Alien in the Family

he’s working closely with us, but it’s his room that was bugged.”
    “To me, that would indicate we should go into lockdown.” Christopher didn’t sound his usual snarky. I guessed he was still recovering from the twins’ surprise appearance. I wondered how he’d handle a typical Vegas show.
    “Not if we want to find them before whoever’s coming arrives. Especially since it doesn’t seem like they’ll be coming via a gate.” I looked around. Apparently I was the only one who’d had this thought.
    “Why would you say that?” Lorraine asked slowly. “It’s fast and safe.”
    “It’s not grandiose and impressive. The peasants love a good show.”
    Chuckie and Reader laughed. “Yeah, girlfriend, they do that.” Reader shoved off from the table. “I know where this is going. Or, rather, where we are.”
    “Where’s that, James?” Martini didn’t sound as though he had any idea.
    Reader grinned. “We’re gonna stay in Sin City. I’m going to order up clothing and necessities for the entire team for, how long do you think, girlfriend?”
    “Week, week and a half. No A-C Elves here.”
    “Right. Sounds good. We can buy that top for you later.” Reader pulled out his phone and wandered over to a far corner of the room.
    “We’re staying here?” Martini sounded mildly freaked.
    “Yeah, I think that might be a good idea,” Chuckie conceded. “They found me here without issue, might as well not make them work any harder.”
    “Why are we doing this, exactly?” Christopher asked. “I’m not wild about being out in the open where anyone can attack us.”
    “If they’re Earth A-Cs, seeing them here will be sort of an alert, wouldn’t you think?”
    There was silence. I could hear Reader telling someone what to pack up for us.
    “It’s a big town, with a lot of people coming through,” Gower said finally.
    “It’s a big town with a lot of security all through it. This is probably the most secure town in all of the United States. Security we can tap into since we have the C.I.A. intimately involved.”
    “Fine. Then you’re all moving into this hotel.” Chuckie went to the room phone and dialed.
    “While you’re talking, see if they can tell you who cleaned your room and brought up the spread, particularly the pseudo-pineapple.”
    “Oh, yes, Miss I’ll Take Charge.” He grinned at me, though, so I knew he wasn’t angry with me.
    So did Martini. “I want to be on record that you and I are not staying on the same floor as him and you’re not, under any circumstances, sleeping in here with him.”
    I looked up and over my shoulder at him. “Jeff, of course I’m not going to sleep in here with him. I’m with you, and I’ll be sleeping wherever you’re sleeping.
    “Okay, Martini and Kitty, you’re in the suite on the other half of this floor,” Chuckie called, right on cue. “That keeps the floor secure. I have everyone one else on the floor directly under us. Includes room for Gower’s parents and yours, too, Martini. I took all the others that were open, too; we’ll probably need them for a variety of reasons. That fills up the floor, so we’ve got the top two. Means we have roof access without an issue as well.”
    Martini started to growl. I turned around again. “Jeff, it’s a huge suite. He won’t hear us.”
    “Right. I hate taking orders from him, you know.”
    “I know.” I took his hand. “Tell you what. Later on? Why don’t you give me some orders? And,” I moved closer and dropped my voice, “I’ll argue about taking them.”
    His eyes started to smolder. “God, I love how you think.”
    “Consider this, too—we won’t be on the same floor as your parents.”
    “Hmmm, maybe Reynolds is my friend after all.”
    Chuckie hung up the phone. “They couldn’t reach Catering. Someone’s supposed to call me back. Housekeeping is the standard staff. But, realistically, I don’t think it was them. The pineapple thing came with the food.”
    “Works for me. Jeff, you going to call your dad? And, Paul, you need to call your mom, too.”
    Gower nodded, pulled out his phone, and dialed. Martini grumbled. I decided to give him incentive and wandered over to Chuckie. “We need human as well as A-C guards on the Gowers and the Martinis. What do you suggest?” I heard more grumbling, but also heard Martini dial his phone. Good, he had picked up my annoyance.
    Chuckie sighed. “I’ll have Agent Lewis handle it.”
    “Where is Kevin,