Alien in the House

Chapter 93



WE ZIPPED HOME to find Jeff there, pacing in the foyer. “I wasn’t sure you were really coming here,” he said as he hugged me tightly.

“My ‘uncles’ wanted us both home and they impressed that upon everyone.”

“In other words, we gave her no choice,” Gower said.

“Why were you there at all, Paul?” Jeff asked.

Gower dodged the question by heading into the kitchen. The rest of us followed him. “Where’s Chuck?” Naomi asked.

“Handling political things,” Jeff said. “He’s fine, so are all the others. I was ordered home by pretty much everyone.”

“Has anyone heard from James or Tim or anyone with them?”

“Well, heard, no,” Pierre said. “However, we’ve been manning the airwaves thanks to our brilliant computer geniuses, and there were reports of a massive paintball game on the Georgetown campus.”

“Paintball?” Jeff sounded confused. He spoke for all of us.

Amy gave him the “duh” look. “Imageering altered footage and reports. We contacted Serene. The team is back in Dulce. They’re all fine, other than some minor injuries. Lorraine was tipped off that there was going to be trouble, so they were ready.” She winked at Doreen, who grinned.

“There’s bad news, though,” Len said. “They couldn’t take Raul alive.”

Kyle nodded. “From what we were told, Mossad took him out.”

“That’s because he was about to shoot me in the head,” Reader said as he and Tim came in. “Under the circumstances, I felt okay with Jakob going for the kill shot.”

“Kitty got plenty out of Clarence,” Doreen said.

“Hopefully it’ll help.” Heaved a sigh. “I want to know what the home team found, and I’m sure the home team wants to know what everyone else did.”

“Before that, I have something to return to you,” Tim said. “Okay, stop playing around and unstealth yourself.”

Bruno appeared at my feet. “Where have you been?” Picked him up and hugged him. He was heavy, but he appreciated the snuggle, because he wrapped his neck around mine and cooed.

“Why are you hugging that bird?” Jeff asked.

“Wow, I’m not gracing that with a response, Mister Parrot Lover. What was Bruno doing with you guys?” I asked as I put him down.

“As near as I can tell, he was following Raul,” Tim said. “I say that because Bruno there stopped us from walking into an ambush.”

“I thought you guys were warned by Lorraine and Doreen’s Secret Word Club.”

“Airborne was warned. James and I weren’t warned.”

“Well, good job, Bruno. As always.” He’d gone after whoever shot Jeff. That had been pretty much confirmed to be Raul’s new girl. “So, was Raul’s girlfriend caught?”

“No,” Reader said. “I’m not sure that she was with him.”

Looked at Bruno. He shrugged his wings. She’d been there, but she was gone, and protecting the team had taken precedence. I could buy that and decided it wasn’t vital enough to share.

“Let’s tell you what we’ve found,” Abigail said. “So that we can clean up the kitchen before Jamie’s party tomorrow.”

Right. The party. Memory shared that I had some work to do before then. “Okay, you know, everyone catch each other up. I have to make some calls.” I didn’t want to make them, but I was clear that I had no choice.

Stepped out of the room and went into Raj’s office. He and Jeff came with me. “What are you doing?” Jeff asked.

“Something I have to do.”

While Raj quietly explained the situation to Jeff, I contemplated my options. Chose to call Gadoire first, in part because it was less odious than calling Culver first. That I’d had these people’s phone numbers stored was either a testament to my planning or just proof that the universe enjoyed a good joke. Bet on the latter.

“Hello, my dove. Do you need me?”

“Hi, Guy, and yes, in a way. We discovered that some of the invitations to our daughter’s birthday party weren’t mailed, and the one to you and Vance was in that group. So, I realize it’s terribly short notice, and that tomorrow’s Christmas, but was wondering if you’d be able to come.”

“My dove, nothing would give me greater pleasure.”

I could think of a lot of things that would give most adults greater pleasure than attending a one-year-old’s party, but I kept that to myself. “Great! We’ll see you tomorrow then. Three in the afternoon.”

“I’ll be there. Will it be alright if I bring dear Lydia with me? I don’t believe it’s safe for her to be alone right now.”

I needed Gadoire’s help. He could bring a Bengal tiger along and I’d have to smile and give it a party hat and a piece of cake. “Sure, that would be great.”

We got off and I called Lillian Culver. She expressed great joy at the invitation along with the proper understanding of how people could forget to mail important letters, and guaranteed that she and Abner would be in attendance.

Politically required sucking-up done, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. Jeff picked it up. “Raj, can you cover whatever and fill us in tomorrow morning?” he asked as he picked me up.

“Absolutely. Get good rest.”

“You too,” I managed before I snuggled into Jeff’s neck. Heard more voices as we went upstairs; sounded like some of the others were back. Good.

Jeff hypersped us upstairs and into our apartment. Dad and Jamie were both in their beds asleep, dogs with Dad, cats and Poofs with Jamie. Couldn’t just lie down with my clothes on, though, because I was still wearing a bulletproof vest. Knew I was in dire need of sleep when Jeff undressing me didn’t make me want to instantly have sex.

Oh, sure, I wanted to by the time I was in the standard-issue nightclothes and he was naked, but he got into his pajama bottoms and then into bed. “You need sleep,” he said as he snuggled me up against him. “You had a big day and that fight with Naomi took a lot out of you.”

“You knew about that?”

“Still not an emotion you have that isn’t broadcast, baby. You were so angry you were an easy read, for more than emotions. I told Chuck about it, so he knows. He said you were right, by the way.”

“Right about what?”

“That he doesn’t want a big wedding. He just has no idea of how to get out of what they’re being forced into.”

Would have discussed this more but Jeff’s body was warm, his heartbeats soothing, and I was asleep before I could say another word.

Slept like a rock and, happily, didn’t wake up in the middle of the night. Having gone to bed after midnight might have helped. Knowing Raul and Clarence were both dead probably helped more.

The morning came bright and early with Jamie getting out of her crib by herself and jumping into bed with us. Chose to enjoy this as opposed to freak out about it, but we were clearly going to have our hands full by age two if this was what she was like at age one.

Half of her mountain of presents were for just us, and half were for later at her party. Mom had joined us somewhere in the night—had no idea how she’d gotten in without waking everyone up, but she’d managed it—and so the five of us had breakfast and then Jeff called for his parents to come over.

Alfred and Lucinda being with us made Jamie almost vibrate with happiness. She opened each present, showed it to each of us, and thanked the giver with huge hugs and kisses.

This took hours, which was fine with me. But soon enough it was lunchtime and then time to get ready for the party.

Jamie had insisted on being in an all-pink ensemble, including a sparkly pink tiara I was positive Pierre had found and suggested to her. Based on the fact that he was the one who’d arranged her outfit, it seemed a good bet.

I was back in a nice black-and-white dress with side slits. Oh those trendy Elves. Apparently they felt cocky about my wearing white, too. Chose not to complain and hoped their optimism wasn’t misguided. Transferred the necessities from my purse to my handbag. My own home or not, wasn’t going downstairs without my Glock, Jeff’s adrenaline harpoon, or my iPod.

Contemplated asking Jeff to wear his fedora, but decided explaining why he was wearing a hat indoors to both his parents and mine would be the very definition of “totally embarrassing” so chose to live without his hat for today.

Walter advised that guests were starting to arrive, so we all headed down to the ballroom. Happily the first guests were all our friends and a lot of our family. The wisdom of holding the party in the ballroom wasn’t lost on me anymore.

The fresh flowers—all pinks and whites—had already arrived by the time we got downstairs. Sadly, the press had already arrived, too. Saw a lot of familiar faces, most of them familiar because of Jeff’s being sworn in and Cliff’s car exploding. There were a couple blonde women in the group and I wondered if one of them had been the one who’d asked if we knew who the bomb was supposed to kill. None of them looked remarkably stupid, however, so I wasn’t going to figure it out via those means.

Jeff had won the musical battle and there was some classical stuff on very low. It was a little too classy for a little girl’s birthday party, but Jamie didn’t seem to care and Jeff was happy with it, so I didn’t whine.

As with our dinner party, we had a ton of Field agents in the Embassy, most on the second floor, but the rest of the facility wasn’t being shirked. Hoped a superbeing didn’t form anywhere right now, because it felt like every agent worldwide was here.

Politicians and other movers and shakers arrived and the party stopped being fun and started being work. Some, like Cliff, the Armstrongs, and the McMillans, I was happy to see. Some, like Whitmore, who we’d had to invite to this against everyone’s better judgment, I wasn’t.

Pierre was in charge of the festivities, of course, and he had Jamie and any kid under twelve in the middle portion of the ballroom, being entertained by a Little Theater troupe. The kids were loving it, which was nice. It also freed up me and Jeff to interact with the politicians. No rest for the wicked.

Jeff was cornered by a variety of senators, so I wandered, looking for Gadoire or Culver, neither of whom were here yet. Amy joined me. “You crashed last night.”

“I totally did. What did I miss?”

“Not much. We did find some things. None of it’s conclusive, of course, but there were fragments we were able to piece together. I think the L idea was sound, because it was just too consistently there in everyone’s calendars, but Olga was right—it’s going to take us a long time to narrow that down.”

“That’s it?”

“No. We found reference to Gaultier, as well as Somerall, Gardiner, and Cross.”

“The Gaultier bigwigs you’re fighting for control.”

“Yeah. Like so much, not something we’re going to figure out today. They could have been legitimate things—we couldn’t find enough to be sure. There were other things like that—enough repetition to stand out, nothing concrete to take action against today.”

“Oh, well, it is what it is.”

Senator Armstrong extracted himself from Jeff’s group and came over to me as Doreen came to get Amy for something. “Ah, Ambassador, wanted to let you know right away. The governor of California has asked, and Missus Brewer is going to fill her late husband’s seat.”

“Nathalie said yes to that?”

He nodded. “For the same reasons your husband did.” Someone called him back over. “Have to go. Discussing how to handle the upcoming vote.” He rejoined Jeff and the others.

Lillian Culver and Abner Schnekedy took this moment to arrive. She was in what I was coming to realize was her trademark all-red look, including the bright red lipstick. Tried not to think of her as Joker Jaws. Failed.

Took a big one for the team and hugged her while doing the air kiss. “Lillian, I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it. I hear that Nathalie has some good news to help alleviate the pain of Edmund’s suicide.”

“Yes, I guess so. I mean if we count taking over for him as good news.” Resisted the impulse to say that Brewer hadn’t been a suicide. There was a high probability the Master or the Apprentice were here, because pretty much the same people as had been at our dinner party were in attendance along with a lot of other guests and the press, who were busy taking tons of pictures.

Culver laughed. “Well, maybe it’s better news for me.”

Gadoire and Lydia were escorted inside. Did the greetings. “Great party,” Lydia said. “I’m impressed with how well you’ve all bounced back from the tragedies of the past few days.”

“I’d hardly say that. But a one-year-old shouldn’t be punished for things that had nothing to do with her and that she couldn’t possibly understand.”

“Oh, I hear she’s quite precocious,” Lydia said.

“She’s great, but again, people being killed isn’t something I think is appropriate for any child to have to deal with or try to comprehend.”

“I heard Edmund killed himself,” Lydia replied. “Not that I’m suggesting that you think suicide is appropriate for children to know about, either.”

There was something different about Lydia, and it wasn’t mourning, because she didn’t seem to be. She seemed more . . . aggressive than I was used to. She was a political animal, of course, but I’d only seen the “here with my husband” side of her. Found myself wondering if Eugene had actually acted as a restraint on her real personality.

I was preoccupied with thinking about the “new Lydia” so I didn’t respond. She didn’t seem to care. “But anyway, Guy, could we get something to drink, please?”

“Of course, my dear. Ambassador, dear Lillian, please excuse us.” Gadoire ushered Lydia off. Wondered where Vance was and if he was aware that his husband seemed to be moving Lydia into their marriage. Or maybe Lydia was moving herself into Vance’s marriage.

“Abner, be a love and fetch me something nice,” Lillian said. “You know what I like.” He smiled, kissed her cheek, and trailed after Gadoire. Lillian turned back to me. “You have a request, Ambassador. So let’s save the time and you tell me what it is that I can do for you. I’ll speak for Guy on this one, too. We’ve already chatted, right after your late night calls to both of us.”

“Sorry about that, I’d lost track of the time. But, um, how did you know I have a request of any kind?”

She laughed softly. “You’re very new at this. But I understand—it’s awkward, the first time you need to reach out to your friends for help, the first time something seems beyond you.” She took my hand in hers. Managed not to flinch, was relieved there really was no electrified joy buzzer in her palm. “We’re here for you.”

Focused on the goal, which was to prevent a lot of horrible things from happening. “I need you two to use your influence to help kill all the bills going through the House and Senate right now. Preferably before Congress officially starts the new session in January.”

She laughed louder. “Is that all?”

“They don’t have to die completely, but there are clear anti-alien lines in all of the bills that need to be removed, so the bills have to go back to committee or die.”

“I see. And, just what can American Centaurion do for us in return?”

This was the part I was dreading. “I have no freaking idea. But I’ll bet you do.”

She smiled again and this time there was no mistaking it—Joker Jaws was in the house. “Oh, yes, I do. So does Guy. We’ll think on it, and let you know. Somewhere before January third.”

“Super. Thanks. I think.”

She squeezed my hand, gently. “You’ll get used to it. We do something for you, you do something for us, quid pro quo. After a while, you won’t feel dirty about it.” She looked around. “Is that Clifford? Haven’t seen him in at least a week.”

She sailed off toward Cliff, who spotted her coming and looked around for an escape route. He was too slow and she cornered him. Abner, Gadoire, and Lydia joined them. Nice to know I was dismissed until they’d determined what they could get out of us. Problem was, I knew they were going to get a lot.

Watched the four of them talk to Cliff. He definitely looked surrounded by barracuda. Looked around for where Nathalie was. Found her in the group Jeff was with. She looked like she was barely holding up. Jeff was on one side of her, Reader was on the other. Got the feeling they were protecting her, which I was more than fine with.

Chuckie joined Cliff and the Barracuda Brigade. Had to figure Cabal of Evil was no more, at least for now. Cliff looked relieved to have the support. Couldn’t blame him.

Everything seemed calm, but we hadn’t stopped anything or anyone. We had some information, we had some dead bad guys, we had more questions than answers. And we had people still missing. Most missing of all, of course, were the Master and Apprentice. With Raul and Clarence both dead, our chances of catching the Master were slim, at least right now. But one of the Apprentice Wannabes might be here.

Looked around. Lots of people, but one I’d gotten used to was missing. Supposedly Buchanan was going to be awake and with us. But I didn’t see him anywhere. “Malcolm, I could really use someone to talk to,” I said under my breath.

“Missus Chief, I thought you’d never ask.”