Chapter 4
Chapter Four
It took the better part of two hours to get the rocket off the pool’s floor.
The house’s owner was not happy, either.
Briggs couldn’t blame him. He supposed he wouldn’t be thrilled if someone had torn up his yard and driven a crazy speeding contraption into his pool, too.
What’s worse was the backyard was now full of people trying to get this incident all wrapped up and taken care of.
As a small, rented crane hoisted the vehicle from the depths, Stryker called out from behind the controls, “It’s like raising the Titanic!”
Water fell from the rocket and splashed loudly back into the pool below.
Harrison, watching nearby, gave his best friend an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Auntie Athena, who’d joined the commotion to check on everyone, just groaned and said, “That’s a tad grandiose, wouldn’t you say?”
A few of the Daddy Guard members motioned at Stryker, directing like an air traffic controller until the rocket was safely on the ground.
Stryker hopped down from his perch on the machinery and said, “Well, she’s out. Sorry about all the trouble, sir. We’re happy to pay for any damage. We’ll have someone sod your yard and take care of any pool maintenance.”
“My L—” Before Jack could finish the statement, Athena cleared her throat.
The meaning wasn’t lost on Briggs. She was reminding her friend not to say “my Little” as they were in public and around “Vanillas.”
Right now, everyone was dressed just like anyone else would be—street clothes without a hint of onesies, babydoll dresses, or diapers for the Littles.
To the outside world, they were all just a bunch of adults.
That was reinforced by the convenient fact that Iris had been wearing shorts and a t-shirt when she’d crashed into the pool.
Just an ordinary outfit any late-twenties or early-thirties woman like her would wear.
Jack must have gotten the message Athena had subtly sent, too, because he said, “My wife was the one who caused this mess. I’ll pay.”
“It was my rocket, though,” Stryker said. “I will—”
“I don’t give a damn who pays for it!” the homeowner bellowed. “I just want it all fixed! Pronto!”
The balding older gentleman had veins protruding from his wide forehead.
“Hey, I know you!” Stryker said. “But you moved! You used to live in the hills, right?”
Recognition flashed in the man’s eyes. “You!” he said, somehow even angrier now than he had been before. “You crashed go-karts into my old pool! The both of you did!” He stabbed a stubby finger toward Harrison.
“That’s right!” Harrison admitted. “Back in the old days, when Stryker and I first met. Mr. Carver, right? Man, what are the odds?”
Carver clearly did not find the coincidence as cool as his unwanted guests did.
“You know, in filmmaking, we’d call this a callback,” Harrison noted.
“Yep. And remember that time in Mountainville when I designed a motorized sleigh for Christmas and someone drove it into the community pool?” Stryker asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Harrison said.
“So, we could also call this a running gag,” Stryker continued.
Briggs couldn’t help but chuckle. He liked them. They weren’t stuck-up like a lot of pretentious Hollywood types.
He didn’t laugh any more, though, because it was clear Mr. Carver was coming more unglued with each passing second.
“I don’t care about your movie tropes or whatever the hell you’re talking about! I just want you all gone! But first, you’re going to leave me an address where I can send the damn bill for all this!”
Briggs knew that was their cue for them all to get out of there before the situation turned any uglier.
“I’ll help you get all this stuff,” he said, looking at the crane and then rocket. “And I bear some responsibility for all this. Going into the pool was my idea. I just figured it was a safer place to land than crashing head-on into something.”
“That was good thinking,” Jack told him. “And I appreciate you taking care of Iris like that.”
“We’ll get it all straightened out,” Stryker said. “Come on.”
“When we get back to my place,” Athena told the bunch, “I’d like to speak to you all. We have a special guest coming and I need to explain some things before she arrives.”
Briggs’s curiosity was certainly piqued, but he didn’t dare ask more questions with Mr. Carver standing within earshot.
Right now, it was best to get moving before Mr. Carver exploded from anger—and took all of them with him in the blast!