Alien in the House

Chapter 47



“I PLAYED THIS GAME with Omega Red last night. Let me skip my first two guesses and go for the answer he gave me. Gaultier Enterprises.”

Reader nodded. “Got it in one. The research facility.”

“Where Christopher found Malcolm, basically.”

“Yeah.”

“So, what do we do?”

Jeff came out of the bedroom, also wearing our Sleepwear Standard Issue. “Now that you two have made up, we have a fast meeting, then we all get showered, get dressed, and get going.”

“You were awake? All this time?”

Jeff grinned, came over, and kissed me. “Not the whole time. But with all the angst and worry going on in the living room, I woke up.”

“Sorry,” Reader said.

Jeff shook his head. “No, this was the most important thing the two of you could have done. Besides, gave me time to check on Jamie and everyone else who’s staying with Paul. Per Abigail, the adults are all awake, something about the news being too ‘good’ not to share with everyone, and she told me everyone’s fine. They’re going to keep the kids there today.”

“Denise isn’t going to do daycare?” Decided we could talk about the news another time. Like never.

“She’s doing it at the Pontifex’s Residence. Gladys feels, since it’s a smaller building with far fewer people coming and going, that it’ll be easier to protect everyone there. Kevin agrees, as does Reynolds. Kevin’s staying with everyone, though Reynolds and Paul will have to leave later today.”

“They’ll be with us at the swearing in?” Reader asked.

“Yeah.” There was a knock at our door and Jeff went to answer it. He came back with Christopher, Amy, and White, all in their robes and PJs. We looked like we were either at a group day spa or a psych ward. Chose not to share this thought.

“Jeff said that something from last night was connected to Gaultier Enterprises,” Amy said as she plopped down on the loveseat. “So, what do you need from me?”

As Christopher joined her, White took the chair Reader had vacated, and Jeff started a pot of coffee, Reader and I caught everyone else up on the thinking.

“We need to find two things at Gaultier—whatever Eugene had hidden there, and possibly whatever he was working on, and information on whatever was given to Malcolm, hopefully including a cure.” Tried not to worry about Buchanan. Failed utterly.

“Getting in is no problem,” Amy said. “Legally, I can go anywhere I want in any Gaultier facility. The problem is finding what we need without giving anything away and before someone destroys whatever it is we’re looking for.”

“I don’t believe we can all go,” White said. “We discussed it after Representative Martini called us to an early summit meeting.”

“Uncle Richard, that’s not funny.”

“No, but it’s accurate. You need to get used to the title, Jeffrey. I doubt very much that you’re going to be allowed to leave office as soon as you’d like.”

“Wonderful,” Jeff groaned. “Let’s get back to Kitty’s murder mystery theory for a while, okay?”

“Okay, and my father’s right,” Christopher said. “I can go in as Amy’s husband, and we figure we can use the excuse that she wants to impress her father-in-law, so she’s giving him a tour.”

“That could work, really. I mean, Richard’s the retired Pontifex, and that has cachet in more places than just with every A-C.”

Amy nodded. “That’s what we were thinking. I’d love to bring Chuck along, but his cover’s been pretty much blown along with everyone else’s, so if I walk in with the head of the C.I.A.’s E-T Division, you know people are going to pay far too much attention to what we and he are doing.”

“Same goes for Cliff,” Christopher added. “I know he falls under the ‘met once we were in Washington’ group, but even if he didn’t, he’s too high-ranking. But we need someone with higher-level skills than any of us have.”

Considered the options. “Take Doctor Wu with you.”

“You’re kidding,” Amy said.

“No, I’m not. Of the five of them, Henry’s the best with software and you need someone who can hack in in less than a minute and find what you need in less than five.”

“How do we explain him?” Christopher asked.

“You don’t,” Amy said. “Because you can’t lie. At all. Richard, if I do the talking, can you believably pass Henry off as your assistant?”

White nodded. “I’m not up to Camilla’s standards, but since you’ll be assisting me, I won’t have any trouble with it.”

“Take Raj, too,” Jeff said.

Christopher made a face. “What do we want with a troubadour?”

“Wow, will you stop hating on him and his talent? Raj is great for this—and no one can charm like a troubadour. Other than you, James.”

Reader laughed. “Thanks, girlfriend. But I agree. I’d like to go to Gaultier, but honestly, my job is to protect you guys, and if we’re still going with the idea that Vance is on to something, then I need to be guarding Jeff.”

“Raj works well with the squatters,” Jeff added. “They’ll listen to him, and that means less whining from Wu.”

“Raj can also run point between you guys and us, so no one asks why Amy, her husband, or her supposedly interested father-in-law are busy texting instead of paying attention.”

“Okay, we’re set,” Amy said. “I don’t know that we’ll be able to be done with all this before the swearing-in, though. Will it matter if we’re not there?”

“No,” Reader said. “You could go, but Paul will be there, and as the Supreme Pontifex, his presence represents for every A-C, so you can be absent without it causing issues.”

“The press will find a way,” Amy said. “They always do.”

“Speaking of which, should we invite Mister Joel Oliver along?”

“Only if you want to present him as your personal photographer,” Reader said.

“Yeah, we do,” Jeff said. “I want him around—we can actually trust him, and he’s the one who will know who’s lying and who isn’t.”

“You normally know that,” Christopher said.

Jeff shook his head. “We can’t count on that, on any empath, any more. With devices that can block or overlay emotions, being an empath becomes less of an advantage. Now I can be lied to in even more ways than the rest of you.”

“Duh. I forgot. You guys need to search for three things. Omega Red found something like what we found—the emotional blocker that blew up—and the emotional overlay, but he found them not at Titan, but at Gaultier.”

“Well, aren’t I so proud to hopefully become the head of Evil Incarnate.” Amy’s sarcasm knob was definitely at eleven. “Does that mean we need to bring him along, too?”

“How do we pass off a blind guy as anyone’s aide?” Christopher asked.

“There are ways, but I think he’ll be happier staying home. Henry can connect to him, and that means we have someone downloading info here as well as there.”

“What will the rest of you be doing while we go perform corporate espionage?” Amy asked.

“Searching Santiago’s office for clues,” Reader said.

“Prepping to get sworn in for the latest job I don’t want to do.”

“Checking on Malcolm.”

“There’s no change,” White told me gently. “Magdalena and Tito spent the night in the infirmary, but Mister Buchanan is still non-responsive.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to see him before we leave.”

“Let’s eat, shower, and dress first,” Jeff said. “Breakfast is ready.”

“How come you never make breakfast?” Amy asked Christopher as we headed for the dining room.

“Because I don’t need anyone’s votes.”

“I heard that,” Jeff called from the kitchen. “It’s really because you’re worse in the kitchen than Kitty is. No offense, baby.”

“Absolutely none taken. But I appreciate having yet more dirt on Christopher to use against him when he least expects it.”

“As if my not being a good cook is something to be embarrassed about?”

“It is when your wife thinks your cousin’s cooler because he can and does cook.”

“I make my wife happy in other ways.”

“Yes, you do,” Amy said as we all sat down. “But sometimes a girl likes the little extra gestures that Jeff does.”

Christopher gave Jeff Patented Glare #1 as he served us plates of beautifully cooked and perfectly arranged food. “You cooked all this while somehow talking with all of us at the same time?”

Jeff grinned. “I don’t give away political secrets, sorry.”