Aubree’s eyes went wide with perfect, Oscar-worthy innocence. “A scarf? I… I don’t have a scarf. I didn’t take anything.”

“My final project for art school,” she said, her voice no longer soft or innocent. It was sharp, clear, and confident. “It’s called The Orchid Trap. It’s a performance piece about class, surveillance, and how loss prevention assumes guilt based on appearance.”

Morgan stood up. He walked around the desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms. He was close enough that she could smell his coffee breath.

He moved to her jean pockets. Empty. He knelt down and checked her boots. Nothing. He stood up, frustrated. His eyes landed on her bralette. The fabric was thin, but there was a slight, unnatural bulge near the left cup.

She turned, her back to Sandra, and bent down to tie her shoe. In that three-second window, her hand dipped into her oversized tote bag. She palmed a small, powerful magnet. With a sleight-of-hand worthy of a stage magician, she reached behind a display of leather gloves and detached a single, deactivated security tag from a hidden pocket sewn into her bag’s lining.

Aubree turned, her expression one of practiced bewilderment. “Me?”

“Here’s how this works,” he said, his voice low. “You give me the merchandise. I write a trespass notice. You leave, and you never come back. No police. No record. Or… I call the cops. They search you. They search your bag. They find the $1,200 scarf, and you spend the night in a holding cell while your student loan debt accrues interest. Your choice.”

“Nervous,” she corrected.