“Jean!” Rachel didn’t react in time to entrap the giggling Daughter of Darkness who ran for the door with the attentive Deke moving into protect mode covering her retreat. Nick reacted with much amusement rather than shock.
“Relax Rachel. Other girls would be sharing Jean’s cabin. They would be screaming the moment they caught a glimpse of Dagger’s sidekick. What’s Sonny’s sidekick name anyway?”
Jean paused at the balcony door. “Cracker.”
More laughter from Nick.
“That’s not funny, Jean,” Rachel said. “Why would you ever call him Cracker?”
“He annoyed me during our discussion about his sidekick identity. Sonny thought he should be called ‘Ice Cold’. I told him he was more like a Cracker than a Ice Cold. Sonny ordered me not to call him Cracker, so now I call him Cracker.”
“Of course you do,” Nick replied. Nick sipped some more Bushmill’s while watching Jean. “You wouldn’t be contemplating late night ninja attacks at the camp with Cracker are you?”
Silence. Jean shifted uneasily at the door, knowing it an impossible task to tell Nick lies. “Maybe.”
Nick gestured for calmness from Rachel. “You haven’t thought that course of action through. Those kinds of pranks never end well. For one, you could scare a kid into a panic. If you’re caught, you could be sent to juvenile detention.”
Jean returned to the table. “C’mon, Dad. This is an excellent opportunity to hone our skills. We won’t hurt anyone.”
“I didn’t say the Ninja idea was bad, but no targets and no follow through. I want your word or I cancel the camping trip.”
“What Muerto said,” Rachel reiterated.
“What about camp counselors?”
“Camp counselors? Did you have something in mind nonlethal or do you have a mission thought through that won’t land you in juvy?”
“Muerto!”
“C’mon, Mom,” Jean said. “Sonny and I can ninja the counselors, rearrange their stuff or something else harmless.”
“I don’t see anything too out of line in that training exercise. You do know if they catch you at it, they might decide to slap you two around.”
“Those weenies can’t break Dagger and Cracker.”
“Make it something simple, harmless, and barely noticeable.”
“Okay, Dad. Can I call Sonny?”
“Sure.”
Nick smiled at Rachel’s scowl as Jean raced off. “She has skills. Getting caught wouldn’t be a bad thing. She has common sense. Do you think I should stop her from doing it?”
“What if one of the counselors has a weapon when Jean and Sonny get caught? The counselor could react with deadly force thinking they’re being attacked for real.”
“I’ll go over the op with her. I don’t know how to stop her. She excels at all aspects she attempts to learn. I need her to confide in me so I can mold what she does into an exercise for honing her skills, and not for putting her into prison. I can’t get them into summer camp until the end of July anyway. The camp is very close to my place in Carmel Valley. I’ll put John on their tail if I get uneasy.”
Rachel reached over to cover Nick’s hand. “Are you sure about this, Nick? Isn’t there some way we can pull her away from this obsession? She’s only ten, for God’s sake.”
“Honey, I know that. I thought I had her with the writing. That misdirection may still work. She lies in wait for me at night in her ninja costume. Deke helps her now. It’s an insidious plot by a ten year old nemesis who seems to be eating our lunch. In eight years she will be able to do anything she wants. I don’t want her hurt or killed because I didn’t train her.”
“But she’s not like you, Nick.”
Nick shrugged. “No, she’s not, but I think she’s going to be a killer. It’s weird the way her and Sonny have bonded. He told me today he was going to marry her. I believe if she says yes, then he will marry her. Another thing I have to watch is he’s dedicated to her. She made him dress like a ninja to help her ambush me. I’m hoping Sonny wouldn’t do anything she told him to do, but I’m not sure of it.”
“We’re going to hell.”
“You always say that. If you have an alternative to training her then spit it out. Repeating clichés doesn’t work with me or her.”
“Maybe Sonny in the mix is our salvation and hers.”
Nick chuckled. “That’s a little too optimistic for me.”
His iPhone rang. Nick answered.
“We found them, Nick. Four of them are staying at the Boston Harbor Hotel. I’ve had teams working facial recognition in every major city. We struck pay dirt. It’s as we feared. They’ve registered as couples with money, dressing like oil magnates, and throwing around money as if they were listed in the Forbes fave five. The fifth guy is the key. He established a presence in a little used warehouse on C Street in Boston. This could be so big I’m afraid to send a kill squad in.”