going over to the Pontifex’s residence. That way, no one can sneak out to see their mommies or daddies.” She shot Raymond an amused but exasperated look.
“Just trying to help,” he said under his breath.
“And we appreciate your efforts.” Hey, I had no issues with Raymond questioning our safety. In most cases, he was probably wise to do so.
I considered my options. I could try to get all of our animal kingdom and my daughter back upstairs alone, or I could call for help. “Com on!”
“Yes, Chief?” Walter asked.
“I need Len and Kyle here to help me. Like now.”
“They’re advised and on their way, Chief.”
“You’re the best, Walt.”
Len and Kyle were human C.I.A. agents permanently assigned to be my driver and bodyguard, respectively. They were also young, cute, and former members of USC’s Trojan Football team who’d come into my orbit during the excitement surrounding my wedding. Instead of pursuing pro careers, they went straight from college to Chuckie’s side of things and, therefore, were swept right back up into my orbit.
Len had been the quarterback and Kyle had been on the line, which was why when it came to who got to handle what, Kyle got the four dogs and Len got the Feline Winnebago. I kept the cute little girl because I could.
“You boys ready for tonight?” I asked as we squished into the elevator. The dogs ensured that they took up a lot of room.
“Yes,” Len replied. “It’s supposed to be a fun night. And we’ll have friends attending.”
“I know. Olga doesn’t want to miss any hilarity that might ensue.”
Olga was the wife of the Romanian ambassador. The Romanian Embassy was across the street from ours, and through a variety of circumstances, we’d become close with Olga and her granddaughter and personal assistant, Adriana. That Olga was former KGB and training Adriana in all the skills was a secret we were all happy to keep.
Olga was suffering from multiple sclerosis, so she was mostly confined to a wheelchair. This didn’t stop her from somehow knowing everything that was going on in D.C. and many other places as well. My personal goal was to surprise or know something, anything, before her. It happened, but very rarely. Hoped that she wasn’t aware that the Dingo was in town, but I wasn’t willing to bet on it.
“Since Pierre’s been here, we haven’t had any really disastrous social events,” Len reminded me.
“True enough. I’m thankful for Pierre every day.” I chose not to mention that an interstellar invasion definitely counted as a disastrous event.
We reached our floor and entered our palatial suite. I was adjusting to living in a portion of a huge building that was larger than the house I’d grown up in, but I still wasn’t a hundred percent comfy with it, and I didn’t know if I ever would be. Had we not had the Elves, I’d have hated this place based solely on having to keep it clean.
But we had the Elves and they’d prepared Jamie’s dinner for me. Because the Elves wisely didn’t trust my food prep skills. I didn’t always make the smoke alarms go off, but I was close to batting a thousand.
The boys let the cats and Poofs out, and then I sent them to take the dogs for walkies. The Peregrines had their own areas, courtesy of the Elves, both in our rooms and at the Zoo, where they did their business, so to speak. They were really good at acting unlike every other bird out there and holding it until they were in their Dump Zone. I was grateful for this for a variety of reasons, Jeff’s reactions to the idea of casual bird poop dropped in his home being number one.
Jamie was midway through both her dinner and the recounting of her exciting day spent with the letters of the alphabet, the colors of the rainbow, and the numbers one through ten when the boys and dogs returned, bringing Jeff along with them.
“Daddy!” Jamie was still in her highchair. Or rather, she’d been in it. But I blinked and she was out of it and in Jeff’s arms. Her plate and cup hadn’t moved. At least not that I’d seen. Meaning she’d used hyperspeed.
Heaved a sigh. Had to determine if this was a battle worth fighting while Jeff gave Jamie tons of Daddy Kisses and she started telling him about her day—at hyperspeed.
When A-Cs talked at their normal speeds, it made the humans in attendance woozy. While I was enhanced,