Alien in the House

as he hugged me tightly.
    “My ‘uncles’ wanted us both home and they impressed that upon everyone.”
    “In other words, we gave her no choice,” Gower said.
    “Why were you there at all, Paul?” Jeff asked.
    Gower dodged the question by heading into the kitchen. The rest of us followed him. “Where’s Chuck?” Naomi asked.
    “Handling political things,” Jeff said. “He’s fine, so are all the others. I was ordered home by pretty much everyone.”
    “Has anyone heard from James or Tim or anyone with them?”
    “Well, heard, no,” Pierre said. “However, we’ve been manning the airwaves thanks to our brilliant computer geniuses, and there were reports of a massive paintball game on the Georgetown campus.”
    “Paintball?” Jeff sounded confused. He spoke for all of us.
    Amy gave him the “duh” look. “Imageering altered footage and reports. We contacted Serene. The team is back in Dulce. They’re all fine, other than some minor injuries. Lorraine was tipped off that there was going to be trouble, so they were ready.” She winked at Doreen, who grinned.
    “There’s bad news, though,” Len said. “They couldn’t take Raul alive.”
    Kyle nodded. “From what we were told, Mossad took him out.”
    “That’s because he was about to shoot me in the head,” Reader said as he and Tim came in. “Under the circumstances, I felt okay with Jakob going for the kill shot.”
    “Kitty got plenty out of Clarence,” Doreen said.
    “Hopefully it’ll help.” Heaved a sigh. “I want to know what the home team found, and I’m sure the home team wants to know what everyone else did.”
    “Before that, I have something to return to you,” Tim said. “Okay, stop playing around and unstealth yourself.”
    Bruno appeared at my feet. “Where have you been?” Picked him up and hugged him. He was heavy, but he appreciated the snuggle, because he wrapped his neck around mine and cooed.
    “Why are you hugging that bird?” Jeff asked.
    “Wow, I’m not gracing that with a response, Mister Parrot Lover. What was Bruno doing with you guys?” I asked as I put him down.
    “As near as I can tell, he was following Raul,” Tim said. “I say that because Bruno there stopped us from walking into an ambush.”
    “I thought you guys were warned by Lorraine and Doreen’s Secret Word Club.”
    “Airborne was warned. James and I weren’t warned.”
    “Well, good job, Bruno. As always.” He’d gone after whoever shot Jeff. That had been pretty much confirmed to be Raul’s new girl. “So, was Raul’s girlfriend caught?”
    “No,” Reader said. “I’m not sure that she was with him.”
    Looked at Bruno. He shrugged his wings. She’d been there, but she was gone, and protecting the team had taken precedence. I could buy that and decided it wasn’t vital enough to share.
    “Let’s tell you what we’ve found,” Abigail said. “So that we can clean up the kitchen before Jamie’s party tomorrow.”
    Right. The party. Memory shared that I had some work to do before then. “Okay, you know, everyone catch each other up. I have to make some calls.” I didn’t want to make them, but I was clear that I had no choice.
    Stepped out of the room and went into Raj’s office. He and Jeff came with me. “What are you doing?” Jeff asked.
    “Something I have to do.”
    While Raj quietly explained the situation to Jeff, I contemplated my options. Chose to call Gadoire first, in part because it was less odious than calling Culver first. That I’d had these people’s phone numbers stored was either a testament to my planning or just proof that the universe enjoyed a good joke. Bet on the latter.
    “Hello, my dove. Do you need me?”
    “Hi, Guy, and yes, in a way. We discovered that some of the invitations to our daughter’s birthday party weren’t mailed, and the one to you and Vance was in that group. So, I realize it’s terribly short notice, and that tomorrow’s Christmas, but was wondering if you’d be able to come.”
    “My dove, nothing would give me greater pleasure.”
    I could think of a lot of things that would give most adults greater pleasure than attending a one-year-old’s party, but I kept that to myself. “Great! We’ll see you tomorrow then. Three in the afternoon.”
    “I’ll be there. Will it be alright if I bring dear Lydia with me? I don’t believe it’s safe for her to be alone right now.”
    I needed Gadoire’s help. He could bring a Bengal tiger along and