"Cyn needs info on the group arrested for assaulting Destiny Pierce," Jericho said. "Plus one game reporter. He needs us to find ties to violence against women during the same time as Destiny's abduction - "
"Dez," Knock corrected. "I know you've never really talked to her, but she prefers Dez. Destiny was the innocent version. Dez is her now."
"Right," Jericho said. "So, we're going to be sucking up the bandwidth for a bit. I've already got some ideas, but - "
"Hacking the prison," a pudgy guy grumbled. "Yeah, she wants me to hack into the state prison and look through criminal emails. I feel dirty already."
Riley just nodded. "Ok. Y'all have fun with that. Um, is there coffee?"
"Cade!" Knock bellowed. "Riley wants one."
"Fuck off!" the young man groaned, appearing on the stairs a second later. "Sorry, Hottie, you've just been outranked."
"Brought one," the oldest guy in the group assured him.
And then a teenaged boy carefully made his way down the stairs carrying an entire collection of coffee mugs. "Pink, Riley."
"Really?" she asked.
"What?" Cade countered. "It was for Hottie. We also need a few more color options if no one wants it. Knock, blue. Baby?"
"I should've gotten the pink," Jericho said. "Trade me, Riley?"
She did gladly, aware that it was standing room only in the computer room right now. "I really need a bigger house."
"Or a slower internet connection," Knock teased. "Hey, mind if we use the whole network for a little extra processing power? I figure I can get your computer working on searching out keywords, and - "
Riley just tossed up her hands. "Fine. Just tell me someone checked on Ryan?"
"He's in Kitty's room," Cade assured her. "Heard him crying in the middle of the night, so Murder probably took him in there."
"He needs diapers today," Ripper added. "Jericho and I were supposed to run to the store, but..."
"Work," Riley finished for him, understanding. "Ok. Logan can go. I need to ride some horses. Knock? When you get that going, can you feed the pasture horses?"
"I'll help," Hottie offered. "I like driving the thing."
"The utility vehicle," Knock told him, sounding like it wasn't the first time. "But helping means carrying hay too. Little Void's out of alfalfa."
"He's not so little anymore," Cade pointed out. "One day, he's going to become big Void. Pretty sure he's got about a thousand pounds on Logan now."
"He's only a yearling!" Knock groaned.
"Eight hundred pounds," Riley corrected.
"Still big enough to hurt when he steps on me," Cade told her as he slid into a chair and fired up his own computer. "Hey, Ri? Can you get Logan to grab some donuts too?"
"Sure," she said, giving up and heading up the stairs.
But it seemed the noise had disturbed more than just Riley and Logan. Murder was walking through the living room in his underwear, bouncing his shoulders in a way that said he was carrying Ryan. When he turned back, she saw the infant curled up against his daddy's chest.
"Need a break?" she asked, holding out her hands as an offer.
"Sure," Murder grumbled, passing her his son. "I think he's coming down with something."
"Kitty still asleep?" she asked.
He nodded. "She was up with him until about midnight, then I told her I was taking over."
"Go back to bed," Riley told him. "Logan and I can watch Ryan for a bit. I promise we won't let him die in the process."
Murder ignored that and jerked his chin toward the stairs. "What are they doing up this early?"
"Sounds like Cyn needed a favor, so the whole group was called in."
"Huh." He rubbed at his face. "Let me get a coffee and some pants, then I'll go help. Know what it's about?"
"Dez's assault and the guys who were arrested." Because that was pretty much all she'd managed to get from the insanity in her basement.
Murder's brow creased. "This have to do with Rhaven's press thing? You saw that, right? She looked good!"
"You showed it to me," Riley reminded him, pointing to the kitchen to make it clear that he definitely needed some caffeine. "And I can check what it's about if you want. See a phone?"
"Someone's is charging in here," Murder called from the kitchen. "Green case?"
"That's Cade's," she grumbled, heading that way to snag it. Then, without caring about the fact that it wasn't her number, she dialed Cynister from memory. He answered on the second ring. "It's Riley on the closest phone," she told him.
"Hey, babe!" he greeted her. "Sorry I woke your house. How's Quake?"