Episode 2 #6
Ellisandre settled at the table and drew up their tablet while Linda and Alice cleared up the kitchen.
There were a few new messages from their contacts and sources around the world.
There had been plenty of reasons to keep up with the world they’d left behind after choosing to follow Linda as her personal protector.
Being the new co-owner of one of the more powerful private corporations in the world had come with significant risk and disturbance for Linda.
She had not been ready for the media scrutiny, the manipulation and fraud attempts, the court cases, and the political machinations that had been hurled her way.
Ellisandre had been her shield. More than Linda knew.
But there were other reasons Ellisandre kept their finger on the pulse of the underworld, on of them being Sevastyan.
News was sparse and infrequent, but he had appeared now and again, mostly in his front as an international art dealer.
At least some of his business was legitimate.
The first message was brief and from a source in South Korea. “Sighting confirmed in airport. Departed for Chicago on December 28th.” So Sevastyan had followed Jun to Chicago within a day of Junseo being rescued. That wasn’t news, but it was more data in the timeline.
The second message was slightly more interesting. “He’s an art dealer. Stellar reputation. Well versed in what he does. Specializes in East and Central Asia, but not undereducated in South Asian artifacts either. Speaks German, Russian, and Chinese.”
That did confirm one of the identities Ellisandre had suspected Sevastyan used.
Art dealing was an excellent reason to move globally at a frequent rate without suspicion, especially in areas of significant wealth.
He’d already been well versed in art when they’d first met, a product of his education and his mother’s obsession with status.
There was nothing about more recent sightings, though.
Without running a full Europol search on flights and photos, that was all that was to be had for the moment.
Sevastyan was speaking again. Putting out too many feelers would create ripples in the field, ones that could come back to cause trouble, particularly for him.
Ellisandre checked the rest of their messages and updates as the sound of the kitchen cleaning died down. Alice dropped into one of the chairs. Linda had gone to fetch her laptop and came back with the screen already up.
“You need a bag,” she said, putting it down in front of Alice. “Choose one. This will be something you can carry in the office.”
“Dana’s not ready to go back to school,” Alice said. “I don’t need a bag yet.”
“Dana won’t always be attached to you,” Linda said. “And you’re interested in what I do. Choose one.”
Ellisandre decided to stir the pot a little. They pulled up a tab of handguns, most of which they’d already introduced Alice to at the shooting range. “And choose one of these, while you’re at it.” They pushed the tablet across the table.
“You’re buying her a gun?” Linda’s eyes widened.
“I already know how to shoot,” Alice said.
“I think everyone knows you know how to shoot.” Linda put her hand against her chest in the way she did when she was trying to be calm. “I just wish you wouldn’t feel like you have to.”
“I’d rather have one than not have one,” Alice said. She tapped one of the handguns with smaller dimensions. “This one. That’s my favorite. And . . .”—she turned back to Linda’s laptop—“this is my favorite purse.”
“Why is that your favorite?” Ellisandre asked, a smile tugging at their lips. It was a very conservative purse, blue and silver with a long strap.
“Because they go together.” Alice pressed her palms together and tapped her joint index fingers against her bottom lip.
Linda sighed. “Elli, this is all your fault.”
“Oh, no.” Ellisandre shook their head. “That bag and I would never. Her taste in carrying cases is all yours.”
Dana stumbled into the kitchen rubbing her eyes, followed by Ash. She looked between Linda and Ellisandre, her face wrinkling up, uncertain.
“My mommy and daddy are fighting over me,” Alice told Dana. “They both want me to be like them.”
Linda’s mouth fell open. She stared at Alice.
Alice didn’t notice. She was busy smiling at Dana. “What do you need, pumpkin?”
“Water.” Dana looked between Ellisandre and Linda again, as if to make sure everything was really all right.
Alice picked Dana up, even though she was truly too large to be carried, and moved toward the refrigerator, taking a clean cup from the counter.
“Can I call Ellisandre Daddy now?” Dana asked.
“Ellisandre is nonbinary,” Linda said automatically. “They don’t use gendered terms like mommy and daddy.”
Ellisandre smirked. “But daddy doesn’t have to be gendered. It’s a role. You can call me Daddy, bitbrat, if you want to. Just know daddies sometimes have to go on lots of business trips and worry about lots of people.”
Dana blinked slowly at Ellisandre over Alice’s shoulder.
“I’m not calling you Daddy,” Ash muttered from the doorway. He was still holding one of Dana’s books.
“Oh, can I call you Daddy?” Alice grinned.
Ellisandre tilted their head, studying Alice. “You may call me Daddy.” They smiled.
Alice grinned back, showing all her teeth. She did a little dance with Dana. “That makes Linda Mommy, but I don’t think she wants to be called Mommy.”
Linda groaned and covered her face with her hand. “Now you’ve started it. You know that technically Dana is my aunt, right?”
“Technically, fechnically,” Alice singsonged back. She gave Dana the glass of water and Dana gulped it down. “If you act like her mom, then you are her mom.”
“Then she should be calling you mommy,” Ash muttered.
“Alice is my big sister.” Dana glared at Ash. She handed the cup back to Alice. “Thank you.”
“So what am I?” Ash said, crossing his arms.
Dana responded without hesitation. “You’re the monster under my bed.”
Ash blinked, twice. “What?”
“The monster under my bed.” Dana wiggled out of Alice’s arms and went to Ash, leaning into him guilelessly.
“You know, the ugly scary thing that’s actually really nice and helps you when you’re in the dark and want to cry.
Like you helped Alice when the bad men were chasing us.
You were in that dark room, with all the glowy things and you were whispering and you helped us. ”
Dana grabbed his hand and started back toward her bedroom. “You’re my favorite monster. So you shouldn’t be jealous. Elli can’t be a monster. So I guess they can be a Daddy. Daddies can be scary too.”
“Why can’t Ellisandre be a monster?” Ash whined, letting her lead him away.
Dana turned around and wrinkled her nose. “Oh, because monsters have to be able to get messy sometimes, or dirty, but Ellisandre can’t. I think dirty makes them feel sick or something. They’re always cleaning Aunt Linda’s room.”
Linda caught Ellisandre’s eye. “You’ve disqualified yourself from something. I think that’s a first.”
Ellisandre’s lips twitched. “But I can still be Daddy.”
Linda dissolved into giggles, smothering them with her hand. Catching sight of Alice still in the kitchen, she tried to compose herself. Ellisandre twitched their eyebrow. Linda gave in, dissolving into laughter against the table.