by Gina LaManna
I gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I would like to promote you, Lacey,” Carlos said. “I’ll give you a bonus for this assignment, and from here on out your hourly rate will increase.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Thank you.”
“You’ll have the ability to work with a team, if you so desire, and additional resources at your disposal. Does that sound adequate?”
I nodded at my grandfather. “Yes, that sounds...more than adequate.”
“Good. Now, I must go set up that godforsaken Haunted House one last time for our clients.” Carlos shook his head, muttering as he spun on his heel and strode away.
“He doesn’t want you to leave the Family business,” Anthony said. “That’s sweet.”
“I wouldn’t have left, even if he didn’t offer me a raise.” I leaned my head against Anthony’s chest. “But since he offered...I sure won’t say no.”
“So will you pick me to be part of your team?” Anthony’s lips pressed against the top of my head. “Your right-hand guy?”
“Not my right-hand guy,” I said, snuggling as close as possible. “We’re a team. Just a pair of goofs, making mistakes until one of them works out okay.”
We’d hardly settled into the comfortable, reassuring embrace when someone tapped my shoulder. I hid my eye roll against Anthony’s chest. I loved having a family, but at the same time, it meant that quiet, private moments were certainly hard to come by.
“Hi, dear. Can we get a photo of the Aladdin cast?” Nora asked, still wearing the rug over her shoulders. “I’d like to frame it.”
“Yeah, if we can find Meg and Clay,” I said. “Anthony, do you see them?”
He gave a quick nod, vanishing an instant later in search of Jasmine and the Genie.
“Nora, I do have one question for you,” I said, as she dusted off her costume. “When you gave Meg a box of costumes, was there a crown in there?”
“Oh, um.” She glanced up, distracted by two tangled ropes dangling from the edge of her rug. “Oh, a crown. Drat it all, did that crown get in there?”
I nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“Excuse me?” Carlos’s voice sounded behind me. A very mad voice. “I was going to leave the detailed questions for later, but since we’re discussing the assignment now...what is this about the crown?”
Nora sighed. “I went into the safe to get my earrings, the ones you gave me, dear, and saw that gorgeous old crown sitting there, doing nothing but gathering dust. I’d only taken it out to polish it up, and then...” Nora paused, her eyebrows creased in thought. “And then Lacey and Meg came over and I got distracted. I must have tossed it into the costume bin with the rest of my old jewelry and sent it home with Meg. Is there a problem?”
Carlos gave one heck of an eye roll. I was worried his eyeballs might pop right out of their sockets and join the bowl of chocolate eyes on the Halloween candy table.
I wrinkled my nose, ignoring all the pain and suffering that crown had caused over the last few days. “Nope,” I said, swinging my arm around Nora’s shoulders as the rest of the Aladdin crew appeared. “Not a problem at all.”
“Except an ulcer,” Carlos muttered, throwing his hands up as he turned away, continuing to mumble under his breath. “Nobody has any respect in this house, throwing my property around like a costume.”
“It was an accident,” I whispered, taking a step away from Nora. “And Meg brought it back. No harm, no foul.”
Carlos stopped, speaking in low tones over his shoulder. “I nearly had a heart attack wondering if I had a traitor in my organization. You call that no harm?”
“I call that a hazard of the job,” I said. “I was worried, too.”
“Right.” Carlos eyed my Aladdin suit. “I can see you were incredibly busy being worried.”
“Okie dokie,” Nora chirped, interrupting my little “chat” with Carlos. “Glad that’s all sorted out.”
“Sorted out.” Carlos gave me a look. “I can’t believe it. I need some vino. You’re turning me crazy.”
Nora clapped her hands, which was Carlos’s cue to check out the drinks table on the other side of the party. “Now everyone line up and smile,” she said. “Smile like you mean it.”
Huddling in for a group photo, I slid one arm around Anthony and the other around Meg. Clay slid in on the other side of Meg, while Nora stood in front, eyeing us up for a moment.
“Lacey, you’ve got a tiger stripe under your ear.” She winked.
“How did that get there?” I grumbled, feeling my cheeks flush.
“I think we all can guess.” Nora gave a wink again, as if I didn’t notice it the first time, her entire face scrunching with the effort.
“That was rhetorical.” I rubbed at the stripe on my neck with my shoulder.
“No worries. It’s cute.” Nora looked at the four of us in a line: Rajah, Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie. “All right. Now, make me fly!”
Nora shot her arms above her head like Superman, kicking her legs up and taking a soaring leap towards the line of us.
“Nora! Stop that,” I said, as we all scrambled to catch her before her body tumbled into a heap on the floor. “Jeesh, don’t scare us like that.”
Thankfully, Anthony had secured Nora’s head and shoulders, while Clay caught her legs somewhere around the knee zone. Meg and I each held up the middle part of the carpet.
“Are you calling me fat, Lacey?” Nora asked. “You all caught me, didn’t you?”
“No, I’m not calling you fat.”
“Old?” she squinted.
“No! You just caught us off guard trying to crowd surf when the crowd wasn’t ready,” I said. “You scare me, sometimes.”
“Oh, live a little, Lacey Luzzi.” Nora raised her arms. “Now, make me fly.”
On cue, with a smile between the four of us, we raised Nora so that the magic carpet flew above our heads. Carlos glanced our way across the room, closed his eyes, then busied himself with another glass of champagne supplied by a nervous-looking assistant.
“This is gorgeous.” Ira Bliss came down from the DJ booth, standing next to the professional photographer Nora had hired for the party. “Love it.”
Anthony’s muscles tensed, and I suspected he was holding back a punch to the nose. Probably leftover resentment from the yoga days.
“Breathe,” I whispered to Anthony. “Just breathe.”
“Lace, I just want to point something out,” Clay said, from the other side of Meg. “I was right.”
“What?” I stepped back and lowered my voice. “Right about what?”
“About the pattern. Didn’t I tell you Meg was the only abnormality?”
“I’m not abnormal,” Meg said. “And I’m right here. I can hear you talking about me.”
A silence followed, nobody commenting on Meg’s abnormality, or lack thereof.
“Okay fine, I’m abnormal,” Meg admitted after a long pause.
“Abnormal is good,” Nora called, still sailing above our heads, held in place by Clay and Anthony. “It’s unique. It’s fun. It’s the best!”
“That was a fluke,” I muttered to Clay. “You got lucky with your computer programs.”
“It’s not luck,” he said. “It’s skill.”
“Skill? Then can you tell me what Oleg is up to?” I asked. “Because it sure seemed like he was running away from Anthony and me the other day. I never did find out why he disappeared.”
“Oleg vanished?” Clay looked confused. “I think I need to get to a computer...”
“That same night, someone followed me to a bar,” I said. “Something fishy is going on.”
“I’ll talk to Horatio,” Clay muttered. “I don’t know who – or why – someone would follow you. Or why Oleg disappeared.”
“Well, all I know is that Oleg may not have been involved in stealing the crown, but he’s still out there somewhere, and it’s giving me a bad gut feeling.”
“And
you’re sure that feeling isn’t too much fiber from something you ate?”
“Of course not! I mean, of course I’m sure.” I frowned. “It worries me, Clay. Oleg suddenly disappearing like that. I can only hope he hadn’t returned to his old ways...and his old boss.”
At the mention of The Fish, Clay turned away. “I’ll find him.”
“See what I mean? You’re gettin’ rusty with your programs. Please, take a peek if you have time. We have to make sure he’s not up to anything. Okay?”
“My skills are not rusty.”
“I’ll admit your skills are not rusty if, and when, you deliver the information about Jackson Cole—”
“Stop arguing, you kids,” Nora called. “And smile, gosh darn it! We’re having fun.”
The photographer cleared his throat. “Are you? Look...” The hired photog extended his arm, showing us a snapshot on the camera’s screen.
We didn’t look happy. Anthony’s face showed as much excitement about wearing tiger stripes as one might expect. Clay resembled a Smurf with a mustache. Nora ended up flying so high the photographer had no choice but to crop her out of the photo entirely. But Meg and I looked like the soul mates we were, Disney style.
It was the worst picture in all of history, yet I had a sneaking suspicion that the next time I strolled down the Hallway of Infamy, the memory would live on forever in one of Nora’s frames. At least until Anthony managed to get ahold of it and “lose” the thing in the garbage disposal.
“All right.” Nora clapped her hands. “Put me down. Coming in for a crash landing...”
We tried to set her down gently, but Nora leapt off prematurely and ended up in a heap on the floor, despite everyone’s best efforts to catch her flailing body.
“That was fun,” she said from the ground, a smile lighting up her features.
“It’s the simple things,” Anthony murmured, only for my ears.
I nodded, as Nora recovered a microphone from somewhere, and began making an announcement, still slightly out of breath. “All right, troops. Everyone back in your places. We need an encore of the Haunted House for our guests of honor.”
“Guests?” I asked. “Plural?”
Nora grinned. “Miss Lizabeth Harriet Morgan the Third, her lovely pup, Poopster—”
“Poopsie,” I corrected.
“Poopsie,” Nora said. “Along with their two bodyguards and, of course, the lovely Meg. She’s the one who cared more than anyone else about making sure this evening went off without a hitch. So, let’s give her the sort of scare she deserves!”
“I’m gonna be a poopster,” Meg whispered, excitement flaring in her eyes. “I’m so excited!”
“You joining?” Anthony asked, a head tilt in my direction.
I scrunched my nose. “I don’t particularly want to. I’ve had all the fright I can handle for the next few weeks. But if Meg needs a friend—”
“She seems fine.” Anthony nodded towards Meg, who had already clasped onto Clay’s arm with a grip so tight it looked like my cousin might just pop. He wasn’t complaining, from what I could tell.
Miss Lizabeth stood on the other side of Meg, flanked by both bodyguards. I held back a laugh as Meg tried, in a not especially discreet fashion, to steal the woman’s bodyguards for extra Haunted House protection.
When Lizabeth frowned, Meg let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, we can share, I guess. Since I’m hogging Clay, too.”
Clay beamed.
“Can I borrow you for a walk?” Anthony leaned close, his breath warm in my ear.
I nodded, then extended a hand. “I can show you the world...”
Anthony just stared. “What is that noise?”
“A song,” I said. “I’m singing, for crying out loud. How rude.”
“You’re not terrible.” Anthony clasped my hand in his. “Let’s just go with...abnormal.”
“Abnormal is good,” I said. “Nora said so a few minutes ago. It’s fun, anyway.”
“Speaking of fun...” Anthony’s eyes quickly surveyed the ballroom. “How about we skip that walk for now? I have a different idea.”
“Is it fun?” I asked.
Anthony winked, tugged on my hand so I rolled in close to his body, and then kissed my neck in a spot that made me shiver. “Come with me and find out.”
Epilogue
“ARE YOU READY?” CLAY asked. “This is your last chance to back out.”
“How sure are you about this?” I peered out the window of Clay’s creep van. The vehicle was outfitted with more high-tech equipment than NASA, minus a functioning AC and heating system. “Give me a percentage.”
“I’m ninety-two percent sure.” Clay sat in the driver’s seat, scanning a digital display on his dashboard. “That’s as close as I can come without a legitimate DNA test.”
I sighed, glancing at the nondescript house in the suburbs of St. Paul. Twenty minutes away from Carlos’s estate, this place was the opposite of the Luzzi mansion. A small, one-family home with a moderately well-kept lawn, in a moderately well-kept neighborhood, in a moderately-priced location.
While Meg, Clay, and the Poopsie Posse had experienced the thrill of the Haunted House, Anthony had snuck me away from the party for some private cuddling, which had definitely qualified as fun.
Sometime later, we’d all re-grouped and re-joined the party. Feasting on exquisite food, listening to terrible karaoke and grooving to the Monster Mash, Clay had pulled me aside in the midst of the festivities, declaring that he had information on my father. Or, at least, the man who might be my father.
Which brought us to the here and now, parked a few doors down from the address Clay’d unearthed somewhere deep within the Internet. The four of us – Clay, Meg, Anthony, and I – huddled close in the van, debating the pros and cons of my going up and knocking on the door.
“It’s late,” I said.
“But it’s Halloween. If he’s a nice human being, he’ll be awake to support the last minute trick or treaters. At the very least, he should be sipping a beer and watching a scary movie,” Meg said, examining her nails. “At least, that’s my opinion.”
Clay hung on her every word, looking as if he wanted to take notes. And then go find a beer and a scary movie, in order to become a nice human being in Meg’s eyes.
“It’s nearly eleven. No normal person knocks on someone’s door at that hour,” I said. “Especially if he’s watching a scary movie. What if he comes to the door waving a gun?”
“Well, then we’d know he was your dad for sure,” Meg said. “Apple doesn’t fall from the tree.”
“I don’t have a gun,” I said.
“No, but you’re dangerous anyway.” Meg shrugged. “Always crashing into things with your car.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“Lacey, do you want to knock, or not?” Anthony spoke and the rest of the van fell quiet. “That’s the question. If you don’t want to do it now, we’ll come back. If you do want to give it a shot, then go ahead.”
My fingers flexed, tightening and releasing of their own accord. My heart thudded while my stomach churned with a queasiness only partly due to my over-indulgence in Halloween candy. “I just don’t know.”
“Lacey, you know none of this will change how we feel about you, right?” Meg patted her heart over her bulletproof bra. “You’ll always be my Aladdin.”
“And I’ll be your Genie,” Clay said.
“Gross. You’re my cousin, Clay.”
“Seriously? I try to make one joke...” Clay shook his head.
“Go knock, Lacey. Your real family is here. Whoever that guy is in the house, he’ll be lucky if he’s your dad.” Meg gave a firm nod. “Right, troops?”
Anthony gave a nod, and eventually Clay bobbed his head up and down, as well.
“We’re here for you. It doesn’t matter what you find in there.” Meg pushed a pumpkin basket brimming with candy towards me. “Just go up there and knock, then come back here and stuff your face
full of candy. Probably your adrenaline is pumping so hard you can eat this entire bucket and not gain a pound, you twig.”
“Will you hold my hair if I puke?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
“Nope, that’s Anthony’s job.” Meg pointed an accusatory finger in his direction.
Anthony looked alarmed. “What?”
“I’m kidding. I’m not going to puke.” I stood up. “Probably.”
“Lacey, you have to make the decision yourself.” Anthony reached for my hand, clasping it between his. “No matter what we think, no matter what we say, it’s your choice. We can also drive away, go to Dairy Queen, and forget this happened.”
“You’d take me to DQ?” I raised an eyebrow.
Anthony gave me a resigned look. “I want to see you happy. Whatever it takes. So yes, even ice cream cake.”
I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the corner of the mouth. “You are great. All of you,” I said. “I’m going to do it. I’m gonna knock.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Clay asked.
“Not in the slightest.” I opened my eyes wide. “But I might as well get it over with while I’m hopped up on gummy bears and sour patch kids and have you guys in my getaway car.”
Meg bobbed her head with a solemn expression. “Any second thoughts, and you just hightail it back here and we’ll take off. Literally, we can fly to the moon. Clay said so.”
“He might have been exaggerating,” I said, glancing at Clay’s reddening face. “To impress you...oh, never mind.” I stopped talking as Clay violently shook his head back and forth. “Just kidding. The van can fly. Probably.”
“Fly off the curb,” Anthony murmured as he pulled me in for a tight bear hug, releasing me just as quickly. “Good luck, sugar.”
Without giving myself a chance to second guess my decision, I flung the back doors to the van open and stepped out. I forced my feet to walk the short distance to the house whose address Clay had discovered online, from his initial list of several Jackson Coles.
Somehow, my cousin had run his algorithms and figured out that this particular Jackson Cole had the highest chance of being the man who’d dated my mother. Which didn’t mean he was my father by a long shot. But even if he wasn’t, maybe he’d have more information. Another clue. Somewhere else I could look for my real dad.