“Bye, Gus, get some sleep,” Nick said.
Gus pointed at Nick before leaving the balcony. “You too, Hemingway.”
The fog bank consumed everything in its path, halfway up their hill. Gray floating amorphous clouds ascended, threatening to obscure everything upwards past Nick’s house. The eerie fog clung close to the water so the sky showed darkly over it all the way to the ocean’s horizon. Nick made a decision he figured would be unpopular, but it had to be handled now.
“Just for tonight, I’d like you two to sleep with Deke in the upstairs safe-room. I have a premonition we’ll be getting a couple of stray Kader family or friends visiting. Something’s not sitting well with me. The combination of Florence the hot reporter’s remarks, and something I may have missed in this Uncle Naseer affair is eating at me.” Nick began searching his Kader bookmarks on the laptop, noting the sudden silence. “Look. I realize this sixth sense thing I pull on you two comes out of nowhere sometimes, but you both know how many times I’m right. It’s a precaution.”
“We do know how many times you turn out to be right,” Rachel spoke up. “I think I can speak for Jean when wondering why you don’t activate your stupendous alarm system, and sleep in the safe-room with us. When the alarm goes off, and you’re right as you usually are, we can phone the police from the safe-room.”
“You want to catch them. Don’t you, Dad?”
Little mind reading twerp. “If I did catch them breaking in, the police would be called to collect them. I will press charges. The police will have to write a report. An incident like that will put me in a good light with the police and the public. It will also discourage any remaining acolytes of that moron, Naseer.”
“You just came out of a coma, Nick. Sure it was only a four hour one, but it still was a coma.” Rachel grasped his hands, but shook her head in defeat a moment later. “I can tell in your face nothing I say will change your mind. You have that damn Terminator gaze going while talking to us. Is this why Gus left? He’s backing your play, isn’t he?”
“Yes, Gus will help me catch these miscreants,” Nick stated in Robocop voice, deep and stilted. “You and the little one will proceed to your safe-room stations or you will be assimilated. Are there any more questions?”
“Grab your gun. If Deke’s sleeping in the safe room, we’ll need to take him for a walk in the fog so he can mark the entire area with that beer he inhaled. I’ll get to see how you’re walking going downhill and uphill.”
“Agreed, earth woman. I will accompany you on this tedious, doggy beer draining mission. It is of course your turn to handle the waste bag.”
“Not tonight it ain’t, Robo-dork. You and Jean the Assassin have me on my last nerve. Anymore out of either of you, and I get out my cattle prod.”
“I’ll get the door,” Nick moved meekly to obey with the giggle of Jean the Assassin in his ear.
*
Aban Kassis struggled to see even a few feet ahead in the fog bank. Although his van incorporated state of the art running and fog lights, the thick fog impeded their progress to the point, they advanced slower than if he and his companion were walking. He dared not glance safely toward the man at his right. “This fog is impossible, Jamal!”
Jamal Kader, his black bearded face a mask of rage held tightly in check. “Be calm. We need to ascend one more street toward the house of this murderer, McCarty. Then, you will turn around and park facing downhill. We will walk from there.”
Aban did as instructed at a snail’s pace, turning around at the next cross street, and parking the van along the curb. “What if this man has an alarm system? He is a famous author. Celebrities like him have high tech security systems, many times connected to a private security firm with roving patrols.”
“Do not speak like a woman!” Jamal put on a ski mask cuffed to not yet cover his face. He put up his black hoodie next, checking to make sure Aban followed his example. Jamal held a small electrical device so Aban could see it. “I can pick any lock on earth. I will be able to tell if he has a security system. Many of these idiots buy expensive security systems, and the first thing they do is forget to activate them.”
Aban covered his head as Jamal did. “This McCarty has a child and wife. What of them? I have checked on-line since you called me to this task. I will not kill a child. When we helped Uncle Naseer overseas, we did not have to kill any children.”