16. Chapter 16
Sienna sat back from her desk and tilted her head to one side and then the other to try and get the kinks out.
Today had been a busy day for the clan. Multiple meetings followed up with paperwork—which was technically completed electronically now, so should it be called screenwork? Either way, it was still a pain.
She spun her chair to face the whiteboards. A timeline with attached notes from John’s journals. It made his life seem clinical, and it was far from that.
“You see something?” Ryan asked.
“Not really. I understand why Megan is mapping all of this out, but it feels like we’re missing something.”
Ryan stood and walked over to the boards and stared at them for a moment. “We’re missing context.”
“What’s going through that head of yours, Ry?”
He turned to her, his eyes shining. “I have an idea.”
“Tell me.”
Ryan laid his idea out, his hands moving as he explained his thoughts. He finally wound down. “What do you think?”
“That you’re right.”
Ryan smiled. “Wait.” He picked up his phone and typed on the screen before holding it out in front of him. “Could you please repeat what you just said?”
She leaned forward. “I said that you’re a smart-ass.”
He clicked on the screen and set the phone down. “I was so close.”
She chuckled. “Why don’t you make the call and we’ll get going on this.”
A short time later the door opened and Jonas walked in. “You wanted to see me?”
Sienna nodded. “Yes. Come in. Before I show you something, I wanted to know if you found anything else about the drone that can help us?”
Jonas shook his head. “Not really. It was a simple drone that allowed the person running it to see what was happening. It didn’t have long-range capabilities.”
“Okay. I wanted to show you what Megan’s been working on.” She pointed to the boards on the one side of the office. “These are timelines of different events in regard to the curse. Megan has been consolidating John’s notes into something linear.”
Jonas frowned. “This is antiquated.”
Sienna wasn’t surprised Jonas cut right to the chase.
She exchanged a glance with Ryan before speaking.
“You think in zeros and ones. Megan is a sensory thinker. She needs the marker in her hand and the information spread out in front of her. But Ryan had an idea of combining both of your talents into one.”
Jonas turned toward Ryan. “I’m listening.”
“Megan is compiling a historical timeline of John’s life and study of the curse.
When he found breakthroughs and when he was attacked by various factions,” Ryan said.
“But I don’t think it’s as simple as that.
We’re missing what else was happening in the world that might have triggered someone going after John. ”
Jonas stepped closer to the boards. “A causal relationship.”
“Correct,” Ryan said.
Jonas grinned. “Good idea. I can use a program to apply events from both our clan histories as well as global histories to see what correlations we can tie together.”
Ryan smiled back. “I can work with you. I’ll compile what Megan has already put together.”
Jonas shook his head as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “No need. I can take pics and use OCR tech.” He paused. “Optical Character Recognition is the tech that takes wording in pictures and converts them to text that I can work with.”
Jonas started taking pictures of the boards and mumbling to himself about programs to compare dates and times with historically significant events. Sienna glanced over at Ryan, who looked like someone had kicked his puppy now that Jonas declared he didn’t need help.
After a few minutes Jonas left and Sienna turned to her best friend. “Sorry that didn’t work out the way you wanted it to.”
Ryan shrugged. “The important thing is that he might be able to find something that will help us with the curse.”
“Agreed. But here’s the thing, Ry. Jonas is not going to get subtlety. He’s brilliant when it comes to computers and clueless when it comes to emotional cues. You’re going to have to be blunt about your feelings.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “Nope.”
She decided to reason with her best friend instead of knocking him upside the head. “He’s not a stranger. We grew up with Jonas. This shouldn’t be this hard.”
Ryan sighed. “He’s only a year older than us, but as kids he acted like he was ten years older. He didn’t want to play with us.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t play with him now,” she quipped.
Ryan glared at her.
She held up her hands. “Okay. Baby steps. Ask him out for a drink. He loves going to that bar that has all the retro computer games.”
Ryan shook his head. “And then I sit there all night and watch him play?”
“Right. Maybe not a good idea for a first date.” She thought for a moment. “He loves Nashville hot wings and IPAs.”
“Maybe.” Ryan leaned back.
“I’ll let Jonas know that you’ll be updating him with information as Megan keeps digging through John’s journals. That will give you more time with him.”
“When did you decide to be my matchmaker?” Ryan asked.
Sienna smiled. “Better me than Tessa.”
Ryan shuddered. “That’s true.”
“Although if she was working on this, you and Jonas would probably already be engaged by now.”
“Stop.” Ryan sat up. “It’s time to get back to work. We’ve got a few things to wrap up before dinner. I’m eating with the guards tonight. I’m not missing Marilyn’s enchiladas for anything.”
“That does sound good. We’re having pizzas. The girls are helping Marilyn get them ready.” Speaking of...it was almost five. She checked her phone for the tenth time and saw no calls. Not that she was surprised. “Any calls on the office phone today?”
“Nope. That’s the third time you’ve asked. What’s up?”
Sienna sighed. “I invited John to join me and the girls for dinner so we could talk about where we stand with everything.”
“Do you think he’ll show?” he asked.
“At this point, no. He’s talking about leaving again.”
Ryan looked up from his laptop. “And what do you think about that?”
“That it’s a mistake.”
Her inner voice added and an excuse.
Ryan nodded. “If anyone can talk him into staying, it’s you.”
She straightened up her desk as her stomach tumbled. “Not sure where all your confidence is coming from.”
“He listens to you. You’re tenacious.”
She frowned. “That’s just a nicer word for stubborn or obstinate.”
He leaned forward and started typing ridiculously fast on his laptop. “Can’t talk anymore. I’ve got a lot to get done.”
“You’re fake typing right now!” Maybe she should knock him upside the head after all.
He hunched farther over his computer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sienna pushed back her chair and stood. “Just for that, I am disinviting you to dinner with the guards. No enchiladas for you.”
Ryan kept speed typing. “I’m not worried. Marilyn loves me.”
“She does love you.” Sienna walked over and checked Ryan’s screen. It showed a giant paragraph of nonsensical letters grouped together. She chuckled. “You goofball.”
He shrugged. “Somebody needs to keep it light around here.”
“I’m going to leave you to your important work.
” She closed the door to Ryan’s laughter as she went upstairs to change out of her work clothes.
She needed comfortable clothes if she was playing with the girls.
John obviously wasn’t coming so she decided to go ahead with the surprises she had for the girls instead of keeping it for another day.
She changed into yoga pants and the new T-shirt she’d bought.
Grabbing the girl’s gifts, she jogged downstairs to the kitchen and found Bella and Lily helping Marilyn make the pizzas.
Marilyn loved having the girls with her to teach them how to cook.
Sienna walked over to the table where the girls were just finishing up with the pizzas.
Lily’s small pizza had a smiley face made out of mini pepperonis.
Bella’s had red, yellow, and green peppers along with spinach and olives.
Bella was a pretty adventurous eater, but this seemed a bit over-the-top for her.
Sienna walked over to the counter where Marilyn was putting together a couple more pizzas.
“I’m making a cheese pizza for Bella. She wanted to make you a veggie pizza since it’s your favorite.”
Sienna’s heart melted at that. “How sweet of her. What about the meat pizza you’re making?”
“The girls insisted. It’s not like it will go to waste. I’ll get these into the oven. It should take about thirty minutes before they’re ready.”
“Thanks. I’m going to get them cleaned up.” Even with their little aprons, they still had sauce on their shirts and cheese stuck to their hands. “Girls. Let’s help Marilyn clean up the table, please. Then we’ll get washed up. I have a surprise for you.”
Lily grabbed the bowls of leftover fixings and started to bring them over to the counter while Bella toddled over with a bowl of chopped tomatoes.
Sienna pitched in and had the table wiped down once everything had been picked up.
Then she herded them into the downstairs bathroom and helped them wash up.
She held up the bag and took out the new T-shirts she’d bought them that matched hers.
The T-shirts said Girls Rule with glittery starbursts.
They also came with a packet of temporary starburst tattoos.
It took her a couple minutes to get the excited girls changed into their new shirts and tattoos applied before telling them to head to the living room while she took their dirty shirts and aprons and put them in the laundry.
Sienna joined them in the family room. Lily and Bella were coloring at the coffee table, Bella scribbling with gusto and Lily concentrating as she drew. They both stopped when Sienna came into the room.
“Okay! Let’s get a picture of us in our matching shirts.” She knelt next to them and took a selfie, making sure that their Girls Rule sparkly T-shirts were front and center.
“Are we ready for our dance party?” Sienna asked.