this is Shirley?" I asked Diesel. "If it's Shirley, she was younger and a lot thinner. " He put his hand to my back and moved me toward the door. "We need to get out of here. Shirley is a creature of habit, and she's due home any minute. " Enough said. I was out of the apartment like I'd been shot from a cannon. I got ten feet down the hall before Diesel grabbed me from behind and yanked me to a halt. "Don't run, " Diesel said, his hand still holding fast to my T-shirt. "It attracts attention. " I immediately went still. The last thing I wanted to do was attract attention. I looked around. "Do you think anyone saw us leave her apartment?" "Sweetie, it's just you and me in the hall. " "Yes, but all these doors have peepholes. Maybe someone's looking out a peephole. " "You need to chill. " "You're telling me to chill? I just broke into a woman's apartment! I never do that sort of thing. I was a law-abiding citizen before I met you. That was illegal entry, gross violation of privacy, and not a nice thing to do. Do you know what happens to people who do breaking and entering and searching and snooping? They go to prison. " "Not always, " Diesel said. "Not always? That's all the comfort you can give me? What kind of an alien are you anyway?" Diesel steered me into the elevator. "I'm not an alien. I'm a human with Unmentionable abilities . . . Like you. " "I am not an Unmentionable. " Diesel punched the first-floor button. "How do you explain your cupcakes?" "I'm an excellent baker. I've always made great cupcakes. " "Honey, those are Unmentionable cupcakes. " "That's ridiculous. My parents never said anything to me about being Unmentionable. It's not on my birth certificate. " "Maybe your parents didn't know. Sometimes the gene is passed from one generation to the next. Sometimes the gene just suddenly appears with no apparent history. " The elevator doors opened to the ground floor and Diesel pushed me out into the small lobby. "Some Unmentionables can throw lightning, some can levitate a dump truck, " Diesel said. "You can make cupcakes. You were born with the Unmentionable cupcake gene. " I slid a squinty-eyed sidewise look at him. "Are you laughing at me?" "Yeah, but that doesn't mean it isn't all true. " CHAPTER FIVE