“That'd be nice. With Henry going to preschool soon and all. You sure you don't need more help with him?”
Darcy shakes her head and chuckles. “You know how it is, Kat. I make more than enough with my work that I can afford to spend time with Henry. Besides, I do too much and it starts to look strange to the IRS. Don't need them sniffing my backtrail.”
“You're legit now,” I remark, putting the last of the clothes in the basket. “You really think they'd chase down BlakDhal1A?”
“I think after I cracked a couple of government d-bases three years ago that I haven't told you about totally, they'd chase me for quite a while,” Darcy says. “Come on, let's get these put away, and I'll start making phone calls.”
Darcy's still working her connections when Jeff comes in, his blue on blue uniform causing me to sit upright before I realize who it is. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he says, obviously confused. “Uh, you are?”
I get up off the couch, where I've been reading some Clifford the Big Red Dog to Henry, who's more interested in chewing on the foot of his teddy bear than my reading.
“Sorry, I'm Katrina Grammercy. I'm a friend of Darcy's. Nice to meet you.” I offer my hand, which Jeff shakes with a smile.
“It's been too long since I heard your name for the first time. Nice to finally meet the Baby Girl.”
I roll my eyes as Jeff laughs. “Is she going to call me that for the rest of my life?”
“Shit!” we hear from the back of the house, and we both look. Darcy comes out, her brown eyes slightly red with frustration and embarrassment. “Sorry. Sorry Henry, Mommy's just upset.”
Henry mumbles something, turning over. He gets off the couch and comes over to Jeff, his arms out for a hug. Jeff sweeps his son up and into his arms, covering his little face and tummy with kisses. “Daddy silly!”
“You make Daddy silly,” Jeff says, giving his son another hug. “Now, hang out for a second with Kat and let me get this uniform off. You don't need to be messin' with anything Daddy's got on.”
I notice that Jeff's not carrying, and he meets my eyes. “Since Henry was born, I leave it in my cruiser,” he explains. “The take-home policy on the cruiser is a bit expensive, but the neighbors like it, and it's safer for Henry. I can leave both my Smith and my shotgun in the trunk there.”
“Nothing for home defense?” I ask, and Jeff shakes his head. “Wow... gutsy.”
“Not all of us are willing to keep a Glock 18 in our living room,” Jeff replies, telling me he knows more about my operations than he might otherwise have. “Don't sweat it, I understand. Just... be careful with that thing, okay?”
“I am,” I answer, taking Henry from him and holding the squirming little boy, who promptly grabs a handful of my hair and yanks. “Ouch, glad I don't wear earrings either.”
“So what's the cursing about?” I ask, carefully pulling my hair free from Henry's grip as Darcy comes in. He's got strong little hands, and even my two inches of hair stings as he yanks. “You need to get him into arm wrestling ASAP.”
“Don't encourage him,” Darcy says with a chuckle. “But I'm having problems with my contacts. Seems it's been too long since I checked in with them down there, some have moved out, some have dropped out of the game, some are just... not available. And my ex-boyfriend's getting married. Feel bad for whoever that poor girl is.”
“So nothing?” I ask, and Darcy quickly shakes her head. “Well, what then?”
“Something, but it's going to be slow. I don't think you've got the leeway to sit around waiting,” Darcy says, “not with what Peter's surely getting ready to send after you.”
I nod, then shrug, helpless. “Can't do much else. If I have to, I'll go running, take down Peter, then worry about my parents later.”
“Or you could ask for help from someone else,” Jeff says, coming out of the master bedroom. “Darcy, I've never helped you before like this, but you've never asked for it.”
“Wanted to keep you out of trouble,” Darcy replies. “Plausible deniability and all that stuff.”
Jeff comes over and wraps his arms around Darcy's waist from behind, chuckling. “I lost all sense of plausible deniability when I married you, Darce. Besides, this doesn't sound all that risky. What're you looking for?”
“My parents,” I say, and Jeff gives me a questioning look. “Yeah, I thought so too until yesterday. Seems they ghosted on us, and they're in Miami. Darcy's been trying to use her contacts to help me find them.”
“Well, I've got some contacts, too,” Jeff says, going over to the counter and opening his cell phone. “Ones who can legally do what you guys are trying to do.”