Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Lance
I have my concerns about this job. Between the long hours and the lack of another agent to act as a buffer, emotions can begin to blur. Plus the fact Nessie is cute as hell doesn’t help matters either.
When I pull up to the school—in business casual clothes, as per my client’s request—the pick-up line has already started. I get out of the car and stretch my legs, clocking everything from the license plates to the gardener swapping out the summer flowers for mums. From the way he doesn’t seem comfortable with the digging, I’m pegging him as an undercover protection agent hired by the school. Probably in lieu of the snipers on the building.
The intercom speaker announces the end of the day, and agents spill from their cars, ready to pounce, serve and protect as needed. In other words, carry the kids’ backpacks.
The littles come out first, pre-k and kindergarten. Olivia, a.k.a. Rainbow Glitter Sparkles, is surrounded by her crew, as usual. One of her agents is holding an oversized piece of paper with splashes of paint, glitter, and stickers. Another has a pink fuzzy backpack slung over his shoulder. They all try to be as badass as they can while singing some Disney song I can’t place.
I spot Maria right away. She’s a clone of her mom. She runs over to me, waving the same giant paper, her purple unicorn backpack bouncing from side to side. “UNCLE LANCE!”
I’m not her uncle. Alana is her godmother, and it’s easier to explain to the kids we’re brother and sister than roommates. This way, they never assume we’re dating, and we don’t get pestered with those questions.
One of the biggest benefits of not being Secret Service is I can pick Maria up in my arms and swing her around, but she’s heavier than she was a few months ago. “Girl, do you have bricks in your backpack?”
“No…but I do have snacks and picture books and a bunch of toys.” Her face is round, and her perfect pigtails still have the curls her mom probably spent half an hour on this morning. Her large brown eyes are filled with hope and excitement. She’s an easy kid to like. She grabs my cheeks, “Is it true you’re gonna pick me up every day, and I get to ride with the BIG kids?”
“Yep.”
She squeals in a pitch that makes me glad I’m not wearing an earpiece. “Best day ever!”
I let her down and hold her hand as we wait for the others to arrive. It’s a sea of identical uniforms, navy blue everywhere. All older students have the same official backpacks, too. But I think the sparkly ones the littles are allowed to use are more fun. Definitely makes it a lot easier to pick the tinier ones out in the crowd as well.
Champ is next out the door. His head swivels around trying to find someone he recognizes. Maria jumps and yells, “Over here!”
He keeps his head down as he walks and makes it about halfway through the crowd without hitting anyone. Maria finally stops jumping when he stops in front of us, his hands in his pockets. He’s hard to read, I can’t tell if he’s just one of those quiet kids or so overwhelmed with everything he’s shut down. “How did it go?” I ask.
He keeps his eyes on his shoes. “I’ve had worse.”
Ian comes out. He seems better now than he did a year ago, even better than six months ago. Still, he looks like the entire world could come crashing down on his head if he said one wrong thing. Unfortunately, he’s right to feel paranoid. “How was school?” I say in Russian and watch his whole face light up.
“Lance?” He rushes forward but stops before he hugs me.
His reaction makes me pause. Again in Russian, I say, “You knew I was coming to take you home, right?”
“Yes. You take me home.” His English isn’t what it should be, and I know it’s driving his uncle nuts. Alana thinks it’s because Ian doesn’t have a lot of friends to talk to, and he didn’t have any in Russia.
“You didn’t answer my first question.”
“School bad.”
Drew lifts his head and reacts to me first. “You speak Russian?”
“Da.”
He nudges Ian in the shoulder. “You speak English?”
“A little.” He holds up his fingers, leaving a tiny gap between them.
A little older than the rest, Shae is the final one to arrive. She has a violin case in one hand and her cell phone in the other. Of all the kids, I know the least about Shae. She’s in her pre-teen, I’m-too-cool-for-this era. “S’up, Lance.”
I give her a fist bump, she hands me her violin case. Fair trade. “Alright, let’s go.”
With Maria gripping my hand and the other three next to me, we walk through the parking lot. I hate parking lots. Too many opportunities to get hit by cars.
Opening the doors, I let the boys climb into the third row while Shae settles in next to Maria in the middle. I help Maria into the booster seat and strap her in. She’s about to start complaining she’s a big girl. I can see the words forming on her lips. Instead, I say, “Okay, so Drew back there, his official name is Champ, like the lake monster. Did you pick names for everyone else?”
Champ watches the world from the window as he adjusts in the seat. “No, they can choose their own names.”
“Very diplomatic of you,” I say, slamming the door. Once I’m in the driver’s seat and check every mirror seven times, I continue, “We’re going with a cryptid theme. You can be a magical creature, too.”
Maria claps her hands and bounces in her seat. “I want to be a water fairy. No, a flower fairy. Animal fairy.”
“How about Fairy? This way you can change your type whenever you want?” Shae says.
“Oh yessss,” she lets out a long sss sound.
Shae says, “I want to be Selkie. They’re cool and nice, and like no one talks about them.”
“Done,” I say as I pull out onto the main street. “Ian, what do you want to be? Code name?”
“Man wolf.”
“Werewolf,” Champ corrects. “Do we call you Lance?”
“No, you can call me The Supreme Overload of Awesomeland.” I am so freaking cool. Sometimes I even amaze myself.
Shae/Selkie sighs and buries her head in her phone. “I’m sticking with Lance.”
Champ digs through his backpack, trying to find something, before saying, “Me too.” He buries his head in the bag. “Where is it? Aha!” He pulls out a Switch, and the game chimes to life.
Werewolf makes a little squeak sound and starts digging through his bag too. He produces the same device but in blue. “Play?”
“Yeah, sure!” Champ says, and I know I’ve lost them for a while.
Maria is kicking her feet against the seat. “Lance, I’m hungry.”
And the whole car agrees. Rule one—no food in the car—broken. “I’ve got fruit snacks and crackers.” Opening the center console, I toss back the box, which is promptly destroyed like a pack of wolves shredding a bunny. They throw cardboard around the car like body parts. “Don’t leave trash lying around, or we can’t have nice things.”
“Are you afraid Aunt Alana will be mad?”
“No.” Yes. “I don’t like cleaning up after mythical creatures.”
The rest of the trip is uneventful. Selkie is the first drop off. Her handlers are already waiting for her at violin lessons. I throw the car in park and let her out. As a general rule, I hate it when someone opens a car door. The two members of her father’s crew give me a head nod as my first passenger hops out with a sufficiently bored, “Later, Lance.”
The next stop is Maria’s house. I’ve been there hundreds of times. Thiago throws the best Superbowl parties. But now I’m in an official capacity, and there are protocols to follow. Calling ahead, Rich answers on the first ring. “I am two minutes away.”
I like to give Thiago’s guys time to meet us at the gate. “Hey, Fairy, whatcha learning about in school this week?”
“Sight words I’ve got to know, like a million of them.” She sticks the fruit snacks on her fingernails and eats them one by one.
Hmm, Ian might need help with his sight words too. “How about this? If you and Werewolf get fifty sight words right, I’ll take everyone out for ice cream?”
Champ lifts his head, “Wait, me too?”
“Sure, if you help Ian study. Speaking and reading are two different skills.”
We turn on Thiago’s street, and I call again. “In sight at ten, nine, eight…,” I start the countdown when I see the house. Two men walk to the gate and stand with their hands on their holsters. “Seven, six, five.” I slow the car. “Four, three.” The car rolls to a stop. “Two, one.” I hop out and unload Fairy Maria out of her booster seat.
She gives me an extra hug before skipping over to the guards. “Hi guys, like my nails?” She waves her fruit snacks at them, and now I wonder if there’s one on my back.
“Very pretty,” one of them says, grabbing her backpack from me. “Hurry up kiddo, your mom is waiting for you.”
She spins around on her toes. “Bye, Lance, see you tomorrow.”
Once back in the driver’s seat, I watch Champ and Werewolf talking from the rearview mirror. Well, mostly Champ talks, and Werewolf nods along. “Hey, do they let us use these at lunch?” He lifts the Switch. But when Werewolf doesn’t seem to understand, Champ points to the backpack and makes an eating motion with his hands. “Lunch. That’s a word you’ve got to know.”
Werewolf nods, “Lunch.”
“Okay, so we’ll work on sight words for like five minutes, and we’ll keep playing games for the rest of the time.” He points to himself and back at Werewolf and motions eating again. “We’ll eat lunch together from now on.”
This concept Werewolf completely understands and smiles. For a second I don’t recognize the action because I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ian smile. Like ever.
When we arrive at Dimitri’s place, he’s already waiting for us at the front door. They live in an apartment and are still trying to rebuild a life in America. The Four Families help him out, but since he’s not a full member, they’re limiting their assistance until he’s earned it. I think he’s also trying to keep his head low and out of trouble.
Dimitri opens the back door, which drives me a little nuts, and pokes his head into the car. Ian hunches over to make his way to the door.
“How was school today?” Dimitri asks, but his eyebrows raise when he sees his nephew hop out.
Ian says, “Good,” and turns back to Champ, “Bye.”
Champ waves back. “See you tomorrow.”
The backdoor slams, and I almost miss it. “Ya podruzhilsya.” I made a friend . My throat burns. Do not cry. From the side view mirrors, I see Dimitri throw his arm around the kid’s shoulder. Shit, this might be the first time I’ve seen Dimitri smile too.
Do.
Not.
Cry.
Champ and I are a good two miles down the road before he says another word. “That school is so weird. Everyone’s rich and fancy, and they act like they’re so smart, but I did all of that work over the summer with Mom.”
“Well, you’re going back tomorrow.”
He huffs and returns to his game.
When we pull up to Joseph’s main office, I survey the damage done to the car. Ugh. “Um, can you…?”
My question is pointless. Champ is already grabbing the wrappers as he heads toward the front of the car. Mama raised him right.
Nessie sits at the front desk, her hair in a bun with two pencils sticking out. Everything about her lights up when we walk through the door. Tiny tingles build in my stomach. Well, that’s new. Why do I like that so much? Is she happy to see me?
She throws her arms around her son. Right. Him. The whole reason why I’m here. I’m not disappointed. Why would I be disappointed? I’ve known this woman for like a minute.
Still, if this is going to be my life for the foreseeable future, it could be way worse.