Alien in the House

Doctor Hernandez is with her. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go in.”
    “No, probably not. But I think we need to.” Went to the room Nathalie had been in. Knocked quietly and then opened the door.
    Nathalie was crying. Less hysterically than before, but still, crying. I shoved Naomi into the room. “Her husband was just murdered in front of her, tossed off the top of the building where they lived and were happy. We don’t know why. I wanted you in charge of trying to figure that out while the rest of us were off doing other things to try to figure out who killed him and why. We’re fighting because of your response to that request. Think about someone other than yourself for the first time in what appears to be far too long a time.”
    I closed the door and held it shut.
    “Kitty,” Abigail said slowly, “I have to ask—is this a common human technique?”
    “No, it’s not.”
    “Ah. Because it seems like you and Naomi are really fighting.”
    “We are. She doesn’t get her act together before I have to go hang with the Dingo, she’s persona non grata in this Embassy.”
    “Um, she’s marrying your best friend.”
    “Sucks to be her, then. He’ll still have to come here all the time. She won’t be allowed. Ever.”
    “I know you’re angry with her attitude,” Gower said. “We’ve all been dealing with it for months. But I don’t understand why you’re
so
angry, Kitty.”
    “Maybe you all don’t. Here’s the deal. I’ve seen a lot of people die in front of me over the past three days. Santiago died while I was holding his hand. Edmund Brewer fell to the ground pretty much at my feet. Representative Juvonic died on the floor of Rayburn House, in front of me. And Eugene Montgomery had his head blown off while I was standing next to him.”
    “I can understand why that’s upsetting,” Gower said soothingly.
    “Yeah. And now my husband and yours are off on missions, and the rest of us are about to be. All of those missions have danger attached to them. And your sister made the unfortunate decision to whine about being asked to lead the team that gets to sit inside the Embassy, in our large yet cozy kitchen, and look for clues that we might be able to find in dead people’s trash.”
    White cleared his throat and Gower and Abigail turned to look at him. “Yes, Uncle Richard?” Abigail said hopefully.
    “If I may, Paul?”
    Gower nodded. “Please.”
    “Katherine has not been allowed to grieve. At all. Whereas Naomi has been allowed to grieve perhaps a little too long. I believe there is a tiny bit of jealousy at the core of Katherine’s reactions, though not about who’s marrying whom. Katherine isn’t allowed the luxury of wallowing in her loss.”
    “I can see how that would make you jealous,” Abigail said. “Sis has gotten to plan a wedding, only, and we haven’t done our jobs, when we can do them without talents. Maybe not as well, maybe just as well. But we don’t know because we haven’t tried. I’d be mad at us, too.”
    White came to me. “You’re allowed to cry. And perhaps you should. Now. Before we go meet up with your ‘uncle’ the assassin.”
    “I don’t need to.” Felt far too angry to cry.
    “I think you might,” White said.
    Looked at Amy. “How pissed off and crazy do I look?”
    “I wish Jeff and Chuck were both here and I’m glad Jamie isn’t.”
    “Ah. Gotcha.” Looked back to White. “I’m too angry to cry.”
    He patted my shoulder. “That will pass.”
    There was a knock on the door I was holding. Decided to try to get back to normal, so I opened it.
    Tito stepped out quickly. “I’d ask what’s going on, and if I need to hand out sedatives to everyone, but I think I caught enough when you flung Naomi at my patient.”
    “Is Nathalie okay?”
    Tito nodded. “I think what you wanted to have happen did.” He opened the door and gently shoved me into the room. Naomi was holding Nathalie and rocking her while Nathalie cried and clung to Naomi.
    Naomi looked at me and there were tears in her eyes. “I get it.”
    Someone came in and closed the door. It was Amy. She went over to Nathalie and took her from Naomi. “You two work it out,” she said softly. “And do it quietly.”
    Naomi got up off the bed and stepped closer to me. “You really hurt my feelings.”
    “I know. You really disappointed me and pissed me off.”
    “I know. Did Chuck tell you he doesn’t want the big wedding?”
    “He had one guy