Archie was pretending he was okay with the new arrangement, but inside, he was livid at the prospect of Vivian sticking around. “This is all I need,” he muttered to Oliver. “Another five weeks of Cupcake Girl.”
“I told you it was a bad idea to get involved with her,” Oliver said. “For the record, I told you that the first day of camp.”
“Don’t strain your arm patting yourself on the back, Oliver,” Archie said. He hated when Oliver disagreed with him. It felt like home, where everyone always acted like he was in the way.
Oliver ignored the remark. “And her name is Vivian, by the way. If she’s going to be our partner, you should start calling her that.”
“Fine,” Archie said. “But I was hoping she’d be gone and we could get down to business. And now I have to come up with a plan that will get her to leave us alone, for good.” He’d been so looking forward to seeing the last of her as she stepped onto that bus.
“And she’s not that bad, you know,” Oliver said suddenly. “I mean, as a person.”
Archie stared at him. “Are you going soft?”
“Of course not,” Oliver replied. “I’m just sharing my observations. Isn’t that what I’m paid to do, Boss?”
Archie ignored Oliver’s remark and decidedly snarky tone. The last thing he needed was Oliver, his aide-de-camp, being taken in by someone like Vivian. Besides, it was all Oliver’s fault they didn’t know she was staying. He was supposed to check up on that kind of stuff, wasn’t he? Or what was the point of having a CIT on the payroll?
They were walking in the out-of-bounds woods near the old boathouse to meet up with Cupcake Girl—Vivian—to go over the plans for this week’s cons. But all Archie could think about was pushing her into the lake. Especially once he saw her standing there in her stupid camp T-shirt—she’d ditched the pigtails, but she had her hair in the messy sort of ponytail most of the girls at camp seemed to favor—with a very self-satisfied smile on her face. He was beginning to learn that particular smile was never a good sign when it came to Vivian.
“Okay, before we get started I have some bad news,” Oliver announced once they’d checked to make sure no other kids were near enough to hear them talking. “Guess who’s back this week? I hate to even say it. Mitchell the Unconnable O’Connor.”
Archie let out a groan.
“Connable-oh-connor? What kind of name is that?” Vivian wondered.
“Unconnable,” Archie said with a dark grimace. “Mitchell O’Connor, better known as Mitchell the Unconnable.” He sighed deeply. As if this summer could get any worse.
Archie had met Mitchell for the first time the previous year. Mitchell was a year younger, so he’d be in the Bluegills’ cabin this summer. He was a friendly and calm boy, small for his age (though still taller than Archie, a fact he did not like to dwell on) with light brown skin and closely cropped dark hair. Archie had pegged him for a perfect mark the minute they met, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Something about the kid made him completely impervious to any and all cons. And not because he saw through them—or was a tattletale—but because he just didn’t seem to respond to anything Archie threw at him. And his inability to be conned was infectious. He could take down a whole expertly designed scam with a simple question, and anyone within earshot would suddenly be listening to Mitchell being all “reasonable” instead of to Archie spinning whatever web he was trying to weave.
Archie hated him.
“And what’s the big deal about this kid?” Vivian asked.
Archie heaved another deep sigh. “He can’t be conned—not by me, not by you, not by anyone. He just doesn’t respond to them at all, I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like it, and I don’t know how to fight it. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“Hah,” Vivian said. “I never thought you’d admit that anyone was unconnable.”
“It’s not something I’m happy about, but let’s face it, the biggest part of knowing your mark is knowing who isn’t one,” Archie said with a rueful shake of his head. “Anyway, he’s back, so we’ll just stay away from him.”
“As far away as possible,” Oliver said, and grunted.
Vivian nodded, but she was still smiling in that way Archie was learning to despise.