Admiral Ackbar. The relevant question is, is he working for them voluntarily or do they have a gun to his head?”
Grandma Frida wrinkled her nose. “He’s a money guy. They waved a check under his nose and he followed.”
“I can’t believe they would think I’m so gullible,” Runa said.
“Not gullible,” Bernard said. “Impulsive and prone to panic.”
She stared at him, mortally offended. My cousin remained stoic.
“Panic?” Runa asked in the kind of voice one normally proclaimed, Do you know who I am?
“You did poison Conway,” Leon pointed out.
“Oh my God! I poison one guy and now all of Houston thinks I’m a raging idiot.”
“Wait,” Ragnar said. “You poisoned somebody?”
“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.”
They wanted Runa to leave the warehouse, which meant she had to stay here. But Moody just designated himself as an excellent lead. He knew something, and I wanted him to share it with me. I wished Arabella hadn’t left. The safest thing to do was to wait until Heart got here, but for all we knew, someone from Diatheke had a gun to Moody’s head, and if we delayed, he’d be a corpse by the time we got there.
“I need your keys,” I told Runa. “It will go smoother if I drive your car.”
“I’m coming with you. He asked to talk to me.”
Leon tapped his plate with his fork and raised his hands like a conductor. “Three, two, one . . .”
“No,” we all chorused.
I caught a glimpse of Alessandro. He leaned back in his chair with a resigned expression. He knew where this would go, and he was waiting for us to get there. He caught me looking and nodded slightly. He wanted in on the Moody thing and I would be an idiot to go there without backup.
“The rule of thumb is, do the opposite of what the bad guys want you to do,” Leon said. “They want you to go to Moody’s office, so you have to stay here.”
“Leon is right,” I said. “If I wanted to kill you, I would try to lure you out of the warehouse. And then, once I figured out that my ruse had failed, I would hit the warehouse as hard as I could. The most prudent thing would be for all of us to stay here. But somebody must either rescue him or ask him some very important questions, like who convinced him to make that phone call. Arabella is gone, so we’re shorthanded until Sergeant Heart and his people get here, which should be in a couple of hours. Until then, you and Leon are our best defenses.”
“Excuse me?” Grandma Frida said.
“You, Leon, Grandma Frida, Bern, Mom, and Matilda are our best defenses. There, did I leave anybody out?”
Ragnar raised his hand.
“I will instruct Zeus,” Matilda promised. “He is excellent at close quarters defense.”
Alessandro cleared his throat. Yes, I know, I know.
I looked straight at Runa. “I’m going to Moody’s office and I need you to stay here and protect the kids. Please give me your keys.”
Runa dug in her pocket and tossed me the rental’s keychain.
Chapter 10
Being brave was easy in the kitchen, surrounded by my family. But by the time I got to the back door, all of my courage had evaporated. We were about to drive to a place where people would try to kill us. While we were gone, the warehouse was very likely going to be attacked, and Arabella wasn’t here to defend it. I had no doubt that my family could hold the fort. But my sister’s presence guaranteed a quick victory.
I stepped into my office and grabbed a ratty trench coat off the coatrack. My hands shook.
This was ridiculous.
I moved around the office, collecting things I’d need. Let’s see; chalk, spare magazine for the Beretta, phone, keys, what was I forgetting? The sword sheath. I would take the gladius again. It offered the most versatility. I took the sheath out of the cabinet. Driving with it on would be a pain in the butt, so I would buckle it on after we got there.
Alessandro leaned against the door frame and watched me. “It’s very you.” He gave the office an elegant sweep of his hand.
Very me? He didn’t even know who I was. “How so?”
“Organized and businesslike.” He said it like a condemnation.
“It’s a business office. It’s supposed to be organized and businesslike. This is where I work.”
He strolled into the office, reached behind my monitor, and swiped his finger across the desk’s surface. “No dust.”