“Travel safe,” she told him.
He grinned. “Always,” he assured her and cocked an eyebrow. “So, who will you look like next time?”
The small fizz of blue that leapt between them delivered an unexpected shock.
“Ow... Wow. It doesn’t matter, okay?” He winced as more electricity flowed over her fingers and rubbed the spot she’d hit. “It really doesn’t. Any look will be beautiful.”
“You’d better get going,” she told him, her cheeks touched with a faint pink hue. “You don’t want them to leave without you.”
From the way she said it, he got the feeling she wouldn’t mind at all if he missed his flight, no matter what it had cost. The only problem was that the Navy would care and he’d be in trouble. With a reluctant sigh, he crossed to the attendant and was soon ushered through the entry and out of sight.
“Wait until he sees the real ship,” Johnny murmured. “That thing’s only the shuttle.”
Frog glanced at the blue power arcing over Stephanie’s hands. “That boy will get into more trouble with his mouth than anything else. I don’t think the aliens will need to kill him. He’s more likely to get Morganaed first.”
She had stared at the now closed shuttle entry but straightened at his words. “Well, speaking of Morgana,” she told them. “Living for myself was nice, but we now have a job to do.”
“Huh. Nice change of subject,” Marcus noted and stepped carefully out of reach.
Stephanie rolled her eyes and spun on her heel to head to their shuttle. “Nice. You guys are—”
“Amazing!” Brenden filled in.
“Awesome!” Avery told her.
“Fantastic,” Lars added.
“Incredibly attractive giving runway models a run for their money,” Frog quipped.
“The envy of every male on this planet and the next,” Vishlog declared.
“Wanted by every woman who sees us,” Johnny added, and she started to laugh.
“Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound,” Avery added.
“Superheroes!”
“Super desirable!”
“So very modest!” she shot back.
“And darned good at it,” Frog responded.
They were still laughing when they reached the shuttle where Bumblebee and Zeekat brushed around their legs, butting legs and hands until they received some attention. Bee looked at the seat beside Stephanie and then at the door Lars had closed.
Avery and Brenden took the shuttle up, and she patted the seat, her good humor fading.
“He’s not coming.”
Lars patted her on the shoulder as Bumblebee scrambled onto the seat beside her.
“It’s not forever.”
Cindy Morgan took one last look around the house. Walking from one room to the next, she surveyed the boxes and thought it was like saying goodbye to an old friend. It had been her home for almost twenty years and seen her through both hard times and happy.
She was glad when Mark didn’t try to follow her but waited at the door. This was one thing she needed to do alone.
“They’re here,” he called, and she sighed.
Of course they were here. Like her daughter would ever forget. She descended the stairs one last time and leaned into his side while they watched the massive shuttle touch down in the street outside.
“She really likes her toys, doesn’t she?” Mark commented and looped his arm around her waist, and she had to smile.
“At least we’ll be nearby,” she told him.
“It was nice of Mr. Martelle to keep our people,” he continued, and she wondered how her husband would adjust to retirement. Her, too, if she’d only admit it. The cleaning business had been their lives for so long it was hard to remember a time without it.
They’d built it well, though, because Mr. Martelle had been unhappy when they said they planned to sell it.
“Let me buy it,” he’d responded when he’d accepted they were set on the idea. “Because I can’t get better service than what you’ve given me. I’ll pay you ten percent to consult from time to time, and I’ll get to keep the level of service I’ve become accustomed to.”
Of course, they’d taken the deal. It meant their people would be taken care of and that had been one less thing for them to worry about. The memory made her smile as Stephanie bounced up to greet them.
“So, are you ready?” she asked and looked as excited as Cindy had ever seen her.
“Sure, honey,” Mark assured her and held his arms out for a hug.
She laughed and hugged them both before she stepped back to look at them. “The movers will be here soon.”
Her father made a show of looking behind her. “So, what did you do with Todd today?”
“Mark!” His wife batted his shoulder and rolled her eyes at Stephanie. “Don’t pay him any attention.” Her eyes, though, said she wanted to know too.
“Really, you two.” She walked over and took a seat at the kitchen table. “Do you really want to know?”
“Did you really come to collect him for a date in your monster barge?” her father shot back, and her mom gave an exaggerated sigh.
“So, did you two have a nice night out?” she asked, and Stephanie laughed.
“We went dancing.” She assumed it was better not to tell them they’d been involved a brawl and snuck out before they’d been arrested. It was much safer to simply answer the initial question and keep them from being too curious.
“Seriously, though, I put him on a super-fast liner this morning so he wouldn’t be late for his next posting. The Navy takes that kind of thing seriously.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry,” Cindy told her and looked sympathetic.
Mark reached over and patted her hand, his voice gruff. “He’ll be back before you know it.”
Not quite sure how to respond to that, she looked around the kitchen and her gaze settled on a small pile of boxes stacked in one corner. “Is that the stuff you want taken in the barge?”
Her mom gave her an almost sad look. “We don’t have many breakables, sweetheart. I’m sure the movers will be fine with the rest.”
“They won’t be far behind us,” she assured her and let her voice trail off as the doorbell rang.
She stood from the table. “That must be the movers,” she said and nudged the mic at her collar. “Avery, Vishlog, I have a couple of boxes we need to take out before the movers start work.”
They were at the back door before Mark had reached the front.
“Those,” Cindy told them and pointed to the small stack Stephanie had noticed, and the guys took the first of them outside. She continued to watch as they came back for the rest and then went in search of her husband and her daughter.
Stephanie watched as Mark took the movers through each room. She rolled her eyes and Cindy went to stand beside her. As he finally led the team leader over to them, Lars came through from the kitchen. “We’re ready to go when you are.”
She smiled at him and turned to her parents. “Why don’t you guys go ahead and buckle in? I’ll make sure they know where we’re going.”
“Sure thing, hon,” her dad said and waved to the moving guys as he left. Cindy walked with him, and Lars followed them through.
“If you’ll follow Marcus,” he informed them, “he’ll show you where to sit.”
Stephanie waited until her parents had gone and caught the leader’s attention. “Here’s the address for the storage unit,” she told him. “Let me know if you notice anything unusual while you load up or on your way over.”
“Sure thing, ma’am.” He glanced in the direction her parents had departed. “They have no idea, do they?”
She grinned at him. “It’s a surprise.”
Her smile was still in place when she climbed into the shuttle and buckled in beside her parents. The flight was surprisingly short, despite the distance traveled, and Avery and Brenden brought the shuttle in to land on the rooftop of a set of condominiums.
“This is Frederick and Natalia. They’re your go-to people for anything you need from repairmen to organizing the groceries. They’ve got it covered.”
The two middle-aged people behind the counter grinned and waved. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
They handed Cindy the keys and watched as she and Mark approached the door. They paused and her mom turned to Stephanie and held the keys out. “Are you sure?”
She held up her hands and backed away a step. “Oh no. This is your place. You do the honors.”
The couple exchanged glances before he slid his hand over Cindy’s and they put the key in the lock together. The guys had arranged themselves around the lobby but now, they stood close to the pair but waited to let them enter first.
Stephanie’s mom took two steps into the condo and stopped. “Oh...my...”
Stephanie poked her head through the door to watch as her mother took in the fully furnished entry and lounge beyond. Cindy looked back at her. “Come over here, you...”
Lars gave her a shove.
“This place is huge,” her father exclaimed as her mom wrapped her in a hug.
“You didn’t have to—”
Stephanie looked at her mom and felt the first twinge of uncertainty. “Is it okay?” she asked. “I can always—”
Cindy stepped through to the lounge and her gaze swept the living and dining spaces. Stephanie had been careful to furnish it as closely to her parents’ tastes as she could.
“Are you kidding?” she asked. “It’s perfect.”
Her voice caught, and her daughter felt a tightness form in her own throat. “There’s even a space for Dad through there.”
Mark perked up at the mention of that. “There is?” He cast her a suspicious look. “It had better not be a doghouse.”
That made her laugh. “It’s not,” she protested. “It’s a real guys’ room.”
“Guys’ room?” Frog asked and looked at Johnny. “Maybe we should inspect it first. You know...”
“Make sure it’s safe,” Johnny finished for him and headed after Mark. “Wait for us, Mr. Morgan.”
“Please, it’s Mark, and I— Oh, my...”
Cindy remained with Stephanie as he disappeared through the door, and she was surprised to find her mum was holding her hand. She didn’t know what to say next and then she heard Frog say, “You break, Mr...uh, Mark.”
That was followed by the sharp, distinctive crack of billiard balls.
“Nope, no assassins under the pool table,” Frog commented, and Avery wandered over to the door.
There was another crack, followed by, “Yet.”
Brenden joined Avery and peered through at the trio beyond.
“Seven in the corner pocket.”
Marcus approached the door and walked right through. Brenden and Avery followed him in, and Lars gave an exaggerated sigh.
“The rest of the place is clear,” he told them, “and someone has to make sure these guys don’t wreck the place.”
“Wait,” Marcus said. “There’s a fridge in here?”
“And a coffee maker.” Avery sounded like he’d just found heaven. “With real coffee.”
“Make mine black and sweet,” Mark called, and Cindy laughed.
“Trust him to come up with that one.”
“Wait until they find the—” Stephanie began, only to be interrupted by Brenden’s exclamation of, “Look at the size of that thing.”
“Well, I guess she didn’t want me needing my glasses all the time.”
“TV,” Stephanie clarified as the guys discovered the movie selection.
The two cats bounded past her and into the den as though curious to see what the fuss was about.
“You didn’t—” Cindy said and she shrugged.
“He didn’t have to love me as his real daughter,” she explained.
Her mom sniffed and she caught her dabbing at the corners of her eyes.
“You know I got you something, too,” she added quickly, her voice overly bright. “Do you want to see?”
The woman laughed. “Are you kidding? He’s outta my hair. That is my gift.”
Stephanie giggled. “Sure, but I thought you deserved a little more than that.”
She dragged her through another door and down to the master suite. Ignoring the huge bed with its accompanying nightstands, she opened one of the two doors on the other side of the room.
“Very nice!” Her mom smiled as she looked inside. “I’ve never had such a large closet, before.”
“That’s Dads,” she told her with a wink. She walked to a set of double doors on the opposite side. “This is yours.”
She stepped to one side and let Cindy look inside.
“You have to be kidding me,” her mom whispered as she entered the room.
Overhead, a chandelier spun shards of light to every corner and clothes hung in orderly rows, followed by several rows of shoes. A trio of mirrors stood in one corner so someone could stand between them and see how they looked from every angle, and a small space for sitting and relaxing filled another corner.
Cindy stood perfectly still for a long moment before she moved very slowly to one of the comfortable chairs in the corner and sat. Her eyes glistened and Stephanie was mortified to see a tear slide down her cheek.
“Mom?” she asked, knelt beside her, and took one of her mother’s hands. “Are you okay?”
She nodded but tears continued to slide down her face, and Stephanie hugged her and held her until she drew back.
“I’m fine,” she managed, “but this...” She gestured vaguely with one hand.
Stephanie sighed. “I know you say you don’t need this but there is only one set of parents who raised the Witch of the Federation, and she loves you both.”
Cindy stood, hugged her daughter, and rested her head on her shoulder. They stood like that until they were interrupted by an inquiring mew at the door. Bumblebee and Zeekat lingered in the doorway, looking in.
When he saw he had their attention, Bumblebee tossed his head and stalked over to them. Her mother gave another sniff and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye to give the cat a stern look. “If you shed in my closet, I’ll have your very pretty hide as a new throw rug.”
Bee paused in mid-stride, tilted his head, and surveyed the area before he returned his gaze to the woman.
“I mean it.”
The cat gave a regal sniff and turned slowly to walk out. Zee greeted him with a head butt and the pair moved out of sight.
Cindy gave a short giggle. “That’s a smart cat.”
Chapter Ten
Ms E glared at the phone but it continued to ring. The number displayed was the Navy, and she glanced at the screen again and toyed with the idea of ignoring them.
“If it’s important enough, they’ll call back later,” she murmured and struck a few more keys.
The phone continued its demand and she sighed and took herself out of the program.
“It’s always something.”
She took a deep breath to collect herself before she answered.
“Yes?” she asked and wondered what it could be about. So far, there’d been nothing to indicate they would make another attempt to recruit Stephanie.
She put the call onscreen and studied the man on the other end. He looked like he’d seen a fair amount of service and like he still kept himself in shape. That was good, she thought. She liked that in a man.
The Naval liaison cleared his throat and she focused as he came straight to the point. “I know you said six weeks, but we need to follow up a lead here on Earth.”
“I’ve put them on leave,” she told him to play for time while she tested how urgent their problem really was.
&nbs
p; His expression warred between anxious, disappointed, and apologetic. In the end, apologetically persistent won. “This is the kind of lead we need their specific...talents on.”
Elizabeth fought to keep her face professionally bland. “I thought you said it was a problem on Earth.”
“It is,” he hastened to assure her, “but I can’t go into details until I know you’re on board.”
She gave him a predatory smile and caught the slight flinch he tried to suppress. Experience also told her when he settled into negotiation mode.
“We’ll need the team on call and there’ll be some travel involved,” he stated.
“So you’re looking at stand-by fees and fuel, maintenance, wear and tear, and damage or loss clauses,” she told him, pulled up the relevant template, and made sure the right fields were filled in. “And that’s only to start with.”
“It’ll also involve some risk to your personnel,” he said and she rolled her eyes.
“Since when does it not?”
He blushed and she smiled. “Is there anything else?”
“Not that I can tell you without an official agreement to secrecy.”
“So...” Ms E began, ticking off the items on her fingers. “I’ll have to call her and the team off their vacation time, the job’s here on Earth where you have numerous assets—which means it’s political—which means you really need their abilities, and it’s urgent, or you wouldn’t call me inside the agreed timeframe for downtime.”
He swallowed but nodded. “That’s about right.”
“Well,” she responded and ran through the costs and clauses the contract needed, keeping a close eye on his face as she did so.
The man didn’t quite go pale and rallied to make a few counter-arguments, but they covered the relevant points and came to an agreement quickly enough that she knew he’d gone over the previous contract. He seemed to know exactly where her sticking points were and pushed as close to them as he could.
She found she had to work a little harder than she’d expected but it was better than the last time.
“So,” she said when they’d agreed and had both signed the relevant paperwork for discussions to proceed. “When do you need them?”
Witch Of The Federation III (Federal Histories Book 3) Page 10