Alien Diplomacy

I’m complaining, not after this afternoon, but I’m confused.”
    “You didn’t ask who took this picture or where we got it from,” Chuckie said.
    She shrugged. “I figured you’d gotten it from Esteban. I know you work with him frequently; he’s mentioned it because he knows we’re friends.”
    “Esteban Cantu?” Chuckie asked. “As in the head of the C.I.A.’s Antiterrorism unit?”
    “Yeah. You do know him, right, Chuck?” Caroline sounded worried.
    “Oh, I know him all right.” Chuckie looked at me. “Well, now we know.”
    “Now we know what?” Christopher asked.
    I sighed. “Now we know who’s in charge of Operation Assassination.”



CHAPTER 44
    O N CUE, EVERYONE WINCED, except Chuckie, who was too busy thinking, and Caroline, who looked as if she were considering making confusion an art form. I couldn’t blame her.
    I was thinking, too, of course. So I kept on talking. “So, Caro, didn’t it seem weird to you that Pete has an odd accent?”
    “No. He sounds like everyone else from Paraguay.” She jerked. “Wait a minute, how did you know he had an accent?”
    “Well, I could say I guessed, but I’ve actually met him. And we didn’t get that picture from Esteban Cantu. We got it from Nurse Carter here.”
    Caroline looked at her. “I’ve never seen her before. How did she get our picture?”
    “Doctor Rijos had it in his file,” Nurse Carter said. “I put it in my purse. The Dingo did not search us.”
    “We don’t have a Doctor Rijos attached to our mission,” Caroline said.
    “Nope, you probably don’t.” I looked at Michael. “Be prepared. She’s normally fairly cool under pressure but…”
    He nodded. “Happy to help.” I was sure he was. Michael was clearly doing his best to stake his claim on Caroline early.
    “What are you expecting me to freak about, Kit-Kat? I think I’ve handled everything pretty damn well.”
    “You have.” I took a deep breath. “Caro, here’s the thing. Your sorta boyfriend?” She nodded. “He’s the guy we were talking about before. Peter Kasperoff, aka the Dingo. As in, the dude who tried to off me in several ways yesterday, assisted by his cousin, Surly Vic.They’re now presumed dead or back under C.I.A. and Titan Security control.”
    She stared at me. She stared some more. No one spoke. Caroline stared some more. She finally opened her mouth. “You’re saying that the people who were hired to protect us, and that us includes a number of prominent and influential politicians, are actually assassins?”
    “Pretty much.”
    “And I was going to go to the President’s Ball with an infamous assassin?”
    “You got it.”
    She looked around. “And no one in this room seems overly surprised.”
    “We’re kind of used to it. Welcome to My Super Secret Life, where people try to kill us on a regular basis, and we thwart bad-guy schemes for breakfast. We’re almost like a reality show, only without the alcohol and hot tubs.”
    Her mouth went to a straight line. “I need someone to check on Senator McMillan and his wife, right now!” I was so proud. She was going to save the freak out I knew would be coming for later. That was my Caro Syrup.
    “Already on it,” Mom said approvingly. Apparently, Caroline was her favorite daughter. My memory nudged me again, harder.
    “Caro, Peter seemed to be under the impression you were my sister.”
    “I am.”
    “I mean real, as in blood, not as in sorority. Any guess as to why?”
    She grimaced. “Not really. I mean, I have our sorority composite picture up and he’s asked about it.” She blinked. “Oh.”
    “Oh?”
    “He asked me about you. He point-blank asked me if my sister was attached to American Centaurion. I said yes, because you are. I didn’t say you weren’t my real sister. I didn’t say that you were , either, but I guess he assumed.”
    “Or he was having a joke.”
    Chuckie’s head snapped to me. “Explain that.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Peter the Dingo Dog seems like a very interesting person. He clearly has a strong attachment to his cousin.” Like Jeff and Christopher had, but I didn’t think they’d appreciate me making that comparison out loud. “To the point that he’ll dothings against his best interests if it’s for someone he perceives as having done either of them a true service.”
    “Fine, but the joke?” Chuckie seemed rather intent.
    “Why are you haranguing her on this point?” Jeff asked, sounding protective.
    Chuckie made