Part Three. Another little snippet. Please Enjoy. And I'd very much appreciate feedback.
PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING!
Chuck, Ellie, and Awesome watched in absolute astonishment as ten little metal duckies got knocked down by ten well placed bb-shots.
Sarah lowered the bb-rifle and eyed the sights critically. She then turned to her female companion and asked, "Which do you want?"
"The purple monkey," Ellie pointed.
The operator of the carnival shooting range took the stuffed purple monkey off the rack and gave it to Ellie, who already sported an impressive collection thanks to Sarah.
Ten shots for three dollars. Sarah had spent exactly 18 dollars on this game. Sixty shots. The first three missed. The next 57 didn't.
"Want anything else?" Sarah asked.
Ellie looked down at the stuffed monkey, walrus, giraffe, penguin, and doggy she held. "Can I have the tiger?"
Sarah slapped three more singles on the counter. "The lady wants a tiger," she informed the carnie.
The carnie pushed the money back. "Sorry. We're out of tigers."
A lie, since all five could see three stuffed tigers hanging inside the booth.
"If you say so," Sarah said. Man, she loved screwing over conmen.
The carnie leaned in close and whispered, "Just get the hell out of here, please?"
The two couples took their load of stuffed animals and resumed wandering about the carnival.
"That was some awesome shooting," Devon said. "Where'd you learn?"
"Just been to a lot of carnivals," Sarah lied smoothly. "They purposely misalign their rifle sights, so it takes a couple shots to compensate. Usually you gotta aim about a quarter inch to the right of target."
"Well, it was incredibly impressive," Ellie said.
"Sarah's always incredibly impressive," Chuck said with a dopey grin. The one that always made Sarah blush. "C'mon, Annie Oakley, how 'bout I treat you to a funnel cake?"
"Sure."
Arm in arm, Sarah allowed Chuck to lead her to the funnel cake stand. Truth was, Sarah loved carnivals. But not just because she was an ace at the shooting gallery.
As a teenager, Sarah loved the fall when the carnival rolled into town. Because it meant lots of people having fun and paying no attention to their wallets.
On a good night, she would pick five or six pockets and make out with about 500 cash and a couple credit cards with a high limit. Then she'd call her dad and meet him at the mall before it closed. They'd hit Foot Locker and Radio Shack, load up on sneakers and electronics, and get the hell out before anyone was the wiser. For the next couple weeks they'd have a steady stream of income.
Thing is, she could only realistically pull it off twice per carnival before someone caught on. The same pretty blond girl shows up three times alone, always on a night when people got pickpocketed, even carnie morons could put that together.
Even now, as Sarah and Chuck found a bench where they could stop and eat their treat, she was surveying the crowd. Primarily to make sure there were no potential threats to Chuck. But her old instinct to find an easy mark was coming through.
Sarah watched as a middle aged father at the cotton candy stand slipped his wallet into his side jacket pocket. Well groomed, tasteful clothes. Same for his wife and children. No doubt he'd have a few dandy credit cards.
Then there was the young mother near the tilt-a-whirl ride. She was presently distracted, tending to her young child who got sick on the ride. Sarah could offer her "assistance". See if the child was okay. Meanwhile she could slip a hand inside the woman's big, bulky handbag and lift her wallet.
"So this has been fun, right?"
Sarah munched on her funnel cake and nodded enthusiastically. It had been fun.
"I know this probably isn't your idea of a good time," Chuck said lamely.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't take this wrong, but I didn't think you'd come. A carnival seems kind of...low."
Sarah smiled. "No offense taken. Besides, you'd be surprised what my idea of fun was as a teen."
Chuck's brows quirked. It probably wasn't fair to tease him. They both knew she couldn't divulge.
"Maybe someday you'll tell me?"
"Someday."
Not a chance. Good guy like Chuck, he'd be horrified to discover what type of girl she'd been. Hell, what type of girl she still was.
Then Sarah noticed something. Near the Ferris wheel, a gangly looking kid. And his eyes were locked on the well groomed man with the wife and two kids.
"I'll be back in a sec," Sarah said. "Hold my funnel cake?"
Sarah blindly handed him the treat, still focused on the kid.
The kid was on an intercept course for the man. The contact was brief, a believable "accident". Sarah had to admit, the kid was good. She liked the bump method. She used to wear a tanktop while performing it. If a guy was watching her tits, he wasn't watching his wallet.
Luckily enough, she was wearing a very flattering purple tank tonight. The kid saw her coming, but never stood a chance. A wide smile, a flash of cleavage, an innocent bump... it wouldn't be until much later that he would discover he'd been had.
Sarah checked the wallet she lifted off the kid. Mark David Ellis. The well-groomed man.
She caught up with the man at the Gravitron ride. "Sir!" she called. "You dropped this back at the cotton candy stand."
The man patted his jacket pocket. No wallet there. He sighed in relief at seeing it indeed was his wallet that Sarah offered.
"Oh, Miss, thank you so much!"
"No problem. Have a nice night." She waved at the man and his gorgeous family. She couldn't stop the longing sigh that escaped her lips.
A few minutes later, Sarah returned to the bench. Sure enough, Chuck was there waiting. His face lit up when he saw her. Her heart fluttered at the sight.
"Where'd you run off to?" he asked.
"Little girls' room." Sarah accepted her funnel cake and looped her arm around his. "So what's next on the carnival experience?"
"Oh, it's the main event of the evening," Chuck said in grandiose fashion. "It's what we Bartowski's always end the night on."
"Which would be?"
Chuck leaned in and whispered, "Bumper cars." Sarah snorted in laughter. "But you gotta watch out. Once Ellie gets behind the wheel she becomes a complete maniac. Seriously, little children have lost limbs."
"I'll be sure to keep all body parts inside the vehicle," Sarah retorted.
Off they went to rejoin Ellie and Awesome.
THE END
