A Mad Reed Security Christmas

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  He turned his back to me, whispering to Ryan. Like I couldn’t hear him. “Dad, stepping between her and Knight isn’t going to do anything. You just have to distract her with food.”

  I snorted, but shoved the last half of the brownie in my mouth. It was just too good to pass up.

  “If only that worked all the time,” Knight muttered.

  An explosion had us all spinning around. I could see smoke rising above the house, but I couldn’t see what had happened from here. I immediately drew my gun, as did Cap, Knight, Sinner, and Sean. I sprinted for the other side of the house and gasped in shock. The ladies were all spread out on the lawn, not moving at all. It looked like a massacre. There was a large fire in the center of where they were spread out and it was quickly moving across the grass.

  Cap shouted from beside me, “Spread out! Jack, make sure the kids are safe! Ladies, stay down!”

  I quickly moved to the left, staying low and looking for any threats. I took cover behind a tree and scanned the yard. It had to be a grenade or something very similar.

  “What are we looking for?” Ryan whispered behind me. I startled and shoved him to the ground, hovering over his body. The last thing I needed was to be distracted by my husband being shot. I watched as Cap worked his way over to the ladies, asking each of them if they were okay.

  “Do you have to sit on me?” Ryan grumbled.

  “That depends. Do you want to be shot or were you just hoping that they would take pity on you because your wife is protecting you?”

  “I was actually thinking-”

  “Shh!” I searched through the area again, but there was nothing indicating that anyone was attacking us. “Stay here,” I whispered. I rushed forward, getting into a better position, and watched as Knight and Sinner did the same. Sean was working his way around the house in case someone had moved in that direction.

  “God, that hurt,” Harper groaned.

  “Quiet,” Cap hissed.

  “Why do we need to be quiet?” Lillian asked.

  “Because we need to find out who’s out there,” I said as quietly as I could.

  “Who’s out where?” Cece asked, standing to her feet. Like a bullet, Logan raced across the lawn and tackled his wife to the ground, slapping his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

  “What’s going on?” Sarah asked nervously. “Why does everyone have their guns out?”

  “Because we’re trying to find the threat,” I snapped. God, it was so irritating when civilians didn’t listen and I had to explain every last thing to them.

  “Maggie,” Cap whispered, patting her cheek to rouse her. When she didn’t move, Cap got down on his knees and dragged her into his arms. I moved closer, trying to see what was wrong. “Freckles, come on. Wake up.” But she didn’t move. Cap looked up in panic. “Get me an ambulance!”

  Sean appeared next to me and pulled out his phone, alerting the police department that we needed an ambulance. Ryan walked up next to me as if nothing had happened at all.

  “What are you doing? I said to stay down!”

  “I came to inform all of you that you’re looking for a ghost.”

  “What does that mean?” Knight said angrily.

  Ryan walked over to the fire and pointed to something metal shining in the middle of the flames. “See that?”

  I looked closer and nodded.

  “Harper,” Ryan scolded, “did you put a frozen turkey in the deep fryer?”

  Harper turned bright red and nodded. “I may have.”

  “Shit,” Knight swore, walking over to Kate and pulling her into his arms. “You’re okay?” He started running his hands all over her body to be sure until Kate started slapping his hands away.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “I don’t see any injuries on Maggie. What’s wrong with her?” Cap asked, running his hands over Maggie again. Maggie’s eyes fluttered open and then she looked around in confusion.

  “What happened?”

  “You put a frozen turkey in a deep fryer,” Cap said irritatedly. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” She sat up and shook her head. “I must have hit my head.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Sean said. “Do you know how much shit I’m gonna get for being at the scene of a turkey explosion?”

  “You’ll figure out something,” Cap snapped. But Sean was pissed.

  “Nothing happens at Christmas.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cap asked.

  “I got a call at Halloween about you, and I walked in on you fucking your wife. Now, it’s the damn turkey fryer and the whole damn police department is gonna be here. I swear to God, nothing better happen at Christmas or I’ll never speak to you again.”

  He stormed off, looking pissed as hell. I pulled my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing, but one look at Sinner and I lost it.

  “Fuck off,” Sean shouted as he flipped us off.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Cazzo

  “I still don’t understand why Sinner went over to Lola’s house,” Burg grumbled.

  “Because his wife’s brother was there,” I said irritatedly. Shit, I had already been over this with him. How many more times was he going to cry about it?

  “Still, we’re his teammates. I mean, honestly, Cara already sees Sean enough. It’s not like one day is going to ruin their relationship.”

  “Dude, it’s Thanksgiving. It’s a time that most people spend with family.”

  “Oh, so I guess I’m not family,” Burg said irritatedly.

  “Do you share blood with him?”

  “No.”

  “Then shut the fuck up. He’s not here and you’re just gonna have to get over that.”

  He was quiet for a minute, but then he made some irritated noise and I rolled my eyes in frustration. Where the fuck was Gabe? Probably fucking around just to leave me with Burg’s whiny ass.

  “I just think-”

  “For the love of God, man! Shut the fuck up. You’re ruining football.”

  “Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway. Football’s just not the same without him.”

  The doorbell rang and I sprang up from my chair, rushing to the front door to answer it. It took me longer to get there now. When my house was shot up, the last time, I decided that if I was going to keep repairing it, then I might as well upgrade it. Now there was a family room and a living room that had french doors, so I could play the tv as loud as I wanted.

  I yanked the door open and grinned when I saw Jules, Chris, and Ice standing before me. I leapt forward and pulled Jules in for a hug.

  “Thank God you guys are here. Burg has been moping for the last hour because Sinner’s somewhere else for Thanksgiving.”

  “Yeah?” Jules shoved me off him. “That doesn’t mean that I need a fucking hug.”

  “Hey!” Ali shouted. “I don’t suppose you guys want to help us carry in food.”

  “Shit,” Chris said, taking off quickly for the trucks. Jules rolled his head back and groaned while Ice shoved past me to get inside.

  “What’s up his ass?” I asked Jules as we went to grab food to take in.

  “He and Lindsey had a fight.”

  “When do they not fight?” I smiled at Ali and leaned in for a hug. “How are you?”

  “Great. I’m hoping that Axel will be home for Christmas, but it’s all up in the air.”

  “That’s military life.”

  She sighed, “I know, but I can hope.” She plopped down pies in my hands and that was it for me. I only had eyes for that pie. I turned and walked away, not even bothering to pay attention to anyone else anymore. I walked back to the kitchen and set the pies down, and started to take off the foil.

  “Ah!” Ali’s hand slapped mine. I jerked back, angry that I had been caught before I even got a taste. “Don’t you dare touch that pie!”

  “I just wanted a taste,” I grumbled as I went back to the living room. I flopped down on the couch, depressed that I was going to
be waiting so long to eat the damn food.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Burg asked. “I know you’re not upset that Sinner’s not here.”

  “Let it go, man. You’re starting to sound like a chick.” I sighed and all the guys turned to me, waiting for me to say what was wrong. “You know, most of the food is ready and they’re just making us wait until it’s the right time.”

  “And when’s that?” Chris asked curiously.

  “Three o’clock.”

  “What?” they all shouted.

  “That’s three hours away!” Ice shouted.

  “I know, and I’m fucking hungry.”

  We all stewed in anger. It wasn’t fair. A man shouldn’t have to wait so damn long for food. Especially when it was just sitting there, waiting to be eaten.

  “Alright, I have a plan,” Jules said, standing and pacing around the living room. He walked over to the entryway and looked out for any women, but even I could hear them chatting in the kitchen.

  “A plan for what?” Burg asked.

  “To take back Thanksgiving,” he grinned.

  We all just sat there. I don’t think any of us had any clue what he was talking about.

  “Come on, guys. If we do this right, we could be eating in as little as a half hour!”

  “Hell yeah,” I said, jumping to my feet. “I’m all in.”

  “Alright, what we need first is a distraction.”

  “We could run around naked,” Gabe said excitedly.

  I slapped him upside the head. “Why don’t you think first. My sister is here.”

  “Yeah, that’s not really what I had in mind,” Jules said. “I was thinking more along the lines of getting them out of the house. Then one of us will gather up as much food as possible, without making it obvious that food has been taken, and then we’ll all meet up back in here.”

  “I got it,” Burg said, standing up and walking to the other side of the room.

  “Alright, now, Cazzo, since it’s your house, you know where everything is, and you can get dishes, get the food, and get out.”

  “On it,” I said with a nod.

  “Boys, give us fifteen minutes and our problems are solved,” Burg grinned.

  We waited impatiently, a long thirteen minutes before the doorbell finally rang. I rushed over to the door and stared stupidly out the door. There was a sleigh and horses in front.

  “Your carriage awaits.” The man took a sweeping bow and then dropped his top hat back on his head.

  “Uh…Burg? What the fuck is this?”

  “Our distraction,” he said with a smile as he walked over to the door. “Thanks for coming, man. I really appreciate it.”

  “Just so you know, it’s triple the rate because it’s a holiday.”

  “Wait, you said a hundred bucks.”

  “I said that was our everyday rate,” the man smirked.

  “Just give him the money so we can fucking eat,” I said.

  “You guys are all paying me back.”

  Burg handed over three hundred dollars while Jules ran to get the ladies. They all clapped excitedly when they saw the carriage, but were a little shocked when we told them they were going on their own. Once they were out, we all spread out, grabbing dishes and preparing the living room for our feast. We only had ten minutes tops.

  Ice and Chris worked on grabbing the stuffing and mashed potatoes. I got the sweet potatoes and the rolls, and Jules got the cranberry relish and the cornbread. We all rushed into the living room and hid all the dishes. Gabe walked in with a pie plate and a large grin.

  “What are you doing?” I shouted. “We can’t steal a whole pie!”

  “Relax, there are like twelve pies out there. I doubt they’ll miss this one pie.”

  He quickly hid it just as we heard the front door open. None of us moved as we waited for the ladies to figure out that we had stolen the food and were prepared to send them off so we could do it. But the minutes ticked by and they never came.

  “We need an air freshener. You can smell all the food,” Chris hissed.

  “I don’t have any air fresheners.”

  “Then what-”

  “Hey, guys,” Ali grinned as she opened the doors. We all sat ramrod straight, refusing to look at her. One of us might give the game away. “Uh, I was just coming to see if you wanted some cheese and crackers.”

  “We’re good,” Chris said in a gruff voice.

  “Okay, enjoy the game.” But then she stopped and started sniffing the air. I swallowed hard, thinking about my meal being ripped away from me. “You know, you can really smell the food over here.”

  She shrugged and left, and we all let out a sigh of relief.

  “That was close,” Burg said. “Let’s hurry up and dish everything out. We need to finish quickly and then get everything cleaned up before they notice.”

  We piled all the food in the middle of the floor and started dishing stuff out onto paper plates. Voices grew louder, coming this way.

  “Shit, grab that blanket.” I pointed behind Gabe and he quickly got it and tossed it to me. We spread the blanket over the food, resting it on our laps so that nothing got fuzz on it. The door slid open just as we got the blanket in place.

  “Oh, isn’t this cozy,” Emma grinned as she walked over to us, and leaned down, kissing Burg on the cheek. “Do you want to explain to me why you’re sitting under a blanket with a bunch of guys?”

  “Uh…” Burg cleared his throat, glancing at all of us for help. “We were cold.”

  “You were cold.” Her eyes narrowed in on Burg, but when he didn’t give in, she stood. “Okay, fine. Don’t tell me what’s going on. I’ll just have to find out some other way.”

  When she was out of the room, I threw a cornbread muffin at Burg. “We were cold?”

  “Well, what did you want me to say? I was put on the spot!”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Ice said irritatedly. “We were seeing how big the blanket was?”

  “Yeah,” Chris nodded. “That would have made it so much better.”

  “Well, what would you have said?” Ice asked Chris.

  “Nothing! I would have sat here like an idiot, because there is no good explanation for why we’re all sitting under a fucking blanket.”

  “This is just one more thing that Lindsey’s gonna rag on me about.”

  “Why is she pissed at you this time?” Jules asked.

  Ice heaved a sigh and dug into his food, speaking around a mouth full of potatoes. “It’s all bullshit. She wanted me to get up with Willow last night so that she could sleep, but I was fucking exhausted. Then, she had to get up early this morning to start cooking and…I was sleeping.”

  “So…you didn’t help and then expected her to take care of the kids while she cooked a feast for you?” Gabe asked. “That’s pretty shitty.”

  “Hey, I work a lot, and she’s the one that wanted the kids. Hell, I would have been fine without them.”

  “You’re such a liar,” Chris laughed. “You love those kids and you wouldn’t want your life any other way.”

  “Fine, so I lied about the kids, but I didn’t ask her to get up and cook. She decided that all on her own.”

  “Yeah,” Jules nodded. “That’s a great argument. Especially after you just stole the food that she made you.”

  “Hey, you’re eating it too,” Ice pointed out.

  We all finished up our food and stashed the dishes around the room again. “Time for pie,” I said gleefully.

  “Shit.” Gabe started looking around, throwing pillows and blankets around.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “I forgot a knife.”

  “Fine, we’ll just share out of the pie plate.” I was about to draw lines in the pie with my fork when Burg stopped me, slapping my hand away.

  “You can’t just put your fork in there. It has your spit on it.”

  “I was just going to cut it into pieces.”

  “No, we just need to estimate. N
o crossing forks or spit.”

  We all dug in, shoving each other from time to time when someone got too close to someone else’s piece of pie. None of us even heard the door open, or Vanessa talking to us.

  “Hey!”

  I spun around, dropping my fork to the floor. The other guys huddled in closer so that she couldn’t see the pie plate. Sweat broke out along my neck at the thought of being caught.

  “The girls and I were talking…”

  I tuned her out and adjusted how I was leaning back, but ended up practically sitting in Burg’s lap.

  “Are you listening, Sam?”

  “What? Of course, I am. What would make you think I’m not?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “As I was saying, the girls and I think it would be really great and we all want to go. What do you think?”

  I laughed nervously. I had no fucking clue what she was talking about and when I shifted, I stuck my hand in the rest of the pie.

  “You dumbass,” Ice whispered in my ear.

  “Uh, I think that’s a great idea. I think it would be good for all of us.”

  She grinned like the cat that ate the canary. “I’m so glad you feel that way. We’ll let you know when it is.”

  She closed the door behind her and I collapsed, my body falling harshly to the floor as everyone scattered.

  “I can’t believe you squished the pie,” Ice muttered. “It was the one good thing I had going for me.”

  “Pie,” Chris said blankly. “Pie is the one good thing in the world that you have going for you.”

  “Shut up. It was good pie.”

  “Does anyone know what we just agreed to?” I asked.

  “No, I don’t even know who came in. I was too focused on the fact that Cazzo was living up to his name and ruining my pie!” Ice yelled.

  The door opened again and we all spun around, huddling together again to hide the incriminating evidence. Vanessa stepped in again with a grin on her face.

  “By the way, we decided that we’re ready to eat, so dinner’s in five minutes.”

  She walked out and Chris shoved me from behind. “You just couldn’t wait for dinner, could you?”