Alien in the House

that I don’t see you like I used to, girlfriend, but I’m always there for you, you know.”
    Heaved a sigh. “I miss you so much sometimes, James. It’s just not . . . the same. It’s like the band got broken up, and each part started their own new bands, with new members, and we sometimes get together for reunion tours, but it’s not like it used to be.”
    “Yeah. I know what you mean.” He kissed my head. “But that’s how life works. We’ve each hung onto friends from way back when, but only a few. You have Reynolds, Amy, Caroline, Sheila, Brian. I’ve got Pierre, who I’m not allowed to call Peter any more.” Reader chuckled. “But you have more of him than I do.”
    “Sorry to hog, but I’m keeping Pierre.”
    “I’ll let you. Because we’re all still in the same band. We just have to spread out and play solo and separate gigs. But when it matters, we get the band back together again, with the new members, and we rock it better than anyone ever has or ever will.”
    “I was whining to my dad about how I missed being ordinary.”
    “Me too, sometimes.”
    I laughed. “Dad said I was never ordinary. And if I wasn’t, I know for a fact you weren’t, Mister I Started Modeling At Age Three.”
    “True enough. Trust me, you’re not the only one longing for the good old days of a year ago sometimes.”
    “You miss getting to be the comic relief?”
    “You’ve noticed? Yeah. Sometimes. There’s a limit to how funny or flip the Head of Field can be before the troops start to worry and question. It’s probably one of the reasons Jeff fell for you so fast—he could be himself, all aspects of himself, with you.”
    “I just don’t stand on a lot of formality.”
    He laughed. “Understatement of the year. And I know you miss kicking butt.”
    “Every day. Well, honestly, not every day. But a lot.”
    “You’re going to be fine as the ambassador.”
    “Now I know you’re lying.”
    “No, you will be. You’re really good at handling things without any training, experience, or background.”
    “Thanks, I think.”
    “It’s a compliment. You roll with the punches, analyze quickly, and make good decisions. You come by that naturally—your mother does the same thing.”
    “Only with training, experience, and background to back her up.”
    “She didn’t always have that.”
    “You’ve been hanging out with my mom a lot?”
    “Yeah. I love watching her work.”
    “What went on earlier this week, that she was involved in?”
    He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “I can’t tell you. But she’s fine, and so was everyone with her. We didn’t lose anyone, we did what we had to, so in that sense, we won.”
    Decided to let this answer be enough. “Okay.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Yeah. If Mom wants to, or can, tell me, she will. Until then, I’ll trust you that I don’t need to know and that the lack of knowledge won’t endanger me or anyone else I care about.”
    He hugged me again. “Now that’s some personal growth.”
    “It happens to me occasionally.” Hugged him back. “I love you, James.”
    “I love you, too, Kitty. And trust me, you’re forever my girl.”
    “Good. Even though I now want to hear some Paula Abdul.”
    He laughed. “Sorry. So what’s our next move?”
    “I’m not.
Forever Your Girl
is a great album. But anyway, we need to clean out Santiago’s office and figure out where Eugene hid the paperwork that will supposedly clear his name, in that sense.”
    “The office will be easy enough. We’ll want to go over with Jeff anyway, and he needs to go today. He has to be sworn in.”
    “Joy, and I’m not even going to ask why that’s happening today. But doesn’t swearing in happen on the floor of the House?”
    “Yes, but Santiago’s office is in the Capitol complex. He was living there, too.”
    “Really?”
    “It’s not completely uncommon.” Reader shrugged. “He didn’t have time to apartment hunt. Anyway, if we’re going to the Capitol, and we are, we might as well go through Santiago’s office before someone else does.”
    “Okay, but let’s work on Eugene’s stuff first. Right before he was shot, I was trying to get the location where he’d stashed this info out of him. It’s not at his home, and not at his office. He said he was free and then he was shot.”
    “He said he was free, as in, I’m out of jail?”
    Thought about it. “No. He was trying to answer my question.” Ran the events back over in my