“I do.” Folding my arms in front of my red work T-shirt, I stopped just short of waving my employee keys in his face. He might have been less smug than usual, but I was no happier to see him than I had been back in school. Then as now, the sight of him heading my way was enough to get all my muscles tensing. Red alert. Trouble incoming.

“Good. Then you can help me.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot. His tongue darted out to lick at his lower lip in the same nervous gesture he’d had since forever. And in that moment, he wasn’t a bad high-school memory but rather the little kid who’d spent hours building complicated Lego structures with me. I missed that kid, far more than I’d give him the satisfaction of seeing.

“Come on. Out with it. What do you need?”

He took a deep breath, shoulders rolling back. “I need a complete play set of Frog Court cards in foil.”

I laughed. Like full-out, whole-body chuckles, a few tears short of being a human emoji. When I’d recovered enough to speak, I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “Tell me another one. Who put you up to this? Luther? James?”

Both of Milo’s sidekicks were too stupid to know much about rare cards from the hugely popular Odyssey game, but this was the type of stunt they’d relished back in school. Send a dupe in with a ridiculous ask, embarrassing the requester and wasting the time of everyone involved.

“No, I’m serious.” Milo held up his broad hands. Even in bulky winter wear, he managed to look ready to star in an Italian car ad. His short, dark hair was neatly trimmed, and he’d recently shaved. He didn’t look to be drunk, hungover, or otherwise impaired, but no way was this anything other than some frat-boy dare.

“Uh-huh. Well, unless you have a spare five to ten grand and a burning desire to go treasure hunting, it’s not happening. Not here. Arthur’s had this place for years now, and I know for a fact he’s never seen a complete set of all four cards, especially not in foil.”

“Ten grand?” Milo paled as he gulped. “I need those cards.”

“The money and a hunt,” I corrected him. “They’re not simply out there on the open market for the taking. Those are a serious collector’s item, and people spend years looking to find a matched set.”

Milo’s eyes squished shut. “Damn it.”

“Hate to tell you, but if someone made you promise the cards, they’re having you on.” Despite everything that had passed between us over the years, I actually felt for the guy a little. It sucked to be on the losing end of a prank. As I well knew.