Chapter 53: Holidays on Ice, Part II
Frank’s POV
There isn’t enough scotch in the world to eliminate what I’ve seen this week.
I love my wife, but looking at my mother-in-law, I dread getting older. There are just some things no man wants to see, and Edna’s chicken legs and flabby skin ranks high. Helen’s had to rub my back each night and promise me she won’t parade around in bikinis like that.
My Pumpkin is a lifesaver. She gave the master bedroom to me and her mother, which meant the attached bathroom was ours to control. I immediately locked access to it from the hallway so I could enjoy waking up and having access to my bathroom the moment I needed it. The rest of the family was forced to share the remaining two bathrooms.
Perhaps it’s evil of me, but I enjoyed listening to Edna and Sunshine fight it out that first morning. Pregnant woman versus elderly woman. I smiled.
Helen looked at me disapprovingly, but before she could open her mouth, I cut her off.
“No. We spend too much time giving up everything to everyone else. If you invite one of them to use our bathroom, they’ll use that invitation for the rest of the week and I’ll end up fighting with one of them. There are three bathrooms in this house and only two are being fought over. Let it rest.” I smiled and considered this, then turned to Helen, who looked angry. “I’ll share with Pumpkin. That’s it. Since she rented the house and is allowing us to stay, she can use the master bath. No one else, Helen, and I mean this.”
“You’ve never been pregnant. Valerie needs the bathroom when she needs it. She doesn’t have time to fight with Mother over it.”
“Then Edna should allow her to have it. Edna’s been pregnant. She should understand, but instead she’s fighting with Valerie for the bathroom.”
“Mother’s old. Her bladder isn’t what it used to be. She needs the bathroom when she needs it.”
I blew an exasperated breath. “You see how that argument can go on all day? There are two more bathrooms in this house, not one. They don’t have to use the same bathroom. That’s why I’m stopping it now. Pumpkin shares with us. No one else.” There was a tap at the door. “Who is it?”
“Valerie.”
“NO! Use one of the other bathrooms!”
“They’re full, Daddy! Albert’s shaving in one and Grandma’s in the other.”
“He’s your husband. You can pee in front of him. Our bathroom is off-limits!” I glared at Helen as she opened her mouth. “I mean it,” I hissed. “I’ll leave and go back to Trenton before I share that bathroom.”
Helen’s nostrils flared and she glared at me, but she said nothing.
“Mommy?”
“Share with Albert, dear,” Helen said. “Your father is determined not to share his bathroom.” I was kicked in the shins but I didn’t give a damn.
I lay back on the pillow and smiled. My bathroom was mine (and Helen’s and Pumpkin’s) for the rest of the week.
Steph’s POV
Valerie and Grandma enacted WWIII over the bathrooms for four days. Daddy explained that I was the only person being granted access to the master bath and he’d appreciate if I kept it from Valerie and Grandma. I was grateful. The girls completely soaked one bathroom to discourage Grandma from using it. I thought that was pretty funny when they explained it.
“You know old people are afraid of falling,” Mary Alice said. “Just in case they can’t get up.”
I choked back laughs, but they were right. After Grandma slipped and nearly fell (Albert just happened to be walking by at the right moment), she avoided that bathroom like the plague, even after Val made the girls clean it up. Albert shared with the girls, which they didn’t like (they spent the week looking for ways to kick him out) but they had to tolerate it.
The other bathroom was the site of twice daily fights until the morning Valerie peed herself waiting. Valerie had locked Grandma out the night before to take a long bath, so the next morning Grandma took 30 minutes in the bathroom. Grandma looked a little embarrassed by that and they finally came to a truce: use the bathroom and get out.
Four days. It took four days for nine people to learn to share three bathrooms.
Ram’s description of my week with the family was pretty accurate. Albert dropped every meal on the floor, on his pants, on some horizontal surface. I’m surprised he’s as pudgy as he is. It doesn’t really seem as if food makes it into his mouth, but I know it has to. He hasn’t lost any weight. Otherwise, he spent his time burning food on the little charcoal grill (before Daddy banned him) and obeying Val’s orders.
Mom cooked and cleaned and basically did the same things she does at home. I tried to encourage her to take a break and sit on the beach with us, but she was happier doing what she was doing, so I left her to it. I took the girls to walk along the boardwalk and we ate from every vendor. Hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, cotton candy, meat on a stick–it was great. We swam in the ocean, sunbathed, and built sandcastles.
The girls confided that they were not looking forward to the new baby. Val and Albert were already having money problems, and the girls had been told they would have to give up some of their favorite activities, like roller skating on the weekends and going to the movies. I told them I would try to work my schedule out to take them and it would be our thing to do. They were thrilled, and I was grateful to have another reason to spend time with them and get out of the building. I made a note to talk to Val about paying for gymnastics classes for the girls, so they had something to do.
Ella was right. My body was not used to greasy food anymore, damn it. Diarrhea and constipation all week but I enjoyed it going down. I thought about what she said about the standards, so I hauled myself out of bed every morning and went running along the beach. Running in sand is much harder than running on a treadmill so after 30 minutes, I gave up. I did my pushups and sit ups in the driveway and Mom noticed on Day Two.
“Do you think you could do those a bit closer to the house? Just in case someone pulls into the driveway?”
I nodded, exhausted. She sat a bowl of oatmeal (oatmeal? Mom and Ella cannot talk ever again) in front of me.
“How many of those do you have to do?”
I looked at my mother in surprise. “Umm. . . I need to be able to do 23 push-ups and 51 sit-ups in 2minutes. I’m already managing the pushups. I’ve just got to get five more sit-ups in.” She nodded. The next morning, as I hauled my exhausted body into the driveway, Mom was standing there with Daddy’s watch.
“I’ll time you.”
I looked at her, stunned, but nodded. I did the pushups and waited.
“25.”
Great. I flipped over and did the sit ups.
“48.”
I flopped back. So close! Mom walked over with a cool cloth and some water. “You’re getting there. Just keep at it.”
I stared at her. Who are you?
“Your mother. Now come on, let’s get breakfast started.”
Dad and I sat at the table in the back yard and smoked a cigar. He poured a finger of whiskey and we enjoyed the evening breeze.
“Good job, Pumpkin.”
I looked over. I can’t remember the last time I heard Daddy say that. He smiled and flicked the ashes from his cigar.
“I don’t know what you’re doing in that building, with the company, but every time you tell me and your mother about some new skill, we’re proud. We’ve wanted you to do this for a long time.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked quietly, looking back toward the house.
“Had to be your decision,” he replied. I looked over at him. My father’s face could be carved in stone, for all the emotion on it. “I’m not your mother. I won’t tell you what to do with your life. I’ll tell you what I think only when you ask me but otherwise? Otherwise it’s your life to live and your decisions to make. You have to live with them.”
I thought about that then asked, “Do you think I should get another job?”
He looked at me. “Do you enjoy your job?”
“Yes.”
“Can you live off what you earn?”
“With Vinnie or RangeMan?”
“Either. Both.”
“Vinnie? Most of the time. RangeMan? Yes.”
He nodded. “Can you see yourself doing this for a few more years?”
I considered the question. “I don’t know yet. For either one.”
Daddy smiled. “Don’t let your job be a habit.” I frowned. “Are you a bounty hunter because you’ve gotten used to it? Or because you enjoy it? Habit vs. enjoyment.”
I smiled. “Both, but mostly enjoyment. I get the guy, I set my own schedule, and I don’t have to wear pantyhose.” Daddy refilled my glass. “I don’t have to answer to anyone but me.”
He nodded and we puffed away. As we were stubbing the cigars out, he looked at me and said, “You will always be Stephanie Plum. Bombshell Bounty Hunter. Managing Director of RangeMan. No one will ever be able to take those honors away from you. Your mother and sister? They will never understand. They went from being someone’s daughter to being someone’s wife and mother. You’ve always had a separate identity. Don’t lose it or give it up because that’s the easy thing to do, because someone tells you that’s the next step.”
With that, Daddy went inside and upstairs to bed and I sat in the living room and smiled. I would always be Stephanie Plum. I would never be Burg. I would always want to fly.
Val and I went walking along the boardwalk on Tuesday morning. We could see Grandma in the water with some new friends, laughing and having fun.
“What do you really do at RangeMan?” Val asked.
I gave her an overview and she frowned.
“So, the company is legitimate? It’s legal?”
I looked at her. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m just wondering who’s in charge of the illegal activities. You know, the murder-for-hire stuff. There have to be some. All those men look like thugs.”
I reminded myself that Valerie was pregnant, so if I choked her I’d get two counts of murder.
“RangeMan is not murder-for-hire, Val. I see all the paperwork, all the bank accounts. Everything we do is legitimate. All of it is legal.”
Val sniffed. “Not from what I hear. I mean, everyone knows that Ranger ‘disappears’ for stretches. Is he in jail or doing assassin stuff?”
I turned to my sister and waited for her to look at me. “You know nothing about RangeMan,” I stated coldly. “Nothing at all and all your information comes from people who don’t know anything either. I’m your sister, standing in front of you as the person running the company, telling you that everything we do is legal. Unless you’re suggesting that I’m now involved in illegal activity?”
I took a step closer to her and watched her turn pale. “As for Ranger, what he does is none of anyone’s business, but I’d think that a man who runs a multi-million dollar company and provides jobs for so many men deserves a bit more respect. All the RangeMen do. So shut your trap, Val.”
Val blanched. Her jaw clenched and she stared into the water. “No one knows what you do there. You’ve become almost as big a mystery as Ranger himself. No one sees you, no one hears from you, and when we do see you, you have a bodyguard. You’ve become Ranger. It’s scary.”
I thought about what Val said and smiled. That did sound like Ranger, on the surface anyway. “It’s no one’s business what I do at work. I work. I don’t go to anyone else’s job asking them what they do all day. It’s none of my business.”
“Still, people want to know—”
“None of their business, Val.” I stared at her, jaw clenched. I had a horrible thought and decided to test it. “How much are you in the pot for?” Val blushed bright red and I shook my head. “Great. Even my own sister is betting on my life.”
“I am not, but you’re gonna lose Joe,” Val said stubbornly. “You need to work it out with him. He’s good for you. He tolerates your job and that you can’t cook. Not many men will. Be realistic, Steph. You can’t do this bounty hunter gig for the rest of your life. At some point, Steph, you need to grow up. Get married. Have kids. It’s the best thing I ever did.”
“It’s the only thing you ever did.” Val looked at me, insulted, but I remembered what Daddy said. “You went from being someone’s daughter to being someone’s wife, twice. Who are you? What have you ever accomplished in your life? Yeah, I get it. Being a wife and mom is hard work, but it’s what you wanted to do. But that doesn’t give you the right to decide that it’s right for me. You did what you wanted to and I’m doing what I want to. Maybe someday, I’ll be a wife and Mom. But I can look back and say I was also a bad-ass bounty hunter and I ran a major company. I did more with my life than have kids and cook meals.”
She was quiet for a moment, then, “So are you going to choose Ranger?”
“Right now, I’m choosing me. I’m doing what I want to because I want to. Tell the bookie in charge of the bets it’s even money odds again.”
Val blushed, embarrassed. “And when he comes back and takes over his company again?”
“Perhaps I’ll go back to being a bounty hunter. I’ll do what I want, Val. I don’t answer to anyone else.”
Silence, then, “That’s sad.”
“No, what’s sad is that my sister is betting on my life because she doesn’t have a life of her own. That’s sad. Call the bookie and give him the news so he can update the odds.” I looked at Val, disgusted, and walked toward Grandma.
“What?” she called.
I turned back around and looked at her. “If you aren’t in the pot, you’re keeping it up to date. How much they pay you for that?” Val blushed and I had my answer. I turned and walked to Grandma.
“Stephanie! Stephanie, this is Murray and this is Jack. They’re from Connecticut. They’re here to visit the shore.”
Whatever hair Murray had on his head had migrated south in search of . . . I don’t know. Connie’s wax girl would see Murray as a challenge. Ears, nose, chest, knuckles, everywhere except his head, but he was grinning at Grandma enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Jack was completely hairless and staring at my chest.
I hoped Grandma wasn’t thinking of double dating. I was calling Hector before I’d let that happen. Jack looked like he had quick hands.
“Hey there, chickie!” Murray said. “Your grandma tells us you’re a bounty hunter. Like Dog, huh?”
I’m also starting to understand the RangeMan annoyance with Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman. “Not quite. I’m more low-key.”
Grandma laughed. “Uh huh. Those explosions are really low key.” I laughed and Grandma grinned. She turned to Murray and Jack. “My baby granddaughter always gets her man. 100% success rate. She’s the most successful bounty hunter on the East Coast.”
The men looked impressed, but I was impressed Grandma knew that. “How did you know all that?”
“I pay attention. I keep up. Gives me something to brag about at the Clip N Curl. I mean, if I have to sit through one more boring description of Myrtle’s great-grandchild’s violin recital or Doris’s granddaughter and her jet-setter career, I think I’d choke. Those women can’t describe half of what their children and grandchildren do for a living but we all know what you do.”
“So, do you carry a gun and chase dangerous men down too?” Jack asked, eyes still on my chest.
I shrugged. “Yeah, but I prefer carrying a stun gun to chase my dangerous men down. Guns mean I might get shot. I’ve been shot enough. For the really dangerous ones, I use my knees.”
“Knees?” Murray asked, confused.
“Yeah,” I replied, staring at Jack. “Hard to resist the handcuffs when I’ve relocated your bits near your throat.”
Jack suddenly found my face much more interesting.
Murray laughed. “I believe you. I’ll bet you bring the men in. I’m betting they follow you willingly.” He nudged Grandma. “She’s got your looks, cutie. Fills out a bikini like you, too.”
Is Ram psychic? I vowed to run 35 minutes the next day. Hey, I don’t want to sag but I don’t want to collapse either.
Grandma blushed. “You tease. You don’t fool me. Anyway, Stephie, we’re headed to Dorcas’s for some lunch. Wanna join us?”
“Sure.” I figured it would keep me from wanting to kill Val for a while. My sister is keeping the bookie informed. I wasn’t sure what the appropriate level of hurt is for that.
Lunch was good. Now that Jack had located my face, I found he was a decent conversationalist. Murray was a cardiologist and Jack was a plastic surgeon. Mom would be in seventh heaven if either was closer in age to me. I texted Hector, just in case. Jack’s gaze had drifted back to my chest. I stared hard until he shrugged.
“Sorry. Occupational hazard. I spend so much time lifting and pumping that when I’m confronted by a set, I automatically look to see who did the work. You haven’t had any done, have you?”
I shook my head and he smiled.
“Great. Thought I was losing my touch. I was about to ask you who managed to stitch you back up without leaving a trace. B-cup?” I nodded. “Nice. Natural. You don’t look like you have a set of boulders on your chest.”
I texted Hector that Jack was harmless. Plastic surgeon. Too late; I saw Hector winding his way through the restaurant and I laughed mentally. Hector had slid the ‘psycho’ face in place and the room was getting quiet.
“Hector!” Grandma was thrilled to see him. “Murray, Jack, this is my boy-toy, Hector. He doesn’t speak any English.” She winked and Hector shot me a look that promised a lecture. Hey, I didn’t ask you to actually show up.
Murray was looking from Grandma to Hector, intrigued. “Well, can you tell your boy-toy I’d like to take you out for dinner tonight? I’m not trying to horn in on his territory.” He winked at Grandma. “Yet.”
She laughed. “I’ll tell him later, but you haven’t actually asked me. Perhaps you should ask me first then Hector and I can plan our day.”
Hector was shooting me looks that screamed ‘Get me out of here before I lose all street cred!’ I stood. “Grandma, I hate to break up your little party, but I think I’ll take my partner and go. I’ll make sure I tell Hector how you were teasing him.”
Grandma pouted and Murray grinned. “So he’s your boyfriend?”
“Nope. Partner. Like cops.”
Once we cleared the restaurant and made it back to the beach, Hector looked at me. “Angelita.”
I laughed, then sobered up. Within minutes, I was sobbing on the beach, telling Hector about my discussion with Val. Hector held me and rubbed my back, crooning in Spanish.
“Your Papa was right. You will always be someone separate from the men in your life. You have defined yourself. Your sister is jealous. She’ll never have what you have and she’ll never have the guts to go after what you have. Ignore her. You want RangeMan to put the word out that the pot needs to be abolished?”
I sat back and considered it. “No. I want the RangeMen to join the pot. Every RangeMan from across the country. Whoever wants in. Bankrupt it. Make it meaningless.”
Hector grinned. “There’s my Angelita! I’ll send the orders out today. An influx of around 200 men joining the pot will make it meaningless. How do you want us to tip it? A vote for Ranger? Or a vote for neither?”
“Neither. The RangeMen vote for Stephanie Plum. It’s my life. It’s no one else’s business.”
I was sitting on the beach when Grandma joined me.
“Told your sister where to stuff it, huh?”
I looked over. Grandma was grinning. I huffed and looked back at the sea.
“So she’s telling Mom what a horrible person I am for not marrying Joe? For running a company that kills people?” I clench my jaw to keep from crying.
Grandma sat down next to me. “If by that you mean, is she back at the house crying that you’re being mean to her and saying she’s done nothing with her life and working at RangeMan has turned you into this mean, cruel person, then yeah. Personally, I’m proud. It’s about time you told your sister to stop trying to force you to live her life. Having to listen to her talk about the joys of natural childbirth all week made me want to vomit.” Grandma snorts and I smile. “In my day, it was called labor and you didn’t get drugs because it was supposed to hurt.”
I laugh. Another reason I don’t want kids. I’m not big on pain. “I shouldn’t have to justify my job or my life. To anyone.”
“Of course not. But Valerie is jealous of you. Always has been. Always will be.”
“Why?” I asked, turning to grandma. “She’s Mom’s favorite. She was the one who always did everything right. Married right out of high school, had two kids, kept a perfect house. Even when she got divorced, she got remarried, is having the second kid, and still keeps a perfect house. Why is she jealous of me?” I was clenching my jaw to keep from crying. My own sister is selling information on me.
“Because life has smacked her in the face time and time again because she doesn’t have the strength to make her own decisions,” Grandma replied simply. “You’ve always done exactly what you wanted to, regardless of what people told you. Sometimes your choices were stupid, sometimes they were smart, but they were your choices. Your sister has always done exactly what she was told to do, because she was told it would make her happy. What does she have to show for it?”
“A husband, a lawyer this time. Three girls and one more child. A house in Trenton close to our parents.”
Grandma snorted. “She has four children and another on the way. Albert will never be a successful lawyer. He should switch to elder care and drafting wills. He’s too weak for litigation. She doesn’t have a degree because she got a Mrs instead. She will always be dependent on your parents for help. She will always lean on Helen’s advice for what she should do because she’s never learned to think on her own.” Grandma leaned back and smiled.
“Dickie was an ass, but he was clearly gonna be successful before you ruined him. Ranger and Joe? Like choosing between cake and ice cream. You don’t have any kids so you get to make your own choices, decide what you want. And you’re not dependent on Frank and Helen. You have other people you can lean on. Your sister only has her married friends and they gossip just as viciously as she and Helen do.”
Grandma sat up and crossed her legs, Indian style. “You’d think she’d have enough sense to reach out to you and lean on her little sister, but no, her pride is in the way. She’s married to Albert, but only because you set them up. Even now, every so often Albert looks at you in a way that’s completely smitten and Valerie doesn’t miss those looks. She’s married to Albert but he has a crush on you.”
Ew. I turned back to the sea and stared out to the ocean. The seagulls were diving for dinner.
“I spent 50 years with a man who demanded my obedience.” I looked Grandma. She was serious. “I cooked his meals, I had his daughter, I kept his house and I kept my mouth shut. I did my grieving during the marriage. That’s why I don’t want another one. I want what you were smart enough to take, freedom.”
“Why did you stay?”
“Where else could I go? I was a good Catholic woman with a child. You didn’t work back then, unless you were a secretary, and it would’ve shamed Harry to be known as a man not making enough to ensure his wife could stay at home. I was bored out of my skull once your mother went to school. I didn’t have any skills or talents.”
I smiled. She’s wrong there.
“What do you want from him?” Grandma asked softly.
“Love. Support. Encouragement. Trust,” I replied. Those things I know.
“Do you get that?”
“Yes.”
“What does he mean to you?”
“Everything.”
“Then act like it.” I turned, startled, to Grandma, who was frowning. “Would you be happy if he died young in some god-forsaken country before his time?”
“No.” It’s my biggest fear with Ranger.
“Then what makes you think he’ll be happy to learn you died right here in New Jersey of something preventable?”
My eyes widened at Grandma. Pillowcase?
“It’s not the same, Grandma.”
“Why not?”
I’m quiet. Why not, indeed.
Grandma stood up and kissed the top of my head. “If you don’t pull your head out of your ass, Stephie, you’ll watch from heaven as that man spends his life with some other woman. Or a bunch of them. He looks like the kind of man who’d need to rotate ’em in to avoid wearing ’em out.” I grinned. True.
“Anyway, regardless of what he might say, there will be another woman. His bed won’t be cold and lonely for long, and some other woman will be smart enough to do what you thought stupid. She’ll make herself a priority. Don’t be like the rest of the women in this family, sacrificing yourself for someone else. Put yourself first. Make your life and your needs a priority. If he truly loves you, he’ll respect you more for it.”
After six days with my family, I couldn’t wait for them to leave. After they pulled out the driveway Friday morning, I flopped back on the couch and grinned.
The doorbell rang. It was Nancy, here to clean the house. She took one look and said, “I’ll need to call in reinforcements.”
I cringed. “Before you do, they’ll have to have a background check.” She stared at me, disbelieving. I shrugged. “I’m the head of a security company. My men will want to investigate. Otherwise, you’ll have half a dozen fully armed ex-Special Forces vets standing around glaring at your employees.”
She stared at me, then sighed and wrote out a list.
“Hal?”
“Hi, Sis. Need something?”
“My family left Nancy a mess. She wants to call in reinforcements. I have the names.”
“And birthdays?”
“No birthdays.”
“I need birthdays.”
I asked Nancy for the birthdays, which she wrote, then turned her attention back to the bathrooms. “Got ’em.” I gave Hal the birthdays and he said he’d call when they cleared. An hour later, he called back. All cleared, but Hector was coming to oversee.
I told Nancy she could call her employees but my partner was coming to oversee. She nodded and twenty minutes later, Hector was intimidating the four extra people Nancy called in to help. Nancy saw my point.
“He one of your military men?”
“Nah, but he’s all that’s needed for protection. I’m sure they’re lurking around here somewhere.”
Hector turned and smiled. I sighed. “¿Cuántos?” (How many?) He shook his head and pointed at the cameras. All the lights were blinking. I turned back to Nancy.
“I would guess at this moment that we’re being watched by at least 15 men.” I turned to the new app on my iPhone, a translation app that would allow me to speak a sentence and have it instantly translated into Spanish. Hector grinned when he found it. Perfect to keep up the ruse. “Any chance they might stop eavesdropping?“
Hector waited for the translation before replying with his phone. “Nope. They’re nervous. After this, you’re alone here.”
“Hal agreed that there would be no eavesdropping, no live monitoring.”
“I didn’t.”
“Hector!”
Hector shrugged. “You’re not offline. You got a better solution?“
“I could quit.”
“We’ll post guards outside your apartment.”
I glared at Hector. “Did nothing I say mean anything? I need to feel as if I’m in charge of my safety. The constant monitoring doesn’t help.”
Hector looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I know that look. He’d prefer to shelve the conversation until later, but I’m pissed now.
“This isn’t what I wanted my time at the beach to be, Hector. I needed time away from the constant monitoring, the pressure, the lack of freedom and control.”
Hector motioned for me to follow him outside. Once there, out of range of the cameras, he put his phone away and I was confronted by the coldest look I’ve ever seen on his face. Definite pillowcase coming my way.
“Angelita, right now, this is a delicate compromise between you, me, and all of RangeMan Trenton. You are the CO. Your safety is our priority. But more than that, you are my partner. My back. The person I trust most in a pinch. I love you and I worry. Things happen to you and I’m nervous because you expect me to skip back to Trenton and leave you all alone here. Not posting a guard at this house? Major trust on my part. Not moving in this next week? Major major trust on my part. Not instituting live monitoring? Major trust from both me and Hal.”
Hector blew a breath. I was pouting, waiting to attack.
“It’s not an indication of our faith, or lack of, in you. It’s an acknowledgement than in four years, you have racked up an enemies list second only to Ranger himself. Dead bodies, stalkers, kidnappers, psychos, they all seem to gravitate to you. We trust you. The rest of humanity is suspect.
Plus, with Ranger undercover on this op, leaving you here by yourself is a true exercise in faith. You could be kidnapped away from this house and we wouldn’t know. So, instead of grumbling to me about being unhappy with the love we have for you, come up with a solution that works for everyone. Give me an option you can live with, remembering that, technically, you are not offline.”
Pillowcase. I pout, but Hector is unmoved.
“You’ll be here, on your own, for an entire week.”
“How many trackers are on me right now?”
“On your body? Five. One more in your phone.”
“OK, my compromise. I’ll keep the trackers. I’ll carry the phone wherever I go. I’m in trouble when the phone and the trackers aren’t in the same place. The phone has a panic button in it and I can call if something happens.”
Hector mouth set in a firm line but eventually he nodded. “Agreed. Phone and trackers must stay together. Otherwise, I’ll worry you’ve been kidnapped. If you’re in the house and the phone is in the house, I’ll accept that. Outside the house, the two of you need to be together.”
I smile. I don’t like it, but it’s a small price to pay to have the house all to myself.
Everyone’s gone and I’m on the beach. The seagulls are fishing for dinner and I’m fishing for answers.
My sister is selling information about me. Why?
My parents are proud of my skills and accomplishments. Why now?
My grandmother? No change there.
The sky is pink and purple when I feel it. The tingle on the back of my neck.
Bastard.
