5. Go to a zoo with the Boss

Her life goals weren’t going to get done if she didn’t help the Boss catch that weaselly Homie guy, though. “We almost there, Boss?” Teddy asked.

“I . . . Almost, I think,” the Boss said. “I don’t think this is a very busy part of town.”

It really wasn’t. They’d been walking past a bunch of homes with the occasional apartment complex sprinkled in. There were stores and stuff, but they were all little things. A butcher’s here, a hairdresser there. Nothing too cool.

“I think it’s supposed to be there,” the Boss finally said as she pointed across the street. She looked at her phone again, then nodded. “Yes, that looks like the right place.”

The right place turned out to be a little corner store, of all things. It had signs out front for beers and stuff like that, and a couple of older guys sitting on a bench, both drinking out of some paper bags.

“Man, that’s a lame place to make a Villain base,” Teddy said. “When we get a supersecret base, it should be a lot cooler.”

Emily made a noise that sounded like a really lame growl. Teddy was a bit embarrassed, but she didn’t want to point it out to the Boss and make her feel bad about her growling. She’d show her how to do it later.

“Should we go in and try and see if we can find that Homie guy?” Teddy asked.

“I . . . no, not yet. Let me call Melanie first.” The Boss moved over to the side and started tap-tapping some stuff onto her phone.

Teddy shrugged and plopped herself down on the curb so her legs could stretch out between two cars. She still had a good view of the corner store in case some fat capitalist tried to sneak out of it.

“Um,” the Boss said. “Melaton is on her way.”

“Cool,” Teddy said. “So what’s Homie look like, anyway?”

“Uh. I . . . don’t know?”

“Huh,” Teddy said. She stuck a finger in her nose to clear it out. “Well, maybe we should ask? We should know what our prey looks like.”

“R-right, that’s a good idea,” the Boss said.

Teddy basked in the glow of occasionally having good ideas while she continued to wait. The Boss tap-tapped some more, then knelt next to Teddy to show her a photo. “This is Homie in costume,” she said.

The photo wasn’t the best. It was all smudgy and the angle was kinda lame, but it did picture some guy with a print bandanna around his lower face and a big blue beanie atop his head. His clothes looked like they were two sizes too big, and he had a bunch of chains around his neck for some reason.

“That’s a lame costume,” Teddy said. Even her pimp outfit had more flair.