripheral vision to watch the other tourists milling around them. He had been acting odd for the last twenty four hours, so Lily pushed it out of her mind.
They climbed into the packed elevator taking them down to the gift shop. When the elevator doors began to close out of nowhere a hand reached in to stop the doors from closing. The doors automatically opened themselves again revealing a short, muscular man. He was dressed in a brown T-shirt with suspenders holding up his mud brown pin striped slacks. He wore black rimmed glasses and was holding a sleek cell phone up to his ear. He pushed his way into the elevator and the doors shut behind him. Everyone in the elevator was quiet for a moment, but resumed talking once the elevator was moving. The odd little man spoke nervously into the phone pausing to listen after every sentence.
“That would be a positive. Yes. No problem sir, I have it under control. No problem sir. Good bye.” He flipped the phone shut and stuck it in his pocket. He glanced around at the people surrounding him, hardly looking at Lily. When the elevator stopped everyone piled out and went their separate ways.
“I don’t care to go in the gift shop, do you?” Landon’s voice was hard and careful.
“Fine by me,” Malaya said, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.
“Let’s head to the…” Lily started but was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.
“Wait, I changed my mind. Let’s go to the gift shop. My mom wanted me to get her something.”
Lily looked at him questioningly. She searched