Alien in the Family

you?”
    “James is hurt.” I was sobbing.
    “Hang on.” He hung up, and I went to help them get Reader’s body down without hurting him more.
    The maintenance man took a look. “Head trauma.” Even I could have called that one—there was blood on Reader’s forehead. He opened Reader’s eyes and took his pulse. “I think he’ll be okay.”
    “Um, don’t take this the wrong way, but—”
    “I’m a med student. This is my third job. I’m a bartender at night and I deal blackjack swing shift. Tito Hernandez, by the way.”
    “Kitty Katt. I’m not a stripper.”
    “Yeah, can’t tell in that outfit, of course.” Tito was checking Reader’s neck and limbs. “You have a phone. Call an ambulance.”
    “How? I’m not from around here.”
    Tito rattled something off in Spanish. One of the trash men pulled out a cell phone and dialed.
    I realized the trash truck guys were staring at my chest. “Um, I wasn’t planning to wear this out in the day.”
    “Don’t plan to wear it out without armed guards.” He looked up at the trash guys and rattled something off in Spanish again. They nodded and backed away.
    “What’d you tell them?”
    “That you’re a crazy hooker and this guy’s your pimp.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah. It’s more believable than you being a Federal officer.” He took my arm and placed me. “Want you blocking the sun from him.” My shadow fell across Reader’s face.
    “How’d you do that jump?”
    “Training. I also cage fight.”
    “Jesus.”
    “I like to think of him as my copilot, yeah.” He looked up at me. “You guys have some serious enemies here?”
    “I think my boyfriend took out the enemy.”
    “He’s not your boyfriend?”
    “No . . . but she thought he was. Interesting.”
    “You want to explain that?”
    I took a good long look at Tito. “Maybe so.” I dug into my purse. “Mister White?”
    “Yes, Miss Katt. Christopher called me somewhat hysterically. What’s going on?”
    “I want to hire someone.”

CHAPTER 19

    “COME AGAIN?” WHITE SOUNDED CONFUSED. “I want to hire someone onto the team. What’s the standard procedure?”
    Tito raised his eyebrow at me. Reader groaned, and Tito turned back to his patient. I took Reader’s hand. Groaning meant coming back, I hoped.
    “Normally they kill a superbeing.”
    “How about if they know how to react in a crisis, don’t argue about things being dire, can leap twice their height to save one of our agents from being smooshed in a trash compactor, and are fluent in Spanish? And if they’re,” I let go of Reader’s hand to feel Tito’s bicep, “pretty damned buff, in med school, holding down three jobs, and also a cage fighter?”
    “Who was almost smooshed?”
    “James. He’s alive, thanks to Tito much more than me.” I took Reader’s hand again. Tito had a great bicep, I had to admit.
    “Tito is our new recruit?”
    “If I get to ask him, yeah.” The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and I was starting to shake.
    “If Paul and Jeffrey approve.”
    “Paul’s not going to be in any condition. James is hurt .” My voice was moving up to the dog-only register.
    “Ah. And this Tito is taking care of James?”
    “Yes. Look, yes or no?”
    “I’ll trust your judgment. Please go ahead. Remember, however, most people don’t believe in aliens without seeing the proof.”
    “Chuckie did.”
    “Fine. Carry on, and please keep me posted on James’ status.”
    “Will do.” I hung up and wondered where Martini was. “Tito, got a proposition for you.”
    “Want to be a doctor, thanks. What the hell did they hit him with?”
    “Want to train with doctors better than you’re ever going to meet at med school? And, she hit him with, I’m guessing, her fist.”
    He looked at me. “There’s a lot more to this, isn’t there?”
    “Yeah.” I took a deep breath. “Look, they just tried to kill my best friend. You saved his life. And you did it by doing the things we have to do every day to stay alive.”
    “Who’s we?”
    “Centaurion Division.” A man’s shadow covered mine. “World government agency, United States based.”
    Tito looked up at Martini. “You her boyfriend?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Good. Give her your jacket before the hombres decide they don’t care if they get deported back across the border.”
    Martini did as requested. “We have her locked down. And I do mean down.” His voice was a growl. “If James dies, I’m killing her.”
    “Let