“Clarice?”
“That’s me.” Clarice shook his hand with a firm grip. “Come in for a moment, Nick. Did Sonny give you a bad time?”
“Nope. He was a perfect guest except when he and Jean talked me into a knife throwing exhibition. I was surprised you gave him permission.”
“My husband and I know a bit about you, because of recent, shall I say notoriety surrounding some past instances this school year.”
Oh boy. “This has been a very difficult year for us as far as unforeseen circumstances.”
Sonny held his iPhone so his Mom could see the screen in landscape view. “You have to see this. Mr. McCarty is really good with the knives.”
At first Nick saw a resigned look on Clarice’s face, then shock, concern, and finally uneasiness in one showing. Nick smiled. He figured that should take care of any further interest in the McCarty household. The video finished, and she patted Sonny on the shoulder.
“Go show that to your Dad.”
“C’mon, Jean. You can meet my Dad while I show him the video.”
Jean glanced at Nick uneasily, as he sensed she was beginning to notice a bit of strangeness. He nodded at her. “Go ahead. I’ll be in to meet Mr. Salvatore in a moment.”
“That was better than a circus act. Where did you learn to throw knives?”
“It was something I took an interest in while I was in the service. Jean has a real passion for it, and now that it’s a widely accepted sport, I’ve been teaching her how to throw. She’s a natural.”
“Were you really in Delta Force? My husband hates pulp fiction, but when he found out you were a bestselling New York Times author of an assassin series, he bought your first one: Diego’s Way. He hated it, but I thought it was interesting.”
“My assassin series is definitely not for everyone, and yes, I was in Delta.”
Clarice crossed her arms over chest, leaning back slightly, a classic body language negative. “When Sonny called me about the knife exhibition, he said you’re with the FBI, CIA, and the US Marshals. He said you had two US Marshals at your house tonight. Is all that really true?”
“Yes. I’m a consultant with all of those entities, and even with our local police department. The two US Marshals are in charge of our Northern California area. They sometimes need an opinion on a case, as do the other agencies mentioned. I have a propensity for languages. I’ve also been all over the world when I was with Delta, and doing research for my novels. It’s not a big deal. I have an active imagination, and real life combat experience. I helped the Department of Justice with a leak problem they had, and it led to my consulting position. I became involved with the CIA during my time in Delta.”
“Don’t you have to kill me, now that I know your secrets?”
Nick enjoyed that adlib. “No. I consult only, so I don’t really have to sign any nondisclosure contracts or anything, except during the time I’m consulting on a particular case.”
A man a couple inches taller than Nick stepped into the room, also wearing jeans, but with a gray t-shirt and loafers. Dark haired, dark eyes, and with an easy smile, Nick couldn’t picture him ever being anything but relaxed. They shook hands.
“This is my husband, Phil.”
“Glad to meet you, Phil. I’m Nick McCarty. I see you’ve met Jean.”
“Nice meeting you too, Nick. If Sonny hadn’t shown me that knife exhibition on video, I wouldn’t have believed it. It must have taken many hours of practice to achieve that level of expertise.”
“Finally, someone that knows it’s not a magic trick.” Nick grinned. “Yes, it took many, many hours of practice. Jean has taken an interest in the sport.”
“So she told me. Sonny wants to try it too, but I have concerns. I’ve never pictured throwing knives as a sport. It’s deadly, and throwing them the way you do does almost seem like a magic trick.”
“Jean and Sonny seem to hit it off well, so I’m sure they can find other interests. I’ll curtail any further demonstrations,” Nick promised. “They worked their homework in solid harmony. That’s a nice start.”
“For now, I think it would be better for Sonny to stay away from the knife throwing. I’ll give it some consideration though. I read one of your novels.”
“Clarice said you dislike pulp fiction, and that is what my assassin series amounts to. As I mentioned to her, it’s not for everyone.”
“Small doubt about that,” Phil agreed. “Wouldn’t you agree though that even pulp fiction should be a bit believable?”
Nick grinned, knowing each one of Diego’s adventures were based on his real life sanctions; that were both bloodier, and even more violent. “Oh, I don’t know. I read all Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels like Tarzan of the Apes, and John Carter of Mars. Later, I read many of Robert E Howard’s novels and stories with Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, and El Borak. They’re larger than life pulp fiction type heroes.”