8. Fox, Brody, and Autumn
FOX, brODY, AND AUTUMN
The Fox watched the two boys and the small girl.
What were they up to?
Both boys were carrying boxes. On the side of one box was written ‘kitchen supplies’ and on the other one was ‘underwear.’
Kitchen supplies and underwear, huh?
That didn’t sound suspicious at all, now, did it?
He followed them through the forest. They didn’t notice that he was behind them, not that he expected them to. Perhaps the boys would have noticed somebody else creeping along, but the Fox didn’t make any noise.
They came to a clearing and left the boxes under a tree. They hadn’t actually walked too far from the house, they’d headed through the woods down toward the bottom of the backyard. Wanting to be hidden, but not going too far away.
“Right, this is close to where Ink will be setting the fireworks off,” Baron said. “All we need to do is sneak back here and grab these ones, and we can set them off.”
“They’re going to be way better than the wimpy ones he bought,” the small girl said.
She seemed to be healing nicely, living here with Ink and Betsy after everything she’d been through. He’d taken great delight in making her foster father disappear.
That bastard had deserved everything he got.
Those that hurt women and children didn’t deserve to live.
“So what do you have in the boxes?” he said, stepping forward. All three of them jumped and turned to him. The boys immediately stepped in front of the little girl, although she didn’t seem too pleased about that.
“Hey, get out of my way,” she said. “You guys make better doors than windows, you know?”
She attempted to get around them, but they kept standing in her way, protecting her, which was just the way it should be, even though she had plenty of fight in her.
“Hey, you’re the Fox,” the girl said.
“I know.”
“I like you,” she told him.
“You do? Why?”
She shrugged. “You have good energy. And, don’t worry, I know you’re a secret. I’m good at keeping secrets.”
He had no doubts.
“What’s in the boxes?” he asked.
What was the small child’s name? Zippy? And the boys were Royal and Baron.
“That depends,” Baron said. “What are you going to do if we tell you?”
The Fox raised his eyebrows. “I think that’s the wrong question to ask. It might be, ‘what am I going to do if you don’t tell me?’”
The boys shared a look and then nodded as if they’d had a conversation together silently.
“Fireworks,” Royal said. “We’ve got fireworks in the boxes.”
“And not the wimpy sort,” Zippy told him with glee. “We’ve got the good ones, the ones that are going to make a great big bang. That Dad wouldn’t approve of.”
That’s what he thought.
“Good. I’ve got some fireworks to add to them, but the big one has to come last. All right?” he asked.
“And if we set off your fireworks, you won’t let on what we’ve got back here?” Royal asked.
“Exactly,” the Fox said. “We have a deal?”
“We have a deal.” Zippy nodded and held out her hand for him to shake.
He didn’t shake many people’s hands. But he reached out to shake hers.
Perfect.
The Fox headed into the house, looking for Brody and Autumn. They were supposed to stay close to Ink or Duke if he wasn’t around. He found Duke in the kitchen, cleaning up Sunny who seemed to be coated in icing and glitter. She was grinning while Duke frowned as he glanced over at the Fox.
“You wouldn’t happen to know how I got hit with a second cupcake, would you, Fox?” Duke asked.
“Of course I know,” the Fox replied. “I hit you with it.”
Duke tensed. “What? You hit me? Why?”
“You really should do something about all that tension in your shoulders. It can’t be good for you. Perhaps try meditating. Or jerk the jellybean more often.”
Not that he wanted to think about Duke doing anything like that. He especially didn’t want to think of him doing anything with Sunny. He ought to kill him just for that.
But Sunny wouldn’t like that. And he only wanted Sunny to be happy.
“Jerk the jellybean?” Duke asked in a strangled voice.
“Hmm, it’s a euphemism. I’m sure you’ll work it out.” He ran his gaze over Sunny. “All good, sweet girl?”
“Yep,” Sunny said with a smile. “That cupcake war was epic, wasn’t it?”
“That’s one way to put it,” Duke muttered.
But when Sunny smiled up at him, the Fox saw the way he relaxed.
He turned toward the living room, where he found his babies sitting on the sofa, watching television. There was a news report on. Cash, Ralen, and Butch were lingering around. Although Butch was standing on the opposite side of the room from the other two.
“Daddy,” Autumn said quietly, turning to stare at him. “Everything all right?”
“Always.” He walked forward, leaning over the back of the sofa to kiss both of their heads. “What’s this?”
“Zinnia Danes is having the worst luck today,” Brody told him. “On the way to the hospital, she was nearly in a car accident. A car drove out right in front of hers. But whoever was driving her car must have been a race car driver in another life, because he avoided them and kept on driving.”
Hmm. Interesting.
But he pushed that out of his mind as the news station moved on to other things.
“Has anyone seen Zippy and the boys?” Betsy asked, rushing through the room, looking harried.
“No,” Cash said. “Need us to help you find them?”
“I saw them just before,” the Fox told her. “They’re fine. They were taking a stroll in the woods.”
Everyone turned to look at him.
“Want me to go get them?” he asked.
“Um, no. That’s okay. Thanks,” Betsy said with wide eyes. “I think . . . the food will be ready soon!”
He really didn’t understand why everyone was so nervous around him.
Oh. Wait.
Yes, he did.
It was because he was the best assassin in the world. And also the most intelligent and handsome.
It was good to be the Fox.