Chapter Eight – Discovering Unknowns
"What is that?"
"Don't ask me," Caroline replied.
Whatever it was Joan was playing with next door, it looked kind of like Carter's remote controllers for airplanes and cars. The big difference was all of the lights on it.
"I don't see anything happening besides it lighting up."
"We're probably not close enough."
"We won't be able to see much better outside."
"We might be able to hear though," she pressed.
"Go down if you want."
Caroline huffed. If he didn't want to come with her, then fine. She would go by herself. There had to be a way to figure out what that thing did. She hopped down the steps and dashed outside to their hiding spot beside the fence. It took her a little bit of squirming to find a spot between the bushes where she could see well. Being closer didn't give her any better idea of what Joan was holding though. It still looked like a glowing battery operated car remote to her.
Joan had known the moment Caroline had come out to join her. She kept her attention on the remote in her hands as she waited for the rustling of bushes next door to die down. While she waited she slipped a hand into her pocket to subtly text Arthur. He hadn't been paying full attention to where the kids were while she was outside, but the message should give him the hint to look. After that it wouldn't take long for him to realize one or both of the children had to be outside with her. She passed the next few moments pretending to check the device until Arthur walked out of the house to join her in the backyard.
"How's the reception?" he called out as he approached.
"Solid. I'm getting clear readings from all of the tracking devices."
"So we know exactly where everyone is."
"Mmhm. Down to the foot."
Arthur slid a hand up one of her arms when he reached her.
"How many do we have left?" he asked.
Joan pressed the side of the remote to release the catch on a hidden drawer. Caroline would be able to see the drawer open, but there was no way for her to see that the inside was completely empty.
"Three," Joan answered. "We shouldn't have to worry about trading any out for a while."
"Good."
Her eyes flickered down to his hand. Outwardly she was acting like she hadn't known Arthur had brought anything out with him, but they had planned the entire encounter out in advance. She had already known she would ask about what he'd brought.
"What have you got? New toys?"
"New technology."
He held his hand out palm up to reveal the collection of four small balls. Just in case they couldn't be seen clearly from a distance he held one up in his other hand. In reality it was only a bouncy ball painted a dark grey, but that didn't mean it couldn't look like something else. Arthur and Joan could easily sell it as whatever they wanted to. Joan plucked the ball out of his hand and rolled it between her fingers.
"That one is a smokebomb. Easy to use and provides very good cover."
"What about the others?"
"The lighter colored ones with the pink stripe are gumballs."
"Gumballs?"
"That's what they're called, and it fits. Throw one and it explodes, showering everything around it in bubble gum."
"Bubble gum," she said in a tone of disbelief.
"Well, it's not actually gum. It's a sticky pink substance that hardens enough to make it stretch without tearing. Works great as an immobilizing agent."
"And a way to force someone to get a haircut. You won't be getting that out without scissors."
"See? Added bonus. It makes it very difficult to blend in when you don't have hair."
Joan laughed and leaned in to kiss his cheek. She dropped the smokebomb back into his hand and slipped past him. Before she got very far she paused and glanced back in his direction.
"Just make sure you don't accidentally detonate either of those in the house or anywhere near me."
Caroline watched the Campbells head back insider, her mouth still hanging open. She had suspected that her neighbors were spies, and spies had cool gadgets, so it made sense that they would have some. What she hadn't expected was how awesome the gadgets were. Really, how cool were exploding gumballs? Pretty darn cool. Carter hadn't gotten to hear about them either, which made everything better. This one she was keeping to herself. It was just too bad she didn't have one so she could use it on Carter when he was being particularly mean. Watching him struggle in strands of gum would have been absolutely awesome.
O . o . O . o . O
Later that evening when the sun was edging down toward the horizon line the kids spotted Joan and Arthur outside again. Carter was considering ignoring them in favor of finishing his ice cream, and even Caroline was content to watch from inside while she ate hers. When the Campbells started looking around to make sure they were alone and then put their heads together conspiratorially both bowls of ice cream lost importance. At least sort of. Carter and Caroline scarfed down what was remaining as quickly as they could and raced outside. It was dark enough out that they decided not to bother ducking under the bushes. As long as they stayed low and near the fence line they wouldn't be spotted easily. Carter was able to peek over the top of the bushes on their side of the fence fairly easily, but Caroline had to stand on her tip toes to see anything.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were still huddled together, though it was now obvious what they were huddled around: a small piece of paper that Mr. Campbell was holding in one hand.
"Too bad there's no way to find out what's on that paper," Caroline thought.
"Do you have it memorized?" Arthur whispered.
Joan didn't answer for a moment, assumingly running whatever was written down through her head one more time to make sure she had memorized it. Finally she looked up at him and nodded.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
She turned a dark look on him that made Caroline smile. The glare was just as clear to Arthur as it was to Carter and Caroline. He shouldn't have even gotten within 100 feet of calling her incompetent or questioning her ability, and he'd gotten a lot closer than that. It had been a bad move on his part. Carter couldn't help thinking that Joan looked a lot like a dangerous snake, poised and ready to strike. Mrs. Campbell was definitely not somebody he would want to make mad, especially when she looked like that. It seemed like he wasn't the only one that thought it would be better not to further upset Joan.
"Right. You probably memorized it faster than I did," Arthur told her as he lifted his hands in surrender.
They watched Joan's face go from hard and dangerous to nearly amused. A small smile was pulling at one corner of her mouth as she gazed at her husband. An even tinier smile appeared on Arthur's face. In a matter of seconds the moment was over, and Mr. Campbell reached into his pocket. He pulled something small out, but neither of the kids could tell what it was. There was a quiet noise that could only be described as "fwick" and then a flare of bright light appeared in the growing darkness. Flame from a lighter.
"What was he going to do with that? Burn the paper he'd shown to Joan?" Carter wondered.
Just as he was wondering that Arthur held a corner over the flame. The edge of the paper ignited, and fire raced upward.
Yes, apparently that was exactly what he was going to do.
When the fire edged toward Arthur's fingers he let go of the burning paper, and it fluttered toward the ground. Carter and Caroline watched it fall, mesmerized. The glow from the flame made the rest of the night seem darker by comparison. By the time the burning paper hit the ground there was barely anything left. Arthur stamped out the remaining fire and scattered the ashes, breaking the spell the burning paper had on the two kids.
"Good?" Joan asked.
"Good," Arthur confirmed as he slid his arm around her back and started guiding her inside.
Leaving the amateur spies to their own devices, Arthur and Joan stepped inside and headed toward the living room. Before they got there Arthur stopped over at their side bar to pour himself a glass of scotch and Joan a glass of white wine.
"Operation complete," he said as he handed her the wine.
"And successful I would say. They should have more than enough now to make their own determinations about us."
Arthur slid his arm around her and held her close.
"Well done Operative Campbell."
Joan leaned in and kissed his cheek in return.
"Thank you."
"Shall we go celebrate a job well done?"
"Sounds wonderful."
She pulled away and held up her glass. Arthur grinned happily at her and lifted his own glass to clink against hers. Once again his arm slid around her waist as they continued toward the couch to enjoy the rest of their evening. After all of the work they'd put into their self-created assignment they deserved some time to relax. Of course Arthur wouldn't have called any moment of what they'd done hard work (except maybe burying the IDs). While Joan would never admit it, she had actually enjoyed Arthur's little game too.
Joan rested against Arthur's chest and sipped at her wine contentedly. Arthur was just as comfortable, but that wasn't going to last for long. After a few more sips Joan tipped her head back and looked up at him.
"You know you're still going to have to dig that box out of the yard," she told him with a bit of a victorious smile on her face.
"You had to remind me of that, didn't you?"
"Simply being a good wife."
"You just want to see me struggling under the bushes again."
"Your ass was rather cute bobbing around like that."
"It was, was it?"
"Mm. It was."
He looked down to find her eyes glittering up at him. Well then. After setting his glass on the side table and taking Joan's to put in the same place, he leaned over her, smiling widely.
"Bushes aren't required."
"They're not, huh?"
"Nope," he replied as he shifted to hover over her more. "Not at all."
