Alien in the House

said.
    Considered this. “No, actually I feel a lot better. Naomi and I have made up, I had that cry you all wanted me to, I don’t feel angry or upset or even tired anymore. I just feel like we urgently need to get to the cemetery, early or not.”
    “Then let’s go,” Rahmi said. “The leader sets the pace.” Rhee nodded.
    “Right, you two are going to flank our Pontifex and keep him safe. And, girls, please remember that you’re not killing anyone unless they actively try to hurt one of us or I tell you to, okay? Or one of the men with us needs your help and all that. Got it?” They both nodded. “Good. Then let’s go visit the dead.”
    Pierre opened the door for us, and we zipped out. White had my hand, but Raj led the way, with the princesses and Gower bringing up the rear. We stayed on the streets—no running over water for us. But it still didn’t take very long to get there.
    Once in the cemetery, I navigated us back to where I’d been when I’d seen the Dingo last. This took longer than I’d expected it to, but we were still in place well before ten. Raj and Rahmi went off to search for Hidden Assassin Caves and the like, while the rest of us hung around, waiting. Getting here early suddenly seemed really stupid.
    Before I could mention that I was sorry we were all freezing our butts off, my phone rang. Dug it out. “Kit-Kat, I have a ton of missed calls and texts from you. What’s going on?”
    Wanted to ask questions, but figured being polite was probably a nicety we could afford. “Hey, Caro Syrup, how’re you feeling?”
    “I’m better, Michael took good care of me. But Kit-Kat, we just heard about Ed Brewer. Are you all okay? Is that why you’ve been trying to reach me?”
    “Yeah, well, part of why. We were there. It was . . . pretty horrible, honestly.”
    “They’re saying he killed himself. He never struck me as the type.”
    “He wasn’t the type. But we’ll let the police do their thing right now.”
    “How’s his wife?”
    “Nathalie’s a mess. She’s staying with us right now, though.”
    “Ah. Is Michael helping take care of her?”
    “Um, what? No. He’s doing something with and for my mom. Why?”
    “Oh.” She sounded relieved. “I’ve tried to call him a couple times and he hasn’t picked up. I just . . .”
    “You were just worried your man was hitting on the widow who happens to be a former international model?”
    “Not at all!”
    “Pull the other one.”
    “Oh, okay, fine. Yes, I was worried.”
    “Why? Has Michael been seeing other people?”
    “No. Not at all. We see each other a lot, we’re exclusive. It’s just . . .”
    “Caro, you’re normally not this non-communicative.”
    “I really like him. I mean really. And I’m not sure I should. I mean, he’s not ready to stop being a playboy.”
    “Um, Caro, all I can say is that you should stop worrying.” Didn’t want to give away what Michael had said, but I didn’t want her worrying about this, either. “What does the senator think?”
    “He thinks Michael’s great. He wanted me to go out with him tonight instead of working. But since I can’t reach Michael, I might as well work.”
    “What are you guys working on? It’s Christmas Eve.” Said the person hanging out in a cemetery with five other people, all wearing Kevlar. Yeah, I rocked the Christmas Eve spirit. “I mean, Kelly told me you were in meetings about Armstrong’s presidential bid, but two days straight seems kind of excessive.”
    “Well, we have a lot going on. There are some bills the Senate’s going to be voting on when the new session officially starts. The senator’s got a lot of fighting and persuading still to do, and he and Senator Armstrong aren’t certain they’ll sway enough votes. And the outcome of the votes is going to affect Senator Armstrong’s run.”
    Interesting new news. “What’s on the line?”
    “Lots of things to do with the A-Cs. The anti-alien groups have really shoved some crap into things.”
    “Why is Armstrong working on this with McMillan? I didn’t think they were close. At all.”
    “Well, they’re the two most pro-A-C senators on the Hill. Didn’t you realize that’s why they were sitting with you and Jeff at the dinner party?”
    “No, I didn’t. So why was Edmund Brewer seated with us?”
    “For the same reason, just like Santiago Reyes. Representative Brewer was one of the most pro-alien reps out there. Santiago won on the pro-alien