David stepped up behind me so close I could feel the cold, damp air coming off his leather jacket on the back of my neck.

He slapped the heavy envelope down on the belt right behind the yellow blanket.

“Get that off the belt,” he whispered.

“I’m buying it,” I said.

Nancy slid the blanket over the glass scanner.

A sharp, clear beep rang up toward the bare steel beams of the store ceiling.

“That’s fourteen eighty-two,” Nancy said, glancing back and forth between us.

David didn’t reach for his wallet.