Alien in the House

Vance added.
    “Where do you want to start looking?” Claudia asked.
    “The last place Jeff wants me to go.”
    “Tunnels,” both girls said in unison.
    “Got it in one. I have to let him know when we go down there.”
    White looked at Vance. “I strongly suggest we take an alternate route.”
    “I know there are tunnels, deep, ancient ones, running underground,” Vance said. “They were created by aliens, and not you guys. They were visible to Earth equipment for a short while and then they went back to being impenetrable. There’s an entrance under your Embassy, as well as by the Lincoln Memorial.”
    We all stared at him. “Wow,” I said when I’d recovered enough to speak. “Vance, you know a hell of a lot more than I’d have suspected.”
    He grimaced. “Look, it’s an act, okay? You show you’re too smart around here, you don’t make a lot of friends.” I could count Chuckie’s friends that weren’t from Alpha Four on one hand, so Vance had an excellent point. “I read the
World Weekly News
. I know what goes on. So you don’t need to put a bag over my head or blindfold me. Let’s just get going, because I really want to tell you what I think’s going on.”
    “Why so?” White asked.
    Vance shrugged. “Because you’re probably the only ones who can stop it.”



CHAPTER 38
    “P EOPLE SAY THAT TO US A LOT.” And they were usually right. However, I had BFFs to find. “Can you talk and walk at the same time, Vance?”
    He shot me a very snide look. “At least as well as you can.”
    “So you claim. Okay, before we let Vance roll his theory, let’s determine where we’re going.” I led the others outside to the Zoo’s lovely circular driveway.
    The Zoo was on the curving corner of Sheridan Circle. I stood pretty much where the van had been and faced the way its doors had opened.
    I hadn’t really paid attention earlier, in part because I was distracted by murder and mayhem, and in part because they’d been up for weeks now, but the Christmas lights on the trees in Sheridan Circle and on most of the buildings within view were quite pretty. No one was really overdoing it in this part of town, so most of the lights were white and sparkling. Ireland was the lone exception—they had green lights interspersed with white. All in all, the scene was quite beautiful; a sharp contrast to all that had been going on.
    “Why are we here?” Vance asked, interrupting my perusal of the external decor.
    “The bullet that shot Eugene came from that way,” I pointed to the Circle. “Meaning that vantage point was taken. So, if you were going to be somewhere that would allow you to protect someone standing where I am, where would you go to perch?”
    Everyone looked around. “We’re looking up high, Missus Martini?”
    “Yes, Mister White, we are.”
    “Assassins like the high ground,” Vance said.
    “Vance, you have hidden depths.”
    “I keep on telling you that. It’s hard to see, but if I was trying to cover everything, honestly, I’d be on top of the building we were just in. Gives you the best vantage point for the whole area. Your Embassy is taller, but it’s also a lot farther away from the action. And you don’t have any Christmas lights on either building, so it’s easier to hide in the shadows up there.”
    “I agree,” Claudia said slowly. “Especially if they were trying to get someone here.”
    “No, actually, they were planning to protect someone here.”
    “Want to explain that?” Lorraine asked.
    “Not at this precise time. So, okay, I can buy that who we’re looking for was on the roof of the Zoo. But how would Caroline or Amy have spotted anyone if they were on the roof?”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t have just one man on the roof of the Zoo, Ambassador,” a man’s pleasant, and quite familiar voice said from behind me. “I’d have someone on top of Ireland’s Embassy, too, lovely green and white Christmas lights or no. Which they did.”
    Spun around to see a tallish man with a full beard in an overcoat that, per usual, hid whether he was pudgy, muscular, or both. “Mister Joel Oliver! I’m so glad to see you.”
    “And it’s always a pleasure to see you, Ambassador.” As he came nearer, I saw there was something on his shoulder. A shape I recognized. And didn’t care for.
    Chose to ignore the shape and maybe it’d go away. Or just stay silent. “Jeff’s going to need to talk to you.”
    “Jeff! Jeff! Jeff! Bellie wants treats!” Sure